-- 01 --
Reba was sitting at the kitchen table reading a travel magazine. Barbra Jean and Brock were fighting, again, right in Reba's kitchen. They had been fighting a lot lately, mostly about little things. Reba had become accustomed to it and learned to tune them out.
"That's it Brock, I want a divorce!"
"Fine, I'm tired of dragging out this marriage too!"
Surprisingly Reba didn't even take her eyes off the magazine. This wasn't the first time she heard this and she believed it wouldn't be the last time either.
"I'm staying at Reba's tonight!" Brock's sudden announcement got Reba's attention. She stopped reading and looked up to watch them.
"I'm staying at Reba's, she's my best friend!" cried Barbra Jean
"Why don't you both stay at Reba's and I'll go stay at your place instead?" Reba couldn't help but make her comment. "It's more peaceful over there, at least". She sighed, "What are you guys fighting about this time? Wait, I don't want to know!" and she continued reading her travel magazine, dreaming that she could be someplace else right now while Barbra Jean and Brock began shouting at her, trying to explain why it was the other person's fault. Reba didn't even let a word sink into her ear. "Just let me know at the end, who is staying at Reba's tonight". Like every other time when they fought, one of them would end up in her house. Most of the time was Brock, but sometimes, when Barbra Jean felt like she needed someone to talk to. She would be with Reba while Brock stayed at their house. If Brock ended up at her place, he took the living room, but if Barbra Jean end up at her place, Reba allowed Barbra Jean to be in her room under the condition that she had to bring her own sleeping bag and air mattress.
"Alright fine! I'm going home!" The next thing Reba heard was Barbra Jean crying and stomping out of her house. Looks like Brock's staying at Reba's tonight.
"What are you two fighting about this time?"
"About a guy at her work. I think she had a crush on a news reporter," explained Brock
"She has a crush all the time. You're not getting use to it yet?"
"That's the thing! I got used to it, and she was upset that I didn't even get jealous. She said I don't love her anymore. How silly is that?"
"I think it's silly that you guys were fighting like 3-4 times a week, and you two only been married for six years! What will it be like when you enter seven year itch?"
"I don't even think we'll make it to seven years, Reba"
"You know, I normally would encourage you to work things out, but I'm kinda tired. You two keep fighting and when I can't think there's anymore new reason to be fighting about, you guys surprise me. I don't even think we fought that much in our 20 years of marriage compare to your two weeks!"
"That's why I really believe I made a mistake for leaving you"
"Yeah that's what happens when you do something without thinking" Reba got used to him saying that too, but it still shook her every time he said it. She was just so darn good at keeping her feelings buried deep in her heart.
"I'm serious, Reba. I think this is the end. We are getting a divorce!"
"Uh huh, if you say so" Reba got up from the table "I guess you got the couch tonight. Well, I'm going to talk to Barbra Jean. I might end up having to stay with her." She rolled her eyes. "She looked kinda upset when she left." This wasn't the first time. Sometimes when Reba went over to her house to talk to her, Barbra Jean would not let her leave! It was hard work to be best friends to both of them!
Reba entered Barbra Jean's kitchen and sure enough, she was sitting there and crying her eyes out.
"Ok, what's wrong now?"
"I think it's over Reba, Brock doesn't love me anymore"
"And why's that?"
"Because I told him that I'm in love with someone else and all he said was 'I see', I mean he didn't even care!"
"Ok, let me get the straight, you're in love with someone else, but you're mad because Brock isn't jealous?" Reba was confused. Barbra Jean nodded.
"And you said this is over because he isn't jealous, or because you're in love with someone else?"
"I don't know Reba, I just don't know. I just feel like whatever we do, we irritate each other" Reba listened to Barbra Jean's comment and she sighed 'it's gonna be a loooong night' she thought. By the time Reba was done talking to Barbra Jean, it was past 2am. She couldn't believe that she lost half the night trying to reason with Barbra Jean that she shouldn't get mad at Brock for not being jealous over some guy that didn't even know Barbra Jean existed! It was like getting mad at him for not being jealous over Brad Pitt! Reba recalled last week they were fighting over the amount of Beanie Babies Barbra Jean had. Reba made the mistake by saying 'if they cause you that much trouble, get rid of them!' Barbra Jean was upset and said Reba took Brock's side. Same thing happened the week before when Barbra Jean whined about the amount of time Brock spent in the golf course. Reba suggested that he spent less time golfing and more time with his wife, Brock was upset that Reba took Barbra Jean's side. Yes, it sure was hard to be best friends with both of them!
Reba came back to the house. Seeing the lump of blanket on the couch, Brock must be asleep. She quietly walked up stairs to her room. She was dead tired. She closed her bedroom door and turned on the light, walked straight to her closet, and got changed into her pajamas. She was mumbling about how silly Brock and Barbra Jean were for fighting over little things. Especially since they both wanted her to take their side. Reba took off her clothes. As soon as she removed the last garment from her body, she heard a gasp from the bed. She glanced over to the sound immediately; she didn't expect anyone to be there in her bedroom, nor in her bed!
"BROCK!" she quickly covered her naked body with whatever piece of clothes she could, before reaching for a bathrobe while yelling at him. "What the heck are you doing in my bedroom!" she threw a shoe at him, it bounced off his body and hit the bedroom wall. She was hollering and cussing at him.
"Ouch!" Brock rubbed his shoulder as the other shoe flew over and hit him. "I'm sorry, I thought you'd spend the night at BJ's tonight. My back pain was bothering me, so I decided since you're not going to be here I'll sleep in your room and will get up before you get here"
"And you couldn't even let me know that you are in here? GET OUT!" Reba was mad and embarrassed. Brock had been watching her strip out of her clothes! Pervert!
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I really didn't think you'd be back tonight, and I definitely didn't mean to... watch, I just... couldn't... let out a sound when you took off your top, I mean..."
"SHUT UP AND GET OUT!!" Brock got up and tried to leave the room but Reba punched him with all her force, and hit him out of anger.
"Mom, are you ok?" Kyra heard the noise coming from her mom's bedroom and she rushed in to see if Reba was alright. She was surprised to see her dad sitting on the ground holding his stomach. "Dad are you ok?"
"Yeah... your mom punched me" he tried to get back his breath. Reba really punched him hard. He slowly stood up and Reba charged toward him again, Kyra had to hold her back.
"Mom, what's going on?" Kyra asked, but Reba was too mad to answer.
"I thought your mom wouldn't be home tonight, and I took her bed, and when she came home, she didn't see me and..."
"GET OUT!" Reba shouted.
"Mom, please don't shout, it's 3am you don't want Jake to wake up and see this." She waved her hand suggesting Reba to look at herself. Kyra could guess what was happening by seeing her mom's clothes on the floor as if she just took them off with her pajamas hanging right in front of the closet. "You better re-tie your robe, you're showing more skin than I want to see" Reba didn't know the knot was undone when she was punching and hitting Brock. She turned her back to them to re-adjust her robe. Kyra took this opportunity to drag her dad out of the room. Brock returned to the couch and Kyra returned to her own room. Reba was so mad she wasn't even sleepy anymore, how dare he was lying there watching her! Yet, somehow she couldn't get rid of the feeling that the way he was looking at her, his eyes were filled with ... something that gave her an uncomfortable feeling that she couldn't describe. But it took her breath away...
Little that she knew, Brock was tossing and turning all night too, the image of Reba still replaying itself in his mind. She was so beautiful. When she turned on the light, she woke him up. He was about to announce his presence to her, but the moment he got his eyes adjusted to the light, the first thing he saw was Reba was taking off her top and followed by her bra. Brock just loss the ability to speak or to move for what in his sight, and when that last piece of clothing came off her body he had to catch his breath that was when Reba noticed him.
Reba got up in the morning so deathly tired, she did not get much sleep at night; luckily she didn't have to work this morning. She came to the kitchen and saw Brock getting a cup of coffee, Reba turned around only to be called back by Brock.
"Reba, wait" he grabbed her arm, trying to stop her from leaving. "I really have to apologize for last night. I should have said something or made some kind of sound to let you know that I was in the room. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to be a pervert."
"Don't ever speak of it again" clearly she was still mad about what happened.
"Hi mom, hey dad. So did you slept together last night?" Kyra was just trying to be funny, but Reba wasn't laughing
"KYRA!" Brock snapped, he didn't want Reba to be mad at him more than she already was "Don't you disrespect your mother like that! What happened last night was my fault and it wouldn't have happened if I wasn't an idiot. Can I trust that you will forget about that and not saying anything to anyone? Please..." Brock begged Kyra to keep this to herself.
"Fine! I just want to let you know that I'm going out with my friends. And don't worry dad, who would have want to spread that kind of news anyway. Just the thought of you two was bad enough for me!" Kyra made a smart comment before leaving the kitchen, leaving her parents alone again.
"Are you still mad at me?" asked Brock
"Of course! I let you staying here in the living room, my room should be off limits since you knocked up your hygienist!"
"I said I'm sorry, if I could turn back time I would correct everything, but I can't!" Reba was quiet after his comment. "I promise it will not happen again"
"Which part? Watching me strip or knocking up your hygienist?" she tried to make a joke to ease the tension between them, he was right, he couldn't changed what had already happened. "Just don't get into my room again without my permission" Brock could tell that Reba wasn't as mad at him anymore.
"If it's any consolation, you still look as beautiful as the last time I saw you, if not more"
"Pervert!" she securely tied her robe and punched him, but not as hard as she did last night, before start to make breakfast for herself.
"I made you some pancakes" Brock couldn't sleep so he got up and started to do something to take his mind off Reba
"Thanks" Reba said as she sat down while Brock brought the pancakes to the table "By the way, you can go back home now, Barbra Jean didn't really fall in love with anyone. She just had a crush with some news reporter that didn't even know she existed. She just want you to be jealous once in a while to show that you still cared" Reba explained to him about what she wasted half a night trying to fix his marriage for him. Brock joined her at the table with his breakfast. He also poured some more coffee for both of them.
"Thanks for all your help, Reba, but this might be it. I feel like we keep dragging this marriage, and it's only been 6 and a half years!"
"Brock, go home and try to make this work. If this time it really doesn't work, then talk to her." Reba also tried patching things up for them. She felt that they just keep dragging their marriage one day at a time, which wasn't right.
Brock once again tried to work things out with Barbra Jean. They tried to spent a day together, doing things they both enjoyed, which Brock found out there wasn't much, not like Reba, they had more things in common. At night, Barbra Jean put on sexy lingerie; she was hoping that it might spice up their love life a little. She threw herself at Brock, but Brock's mind wasn't with his tall, skinny, sexy wife.
"What's matter Brock?" cried Barbra Jean when she felt he did not response to her kisses.
"I'm sorry Barbra Jean, I had something else in my mind" he admitted, but omitted the truth that was 'someone else' that he was thinking about, not 'something else'. Brock looked at the sexy blonde in the sexy black lingerie again, he felt guilty that he accidentally compared her to the beautiful redhead that done nothing to seduce him, but tried to cover her body. Barbra Jean might have the body of a model now, but he found himself more excited by Reba's hourglass figure.
"How can you think of something else at a time like this?"
"I'm sorry, can we start over?" Brock pulled her into a kiss, a cold kiss.
"That's it! I'm going to stay at Reba's tonight!" Barbra Jean put on her dressing gown before stomping off straight to Reba's house.
Reba was getting ready for bed when the doorbell rang. When she opened the door, Barbra Jean was crying.
"Come on in" she could have just guessed that they had a fight again. "But you gotta change though, I won't let you stay in my room with half a dress on!" Reba commented the length of Barbra Jean's lingerie. She couldn't believe Barbra Jean left the house looking like this in the middle of the night.
"It's over Reba" said Barbra Jean taking a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt from Reba. "I tried to seduce him, but he didn't even respond!" Reba got goose bumps from what Barbra Jean told her.
"I don't want to know that Barbra Jean. You can stay here tonight, and what happened between you and Brock, just talk it out WITH HIM in the morning" but Barbra Jean ignored Reba's comment. She set up her airbed and continued to talk "I kissed him, threw myself at him, and he said he was thinking of something else! Can you believe that?" Reba rolled her eyes, slid herself under the blanket. 'It's gonna be a long night', she thought. "And he kissed me, but it was the worst kiss ever!" Reba turned off the light after Barbra Jean settled herself on the airbed. "You know Reba, when he looked at me, I don't see passion in his eyes anymore"
"Passion? That's it!" Reba didn't realize that she said it out loud!
"What did you say Reba?"
"Huh? I mean. What you two lack is passion" good thing the light was off, or Barbra Jean might have noticed Reba blush when Reba recalled the way those eyes that looked at her... the night before
"That's what I've been telling you! We don't have that anymore" In the dark she pouted, "Come to think of it, the way he looked at you..."
"Oh shut up and go to sleep Barbra Jean!" Reba didn't let her finish the sentence
"You saw it too..." Barbra Jean spoke softly in the dark. Reba decided to pretend to be asleep.