The Lie(93)

She blinks at us in surprise for a few beats before her face hardens into hatred.

I wiggle my fingers at her. “Hello. Bet you didn’t expect to see me tonight.”

“What the f*ck are you doing with him?” Melissa asks Natasha, though I’m noticing she’s not coming any closer to us. I think she’s scared of us, that we should be so bold. “Why is he here?”

Natasha and I exchange a glance of who should go first.

Natasha looks back to Melissa and shrugs. “He’s helping me move out.”

“Move out? You found another place already?”

If I’m not mistaken there’s a tiny bit of hurt in Melissa’s voice. It makes her human for once.

Natasha swallows thickly but straightens up, head held high. “I did. So Brigs is helping me move.”

Melissa is back to glaring, that sliver of vulnerability gone. “Bullshit. You’re together again aren’t you?”

“Actually,” I tell her, walking a few steps toward her. Melissa shrinks back against the wall. “We are together again. Natasha is actually moving into my flat. Tonight. We’re going to live together. And see each other, as you can imagine.”

“You…you can’t do that,” she says, looking between us. “You can’t…I’m reporting you. I told you I would and you give me no choice.”

“No, you do have a choice,” Natasha says, coming over to us and going right up to Melissa’s face. I’ve never seen her so brave. “Maybe we can’t choose who we fall in love with but you can choose whether to be a total cuntasaurus or not. You don’t have to report us but you want to and you will because you’re unhappy as f*ck with your life.” She shakes her head, her tone softening. “You know, I tried to be a good friend to you and I’m sorry I wasn’t but I’m not sorry any of this happened. It let me know who you really were deep down. And it let me and Brigs be together in peace.”

Melissa is just shaking her head, flabbergasted. When she can’t find the words to say to Natasha, she narrows her eyes at me. “You won’t find any peace. I’ll make sure of it. What’s wrong is wrong and you’re both wrong.”

“Go ahead,” I tell her, folding my arms across my chest and looking down at her. “Go and report us. But you should know, I’ve beat you to it.”

“What?”

“I’ve turned myself in. Had a meeting with the dean, the department chair and Professor Irving. I told them everything, the whole truth. That we loved each other once and we love each other now. And guess what, Miss King? We have their approval.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“Well, you really should. But you know, feel free to take it up with them.” I pause, my mouth curving into a smile. I’m about to tell a lie but it’s one I feel good about. “I mentioned you, you know, what you’ve said, what you’ve threatened me with. So they’re kind of expecting you to come by.”

Natasha’s eyes dart to me, knowing I’m lying, but I keep my focus on Melissa. I can practically see her crumbling in front of us. There goes her plan of attack.

I go on. “Or you know, you could just let it go. Accept that Natasha is happy, that I’m happy. Forget about us just as we will forget about you.” I tilt my head, giving her a sad smile. “Because believe me, Melissa, we will forget about you. We have each other. That’s all we need. Well that, and our child.”

Her eyes bug out. Mouth drops open. She can’t even speak.

Natasha fills her in. “I’m pregnant. And we couldn’t be happier. So after all this is said and done, I guess we have you to thank. If it wasn’t for your bitterness and anger, your jealousy and insecurities, we wouldn’t have had to sneak around so much and have all that awesome sex. So thank you for that, Melissa. And thanks for making me move out and giving me a great excuse to be with the one I love.”

“Yes, thank you,” I tell her, trying to sound sincere. “Especially for all the sex we’ve been having.” Melissa is still speechless, her face flaming pink. I look to Natasha. “Shall we get packing?”

She nods, trying not to smile and we head into her room and get to work while Melissa stands out in the hallway, bewildered and unsure what to say or do. Luckily, it’s easy work for us since Natasha had already packed it all up. We take down the boxes and pile up the van in three trips.

During the last trip, Natasha, with hands full of movie posters, calls out into the hallway. Melissa has been in her room the whole time, trying her best to ignore us.

“We’re going now,” Natasha says, her voice echoing down the hall. “You know, it doesn’t have to end this way. We’ll be seeing each other at school I’m sure, so if you want to make things easier between us, I’m game.”

Silence.

Natasha looks to me and shrugs. I adjust the boxes in my hands and give her a look that tells her she tried her best.

“Okay,” Natasha calls out to her again. “I’ll take your silence as a sign you want my forgiveness. Well, I forgive you Melissa. Life is too short to hold grudges, guilt, shame or anything other than happiness. One day, hopefully you’ll realize I’m right.”

“You’re bloody right about that,” I say, as Natasha pauses at the door, waiting for one last reply. When it doesn’t come, she slowly shuts the door. “I’m proud of you,” I tell her.