Break You Down

Moving Day

"Hello?" I answered cheerfully, seeing Elias's name appear on my phone. I had just texted him a long message about wishing we could spend the holiday break together, and asking him when he would be free to meet up. I wasn't expecting a call right away. I barely snuck out back to answer without my brother noticing.

"Hello? Who the hell is this and why are you texting my husband?"

"Wh-what?" I asked, confused when hearing a venomous woman's voice.

"Listen here, lady. I don't know who you are, but you are clearly not the cleaning lady like you are labeled in my husband's phone. He will not be meeting up with you EVER. Do you understand me? Women like you are pathetic. You see a successful, young, attractive man and all these hussies start coming out of the woodwork. You are not the only one I have had to deal with, honey, and I'm sure you won't be the last. Leave. My. Husband. Alone."

I was left gawking when the phone suddenly cut off. It took me a moment to find the ability to move again. To even think.

He's married. The bastard told me he was divorced, but he was still married?...

No.... She could be lying.... But....

"Lying, s**t-eating, two-timing mother fucker!" I screamed, kicking a pile of snow on the ground. I was still fuming, looking through my tests from the last few days, seeing the short-cryptic one-liners for what they were. I'm such a f*****g i***t.

My phone started going off again. It was his number, and I angrily answered without any hesitation.

"Don't fuckign worry, lady. I have no plans to see your asshole husband again-"

"Brittany, it's me," Elias's voice sounded panicked at the other end of the line. Tears burned my eyes, my heart crushed into a million pieces. "Brittany, I'm so sorry. I-"

"Brittany?! Your mistress is named Brittany, huh?" The woman from before yelled from the background.

Anger quickly replaced the sadness inside of me. "I'm sorry, Professor Miles, but I am spending Christmas with my family. I suggest you get back to your wife and family too."

"Brittany, it's not....It's...."

A small part of me was hoping he would deny everything that woman just told me, but I could tell by his hesitation that he couldn't. She was still screaming at him in the background, though it was getting more and more faint.

"Are you still married?" I asked point blank, wanting to get to the root of all this.

"Brittany, I-"

"QUIT SAYING MY f*****g NAME AND ANSWER ME!" I yelled. "The cleaning lady would like to know if you are still legally married?!"

"Please.... Britt...."

"Yes or no, Professor Miles," I refused to use his first name. "Are you still married?!"

He sighed deeply. "Yes, but I-"

"That's all I needed to know. Your cleaning lady is done," I cut him off, not willing to be the unknowing mistress to my college professor any longer. There were so many red flags leading up to this. He had told me from the start that we were just going to be physical. Nothing more. I let my mind get carried away, deluding myself into thinking he might change his mind over time.

He won't. He has a wife. I was always just going to be the affair partner. I can see that now.

"Brittany, this conversation is not over. You are misunderstanding and do not interrupt me ag-"

"Excuse you!?" I scoffed. "No, this conversation is over. I'm done. So done. And don't you worry. I didn't get attached, since you were just looking for a physical relationship anyway." The steady beeping from call waiting let me know that I had someone on the other line trying to get through. I pulled my phone away for a brief second, huffing at the irony that Chris was choosing this moment to call me. "I'm so unattached, I kept a secret from you too. He's calling me now, so I have got to go. Wish your wife a Merry Christmas for me, and I hope you choke on your egg nog."

"Brittany, don't you-"

I let out a furious growl as I hung up the phone, shrieking into the cold night air. Angry tears were running down my face. Chris was still calling me, but I wasn't going to answer. I said what I said out of anger, not because I was going to give in to my drunken, grief-driven hook-up from months ago. Chris is my brother's friend. Not someone I should have ever slept with in the first place, and I wasn't going to use him now.

No. I really am done with this whole thing. I need to talk to Missy. I think it's time to move back home.

~

Four Months Later.....

Elias:| Call me.

Elias:| Brittany, answer the phone

Elias:| It was just a misunderstanding

Elias:| Please, just let me explain

I grimaced at the thread of unread messages on the lock screen on my phone. I knew there would be a lot when I felt it going off while I was helping Adrian load the boxes I needed in the back of his truck, but I didn’t expect there to be this many. I'm glad I didn't check it then, because I wouldn't have been able to hide the contempt on my face. I had just unblocked the prick and he was already starting up. I haven't opened a single text, a single email, a single anything from him since Christmas day. I'm not going to start now.

Elias:| She was lying, Brittany. It was a lie. Just answer your phone! I......

I rolled my eyes, chucking my phone onto the bed, not wanting to read any more of his lies on the previews of each text message. I'll delete them later without opening them again.

It happened on Christmas day. f*****g Christmas. I don’t believe for a second that she just happened to be with him on the biggest holiday of the year that was meant to be spent with family and only the closest of friends and just happened to see his phone. One of them is lying, and considering he has a track record for it, and I hadn’t even heard of her before, it’s easy to conclude who the liar really is.

“All packed up?” Missy asked, stepping onto the camper where I have lived the past couple of months, ever since Christmas, when I decided to move back home from school which was in Oregon. My brother and sister-in-law have been letting me crash in the camper stored in their garage shed in exchange for free babysitting when they need it. Missy told me to stay as long as I needed to, even without the offer of babysitting, but moving back in with family after being on my own in college for the last few years is hard to adjust to. My brother is too nosy and involved. Plus, seeing him chasing Missy’s tail all the time makes me want to barf. You would think Adrian would have cooled it over the years, especially with a newborn in the house, baby number three, but he was as bad as ever. I don’t know how Missy puts up with him.

“I got the last of what I need,” I nodded to a duffel bag on the ground near the door. “I’ll get the rest when the house is finished. Are you sure you don’t mind storing my stuff here?”

“Of course not,” Missy waved her hand. “You know, you could stay here until the house is completely finished. We really don’t mind.”

“I know,” I smiled thankfully. “I’m eager to get started with my life, you know. I just want to be in some kind of normal without my brother having to wheel my home away to empty the septic tank every week.”

“Yeah,” Missy sighed. “He does get a bit annoying when he does it.”

Adrian goes on and on the rest of the day about how stinky my s**t is and stuff. It could smell like freaking roses and Adrian would still give me crap.

My phone started to buzz against the bare bed, vibrating loud enough to cause both of us to look. I groaned and Missy scowled.

“Why don’t you just change your number? Or block him?”

“I can’t change my number. I’d have to update it with school and too many people since graduation is coming soon. And I did block him. He ended up calling me from the school's phone and I kept answering thinking it was something to do with my diploma. I unblocked him just so he would stop doing that.”

“I could just tell your brother and he would take care of the guy for you,” Missy muttered, picking up my phone and examining the screen when I made no movements to check it. A smirk then spread on her face. “Or maybe we could just move on to this guy instead.” She turned the phone around, showing me who it was.

I rolled my eyes and fell back on the bed, regret filling me all over again. I never should have slept with Chris Finley. No matter how depressed and heart-broken I was feeling, jumping into bed with my brother’s childhood friend was not the answer to my problem, and the dude has been a headache ever since.

Missy giggled and crawled onto the bed beside me. “What’s your excuse for not blocking him?”

I frowned at her. “He’ll just show up here. That's why.”

“Psh,” she waved her hand dismissively. “He shows up for my cooking. Not your company.”

“Bull shit.” He shows up just begging to get his ass kicked. Not for food, no matter how good of a cook my sister-in-law is. I’m surprised Adrian hasn’t caught on yet. My brother is usually observant.

“I guess that is one good thing about moving. Chris can't persistently stalk you by inviting himself over for dinner with Adrian after work every day. He’ll have to get creative,” she giggled. “No one has persistence like Chris. Weaponized persistence. That’s what he has.”

“I don’t even want to imagine what he is going to come up with,” I snorted. As annoying as it is, it is flattering that his persistence is focused on me. It’s unwanted, but it helps my ego after the crappy mistress situation Elias put me in. I feel wanted at least.

My phone started to vibrate in Missy’s hand again. She looked at the screen and then scowled. When I saw her press the answer button, my heart stopped.

“Hello?” she answered in a leveled voice.

“What are you doing?!” I hissed.

I heard the rush of words from Elias at the other end. “Brittany? Finally, I-”

“Guess again, professor. Brittany is busy, and will be busy for the foreseeable future. I would really appreciate it if you would stop harassing her. I would hate to get a restraining order in place. It surely wouldn’t look good for a married man to be served a restraining order while working, especially since it would be coming from a current student. Do me and yourself a favor and leave my sister alone. She is not interested in lying, married men, and you’ve about gotten on my last nerve.”

With that, she hung up, not giving him a chance to respond.

“MISSY!” I huffed, stealing the phone back from her.

“There. Problem solved.”

“Not problem solved! Missy! You could get him fired!”

“So?!” She lifted her chin stubbornly. “He is the one who chose to cheat on his wife with an unsuspecting student of his. He deserves to get fired at this point. If not you, it will be a new student. I’m tempted to report him anyway.”

“He told me he was getting a divorce.”

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “No. He told you he was divorced. Big difference.”

“Still….” Looking back, there were signs. I thought he was being cautious because of his job and me being a student. Not because he was still married.

I’m a f*****g i***t.

“They all say that they’re divorced or getting divorced. He’s not worth it. Don’t worry about getting him in trouble. He is bringing it on himself. Men like him are all the same.”

I know enough about Missy’s parents to understand why she is so up in arms over Elias, but….

I did love the man. I’m an i***t for falling for him, especially when he told me we would never be more than physical partners, and I know he deserves to have his world crashing down. I just don’t want to be the reason for it. I would rather just move on with my life and hope he does the same….

I clutched my phone in my hand, noticing more and more how it wasn’t ringing anymore. Maybe Missy scared him for good.

I don’t know how I feel about that….

“Hey you two,” Adrian stuck his head in the camper. “We’re all loaded up and waiting in the car.”

Missy plopped back down on the bed. “Good job, daddy. Just give us a call when you’re done unloading the boxes too. We’re gonna stay here and take a nap.”

“Oh, no ma’am. You don’t take naps without me.” Adrian got one of those sleazy grins on his face that instantly made me want to gag. He prowled his way to Missy, grabbing her sides and making her giggle.

I took that as my cue to leave. “I’ll be waiting in the car too, you sickos.”

My brother was whispering bull s**t nonsense in Missy’s ear, grinding his body into hers as she laughed uncontrollably. It made me sick but jealous at the same time.

That’s what I wanted. The whole time I was hooking up with Elias Miles, I was wishing for a relationship like this, where we could make others sick with the magnitude of our love. Elias always kept me at arms length, only showing vulnerability when we were in bed.

Now that chapter is over, and I need to move on with my life.

When my phone started to vibrate again in my hand, I couldn’t help myself from feeling that familiar bubble of excitement as I checked it. That bubble burst when Chris’s name showed on the screen.

They came out after what felt like two hours later because of Landon’s whining and Quinton being fussy, but it was probably only ten minutes. Missy’s hair was a mess and my brother had that stupid grin on his face. He got lucky in some sort of way, I’m sure.

“Would you like another reason I am not living with you two a moment longer?” I asked, sliding out of Adrian’s back seat where I was sitting with the boys, trying to keep them calm.

“Because your brother is just too sexy and Missy can’t keep her hands off me?” Adrian smirked, slapping Missy’s ass.

“Gross,” Hailey stuck her tongue out in disgust. “Can I move with you, Aunt Brit?”

“Of course you can, sweetie,” I bent to kiss her nose through the open window of the passenger seat. “I should report them for child abuse, making you see that kind of crap every day.”

“That’s okay,” Hailey giggled. “Daddy said he was going to give me a room at your house so I can just live with you.”

“Did he now?” I looked at Missy and winked.

I asked my brother and sister-in-law to give me a spare room for Hailey when they told me they were buying me a house so I could get all my aunt and niece bonding time with her on the weekends. I may have missed Hailey more than anyone else while living away from home for college. I love my nephews too, but Hailey and I have a special bond and I’ve always been protective of her. Old habits die hard. With all the bull s**t we faced because of Hailey’s biological mother, I tried to fill that void the best way I could until Missy came along and swept our whole family off our feet. She was the mother Hailey needed and the partner my brother deserved. I will always have that special bond with Hailey though.

“Wanna start with a sleepover tonight?!” I asked Hailey excitedly.

“YES!” Hailey threw her hands up in the air.

Adrian drove the kids and I drove Missy and me in my car. I was excited about my new home. I had always planned on moving back home to live with dad, but then he and Roseanne got married just after Christmas at the courthouse and she moved in with him. I could have gotten an apartment or even lived in the camper longer, but Missy didn’t give me a choice in the matter. She said if I didn’t want the house in the long run she could keep it as an investment property and let me live in it rent free in exchange for babysitting and helping with the kids. It’s her go-to trade for any kind of financial help. She rarely, if ever, actually asks me for help with anything. I just give it when I see the need, which I would do anyway, even without the house or any other help.

Missy and Adrian are both fiercely protective and supportive of our family. It makes taking the offer of this house so much easier, because I know her intention and the mindset she has behind it. I’m just as much her family as Hailey, Landon, Quinton, Adrian, and my dad. This gift is from the heart and out of the love she has for me.

My dad and brother have been fixing up this house for a few months now. It is close to the school where I will be teaching starting in the fall. For a three-bedroom, it is actually really cozy. It has a wrap-around porch my brother has been waiting to re-do because of the snow. It has a garden in the back that Missy was eager to get her hands in. The inside was gutted after they bought it. Adrian got a bathroom and the two extra bedrooms finished. He still needs to finish the master bedroom and the master bath. The kitchen was remodeled and is just waiting for the marble countertops and the ovens. The microwave and fridge are there, so I can make do until those get finished. I don’t cook much anyway.

Dad was already at the new house waiting when we pulled in. He wasn’t alone….

“Oh, my,” Missy giggled, giving me a side-eye to catch my reaction. “Looks like we got some extra help getting the four boxes and your suitcase and duffle bags into the house.”

“Looks like it,” I muttered, pulling into the driveway with a scowl.

“We may not have been able to manage without the extra set of hands. Lucky you.”

“Lucky, lucky me,” I mumbled, scowling at Chris Finley who was leaning on the back of my dad’s truck with an eager grin on his face.