Filed to story: Young Girls Forbidden Love Series: My Best Friend’s Daddy
“What do you need?”
“I need to talk to you in private.”
“This is private enough,” I said, looking back at the party. I knew someone would hear me if I screamed loud enough.
“Just come back to my room with me.” Todd leaned in close and whispered, “I miss you.”
“You can talk to me here or not at all,” I said and took a large step back and away from him.
“You look amazing, baby cakes. I have never seen you wear a dress like that. It looks good on you and would look even better off,” he said with a sleazy smile.
“Do not call me that! Don’t think about me like that! Does your fiance know where you are?” I hissed.
“Of course, she doesn’t, and she doesn’t have to.”
“Does she know anything, Todd? Does she know about our past? Does she know that you dated me for years and how you were still dating me when you two met?” My breaths were coming in ragged gasps now.
I had never been so angry at Todd before. I could not stand the fact that he had not only thrown me over for someone else after I had wasted years of my life on him, but now he had the nerve to try and win me back at his engagement party.
“Of course, she knows,” he said quickly while looking away.
“You are such a liar!” My voice echoed against the pillars of the gazebo. Angry tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.
“Are you sure I’m the liar and not Lauren? What if she just invited you here to make you watch her get engaged to your ex? It sounds like just the kind of game that she and her rich friends would find so entertaining. They have been laughing at you behind your back this entire trip.”
“You’ve always been the liar, Todd. I wish I had seen that from the very beginning. You obviously don’t know Lauren. There is no way she would be that cruel. I never mentioned you by name to her when we were dating because she never seemed to care about my personal life. And if they’ve been laughing at me this entire time, why didn’t you tell me sooner? You’re just lying to save yourself.”
I hoped the words I said were true. It had been a long time since I’d spent this much time with Lauren, and she’d changed a lot. However, I couldn’t believe that she would purposely torture me.
“We have the chance to get back at her for humiliating you,” Todd said quietly.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, confused at the sudden shift in the conversation.
“Take me back. She never has to know that we made up. Everything could go back to the way it was.”
“Back to the way it was. Really, Todd? How exactly do you think that would ever work? I’m just supposed to be okay with the fact that you are marrying Lauren? Do you really think Lauren would be okay with her husband having a girlfriend on the side?” I asked, shocked at what he was asking of me.
“I would still marry Lauren, and we would have more money than we would even know what to do with. As soon as my dad makes me a partner, I will have to go on business trips all the time, and you could come with me. Lauren will never know that we are back together.”
“You’re ridiculous, Todd. It is all just about the money, isn’t it? You want everything that you can’t have, and you are only marrying Lauren for her money.”
“Well, she is not bad to look at either,” Todd said as though I was the one being ridiculous.
“I cannot believe I ever loved you. You are a horrible person. Just leave me alone, Todd.” I turned away from him and crossed my arms. I was exhausted from our conversation and realized that there was no way to make him see how horrible he was being.
“Take me back, Shelby, please,” Todd said, and he reached out and grabbed my arm.
“Do not touch me,” I said as I pulled away from him.
Someone cleared their throat at the entrance of the gazebo. Todd dropped his arm, that he had reached out to me, and he took a step back.
“Todd, Lauren is looking for you. I think it would be best if you went and found her.”
Todd didn’t answer and made for the exit quickly. I watched as he stopped in front of Michael, waiting for him to move so that he could leave.
Michael remained where he was standing, so Todd had to awkwardly shimmy past him. If I weren’t so furious and trying to hold back the tears still hot in my eyes, I would have laughed.
I let out a frustrated sigh that turned into a small sob. Michael was at my side in seconds.
“Are you okay?” Michael asked as he put a hand on each of my arms, rubbing them comfortingly.
“I’m fine,” I lied, trying to hide the few tears that had fallen down my face.
“Shelby, you’re shaking. You are not okay. Please come with me.” Michael held out his hand, and I took it.
“I don’t want to go back to the party.”
“We don’t have to go back to the party,” Michael said.
“Then where are we going?” I asked, my voice cracking.
“To my room.”
***********************************************
*Shelby*
Michael held my hand as he led me through a side door of the mansion, avoiding the large crowd of the engagement party. When the door closed behind us, the music and noise of the group were muffled. All that we could hear was the low rumble of the bass as it vibrated through the walls.
Michael and I walked in silence, and he never let go of my hand as he led me back to his room. Michael’s room was decorated in soft grays and silvers. The massive bed stood alone in the center of the room with a crystal chandelier hanging over the center.
My feet were sore, so I slipped my heels off and set them by the double door entrance of the room. Michael clicked the lock on the door, walked across the room, and sat down in an armchair on the other side of the room. I followed, my bare feet cold on the tile floors.
The room’s soft coldness made me feel like I was surrounded by a cloud, comfortable and warm but still in a storm. I nearly sank into the plush armchair that matched Michael’s. I would have loved to be enveloped by the chair and not have the conversation I knew was coming. Unfortunately, the truth would likely bring on a storm of its own.
“I need to know the truth, Shelby.”
“I know you do,” I said. I let the silence fall between us, not knowing how to start. So I waited for Michael to ask a question first.
“You’ve known Todd for longer than just this week, haven’t you?”
“I met him at NYU in one of my general classes,” I admitted.
“So you have known him for years?”
“Almost four years,” I said barely above a whisper. “We dated for three.”
I heard Michael take a deep breath at my confession.
“Why didn’t you tell me or Lauren?”
“Honestly, I didn’t know what to do. When I got here, I had no idea that Todd would be on board too. Lauren introduced me to him as her new boyfriend, and he acted as though we had never met before.”
“The situation was so uncomfortable. I was still in shock and so hurt.” Deep down, I knew I should have spoken up on that very first day instead of letting the lie go this long.
“So you just decided to say nothing instead?” his eyebrows cinched together. All I could manage was a nod as the tears blurred the edges of my vision.
“You said you were hurt seeing him again. How long ago was this break up, Shelby?”
“He officially broke up with me the day before I walked to receive my Master’s degree. We had been fighting for weeks before that, though, when I found out he had been cheating on me for months.”
“Shit. With my daughter?”