I'm the Last One That You'll Ever Remember
Chapter 220: Close Good Girlfriends
During work one day, Gerard trekked down to the back room on the ground floor where the offices were. He had missed some calls from Masika and reminded himself to return them when he got some time to himself. It was his first break of the day, and so here he stood among rows of shelves containing dusty old books, calling her right back. “What do you want?”
“Good morning to you too, asshole.” Masika cheerfully greeted him back as she drove about on some errands while her fiance was preoccupied with the Killjoys. “Come have lunch with me today at the cafe in your bookstore. I won’t take no for an answer.”
“That’s too bad because my answer to you is to find someone else to go with you.” Gerard countered, not interested in sitting down with her today.
Expecting Gerard to say that, Masika sighed before reminding him. “Need I remind you I’m pregnant with your future niece or nephew?”
With that reminder, Gerard relented to her demand. “I’ll meet you during my lunch break at 12 sharp. Don’t be late.”
________________________________________________________________________________
In the afternoon, Gerard entered the cafe area constructed within the bookstore on his break, his light brown eyes locking on Masika sitting alone at table for two by the large pane windows in the front of the store. She had already ordered a sweet pastry, a sandwich split for two and an ice coffee cupped between her hands. The minute she seemed to sense Gerard coming, a belated smile stretched across her beautiful proportionate face framed by voluminous bouncy curls.
“Hey there, handsome!” Masika greeted him warmly, her beaming smile literally lighting up the room.
“Hey.” Gerard replied back, his tone sounding bothered as he took the empty seat across from hers. The weight of the world was on his shoulders these days, and all he wanted to do was to be left alone to think it all over. But alas, he had to get up everyday to be a husband, a father, and a future Uncle.
“Jesus Christ, what’s up with you today?” Masika questioned him, her smile faltering to be replaced with an arched brow of concern as her brown orbs surveyed the state of him. “You look positively fed the fuck up over something.”
“I’ll let you in as soon as I get my own damn coffee.” Gerard promised her as he rose from his chair to retrieve just that. When he finally got back, he let out a long weary sigh as he sat himself down. Placing his cup on the table, he rubbed both of his hands over his lethargic face, buying some time to figure out where the hell he should begin on his long list of troubles. “Fuck my fucking life, man! Pastel is stressing me the FUCK out!”
Masika waited for Gerard to tally the rest of his burdens to her, only for him to remain silent. Arching her brow even further at him, she prodded on. “Only Pastel? Having a horde of six children all under 5 years old doesn’t add any load to your stress at all? Not even a little?”
Shooting Masika a glare for ever indicating that his six children all under the age of 5 years could ever test his sanity, Gerard boldly flipped her off before getting back to the matter at hand. “ONLY Pastel!”
Receding, Masika held up both hands and retreated from the subject of his swarm of young children. “Alright alright, only Pastel. So fill me in on what’s going on with that psycho bitch lately? I haven’t seen her since she cut me.”
Lord, Gerard did NOT want to have to revive the nightmare Pastel brought upon him. But he needed someone to talk to, and right now out of the only two people he could talk to, one of them was sitting right in front of him. “That fucking bitch broke into my house while were away at Comic-Con.”
“She did what!?” Masika exclaimed, having a hard time dampening her volume around a small, but favorable cafe jammed with customers. Absent-mindedly she slid one half of her sandwich to Gerard who picked it up to take a ravenous bite from it without even realizing how hungry he’d been. Biting back a smile, she slid the other half his way too, but kept her pastry selfishly to herself. “The fucking gall on that motherfucking bitch!”
“Exactly!” Gerard muffled around another bite of Masika’s toasted sandwich which was filled with eggs, ham and cheese. “And she didn’t stop there, Masika. She sprinkled a trail of roses all the way up to our bedroom where she put a bunch of ultrasound photos all over our be-”
Masika watched Gerard abruptly freeze, his light brown eyes going wide as they flew to hers. At first, she didn’t know what was wrong, until it dawned on her he didn’t remember if he had informed her of Pastel’s pregnancy in the first place or not. Dismissing that particular part with a wave of her hand, Masika reassured him where her allegiance was. “Don’t care, Gee. Just continue. She put a bunch of her pictures on your bed? What the fuck for? Was she hoping Frank would be the first to find them?”
Relieved that Pastel’s pregnancy wouldn’t rob him of an ally in Masika, especially when it turned out he really needed someone to vent to about this, Gerard moved on. “That’s my guess.”
“Good lord, that woman has completely gone off the rail!” Masika whispered with a shake of her head, not believing the balls on Pastel. “I mean, breaking into your home to set you up to losing Frank who I’m imagining would have a problem with all this if he found out!? Jesus Christ!”
“And he would too.” Gerard confirmed with a nod as he leaned closer to her from across the table, the last piece of the first half of his sandwich now being chewed in his mouth and the other half being plucked up to be devoured next. “And Masika, that isn’t all of it.”
“Fuck me…do I even want to know the rest?” Masika lamented, her brows furrowed together as she slumped back in her chair. No matter what was about to come out of Gerard’s mouth next, she knew nothing in the world could prepare her for it.
“I don’t give a fuck if you don’t. You’re gonna hear it anyway.” Gerard warned her as he took a bite from his sandwich. “Before she broke into my house, she dropped by in the flesh UNANNOUNCED!”
“Unannounced!?” Masika hissed through gritted teeth, her hands curling into fists on her lap.
“Unannounced!” Gerard echoed, stabbing the end of his sandwich he’d bitten off in her direction for emphasis. “To tell my motherfucking husband herself that she was pregnant with my baby!”
“The balls on this woman, Gee! The enormous mammoth-sized BALLS on this fucking woman!” Masika vented back, her fists rising so she could shake them up in the air, her furious brown eyes glancing anywhere but at him to shed some of her rising anger. She couldn’t imagine being in Gerard’s place, and how she would react if Michael was her gay husband. “Where the fuck does she get the nerve!?”
“And don’t get me started on what happened recently!” Gerard complained, falling back against his chair as he rolled his eyes for a much needed break from it all.
“Oh hell no, you’ve come this far! You gotta finish the rest!” Masika stirred him, demanding all the information though she didn’t needed to hear anymore. “Don’t leave me hanging, Gee!”
“She mailed a pregnancy stick to my fucking husband telling him the baby was mine!” Gee concluded, putting the cherry on top of his life’s predicaments, and crossing his arms over his chest, his sandwich long gone leaving only his half-full coffee to remain.
Dropping her face in her hands, Masika shook her head from side to side in disbelief. “God, I shouldn’t have asked. I can’t believe this bitch!”
“I’ve been picking up the mail ever since that day, Masika.” Gerard lamented like a tormented woman would to her close good girlfriends. “And do you know how many she’s sent since then?”
“Maybe 10?” Masika estimated, lifting her head back up to wince at the look on Gerard’s face.
“Wrong. 30. In a single week alone.” Gerard corrected, staring at her hard. One looking at them would assume Masika had done something wrong to the guy with how aggravated he appeared.
Shaking her head to herself, Masika averted her eyes from him, feeling bad. Technically, Gerard wouldn’t be in this situation had it not been for him seeking out a way to get over Frank by sleeping with someone else. It was totally his fault for knocking the woman up! But knowing the older Way like Masika did, Gerard would’ve already expressed to Pastel that he didn’t want any involvement with her child.
“Good morning to you too, asshole.” Masika cheerfully greeted him back as she drove about on some errands while her fiance was preoccupied with the Killjoys. “Come have lunch with me today at the cafe in your bookstore. I won’t take no for an answer.”
“That’s too bad because my answer to you is to find someone else to go with you.” Gerard countered, not interested in sitting down with her today.
Expecting Gerard to say that, Masika sighed before reminding him. “Need I remind you I’m pregnant with your future niece or nephew?”
With that reminder, Gerard relented to her demand. “I’ll meet you during my lunch break at 12 sharp. Don’t be late.”
________________________________________________________________________________
In the afternoon, Gerard entered the cafe area constructed within the bookstore on his break, his light brown eyes locking on Masika sitting alone at table for two by the large pane windows in the front of the store. She had already ordered a sweet pastry, a sandwich split for two and an ice coffee cupped between her hands. The minute she seemed to sense Gerard coming, a belated smile stretched across her beautiful proportionate face framed by voluminous bouncy curls.
“Hey there, handsome!” Masika greeted him warmly, her beaming smile literally lighting up the room.
“Hey.” Gerard replied back, his tone sounding bothered as he took the empty seat across from hers. The weight of the world was on his shoulders these days, and all he wanted to do was to be left alone to think it all over. But alas, he had to get up everyday to be a husband, a father, and a future Uncle.
“Jesus Christ, what’s up with you today?” Masika questioned him, her smile faltering to be replaced with an arched brow of concern as her brown orbs surveyed the state of him. “You look positively fed the fuck up over something.”
“I’ll let you in as soon as I get my own damn coffee.” Gerard promised her as he rose from his chair to retrieve just that. When he finally got back, he let out a long weary sigh as he sat himself down. Placing his cup on the table, he rubbed both of his hands over his lethargic face, buying some time to figure out where the hell he should begin on his long list of troubles. “Fuck my fucking life, man! Pastel is stressing me the FUCK out!”
Masika waited for Gerard to tally the rest of his burdens to her, only for him to remain silent. Arching her brow even further at him, she prodded on. “Only Pastel? Having a horde of six children all under 5 years old doesn’t add any load to your stress at all? Not even a little?”
Shooting Masika a glare for ever indicating that his six children all under the age of 5 years could ever test his sanity, Gerard boldly flipped her off before getting back to the matter at hand. “ONLY Pastel!”
Receding, Masika held up both hands and retreated from the subject of his swarm of young children. “Alright alright, only Pastel. So fill me in on what’s going on with that psycho bitch lately? I haven’t seen her since she cut me.”
Lord, Gerard did NOT want to have to revive the nightmare Pastel brought upon him. But he needed someone to talk to, and right now out of the only two people he could talk to, one of them was sitting right in front of him. “That fucking bitch broke into my house while were away at Comic-Con.”
“She did what!?” Masika exclaimed, having a hard time dampening her volume around a small, but favorable cafe jammed with customers. Absent-mindedly she slid one half of her sandwich to Gerard who picked it up to take a ravenous bite from it without even realizing how hungry he’d been. Biting back a smile, she slid the other half his way too, but kept her pastry selfishly to herself. “The fucking gall on that motherfucking bitch!”
“Exactly!” Gerard muffled around another bite of Masika’s toasted sandwich which was filled with eggs, ham and cheese. “And she didn’t stop there, Masika. She sprinkled a trail of roses all the way up to our bedroom where she put a bunch of ultrasound photos all over our be-”
Masika watched Gerard abruptly freeze, his light brown eyes going wide as they flew to hers. At first, she didn’t know what was wrong, until it dawned on her he didn’t remember if he had informed her of Pastel’s pregnancy in the first place or not. Dismissing that particular part with a wave of her hand, Masika reassured him where her allegiance was. “Don’t care, Gee. Just continue. She put a bunch of her pictures on your bed? What the fuck for? Was she hoping Frank would be the first to find them?”
Relieved that Pastel’s pregnancy wouldn’t rob him of an ally in Masika, especially when it turned out he really needed someone to vent to about this, Gerard moved on. “That’s my guess.”
“Good lord, that woman has completely gone off the rail!” Masika whispered with a shake of her head, not believing the balls on Pastel. “I mean, breaking into your home to set you up to losing Frank who I’m imagining would have a problem with all this if he found out!? Jesus Christ!”
“And he would too.” Gerard confirmed with a nod as he leaned closer to her from across the table, the last piece of the first half of his sandwich now being chewed in his mouth and the other half being plucked up to be devoured next. “And Masika, that isn’t all of it.”
“Fuck me…do I even want to know the rest?” Masika lamented, her brows furrowed together as she slumped back in her chair. No matter what was about to come out of Gerard’s mouth next, she knew nothing in the world could prepare her for it.
“I don’t give a fuck if you don’t. You’re gonna hear it anyway.” Gerard warned her as he took a bite from his sandwich. “Before she broke into my house, she dropped by in the flesh UNANNOUNCED!”
“Unannounced!?” Masika hissed through gritted teeth, her hands curling into fists on her lap.
“Unannounced!” Gerard echoed, stabbing the end of his sandwich he’d bitten off in her direction for emphasis. “To tell my motherfucking husband herself that she was pregnant with my baby!”
“The balls on this woman, Gee! The enormous mammoth-sized BALLS on this fucking woman!” Masika vented back, her fists rising so she could shake them up in the air, her furious brown eyes glancing anywhere but at him to shed some of her rising anger. She couldn’t imagine being in Gerard’s place, and how she would react if Michael was her gay husband. “Where the fuck does she get the nerve!?”
“And don’t get me started on what happened recently!” Gerard complained, falling back against his chair as he rolled his eyes for a much needed break from it all.
“Oh hell no, you’ve come this far! You gotta finish the rest!” Masika stirred him, demanding all the information though she didn’t needed to hear anymore. “Don’t leave me hanging, Gee!”
“She mailed a pregnancy stick to my fucking husband telling him the baby was mine!” Gee concluded, putting the cherry on top of his life’s predicaments, and crossing his arms over his chest, his sandwich long gone leaving only his half-full coffee to remain.
Dropping her face in her hands, Masika shook her head from side to side in disbelief. “God, I shouldn’t have asked. I can’t believe this bitch!”
“I’ve been picking up the mail ever since that day, Masika.” Gerard lamented like a tormented woman would to her close good girlfriends. “And do you know how many she’s sent since then?”
“Maybe 10?” Masika estimated, lifting her head back up to wince at the look on Gerard’s face.
“Wrong. 30. In a single week alone.” Gerard corrected, staring at her hard. One looking at them would assume Masika had done something wrong to the guy with how aggravated he appeared.
Shaking her head to herself, Masika averted her eyes from him, feeling bad. Technically, Gerard wouldn’t be in this situation had it not been for him seeking out a way to get over Frank by sleeping with someone else. It was totally his fault for knocking the woman up! But knowing the older Way like Masika did, Gerard would’ve already expressed to Pastel that he didn’t want any involvement with her child.