“How did that go over?”
“Not good. Lisa was angry, Heather was angry, and I was caught in the middle," Tristan said, shaking his head. “I made Heather leave, but the evening was ruined. Then I made the big mistake of meeting Heather without Lisa knowing, but she found out.”
“Oh, Tristan. That’s not good. Especially with those two having been best friends once,” Sammy grimaced. “What happened next?”
“Lisa left me. As confident as Lisa is, Heather has always felt like a threat to her. I think it was because Heather and I were together for so long.”
“She was worried you would go back to Heather?” Sammy asked.
“Yeah, even though I told her countless times it was over. I guess when she found out I had lunch with Heather behind her back, she freaked and broke it off,” Tristan said. “She says she wants nothing to do with me."
“Well, can’t say that I blame her. What did Heather want to talk to you about anyways?”
“She’s pregnant,” Tristan said flatly.
“She’s only been gone a couple of months. Is it yours?”
Tristan looked at Sammy and shook his head. “Definitely not.”
“So, why did she want to talk to you?"
"Troy disappeared, and she doesn't know where he is. She just needed someone to talk to,” Tristan said. “I kind of felt bad for her to be honest.”
“Are you going to get back together with her?” Sammy asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Definitely not. It’s over. We both realized that. The only person I want in my life is Lisa, but I don’t know what to do,” Tristan said, pursing his lips. "I love her, Sammy. I really love her.”
“Well then, go get her. Don’t sit here like a pussy without fighting for her,” Sammy commanded, slamming her hand on the counter.
Tristan looked at his sister-in-law. He’d never heard her talk like that and realized she was right. He had to fight for Lisa, and he wasn't going to give up until he got her back.
Chapter 18
Heather picked up her phone for the hundredth time that day, hoping for a text from Troy. She still couldn’t believe he had left her like this. They had had a good thing going, and she had thought he would be happy when he found out she was pregnant.
Finding out she was pregnant was the last thing she had expected, but she had already made the decision to keep the baby, even despite Troy’s disappearance. Closing her eyes, she played the last night she saw Troy over in her head when it had all gone wrong …
“Hey baby, how are you?” Troy said when he came home from work. They had gotten a cute little apartment in a little town about eight hours away from her hometown. Troy had found work immediately as a personal trainer, and Heather had just started looking around for a job.
“I’m good, Snookie," Heather said, feeling butterflies in her stomach. She had left the positive pregnancy test on the bathroom counter, hoping to surprise Troy.
“What’s for dinner?” Troy asked, going over and kissing her on the lips. “I’m starving.”
“I was just going to reheat the spaghetti from last night,” Heather said. Not being much of a cook, she had recently begun to experiment with some recipes and found she was actually very good at it.
“Okay, I’m just going to go have a quick shower first. The showers are being renovated at the gym, so I kinda stink,” Troy said, pulling off his shirt.
Heather marveled at his impressive physique, admiring his gleaming muscles. If she hadn’t been so excited for him to see the pregnancy test, she would have made a play for him, but right now, she had other things on her mind.
Hearing the bathroom door close, she sat up excitedly and waited in the living room. The anticipation was killing her as she took a deep breath, hearing the bathroom door open again.
“What’s this?” Troy asked as he came back into the room, holding up the test.
"It's a pregnancy test," Heather said, smiling.
“Are you fucking kidding me? Why is there a plus sign?”
Heather elation suddenly disappeared. "We are pregnant, Troy."
“We? We! No, you are pregnant. What are you going to do about it?”
“What do you mean? I’m going to have a baby, Troy. We are going to have a baby," Heather said, standing up.
"No," Troy said urgently. "No, we aren’t.”
“Troy, you can’t mean that,” Heather cried. “We made this baby together!”
Troy glared at her for a second before turning and running into the bedroom. Following him, Heather watched as he grabbed a backpack and threw some clothes into it.
“Where are you going?” she asked, suddenly afraid.
“Out. Away. Someplace other than here. I don’t fucking know,” Troy said, hurriedly zipping up his bag. “This wasn’t part of the deal.”
"I didn't realize we had a deal," Heather said, confused. “I didn’t plan this.”
“No, but you got pregnant,” Troy said angrily before opening the door and walking out.
Heather stood there after the door slammed shut, stunned, confused, angry, and upset at what had just happened.
She sat back down on the couch and cried. She had certainly made a mess out of her life. No job and a baby on the way.
After a few minutes, she steadied herself. Putting her hands on her stomach, she smiled through her tears. The pregnancy was already changing her, making her more emotional and more caring. She felt different but struggled to describe why. Troy was just shocked by the news. He would come around and would probably be home tomorrow, full of apologies and hugs and kisses.
After three days of Troy not coming home, Heather began to seriously worry that she would never see him again. She had called the gym, but no one had seen him, nor had any of his friends.
She didn’t know where to turn. No job and now pregnant, no one would hire her. She needed to talk to someone who would understand her and comfort her.
Going to see Tristan was a spur of the moment thing. Growing up, whenever she had problems at home or fought with her mother, she had always run to Tristan. He had always helped her through things, so it was only natural that now she’d run to him for advice.
✽✽✽
Lisa walked into her apartment, wanting nothing more than to put her feet up and have a glass of wine. She had had one of those days she just wanted to forget.
“Hey, you,” Fay said when Lisa walked into the kitchen.
“Hi. You’re home early.”
“I need to talk to you,” Fay said, handing Lisa a glass of wine.
“Uh, oh. When there is wine involved, I know it's serious," Lisa said, laughing.
“Well, it is. I’m moving,” Fay said, “Tomorrow.”
“What? How come? Is it my snoring?”
Fay chuckled. “No. I got a job offer to be the director for the show Probable Cause.”
"No, shit! I love that show, but it’s filmed in Colorado. Does that mean you’re moving out there?”
“Yep, they need me on set in two days, so I'm heading out there tomorrow. I’m really sorry for the short notice. I’ll pay the rent for the next few months, so you aren’t stuck.”