Part 1: Old Flames & New Bridges

Vision cloudy Erica wiped her eyes to keep the tears from coming down. Alone she sat across from a playground watching the children at play. Tightening her arms around her stomach she wondered what her child would have looked like. Today was the day she was suppose to give birth not sitting in a park wondering what could have been. Ever since the miscarriage her and her husband had been trying over and over again. Each failed attempt hit their relationship like a boulder tearing away at their foundation making them drift further and further apart.

Lost in her thoughts Erica failed to realize she was joined by someone. Before her eyes could register who it was the woman’s voice instantly became familiar. “What are you doing here?” Cassidy asked with the biggest smile on her face. “Just getting some fresh air” Erica’s voiced cracked in response. “I’m waiting for Winston to show up we are suppose to be having a picnic. I think he is finally going to pop the question.” “Congrats..” “That’s not all, I have some news to tell him as well.” Erica looked at her waiting for the answer. “I’m pregnant!” Cassidy squeaked with joy. Instantly Erica stood to her feet with a pang in her gut. “Where are you going?” “I need to get home. Talk later?” “Sure.”

Erica clenched her jaw she made her way to the car. Out of all the days Cassidy had to spill this particular news. Just in reach of the parking lot Winston pulled up. As soon as he got out he headed right to her. “Long time no see.” “Goodbye Winston”. He reached for her arm pulling her back to face him. “What’s going on with you?” She pulled her arm from his grip. “Nothing, I ran into your girlfriend.” “I’m not worried about her I asked what was wrong with you.” “ Just some things going on is all...I need to get home.” He stepped in front of her. “Ever since we broke up you don’t talk to me anymore...I miss you.”

“You and I both know Winston that we don’t work, besides we have both moved on.” “I didn’t move on that’s you, you broke up with me... and then I find out you went and got married.” “Who fault is that. You up and left without a saying a word goodbye and you thought I was suppose to wait for you.” “For a while, I told you my mother was sick and she needed my help.” “I’ve heard the story already….besides it’s too late” She waved her hand with her wedding ring in front of him. “Don’t remind me. We will be together again soon.” “The misses is waiting for you to pop the question.” “The question?” “Marriage…” “No I only asked her here because I wanted to take a break for a while. I wasn’t joking when I said I miss you.” He grabbed her hand looking into her eyes. For a moment the feelings she once had for him burned deep within her gut igniting her all over. “Well it should be one awkward conversation daddy to be.” With Winston frozen in place Erica let his hands go and continued to walk to her car. “Have a nice day” she said before getting into her car.

Trevor sat in his home office looking into space. Dazed it took him a few moments to realize that the doorbell had rung. Creaking the door open slightly the sun shined in encasing his friend Kane. “Do you remember the part where you invited me to come over?”. Trevor opened the door all the way to let him in. “I had a long day is all. I think all the stress from work, home, and you are getting to me.” Kane followed him into the office closing the door behind him. “I think it’s other things causing you grief” he held up a small bag with two pills in it. “Those are my escape….” Trevor went to grab for the bag. “With everything comes a price you know that.” Kane put the pills back in his pocket and slowly walked over to him. Not breaking eye contact their lips within a whisper’s touch of each other lingered for a moment before a full passionate kiss consumed them. With lust devouring them they quickly removed each other’s clothes before collapsing onto the desk behind them.

Erica pulled into the driveway still shaken over the encounter with Cassidy and Winston. It was to early in the day for that kind of emotional wave. Taking a moment to calm herself before another wave with her home life she slowly got out the car to gather her things. As she fished for her keys the front door opened and out walked a familiar face. “Kane...What are you doing here?” “Just discussing some business projects with Trevor but he seems out of it these days.” The knots in her stomach got a little tighter. “I will see if I can talk to him.” “Thanks.” Walking inside to drop her things at the door she waited until Kane drove away to close the door. Dreading what was to come next she turned slowly to knock on the office door. “Love I’m home….are you feeling ok?”. Only silence responded. Giving up she made her way upstairs to lay down from her tiring day.

In euphoria Trevor slumped in his chair  finally feeling a sense of bliss. Curse his wife for coming home earlier than she normally would. Although he couldn’t get his sexual fix his high was enough. His cell rang. Kane’s name flooded the screen. “Hello?” “You did not tell me your wife would be coming home so early. I hate that we had to end things.” “Me too….next time.” “You took the pill already didn’t you?” “How did you know?” “I will message you later when you are down from your high.” Trevor held the phone a bit after Kane hung up before placing it on the table still connected. Finally he could get back to being happy.

Later that night

Strong Vibrations under Erica’s pillow woke her. Blindly searching for the phone she cracked a sleepy eye at the seemingly luminescent light on her phone to see it was midnight. Who would be calling this late? Before she could answer the phone went dead only to ring again soon after. “Hello…” She said with sleep still in her voice. A frantic Cassidy was on the other end. “You have to help me!” Erica sat up. “What’s going on?” “It’s Winston! I told him that I was pregnant and he broke up with me!....I mean how does that happen?” “Calm down and tell me what he said.” “Well I was waiting for him the whole time to ask the question but he didn’t so I thought that telling him my news would prompt him to ask the question but after I told him he said that he didn’t want to be with me anymore and walked off.” Another wave of emotions. Rubbing her hand over her face trying to wake up she sighed not knowing what to say. “You have to talk some sense into him please.I’m not raising this child on my own. I love him….” “Right now?” “Please I can’t sleep or do anything until we figure this out.” Why did she have to be brought into the situation. Erica felt Cassidy often times forgot that Winston was her ex. “Let me get dressed. After I talk to him I will call you ok.” “Thank you” Cassidy hung up. Erica flopped back onto her pillows frustrated. Leave it to Winston to have her clean up his mess. With heavy feet she got out of bed to go see him.

Looking at Winston’s house brought back a flood of memories. A happier carefree time indeed. As she made her way to the door she could hear jazz coming from inside. Ringing the doorbell Winston opened the door quickly as if knowing she was coming. “Let me guess Cassidy sent you?” he closed the door behind her. “What in your right mind would possess you break up with her after she told you she was pregnant?” Erica took a seat on the couch eyeing the candles on the table. “I freaked out….I don’t want to have children with her.” He took a seat next to her. “Why not?” “You know why. I always thought my first child would be with you.” Anger grew in the pit of her stomach only to spew out her mouth. “I don’t know how many times we been through this Winston. What we had is over and it was over a long time ago. You broke up with me when you left and that’s it.” He didn’t say a word pondering what to say next. Instead he placed a hand on her thigh. She wanted to move it but the sensation felt too good. Trevor hadn’t touched her in a while and she was missing the attention. “I know you feel it too Erica. I’m not in this alone...What we had was real.” Erica didn’t want to admit how unhappy she was currently in her marriage. “We...can’t” she said between broken breathes as he moved his hand closer up her thigh close to motherland. “Why not?” he inched closer to her on the couch. “I’m married and Cassidy is depending on me to do the right thing and talk to you.” His hand now sliding over her other set of lips. A moan escaped her mouth. “If that were the case then you wouldn’t be here right now and would be home with your husband. You wanted to come over here….don’t you remember this?” Removing his hand he gently pushed her down until her back hit the couch and he was on top of her. Slowly he slid his hand up under her jacket and shirt making his way under her bra to pinch her nipple. Betrayed her body surrendered under his touch greedily loving every flick of the nipple. In lust he leaned in to kiss her neck. So wrong…..but it felt so good. She needed this. He stopped only to look into her eyes. “I want you Erica.” Not able to speak a word she nodded her head in response so he leaned in and softly began to kiss her lips. Not being able to hold back anymore she kissed him full force wanting him to explore every inch of her body once more.

Early morning

Trevor woke still in his office chair to find that he had slept for the past eight hours. 3:00am. Standing to his feet he removed his tie. With one last pill remaining he decided he save it for later. Swiftly he put it into his desk drawer before leaving. Hopefully Erica wouldn’t notice his absence. Opening the door a soft light danced from the living room. Curious he followed the source of the light to find Erica sitting in front of the fire place with a wine glass. “What are you doing up at this hour?” he asked taking a seat across from her. After taking a sip of wine she looked at him for a moment before responding. “Couldn’t sleep. What about you?” “I fell asleep doing some paperwork.” She laughed.

Trevor puzzled couldn’t figure out what was funny. As if reading his mind she asked a question. “What happened to us?” He looked at her big beautiful brown eyes to petite nose and full lips remembering how gorgeous she was. “Life. From working, your writing, and the stress of having a baby…” “We lost ourselves” she finished for him. “That’s what I think.” Downing the rest of her wine she put the glass down to wrap herself even more in the blanket that had been draped across her knees. The mere sensation of moving the blanket sent a quiver up her spine from the time she had with Winston a few hours back. “We use to be crazy about each other” he said interrupting her dirty thoughts. Even though Erica had some unresolved feelings for Winston she still had feelings for Trevor...after all that was her husband. “How do we get things back like they use to be?” Hearing her question sparked an idea in Trevor. “We move” “Move?”. He figured a new town could only mean a fresh start for them. Kane was like a drug himself slowly consuming his every thought and move. He needed a break from Kane so he could focus on his wife that he still loved. “If you think about it there is nothing holding us here. I hate my job, we have some money saved up, we could start new and spend some time with each other.” A break from Winston creeping back into her heart, mind, and panties would be a nice change. Why not? “When did you want to move?” she asked liking the idea more the more she thought about it. “Pick any place other than Willow Creek I can start packing tomorrow.” For the rest of the night they cuddle up next to each other watching the fire while in deep thought until they fell asleep.