Sitting on the steps of Horizon’s, the local bar that was currently closed for the Christmas holiday, he cracks open a beer from the six-pack he picked up from the gas station on the way. He reaches deep within the front pockets of his jeans and grabs the delicate metal within before leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees. Twirling the glistening diamond ring between his fingers, Austin sighs heavily and places it back in his pocket, still unsure why he carries it with him. He takes a deep breath and runs his fingers through his hair before shaking his head in confusion and misery.
How did I get here?
Except… he knows how he got here. He had finally succumbed to the pull he had toward her. Austin had been tormented as he spent a year watching her flirt with his best friend, Logan before she realized that the two of them wouldn’t be anything more than friends. That year was complete torture, ignoring their pull and pretending she didn’t exist: pretending that he had no desire to strip her bare, twist his hands in her silken gold hair, and bury himself deep inside her petite body. She was his every fantasy come to life, and now she was pregnant with his child, but she announced it at his family’s Christmas dinner like it was an afterthought.
Austin shakes his head in agony as he reminisces about the first time he met Nikki. He had walked into Logan’s family practice in need of stitches after slicing his hand on a stray piece of metal at a worksite. It was a worksite he had no business walking across, but when his foreman had called, saying that one of the new workers was drunk on the job, he had had no choice. Standing at the empty front desk, he immediately regretted his decision to ask his friend to sew him up, when suddenly the new receptionist returned from the back room to check him in. She had only looked up at him momentarily before aligning her focus back on the computer, but the few seconds when their eyes had met were enough to set fire to his skin. Her pale blue eyes held secrets; secrets he longed to learn.
After having his hand stitched up, Austin walked with Logan back to the lobby and found the mysterious blonde was gone. But fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, Austin saw Nikki from afar at Horizon’s a countless number of times as she tried desperately to pursue Logan. Even though she was set on snagging his best friend, Austin couldn’t help but soak in the image of her in the skin-tight dresses and sky-high heels. She was a vision wrapped in a tiny package.
After months of waiting and passing time with whatever woman landed in his bed, Austin finally got his chance. One heated game of bowling and an explosive night in bed was all it took to leave Austin and Nikki utterly addicted to each other. The chemistry was off the charts - just as he imagined it would be - but they had a lot in common and were able to pass the time between fiery episodes by filling those space with talks of life. He had fallen head-first in love with her and was just waiting until he knew she felt the same. Then she disappeared. Only her friend Avery knew where she was, and even though Avery was Logan’s girlfriend - and Austin’s own half-sister, he had recently learned - she wasn’t breaking her promise to keep Nikki’s whereabouts hidden.
All along, she had been home with her cousin Melanie, at least when she wasn’t in the hospital, sick and dehydrated due to her pregnancy. A pregnancy he had no idea about.
Tossing his head in disbelief, he chugs the remainder of his beer before cracking open another.
“Thought I’d find you here,” Logan’s deep voice resonates from within the brick-lined emptiness of the alley.
“Nowhere else to go.”
“I hear ya. So, man, what happened?”
“What happened? You mean the woman that had me completely wrapped up in her and left didn’t spill all her secrets?”
Logan shakes his head and turns to look back at him.
“You know she isn’t like that, Austin. I didn’t talk to her long, I wanted to make sure you were okay, but I overheard her tell your mom and Avery that she was really sick and wasn’t sure if she’d lose the baby.”
Those last words capture his attention.
“What do you mean she thought she would lose the baby?”
“She told Avery that she had some severe morning sickness, couldn’t keep anything down, and then she started bleeding. They had her on bed rest until recently.”
“She should have told me. She should have let me be there for her.”
“I know, man. That’s something you’ll have to talk to her about. But I’m here for you, and so are Avery and your brothers and sisters.”
“I’m just so mad and confused,” he says, taking a long pull from the bottle. “I just keep thinking that I must have done something wrong. How could she hate me so much to keep this from me?”
“She doesn’t hate you. If she did, she wouldn’t have come back.”
Austin sits back, taking a deep breath through his nose, then releasing it into the air through his mouth. The swirl of his breath hitting the chilled air filters out around him like smoke.
“I can’t be with someone like that; someone that willingly kept something like this from me. I mean, it’s my child, too. I should have been told and I should have been able to be there if something had happened.”
“Then we’ll stand behind you if that’s how you really feel. But don’t go completely cold on her. She is the mother of your child and Avery’s best friend. You’re going to be around her for a long time.”
Austin nods in agreement, not mentioning that he had previously planned on being with her the rest of his life, then rises from the steps and grabs the plastic loops of the six-pack between his fingers. He steps toward his truck, Logan following closely behind, and they wave goodbye to each other, promising to meet up for New Year’s.
Turning on the ignition, Austin sits in his truck, listening to the engine rumble for a moment, before shifting into gear and driving back to the home he finished building a few weeks ago.
The 3,000 square-foot farmhouse sits on forty-five acres of trees and pasture, with a small plateau overlooking a man-made pond. When he came across the old farm for sale, he knew he couldn’t pass it up: it was the perfect property on which to start a family. The old house had been in disrepair, half of the building burnt to a crisp from a kitchen fire, but luckily for him, he had the skill to tear it down and build his dream home in its place.
Austin sits in the cab of his truck, staring at the front porch where the swing rocks gently back and forth, the same swing he had pictured himself and Nikki rocking in, enjoy the soft rays of early morning light. Staying in the house since she left had been agony. He had subconsciously decorated every room with her in mind, the colors she liked and the furnishings she always pointed out in magazines. He couldn’t help it; this was the house where he wanted to have a family with her.
And now it had all gone to shit.
She didn’t seem to want him in her life, and he wasn’t about to give her the opportunity to take her second chance and burn him again. He had learned the hard way that no relationship was perfect – heck, Avery, his newly discovered half-sister, was a testament to that.