Barbra Jean was doing laundry, since she had been slacking on it the past week or so. With Van's birthday party, and the possibility of her husband cheating on her, not much had gotten done around the house. She began pulling the blue jeans out of the washer and placing them in the dryer. A pair of Henry's jeans felt heavy, and she groaned as she found a pair of her earrings in the pocket. She never forgot to check pockets before washing, but her mind had simply been somewhere else.
As she continued her task, adding the step of checking pockets before putting the pants in the dryer, she continued to think. She wondered what her best friend was doing at the moment, if she was too busy to talk her out of being so crazy and thinking her husband was cheating. There was always a chance he wasn't. Suddenly she came across something in Brock's pocket, and she pulled it out to see what it was.
In her hand she held a pair of panties, which were clearly not hers. Her eyes filled with tears of anger as all of her suspicions were confirmed. She nearly lost her temper as she slammed the dryer door and grabbed her purse, thankful that Henry was on a play-date at another parent's house. She needed help.
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Reba and Cheyenne were seated in Reba's kitchen, having lunch together. She was working from home that week so she decided that she could take an hour or so off to eat with her daughter. She had just refilled their glasses of iced tea when her neighbor burst through her back door.
"Hi, Barbra Jean. I didn't know you were invited." Reba chuckled, but quickly changed her joking demeanor when she realized that her friend was nearly in tears. "What happened?"
"I was just doing some laundry."
"Did you find another cheerio?" Cheyenne piped up, hoping her step-mother hadn't been messing up her diet with haphazardly thrown cheerios again.
"No, I found this." She held up a black, lace thong, and Reba almost passed out. He hadn't taken her underwear out of his jean pocket before he gave them to his wife! What an idiot! Her mind continued to yell and say all of the things she knew she couldn't yell at him for until later. "What kind of slut would send her underwear home with him?"
"That is so terrible!" Cheyenne stood from the table, walking over to examine Barbra Jean's finding. "I thought he had learned his lesson…Wait, did you rip them in half?"
"No. Disgustingly enough, I found them that way. I just can't believe this." Reba remained silent, too shocked to speak. Her pulse was rapid, and she had begun to sweat, but she knew she was hiding it well enough.
"Have you asked him about it?" Reba's own question surprised her, for she wasn't expecting to speak. The 'old her' seemed to take control of the situation while she was left watching from a distance.
"Not yet. He's still at work." She walked over and sat next to the redhead at the table while Cheyenne filled another glass of tea for the new arrival.
"You need to make sure he knows you know. Don't let him push you around and start to lie his way out of this one." He deserved to get in trouble if he was going to be that careless, she thought. And she knew him well enough to know that he wasn't going to drag her down with him if he was caught. He wouldn't do that to his wife or the kids…she didn't think.
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"We need to talk." Brock entered her kitchen at around eight o'clock that evening, his face red. Her smile at his arrival turned into an angry glare when he harshly threw her panties at her. She tossed them upon the table and crossed her arms over her chest, raising her eyebrows.
"So talk."
"You were the one who put her up to confronting me about your underwear."
"She brought them over here and started yelling about what kind of 'slut does something like that.' What the hell was I supposed to say to her? I don't want her to know that slut is me."
"You told her to confront me."
"You should have thrown them away. Did that ever occur to you?" He ran a hand through his hair, sighing in frustration.
"Why would you tell her to talk to me about it? Did it ever occur to you that I would be left to make excuses?"
"Yes it did, but I knew you would think of a better lie than I ever could. Besides, I don't want her to think anything is up with me. That would have made her suspicious of both of us." He sighed and nodded, but she could tell he was deeply shaken by the whole ordeal. "I think I did what was best under the circumstances given to me."
"I'm sure you did. I'm just…pissed." She nodded, watching as he ran his hands over his face. "I told her they were a present for her that I realized were torn when I got home."
"She bought that?"
"Of course she didn't, but she acted like she did. The point is she doesn't know it's you, and we aren't stopping because of this."
"Don't I get a say in this too?"
"No, because I know what your answer will be." He walked forward and kissed her roughly, pulling her face away from his in a not-so-gentle manner. "And I'm not finished with you yet."
