I Never Thought I'd Be Stuck in This Mess

Amara’s P.O.V
A week had come and past and I couldn’t believe it was already Thanksgiving. I was currently standing in a kitchen, helping cook the food. I was working on the sweet potatoes as Alex kept an eye on the turkey. Kaylee would have been more help than her brother, but he didn’t want her to overwork herself. I giggled as he looked on confused. “Is it almost done?” I shrugged and handed him the meat thermometer. He pouted but opened the oven and put it where I instructed him to. We both looked and I shook my head.

“It’ll probably be another hour,” I told him as I checked on everything else. I walked out to check on the children and laughed as I saw Aiden looking at a book and pointing things out to Emma. I looked over at Kaylee who was sitting on the couch and watching TV. “Dinner won’t be for another hour, is that alright?” I asked knowing the answer. She nodded and went back to watching the random show. I was about to walk back into the kitchen when I heard my phone ringing to Brian’s solo in Afterlife.

I walked over and picked it up without thinking about it. “Hi Brian,” I walked into the kitchen and pushed Alex out. I motioned that I’d take care of everything and shooed him towards the living room.

“Hey Mara, just wanted to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving,” I could hear the smile in his voice. “So what are you doing for today?” He asked. I was just about to answer when I heard Mandy’s voice.

“How do I look?” She sounded like she was trying to be flirty and seductive. I rolled my eyes. The tone Brian answered with told me he was rolling his eyes too.

“You look fine. I’m on th-,” She cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

“Fine. I just look fine?!” She sounded really pissed off. I wouldn’t blame her, except she can be really overdramatic at times. And then on top of that, she interrupted our conversation. And finally, she’s been a bitch from what I’ve heard from Brian.

“Yes. What do you want me to say? You look great? You look beautiful. You’d look nicer if you’d made something for dinner. Everyone else did,” He sounded angry about that. “It makes us look not only bad, but lazy,” He stated and I could tell he was glaring at her.

“I’m sorry that I’m not perfect,” She screeched at him. I flinched at the loudness as I looked over the food that was cooking. I bit my lip, I felt bad for listening in on a private conversation but I hadn’t spoken to Brian in a few weeks.

“I’m sorry that you’re an untrusting bitch!” He exclaimed at her with a venomous tone. I flinched at it.

“Excuse me?” She screeched with a hateful tone of her own.

“You’re always assuming that I’m cheating. You’ve gone through my phone and asked me about each and every girl’s name in there…Even some guys’ names! And I still don’t understand how you could be so hateful towards your best friend,” He growled. My eyes widened. Why the hell does he have to bring me into this?

“I was not hateful towards her!” I rolled my eyes as she went on. “And it’s not my fault you have a million girls’ numbers in your phone!” I rolled my eyes again. It doesn’t matter who she dates, there will always be other girls’ numbers in the guy’s phone. “You’re the one who slept with your best friend. I have every reason to be concerned,” She reasoned. I felt the color drain from my face. How could she bring up that.

I heard Brian growl angrily. “That. Was. Fucking. Low,” I could see him shaking in anger.

“It’s all true. That’s the only reason you’re getting angry,” Mandy stated in her ‘I’m Better Than You’ voice. I rolled my eyes and felt my own rage growing.

“It was a one night stand. You’ve had plenty I’m sure,” He hissed. I could see the cogs working in his head, if Mandy was going to play low, why couldn’t he?

“Yeah, but never with my best guy friend,” She stated. I could picture her nose turned up in the air. I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, well if you’re so jealous of Amara, maybe we shouldn’t be together. She’s my best friend. I’ve never looked at her like that other than that night. She’s a beautiful woman, but she’s not the woman for me. I thought you were, I guess I was wrong. Again,” He stated in a dark whisper. I felt my eyes widen. I didn’t want to be the reason they broke up.

“You’re doing it again. Choosing Amara over me,” Mandy stated cruelly. I heard Brian scoff.

“And you wonder why I’m saying what I’m saying. This is fucking ridiculous. If you don’t love me just say so, so we can finish this,” He stated harshly. I heard Mandy scream in frustration before hearing a door slam. I was about to speak up when Brian spoke quickly and quietly. “I have to go. Talk to you later,” He hung up without another word and left me holding the phone to my ear like an idiot. I pulled it away and looked at it with a frown on my face.

I put my phone down and went back to working on Thanksgiving dinner. I bit my lip and calmed myself down. If they broke up, it would be more than what had happened between Brian and I seven years ago. I finished preparing dinner and called Alex in to help with the turkey. We got the food on the table and got the children in their high chair and booster seat. We joined hands and Alex spoke softly.

“Thank you for the food, all of the good and the bad that has helped us grow stronger. Thank you for new friends and for old. And thank you for the wonderful year so far. Please bring Jake home in one piece,” Alex finished softly with a squeeze to Kaylee’s hand. I smiled at his over-protectiveness. He was a good brother, that’s for sure.

I prepared Aiden’s food first, cutting the pieces of turkey into small pieces. I laughed as Aiden smiled excitedly. Emma was giggling as Alex offered her some food as well. Kaylee watched the two children happily as she dug in as well. Aiden looked up at me concerned for a moment before questioning quietly. “Uncle Brian okay?” I looked over at him shocked and let out a small, uncertain laugh.

“Yeah. He’ll talk to you next time he calls,” I promised softly. I would make sure of that.

We finished dinner in about an hour and were sitting around the table talking and laughing when my phone went off again. I let out a soft sigh and spoke. “Sorry, that’s Brian. Normally I’d just call him back later but I heard something pretty bad earlier,” I admitted when I stood up. I walked over to my phone and opened it. “Hello?”

“Hey, sorry about hanging up earlier. Had to attempt to cool off and try to salvage my marriage,” I could hear the animosity in his voice. Where ever he was, Mandy was close. “I don’t think it’s going to last. Just thought I’d call and apologize. I’ll talk to you later,” He stated. I could hear the wariness in his voice.

“Alright. I’ll talk to you later,” I stated as we both hung up. I walked back to the table and shrugged before taking a seat. We went back to talking and laughing. All in all, the only bad part about this Thanksgiving was listening to an argument between my best friend and the witch who used to be my friend.