I hung up. My adrenaline was pumping and my hands were shaking. Was that bitch serious? She’s lucky I wasn’t already in my car on my way to where she was to confront her. I startled when the phone started ringing in my hand again.
I pressed “slide to answer.”.
“Are you fucking dense?” I hissed.
“Macie, I don’t care what your crazy pregnant ass is trying to do, but I need to talk to Dodger now.”
“You’re kidding right? You realize you’re so fucking fired after pulling this stunt. You understand that, right?”
“Macie, who is that?” Dodger came walking in with a perplexed look.
Dana started screaming through the phone his name. His brows furrowed as he came toward me and tried to take the phone.
“No.” I hung up. “You tell me why Dana is calling you when you told me she had been informed of the rules.”
“I don’t know. She hasn’t called me since that one day.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
He held out his hand for me to give him his phone. “I’ve never given you a reason to not believe me. Why would you start now?”
The phone rang again. I screamed and raised my arm to throw it across the room. He came forward so quick I couldn’t jerk my hand back before he snagged it from me.
“I swear to god, Dodger, if you answer that phone, I will walk out of that door right now.” My chest was heaving up and down, and I meant every word.
He shook his head. “Are you serious?”
“Look at my face, do I look like I’m kidding?”
“Macie, come on. Let me just see what she wants.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Don’t you think you’re overreacting?”
“No.” I started firmly.
He sighed. The phone stopped ringing briefly before it started again.
“Okay, this is ridiculous. I want that girl gone. Do you understand me? I will not wait around for you to make this choice.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. I guess he wanted to call my bluff because he put the phone to his ear and said, “Hello?”
Unbelievable. Well, no way was I going to stick around to find out what Dana wanted. She’d been told that she was never to call his phone when he wasn’t supposed to be at work. With these calls, I drew the line in the sand and he knew my comfort level. And right now, it felt like he just punched me in the gut. I bit down on my tongue to prevent myself from crying. Instead of yelling at him, I left him to his conversation. I blocked out whatever he was saying on his end. I heard him raising his voice, but none of it mattered. It felt like he’d picked her over me.
I walked into our bedroom, threw on some stretch pants and pulled on a shirt. Throwing my hair up, I walked out, grabbed my keys and left. I knew right where I was headed. Dodger was at the front door when I’d pulled out, but he could go fuck himself. I wasn’t stopping this car. He might as well have handed me the keys to drive away.
When I pulled up to Keegan and Camden’s apartment, I got out and rang their bell. I heard the dog start barking. Camden answered and took one look at my face and his brows furrowed.
“What’s wrong?”
God, he was so much like his brother it wasn’t even funny. Tears pooled in my eyes as I stood there. Camden glanced behind me as if looking for his brother. His expression softened when he saw that I was alone and distraught.
He took me by my arms and led me inside. “Come in.” When we were both inside, I heard Keegan yell from upstairs.
“Who was it, Babe?”
“Keegan, come down here please.”
I sniffled and wiped my eyes.
“Does my brother know you’re here?” he asked.
“No. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell him.” The dog was wagging his tail at me excitedly trying to get my attention. I patted its head.
“Macie.” He almost sounded like he was pleading with me.
I heard feet coming down the stairs. “Oh hey, Macie. What are you doing?”
When she got closer to me and saw my face, she rushed to my side. Her arms automatically wrapped around me and she brought me to sit on the couch.
“Honey, what happened? Where’s Dodger? Are you okay?”
“He’s at home, probably still talking to that cunt.” I tried not to yell.
Camden hung out in the kitchen giving us our space, but listening.
“Who are we talking about exactly?” Keegan asked.
“Dana. Who else?”
“Okay, what happened?”
I heard the coffee maker going, and Camden started doing dishes.
“Dodger had just gotten home from a run and he was in the shower. His phone started ringing off the hook, so I finally went and checked to see who it was. I was worried maybe his parents were trying to get a hold of him or something. Dana was calling. And she didn’t just call once, she called over and over.”
Keegan sat up straight. “You’re kidding. She knows that’s not allowed.”
“I know.” I deadpanned.
“What did Dodger say?”
“Well, I ended up answering the phone and she asked to talk to him. She sounded like she was crying or at least fake crying. I told her to find someone else to call. But she wouldn’t let up.”
Camden had stopped what he was doing and came around the island to sit on the ottoman next to Keegan. He was all ears and listening now.
“Did she say what she wanted?” he asked me.
“No. She just kept saying she wanted to talk to Dodger. He came out and saw me on the phone. ” My body quaked. My nerves were completely shot and I was struggling to come down from my anger. “Camden, I swear to god if you don’t fire her—”
He didn’t even let me finish the sentence. “She’s gone. You don’t have to worry about it anymore. Okay?”
“Just like that?” Keegan asked, astonished that he was so quick with that answer.
“Look at her, Keegan. Nobody needs to be this worked up over someone. I was there when Dodger told her what his hours were and defined when it was acceptable to call him on his cell phone. Dana was reprimanded and she signed an agreement that she knew what was expected of her. So yeah . . . just like that.”
Keegan smiled. “Oh, see, honey, you have nothing else to worry about.”
I tried not to flip out on her, but I couldn’t help my frustration. “Keegan, are you fucking kidding me? I have everything to worry about. While she may have signed some stupid paper, Dodger is the one that is bending his own rules and allowing her to call him!”
“What do you mean?” Camden leaned forward.
“He took his phone from me and she called again. I told him I was leaving if he answered.”
“And?”
“Am I sitting here on your fucking couch?” I put my hands on my stomach.
The stress of the morning was catching up to me. My body’s reactions were now affecting the baby. He was moving all over the place kicking me, reacting to my residual adrenaline. Poor baby. This was all Dana’s fault. How did my morning go from perfect to complete shit?
“Okay, I get it,” Camden said. “Well, you can stay for as long as you need to, but if he calls, I’m not going to hide the fact that you’re here.”
“Cam,” Keegan pleaded.
“No. I feel for everyone involved here, but that’s my brother and she is carrying his child. He has a right to know where she is. I’m sure he’s already out searching all over the place for Macie.”