Forged in Fire: Chapter 30

Previously…

The Roommates – Fast Forward to 2019: Chapter 26

Alice stood up and started pacing, her stomach was starting to hurt. “Bette, there’s something we need to talk about.”

Bette’s dark eyes followed Alice’s movements. “Now I’m worried. What’s wrong?”

Alice stopped moving and stood before her best friend. She pulled a few strands of stray blonde hair behind her left ear. “Do you remember when I picked you up at LAX a few weeks ago?” she asked.

“Of course I do,” Bette replied.

“When you left the airport, you were yelling for Tina. You kept yelling for both her and Dana. You were angry with me for leaving the airport without them. Do you remember that?” asked Alice.

Bette looked away, trying to hide the recognition in her eyes. What could she say? She never thought Alice would remember that. It had all happened so quickly. How could she explain that she’d been looking for Tina before she’d even met her? Bette knew she could never tell Alice about her shift in time and space. She rubbed the back of her neck and looked up, meeting her friend’s gaze.

“I – – – I’m sorry, Alice. I don’t remember. That whole day is kind of fuzzy,” she finally answered.

Alice looked at her strangely. “You don’t remember?”

Bette shook her head, hoping that she was convincing. “No. I don’t. I do remember feeling off balance though. Maybe it was some part of the withdrawal? I did feel like I was seeing things.”

“So you remember that?”

Bette jumped as though remembering something for the first time. “Oh yeah! Remember when I told you that I kept seeing Dana? That much I do remember. I was so out of it.”

Alice folded her arms across her chest, considering Bette’s words. “Yeah, you were out of it. But I distinctly remember you looking around frantically for a woman named Tina. It’s been weirding me out. Did you have a vision or something? Was she in a dream you had?”

Bette tossed her best friend an incredulous grin. “Come on Al. What do you think, I’m having visions now? That’s silly. Who knows who I saw or what I said? I was completely out of it.”

Previously….. The Roommates: Fast Forward to 2020

Tina pulled out the white iPhone and turned it back on. Bette and Tasha already had their phones on the table, ready to record any incriminating words Steven Kennard might say.

When the phone booted up, Tina noticed she had a video message from Henry. She started to ignore it, but for some reason, she decided to watch it before she called her father. She put the phone on speaker, holding it so that Bette and Tasha could see it as well.

Henry’s face came into focus. He looked like he’d been drinking. His skin was flushed, and his eyes were red, watery, sad. There was a short glass of brown liquid on the counter in front of him.

“Chris. Hey. You win. You totally win. Got the divorce papers today. Let’s just say, you win the award for best actress in a drama. Or romantic comedy? I don’t fucking know.”

He wiped at the tears that fell from his eyes.

“Don’t worry. These aren’t for you. I get it. You and I were both pawns in a game that neither of us really chose to play. You outmaneuvered me. You win fair and square.”

He cleared his throat.

“I need to tell you everything. I have a son. You know that now. His name is Tyler. He’s 4 years old and he’s the most amazing human being I’ve ever known. I don’t want him to know me as this peon. As this little worm that did your father’s bidding.

“I’m afraid, Chris. Yes. I am a grown man and I’m afraid for my life. And your life. That’s why I’m doing this. If something happens to me, it was no accident or coincidence. Just know that. Okay? Don’t let them stop looking until they find out what happened to me.

“Your dad is a fucking psychopath. I can’t act like I didn’t have a part in this. But I want my son to know that I wasn’t all bad. That there was some good stuff underneath. Please tell him that. Please let him know his father had some good inside.

“Everything you think about your life and our relationship is probably a lie, Chris. That woman you were seeing before you met me, Emma? She did care for you. But your father, he put an end to that. The conservative Christians found out about you and her. They threatened to take their money out of the firm. Steven couldn’t have that. So, he paid Emma off.

Previously in Chapter 27…

Kaitlyn spoke again. “Bette has a friend named Alice, right?”

Tina nodded, her face blotchy and red.

Kaitlyn continued. “Dad knows that. There’s a woman he placed into Alice’s life. Her name is Tara. That’s what she goes by. Her job was to get close to Alice, get into her life, and get Bette drunk. Push her off track. There are other things he’s planning, but that’s all I know so far,” said Kaitlyn.

Tina just stared at her. This didn’t seem real. It seemed more like a far-fetched, b-story line in a made-for-tv movie. “I…I don’t understand. He did what?”

“Christina, our father is sabotaging you. And Bette. He knew you would be out of town. He had Tara slip something into Bette’s drink. It’s a. party drug…called Crystal Smoke. It’s odorless and tasteless. It lowers your inhibitions like ecstasy, but it causes amnesia like GHB. Bette didn’t even drink much. But she felt like she did. So did Alice.”

Tina’s eyes watered. “He did that? It completely set her off. Bette was devastated.”
————————————————

Forged in Fire: Chapter 28

As Bette eased behind the wheel of her red coupe, Tina’s signature heartbeat vibration pattern throbbed against her palm. She took a deep breath and answered, holding the phone against her ear.

“Hi Baby,” she said.

“Hey, Babe. Where are you? Is everything okay?” asked Tina.

“I’m okay, T. I’m leaving my therapist’s office”

“Can you do me a favor?”

“Of course. What do you need?’ asked Bette.

“Can you come and meet me at Alice’s condo?”

Bette frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Just please…can you come now?”

“I’ll be right there. You sure you’re okay?” asked Bette.

“I’m okay, Love. See you soon.”

“See you soon. Tina?”

“Yes, Babe?”

“I love you.”

Tina smiled. “I love you more. Come meet me.”

When Bette walked into her best friend’s abode and saw Alice, Tasha, Tina, and Kaitlyn sitting around the living room drinking tea and sharing small talk, she was worried that they were ambushing her with an intervention. Her brown eyes were opened wide and her dark brown leather messenger bag was strapped diagonally across her thin frame.

“Hey,” she said, her gaze moving from person to person.

Tina moved to her and kissed her cheek before helping Bette out of her messenger bag.

Forged in Fire: Chapter 27

On Wednesday morning, Bette popped a few tablets of ibuprofen and swallowed them down with the stale coffee in her paper cup. Her neck was stiff, and her head was throbbing. She rubbed the bridge between her eyes and was suddenly met with an unbidden thought:

I need a bump or two. That’ll get me going and wake me up.

Her eyes shot open and she sat straight up in her office chair. It was happening all over again. The liquor to unwind or forget. The coke to wake up and function.

Shit. Not again. How the hell did I get here so fast? she wondered.

Bette thought back on the past few days. She’d managed not to drink most of the day on Sunday and was loving and attentive to Tina when she’d arrived home. The depth of concern in the soft hazel pools had run deep and reflected devotion.

That killed Bette. The power of her fiancé’s love was a double-edged sword. It soothed many of Bette’s ills, yet made her feel unworthy and inadequate.

The trust in Tina’s gaze was imprinted in Bette’s mind. And it was what she wanted to forget when she sipped alcohol in the darkness, after Tina had fallen asleep. At first, she felt guilty and then the liquor eased away the guilt, reminding her that it was human to drink to relax and unwind.

When the goodness of the alcohol was warmly swimming through her, she hid the bottle under her side of the bed and pulled Tina into her arms, finally falling into a deep sleep. She’d risen before her lover and taken the bottle with her to the bathroom, taking a few sips before she showered. The bottle ended up under the sink, behind a few bottles of cleanser.

She’d brushed and gargled, hoping she didn’t reek of alcohol. And then she’d quickly kissed Tina goodbye, hoping to escape before the intensity of her lover’s scrutiny exposed all of her secrets. After that, she’d continued to dance, playing the role of sober fiancé and self-medicating addict. It had amazed her just how quickly she’d adapted to sneaking around and lying to Tina. Stashing bottles in the house and even at work. Convincing herself step-by-step that each minor action was acceptable.

Forged in Fire: Chapter 26

It was Bette’s belly that woke her at 3 am on Saturday morning. She jumped up and raced to the bathroom, confused when she didn’t recognize her surroundings in the dimly lit room. Her foot hit the corner of a table and she nearly fell, but Alice caught her. Shoving a wastebasket in her face as she rubbed Bette’s back.

It felt as if everything Bette had eaten for the last 2 weeks was now purging itself. Her head throbbed and her mouth felt furry. She sat down on the couch, holding the wastebasket in her hands, her head bent over the opening as her stomach heaved. Alice sat beside her, holding her hair back.

“Let it out,” said Alice.

Bette didn’t need any encouragement. When she was done heaving, she gasped for breath, her head sweaty. She felt hot and sticky. She placed the wastebasket on the floor and closed her eyes, leaning back against the couch.

“Alice, where am I?” she asked.

“You’re at my place. On my couch.”

“What happened? I feel like shit,” she said.

Alice sighed. “You had a rough night.”

“How rough?” asked Bette.

“You got drunk. Extremely drunk. And then you passed out when we got back here.”

Bette’s head was throbbing, and her heart was racing. “No, God. Oh my God. I don’t…I don’t even remember drinking. I don’t remember anything past us going into Rainbow Room. How much did I drink?”

Alice shrugged. “I don’t know. We were having a good time. I got up to dance, when I got back to our table, you were tipsy. I tried to stop you from drinking, but you were not having it.”

Bette held her pounding head in her hands, tears in her eyes. “Oh shit.”

“I know it looks bad now, but it happens, Bette. Sometimes we all fall,” said Alice.

Bette was sobbing softly. “I fucked up. I really fucked up. And I don’t even remember it. Alice, what else did I do?”

Alice winced and looked away.

“What? What did I do?” asked Bette.

Alice rubbed her neck and replied quietly. “You danced pretty close to this one chick. She was all in your face. I kept telling her you weren’t single. She didn’t seem to care.”