Thank you for your continued interest and support. I do not own Glee or the characters, neither do I own Stuck-Up Suit.
MERCEDES
The hotel room was too quiet after Sam left. Alone with my thoughts, I picked up the phone and put it down...at least a dozen times.
Who would I even call?
There was no one I could really count on for an unbiased opinion. Not even family.
My situation was too close to home for my mom or my sister.
There was always Quinn. But she'd been with Noah since she was fourteen and truly believed in fairytale endings.
Her reality didn't involve a small child, a cunning ex, or growing up with a father who forgot her and a mother who was too sad to leave the house for years.
Faced with slim pickings for genuine guidance on my situation, I did something I never thought I would do...write to Dear Sue.
I fired up my laptop.
Dear Sue,
I've been dating a man for almost two months who I've fallen deeply in love with. A few weeks ago, he found out he has a child with his ex-girlfriend. It's a sordid tale, but essentially she cheated on him, lied about who the father was, and kept him from knowing his child for years. Or course, his ex is beautiful, smart, and they share a passion for the business they both work in. In most areas, the two of them are way more compatible than we are together. To make matters worse, she's made it clear to me that she wants him back. The problem is, he really cares about me, and I also don't want to hurt him. I really need an unbiased opinion here. Should I bow out gracefully and let him have an opportunity to rekindle his relationship with his ex, so that they can be a real family? I love him enough to make that sacrifice.
-Patricia, Brooklyn
Writing the letter had an unexpected cathartic effect on me, although I wasn't expecting Sue to give me any pearls of wisdom.
More often than not, her advice was utter crap. But the act of writing the letter seemed to help me put all of my feelings into perspective.
It also helped me realized, until the day came where I made a decision to actually bow out, Jennifer wasn't going to screw with my head anymore.
On the drive over to the bitch's compound, I blasted the music and sang along at the top of my lungs.
And in that moment, I completely understood why athletes always seemed to have headphones on before an event.
They needed to be pumped up to avoid allowing their doubts and fears to take over.
Pulling into the long driveway, I parked and stared at the stately home. It was beautiful out in the Hamptons, but my ass definitely belonged in Brooklyn.
Exiting Sam's car, the front door opened, and a woman walked out. She took one look at me, and an evil smile slowly spread across her flawless face.
"Mazda. How lovely of you to come."
I plastered my best fake smile on to match hers.
"Evilenne. So splendid to see you."
Adrienne looked amused.
She lit a cigarette, which surprised the shit out of me.
"What's it been seven, eight weeks? I'm shocked. Sam usually takes the trash out each Tuesday," she said.
"Well, you know what they say...one person's trash is another man's treasure."
She sucked a long puff of smoke into her lungs and then proceeded to blow out a half dozen perfect O smoke rings.
I hadn't seen anyone do that since my Uncle George quit smoking his filterless Lucky Strikes back in the nineties.
"You know, smoking gives you cancer." I leaned in and whispered. "And wrinkles."
After two more puffs, she ditched the cigarette out in an oversized planter and the claws came out.
"It's only a matter of time, but eventually, he'll bore of you and come to his senses. A good blowjob...or whatever service you provide that is keeping Sam slumming these days, will eventually get old."
"I'd ask your husband if that was true, but I'm guessing by the stick that's stuck so far up your ass, that the poor man hasn't had good head in a lot of years."
Inside, the house was quiet except for the clickity clack of Adrienne's heels.
"Where is everyone?" I asked.
She poured herself a cup of coffee. Of course, she didn't offer me one.
Looking at me over her mug with a sly grin she said,
"You mean the happy family?"
"I mean Sam and Madison."
"Mom and Dad and their beautiful offspring are down at the beach, taking their daughter for the inaugural swim of the season."
"That's nice."
"When Sam and Jennifer bought this house, they used to fuck like rabbits in the ocean. Come to think of it, their daughter may have even been conceived there."
This bitch was truly a piece of work.
I forced out yet another "that's nice" doing my best to pretend she wasn't getting to me. But the truth was, I couldn't help but get jealous at the thought of Sam and that other bitch, Jennifer.
Obviously, they'd had a sexual relationship. But I just didn't need to visualize what that looked like.
I walked to the wall of sliding glass doors that lead to the yard and further down to the beach below.
A hundred yards off in the distance I saw Sam and Jennifer. They were both in the middle of undressing and Madison was jumping up and down excitedly between them.
It was excruciatingly painful to see the man who I was in love with frolicking on the beach with another woman.
When they were both stripped down to just suits and skin, I watched in what seemed like slow motion as Madison took the hand of each of her parents and the three of them ran for the surf hand in hand.
The scene looked like a modern day Norman Rockwell painting...featuring a dark haired Barbie and Ken.
That visual made my chest have a crushing sensation.
Adrienne walked up close behind me, watching over my shoulder.
"What a happy family they could be. Look at the smile on Sam's face."
I looked.
Sam was indeed smiling.
He was laughing and splashing in the water with both Madison and Jennifer.
He truly looked content.
Adrienne sipped her coffee with a smirk on her face, while I slid the glass door open and stepped outside.
I'd had enough of her.
When I turned around to slide the door closed, she was smiling victoriously and the word "Homewrecker" dropped from her lips.
The bitch didn't budge when I slammed the door closed in front of her face.
On the ride home, Sam held my hand as he drove.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better."
"Thank you for coming with me this weekend. I know it wasn't easy for you."
"I'm glad you got to spend time with your daughter. She's an amazing little girl."
He lit up.
"She is, isn't she?"
"Have you and Jennifer spoken about your plans to tell her that you're her father?"
"She thinks it's best not to say anything quite so soon. She thinks me and Madison should continue to spend time together so that when we finally do tell her, she'll already be comfortable with me. She also suggested I come for dinner again this week."
Of course she did.
"That's probably a good idea."
Our conversation had never been so stilted. I was pretty sure we both felt it, yet neither one of us knew how to fix it.
Although Sam kept trying.
"So what did you think of the Hamptons?" he asked.
"You want me to be honest?"
"Of course."
"I think the landscape is beautiful. The ocean, the homes, all the boats down at the marina. But it's not someplace I could ever imagine myself wanting to spend my summers. The people just seem so…homogenous."
"That's a good way to put it. It has never been my favorite place either. But it's very different in the off-season. It's the reason why I've always preferred to come out in October or November. There's still a lot of farmers and fisherman who live out there. And the town is very different when it's just locals."
"If it's not your favorite place, why would you buy that house?"
"Jennifer wanted it. And if we're being honest, at the time, the status symbol of having a home in the Hamptons seemed important."
"It doesn't anymore?"
He squeezed my hand.
"My priorities have changed."
"If you were to buy a summer home now, where would it be?"
He responded immediately.
"Brooklyn."
I chuckled.
"You'd summer in Brooklyn?"
"I'd summer inside of you. It doesn't matter where I am anymore."
Stay safe!