***
Kayla sat on the couch with a big jug of strawberry flavoured iced tea, chocolate chip cookies, and a big bowl of popcorn mixed with roasted nuts. Even as she curled her legs beneath her, she grimaced at the junk spread on the center table before her. Was this how it was going to be till the baby dropped, Kayla wondered with dread. Her cravings were getting out of hand. She needed help, she thought miserably. What she was doing was only going to get her bloated up for sure but she just couldn’t control it.
She’d had a good sleep at the hospital that afternoon so her plan was to watch the whole of season two of ‘Devious Maids’. Kayla poured some of the iced tea into a glass and placed the bowl of popcorn and nuts in her lap. But just as she got comfortable and pressed play on the remote, her doorbell chimed.
“Aw come on…” Kayla groaned and paused the video.
Carefully removing the bowl of popcorn and nuts from her lap, she placed it on the center table and got off the couch to go see who was at the door. She was decent enough in her pajamas so didn’t give much thought to offending whoever was at the door.
When she looked into the pinhole, Kayla froze. Jean Broody stood outside her door. What the fuck did Jean want, Kayla wondered. He was the last person she expected to see at her door. Well, if he thought she was going to allow him to rain insults on her in her own home, he had another thinking coming. Kayla yanked open her door and glared at the man who looked exactly like the man who was constantly in her dreams…calling her wicked.
“What do you want?” Kayla’s growl would have made a gladiator proud.
Jean raised his hands with both palms out in a gesture of surrender. “I come in peace.” He responded softly. “May I come in please?”
Kayla turned around and stormed off to her seat, sat down, and switched to TV. There was no way she was going to waste her series by watching it whilst listening to Dean’s brother say God knew what.
Jean closed the door and went to sit beside Kayla on the couch. They both silently watched the Glasgow Athletics on TV. Kayla took her bowl of popcorn and nuts and started chewing slowly. She couldn’t have described how she was feeling if she had been asked to. It was a mixture of sadness, fear, hope, and more sadness. The feeling was so unsettling. After they’d both silently watched two, four hundred meter men events, Jean finally broke the silence.
“I’m sorry, Kayla.” He said quietly.
Kayla didn’t say a word. But she suddenly couldn’t see a thing on the big flat-screen TV. The athlete was who currently on the screen, throwing Shot Put, looked like he was doing it in water. Kayla’s eyes had brimmed over with tears…all it took was a blink, and tears were sliding down her cheeks. It felt like her chest was being weighed down with huge boulders. The feeling was so disconcerting.
“I know I hurt you.” Jean continued. “It wasn’t my place to act that way and no excuse makes how I acted, justified. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
Kayla suddenly reached out to place her bowl of goodies on the table and stood up. She was determined not to make a fool of herself by breaking down in front of Jean. But she barely took three steps towards her bedroom before her composure broke and she burst into uncontrollable sobs. They were so heart-wrenching, Jean rushed to her and gathered her trembling body into his strong arms. Kayla cried like she’d never cried before, wetting the front of Jean’s shirt.
“I’m sorry.” Jean crooned, rocking Kayla in his arms. “So, so sorry, angel.” Jean kept talking softly and soothingly to Kayla till she eventually quieted down.
With his arms still around her, Jean drew Kayla to the couch they had been sitting on earlier and cradled her against him. Kayla snuggled willingly into Jean’s arms, loving his warmth and soothing touch. Surprisingly, she hadn’t shed a single tear since Dean had broken up with her on that fateful day two weeks earlier. And it felt good, so very good, to finally let it out. The occasional spasm in Kayla’s breathing due to crying for so long only made Jean tighten his hold on her.
God, his brother was a fool, Jean thought. What happened to Dean’s theory of waiting to see whether Kayla would actually go through with the abortion, to know whether they belonged together or not? She hadn’t gone through with it for fuck’s sake. Why the fuck had he broken up with her anyway? When his brother told him what he’d done, it had hit Jean just how angry Dean had been. Dean was a fun-loving person who joked around a lot but when he got angry, which was usually very rare, his actions were usually unexpectedly over the top.
With this particular issue, Dean had confided in Jean that he was actually scared to go and see Kayla after talking rather harshly to her. Jean hoped his brother would get the courage to face his woman, and Kayla would find it in her heart to forgive and accept Dean because Dean was damn miserable.
When Jean felt Kayla snoring softly in his arms, he picked her up, bridal style, and took her to the room he correctly guessed was her bedroom. He tucked her in and bent to drop a soft kiss on her cheek. Then he went back to the living room, gathered Kayla’s goodies, took them into the kitchen, and sealed them up in Ziploc bags he found. Then he stored the ice tea in the fridge and came back to the living room to turn off the TV and switched off the lights.
Then will a final look around, Jean released the safety catch on the front door and let himself out, knowing he was going to call Kayla in the morning to see how she was doing. Till his silly brother took back his responsibility, Jean vowed to himself that he was going to be there for Kayla. It was the least he could do after treating her so badly.