She's the Drug That I Need

You have got to be fucking kidding me right?” Sarah yelled at Seth in disbelief.

“What? I think it’s a good idea.” He retorted.

“Why in God’s name would you think that?” she yelled.

“Because it’s the perfect solution.” He replied “Brian wants you to meet Melissa, I would like to meet her as well…”

“Why do you want to meet her?” she interrupted.

“Because, in case you’ve failed to notice, I’m a big part of not only your life, but Jenni’s as well and I would like to be involved in these things.” he replied his voice softening slightly.

Sarah sighed, realising he made a good point, “So you want me to invite them to lunch?”

“Yeah, that way we both get to meet her and if everything goes okay, we could introduce her to Jenni as well then.” He replied.

“And just where would my daughter be while we’re having lunch?” she asked.

“With my mom.” He replied with a smile. “No, it’s still early, why don’t you call Brian and see if they’re available tomorrow?”

With a sigh she nodded, taking out her cell phone and finding Brian’s number.

“Is Jenni okay?” he asked as soon as the call connected. She couldn’t help but chuckle at his greeting.

“She’s fine.” She said, hearing a breath of relief on the other end of the line. “I was actually calling to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.” Brian replied, his voice calmer.

“Um, well Seth and I were wondering if you and Melissa would like to join us for lunch tomorrow.” she said.

“Yeah?” Brian sounded shocked at her offer.

“Yeah, um, well we thought it would be a good opportunity to for us to get to know her and if everything goes okay maybe she could meet Jenni too.” she said finding herself chewing on her lower lip.

“Um, sure that’ll be cool. Let me just check with Mel.” He replied. Sarah heard him talking on the other end of the line, his voice slightly muffled as if his hand was covering the mouth piece of his phone. Then she heard a soft female voice replying positively before Brian’s voice was heard clearly again. “Yeah she’s good with that. what time and where?”

“Um, shall we say here at one?” she replied.

“Sure, yeah that sounds great. See you then.” He replied cheerfully.

“Yep. Bye.” She replied simply before ending the call.

“Everything sorted?” Seth asked walking back into the room.

“Yeah, they’re meeting here at one.” She replied with a half smile.

“Cool.” He replied simply, a smile on his face.

“Yeah.” She replied, not sharing his enthusiasm.

~*~

Sarah felt on edge as she pottered around the kitchen, making sure everything was ready for their guests when they arrived. She listened carefully for the sound of a car pulling up onto the driveway and kept walking into the living room to look out of the window.

Brian and Melissa would be arriving any minute and Seth was still over at his moms dropping off Jenni for an hour or two. She sighed, stirring the pasta for what must have been the hundredth time in the past ten minutes and made her way into the living room, over to the window. She hadn’t realised that she was chewing her nails until she felt her teeth nip at her skin.

Cursing under her breath, she shoved her hands into her pockets, watching as a familiar car pulled up on the driveway. As Seth stepped out of the Audi, he looked up at her and gave a wave. She smiled back at him, watching as he walked up the few steps to the front door, turning to face him as he walked into the house.

“Have you been stood there since I left?” he asked with a small chuckle.

Sarah ignored his question, turning her attention back to the window where another familiar car was pulling up outside the house. Suddenly she felt her heart rate quicken as her eyes met Brian’s as he got out of the car, giving her a small wave. Her eyes then shifted to the woman getting out of the passenger side. She was tall, blonde, and beautiful and as Brian took her hand in his and kissed her cheek Sarah felt a pang of jealousy push through her body.

As Seth opened the door to greet them, Sarah tried to push that feeling away knowing that she had no right to feel like that. She had made her choice. She had chosen to be with Seth and Brian was free to date whomever he wanted to.

She forced a smile to her lips as Brian introduced Melissa to her and Seth. Holding her hand out she said, “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” She replied with a shy smile.

“Um, I wasn’t sure what you liked, but I hope pasta is okay?” Sarah said with a smile as she retracted her hand.

“Pasta’s good, thank you.” Melissa replied.

“In that case then if you’d like to take a seat at the table I’ll start dishing up. Seth, drinks please.” She replied leading the way into the kitchen.

“Of course sweetie. What would you guys like to drink?”

As Sarah entered the kitchen she breathed a sigh of relief, quickly collecting herself as she started to dish out the four bowls of pasta.

As they ate lunch and talked casually, learning that Melissa was a friend of Leana’s who had met while she was a dancer, a job she had done to pay her way through nursing school, Sarah couldn’t help but notice how happy Brian looked. Another surge of jealousy hit her as she realised that that was one thing she’d never experienced with Brian.

Sure they’d had fun together on those odd occasions when they would meet up, and the sex had always been fantastic, but they had never had much more of a relationship than that.
They had never dated, eaten lunch together, been introduced to family members, and held his hand as they walked along the beach. And she never would. Not with Brian.

They had been friends with benefits and now he was the father of her daughter. Nothing more. And that thought sent a saddened wave through her body. He had wanted more. She could have had that with him if she’d been brave enough to follow her heart when he had told her how he felt about her before the wedding. Now that chance was gone. She was married to Seth and he was moving on, finding happiness with a beautiful, smart, caring woman. Melissa was just the kind of woman Brian deserved.

Feeling tears well in her eyes she quickly excused herself and headed for the bathroom. Locking the door behind her she stood in front of the sink, staring at herself in the mirror. Was this really what she felt? Was she just sad that she’d never had a proper relationship with Brian? The man who was Jenni’s father.

Thinking about it she had never had a relationship like that. Not even with Seth. Not on her side of things anyway. Her and Seth had just…merged together while she was pregnant. She had been new to the city, scared and alone and Seth had been there to help her through. He had fallen for her from the start and was more than willing, growing to love him over time.

With a sigh, she wiped the tears from her eyes careful not to smudge her make up. whatever she was feeling she had to forget about it and push it out of her mind. she was with Seth and happy just as Brian was with Melissa.

Taking a deep breath she left the bathroom and made her way back to the kitchen. “You okay babe?” Seth asked.

“Yeah fine.” She replied “so how about I go get Jenni so you can meet her?”

“That’ll be lovely.” Melissa said with a smile. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“I’ll be back in five.” she said as she turned to leave the room.

“Daddy’s car!” Jenni yelled excitedly as she and Sarah turned onto the driveway, the toddler letting go of her mother’s hand.

Sarah couldn’t help but smile as she watched her daughter scramble up the stairs towards the front door. she caught up with her easily, opening the door for her and watching as she raced in calling for her dad.

“Hey princess.” He said as he stepped through the doorway of kitchen into the living room, scooping her up into his arms. “You okay?”

“Yep I been with Nana Lucy.” She replied with a beaming smile, pulling her self closer to him, her eyes weary as Melissa appeared in the doorway. “Who’s that?”

Brian turned to face Melissa, a smile on his face, “Sweetie, this is Melissa. Mel, this is my baby girl Jenni.”

“Daddy I not a baby, I a big girl.” She stated before Melissa could greet her.

Brian chuckled, “Yeah I know.”

“It’s nice to meet you Jenni, your daddy has told me all about you.” Melissa said with a smile, stepping closer to them.

“Are you my daddy’s girlfriend?” she asked and again Brian chuckled as Melissa blushed.

“Yeah I am.” She replied with a smile and a nod, her eyes glancing at Brian.

She looked at her thoughtfully for a brief moment before nodding. “Okay.”

“You’re hopefully going to be seeing Melissa a lot from now on if that’s okay.” Brian said.

Again Jenni was silent for a second before nodding her head with a smile. “Okay.” she said as she moved her gaze to Melissa. “You wanna play in my house?”

With a beaming smile she nodded, “Sure.” She said as Jenni slipped from Brian’s grasp.

“Come on.” She said, taking hold of her hand and leading her towards the kitchen.

“I think she made a new friend.” Seth said as the three remaining adults watch them disappear.

Nodding Brian turned to face Sarah, “Thank you, for today; I know it wasn’t easy for you.”

“Don’t worry about it Bri, I’m just glad they’re getting along.” She replied with a smile. “And I’m glad you are happy too.” she added as she walked past him.