Title: A Little Respect
Author: Misty Flores
Teaser: Pursuing a relationship with Aiden after discovering Bianca in bed with Babe, Maggie begins to question even her own self worth when she finds herself delving deeper into a baby kidnapping mystery, and an intense love triangle.
PART THIRTY
Take your straight line for a curve
Make it stretch, the same old line
Try to find if it was worth what you spent
Why you're guilty for the way
You're feeling now
It's almost like being free
And I know soon you will be
Over the lies, you'll be strong
You'll be rich in love and you will carry on
But no - oh no
No you won't be mine
-- Matchbox Twenty
Bianca had never felt this particular kind of desperation, and there wasn't time to dwell on it.
Instead, she focused on her breathing, the pulse pounding inside her ears and the energy that seemed to run through her like a current, vivid and stark and real.
She was almost panting, as her intentions were made clear. She couldn't admit to herself she was surprised, even if, by the looks of everyone else in the room, she had succeeded in startling the hell out of them.
"Get Rambo here a designer bottle of water," her sister said, almost proudly. "It's war."
She blinked her eyes closed. Letting out an unsteady breath, she pressed a palm against her chest, feeling her heart beat, rushing with emotion.
"Bianca..." A dark, husky voice interrupted her silent reverie, and slowly, she lifted her head to discover her friend Anita, horrified, wearing a look of blank shock. "This isn't the way to do this. Not the way they're planning. You're better than this."
"Better than what?" she asked calmly. "What's better than this? To stand there, by Maggie's side, while she makes the biggest mistake of her life? When I know, I KNOW, that she loves ME?"
Anita stared at her, dark eyes nearly black in their intense study. "You're not doing this for Maggie," she whispered. "You're doing this for yourself."
"You know, just because our town saint has decided to put a dent in the halo, doesn't mean there's an opening," Greenlee cracked dryly.
"Look, I understand that Bianca loves Maggie," Anita shot back, whirling, dark hair swerving over her shoulder, nearly whipping Kendall in the face. "But this is not how to approach the situation. Whatever you two have planned? It's deceitful. And it's not fair to Maggie or Aiden."
Sitting while everyone else was standing, Bianca felt almost like an outside observer. Her eyes fell on her child, and when Miranda squished her face against the mesh of the playpen, giggling, Bianca smiled back weakly.
"Look, Anita -" Kendall stepped back, presumably out of range of the flying black locks, "Do you wanna talk about not fair? What about what Maggie's doing to Aiden? Huh?" Anita narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms like a stubborn child. "I'm just saying," Kendall said, shrugging innocently. "Maggie? Technically a cheater. Who, I might add, has yet to come clean with her very committed boyfriend about her gay tendencies."
Bianca felt almost numb, seated on her couch with her legs crossed, face expressionless. The conversation couldn't seem to register, and instead, she found herself thinking of her words, what they meant, giving into her impulses -
If she had given into them in that hospital - the day she first heard Aiden tell Maggie he loved her...
Would they even be here, now?
"Right... And if Maggie's such a skank, Kendall, then why the hell are you working overtime to try to pair her up with your sister?"
"Well..." Greenlee broke in thoughtfully, "Gay Maggie isn't a skank. Gay Maggie has only ever had eyes for Bianca."
"Now we're calling her 'Gay Maggie'?" Anita asked in disbelief. "Bianca." Bianca met her stare, as the older woman knelt in front of her, hands on her knees. "Please - don't do this. Don't do this with these two. Just go to Maggie - tell her how you feel. This... war. It'll only hurt everyone involved."
Bianca bore into beseeching eyes of a beautiful woman. She felt the soft feminine hands against hers, and she marveled at the goodness and selflessness that Anita possessed.
In this curious form of desperation, she felt almost possessed, and she smiled sadly, at the fear in Anita's eyes - her love for Aiden overwhelming her own need.
Bianca had been where Anita was - now she was long past it.
"Did that work for you?" she asked softly. "When you told Aiden that you loved him?" Anita just looked at her. "Love isn't kind and noble, Anita. Do you think Aiden thought about whether or not Maggie still loved me when they started this? Or that Maggie thought about what she was doing, when she first started using him to get over me? Her rebound? I've been there since the beginning - the phantom third party in their love affair. I'm always going to be there." Anita's hands slid away from Bianca's. "Nothing about this is nice. People are already hurt."
Anita's eyes were brilliant with moisture. Her friend let out an unsteady breath, her disappointment clear, as she rose to her feet and regarded her. "Then you do what you have to, Bianca. But I won't be a part of it."
She nodded her head and smiled. She understood completely. Still sitting, she watched as Anita grabbed her forgotten purse and moved around her sister and her cousin, closing the door firmly behind her.
"Damn," Kendall said, breaking into the silence. "She would have been useful."
"How? Other than ramming saintly Santos psalms into our ears?"
"She could have seduced Aiden." Kendall shrugged, sighing as she settled down beside her sister, taking Bianca's hand in hers, glancing up at Greenlee. "Guess I'm up for that job."
Greenlee Lavery wore an antagonistic smirk. "Kendall? One problem. Ethan?"
"I'll explain it to him. No problem."
"Right." Arching a pointed eyebrow at Bianca, she continued, "And can I add? When did I become the voice of reason in this little venture, Miss 'Love is Ugly and Cruel'?"
"I gotta admit, you do sound a little nutty, baby sis." Kendall swiveled in her chair, squeezing harder onto Bianca's hand. "Are you sure you're up for this? Because, you can play dumb you know. Greenlee and I totally don't mind getting our hands dirty."
She had lived a lie for months, to protect her child. She had killed the father of her child - a rapist. She had been willing to keep a father from his own son in order to protect another woman from him. She had burned down a house.
She had done all these things and still, they saw her as pure. As a saint.
Bianca smiled ruefully. "Kendall - I would die for Maggie. Just like she almost died for me." Kendall's beautiful face curled into a gentle smile.
"There's a difference between lying and dying, Bianca," Greenlee pointed out.
"I won't lie." Bianca's eyes were intense.
"Binky, people are going to get hurt. How far are you willing to go?"
Bianca considered the question. Across the living room, Miranda eyed them through the playpen, inquisitive stare taking in every movement.
"All the way," she said finally. "Miranda and I have nothing to lose."
--
Aiden had found her Harry Potter book, and was currently thumbing through it, eyebrow nearly disappearing into his massively large forehead.
Maggie found herself smiling at the sight.
"Enjoying your read?"
He glanced up, registering her leaning against the kitchen counter, and shook his head, shaking the massive hardback at her. "Really?"
"Oh, at least give it a chance!" she said, laughing as she pushed into the living room, sinking down beside him. Rubbing into his thigh, she arched an eyebrow. "They made a movie from it and everything!"
"Between this and your newfound love for country music, Maggie - I'm afraid we may have to reconsider the living arrangements." Scruffing her hair with a large palm, he gave her a playfully stern look.
"The country music was your fault," she reminded him, "And the couch is free tonight if you want to consider any rearrangements."
He laughed, dark and sexy, and she smiled, leaning forward, to settle her mouth into his for a tantalizing, masculine kiss.
He made her shiver, and she was grateful for it, smile widening as the kiss deepened, until his arms tightened and her shoulder throbbed unexpectedly, just as her cast knocked against the coffeetable, nearly spilling his coffee.
"Ouch..." pulling back, Maggie glared at her uncooperative limbs. "You know, I used to feel sexy before all the plaster and gauze."
"You're still sexy," he murmured, kissing her again lightly and then carefully allowing her to rearrange herself, until she was settled across his broad chest, squeezing a pillow between her chin and his thigh.
"Please," she huffed, eyes closing as fingers smoothed against her scalp, scratching lightly. "That feels good."
Massaging into her head, Aiden didn't respond, and Maggie was content to keep her eyes closed, let the sensation take her over.
"So I hear we're god parents?"
She froze, eyes shooting open. Aiden only continued his exploration of her scalp, soothing and gentle. Slowly, she let out an uneasy breath. "Is that okay with you?"
"Of course it's okay with me, Maggie. You love that little girl. You love Bianca."
A hard lump lodged suddenly into her throat, and hugging onto the pillow, she squeezed harder, swallowing it down with effort. "I love you."
"I love you too, Maggie."
The words were so certain. So simple.
The way they were said brought sudden exasperation.
"Why?" she asked suddenly, as fingers faltered against her hair. "Why do you love me?"
A quiet moment. Then, suddenly, the fingers moved again. "Because you're beautiful." She sighed breathlessly, closing her eyes against the sudden hurt. "You're so loyal, Maggie. You've got spunk and fire and you never back down. Because deep down, you're afraid - but you'll never admit it."
Her breath was unsteady, her heart thumped painfully, and she clutched tighter to her pillow. "I don't deserved to be loved like that, Aiden."
"Maggie?"
She paused, turning in his lap, to stare into concerned, befuddled eyes. Maggie felt weighted, drowning.
And then the phone rang.
"Don't answer it," he ordered, holding her tightly. "What do you mean? Do you really believe that, Maggie?"
The ringing stopped.
She opened her mouth - nothing came out.
"Doesn't anyone answer the phone in here!" Robin strode into the living room, brandishing a cordless, arching an eyebrow to them both. Catching sight of their mutual tense expressions, she blinked. "Uh... Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt." Looking apologetic, she waved the phone to Maggie. "It's for you. Some rude girl named Sweet Pea or Green Peace or something."
Licking her lips, Maggie glanced fitfully between the outstretched phone and Aiden. With a sigh, she smiled gently, "Can we finish this later?"
Aiden was a stubborn man, but he was smart as well. He knew when the pursue an argument, and when to let it go.
She closed her eyes in silent relief when he simply pressed his lips against her forehead, and gently scooted her off of him, allowing him to rise.
With a quirk of her finger, Maggie took the phone from Robin, offering a grateful smile in return.
"Hello," she answered crisply.
"Maggie? Who the hell was that?"
The voice and acidic tone was familiar, but the context of hearing it, actually calling her, threw her, and it took a second before personality sunk in. "Greenlee."
"Do you just have random British people hanging out over there now?"
"Robin does not have a British accent."
"Did you just hear her?"
Rolling her eyes in irritation, Maggie settled against the coach, sending Robin a good natured scowl. "You should have let the machine get it," she informed her gravely.
Robin tossed Aiden a confused frown.
"Maggie! I'm talking to you!"
"I know," she snapped. "What do you want, Green Peace?"
"What? I can't just call you?"
"You never have," she quipped. "Not unless you wanted something. Whatcha want? Cause Aiden's right here-"
"I don't want to talk to Aiden," she snapped. "I want to talk to you."
"Uhuh. WHY?"
There was a pause, and some odd sort of whispering that made Maggie tilt her head, offering both her listeners a bewildered shrug, before Greenlee came back on the line and said entirely too happily, "I want to have lunch!"
"Uh... Good for you?"
"With you! Maggie, I want to have lunch with you!"
"Greenlee, you're scaring me."
"Please. Look, I realize this might seem a little out of the blue-"
"A little?" Maggie replied dryly.
"But I've come to the realization that I have... a limited pool of friends."
"As in none at all?" she asked helpfully.
"Ha. Ha." Again, there was static and fidgeting. "Hold on-"
"What the hell are you doing?" Maggie asked, and when Robin motioned to explain, she only shook her head, completely befuddled. "She wants to have lunch because she has no friends or something-"
"I wonder why," Aiden cracked, rolling his eyes.
"Is she paying?" When Aiden and Maggie both looked at Robin, she shrugged. "I'm hungry."
"-You there? SHUT UP!"
"What!" Maggie blinked, straightening.
"Sorry! Not you! Someone else! Someone with a BIG MOUTH."
"Greenlee - have you been taking any of those magic pills again?" she asked warily.
"Are you coming to lunch or not!"
The ultimatum was so annoyed and irritated that Maggie fought the sudden urge to giggle. Shaking her head in mirth, she discovered herself in an actual good mood. "Why not?" Her eyes connected with Aiden and Robin's, flashing a mysterious smile. "I have been a little itchy to get out."
"She's ditching us, isn't she?" Robin said flatly, and when Maggie shrugged, she turned to Aiden. "Fine, that means you're taking me to pick up Mom from the doctor's, and WE'RE going to lunch." Shoving at Maggie's boyfriend, she offered Maggie a very mature stuck out tongue.
"Good! Meet me at Fusion! 1:30! Sharp!"
Distracted, Maggie offered Aiden a kiss as he bent over, squeezing his hand affectionately as she waved goodbye at the departing cousins.
"I can't wait."
"You don't have to be so sarcastic, Maggie."
"What's the fun in that?"
Greenlee bitched at her some more, and surprisingly, when Maggie hung up the phone, she was smiling.
She had forgotten that Greenlee could do that - fill her with such ludicrous disbelief that she could do nothing else but laugh. Greenlee's bitchy appeal was that she believed in it so whole heartedly.
Sitting on the couch, she contemplated taking a quick shower, but reconsidered, when she experimentally dragged her heavy cast across a small strip of carpet. Quick showers weren't so quick these days.
Sighing, she teetered onto her feet, grabbing her purse and heading for the door.
Someone knocked just as her hand was closing around the doorknob. Startled, Maggie stared at it. It thumped again.
Opening the door, Maggie found Anita Santos on the other side, wearing a severe expression.
--
Reggie had to admit - the family he had been adopted into, the women at least, were friggin' nuts.
Still, he mused, throwing an arm around his girl, sniffing in the heady scent around him, this time, it was the good kind of crazy.
"Okay, here's what we need." Dani ducked out of his embrace, handing the exhaustive list to the employee, pointing with a well manicured finger. "Do you have that many?"
He arched an eyebrow, glancing between them both, and back down at the list. "I can check around - though to have these delivered..."
"Whatever you have to do," he said sharply, holding up the wad of cash that had been given to him for that very reason. "Just get it there."
"We're not in the mob," Dani said immediately, when the employee looked a bit hesitant in taking the money. "He just has a really rich dad."
Rolling his eyes, Reggie just handed it over, crossing his arms, and, in a fit of agitation, uncrossing them immediately, snapping his fingers and clapping his hands together. Catching Dani's expression, he suddenly paused, when he realized she was pretty damned close to crying.
"What's wrong with you?"
"I'm sorry!" Sniffling a little, Dani held both palms to her face, covering her mouth, struggling to get a hold of herself. "But it's just so romantic!" He snorted, digging his hands in his pockets. "Maggie and Bianca, back and forth, never able to get it right. Maggie's about to head to the altar with another man, and Bianca! Like her knight - lady - girl knight - in shining armor! Rushing into battle. Ready to fight for the woman she loves! Keeping her from making a huge mistake! To love her forever!"
"Yeah..." Reggie blew out his breath. "Don't get me wrong. I'm all for Maggie and Bianca finally getting it together. But I kinda feel sorry for Aiden - no dude deserves Kendall, Greenlee AND Bianca plottin' against him. Dude has no chance!"
"You said yourself Maggie loves Bianca-"
"I did!" He argued. "I won't deny it! She didn't! Hell, the only reason she wasn't with her then is because she said Bianca didn't want her. Maybe this is what they need. Just get them alone. Talk their shit out. Drama over. Minimal bloodshed, and BAM! Miranda has two Mommies."
Dani kept staring at him with this self confident smirk, and when he glared, she wrapped both hands around his waist, holding him tight. "You're just a big ole' softie, aren't you?"
"Yeah, yeah." Flushing, he tried to push her off, but his girlfriend's hold stayed firm. "Just don't let it get around, all right? I got a rep to protect."
--
The moment Anita began to speak, Maggie lost her strength.
Sinking down on the coach, she couldn't help the horrified palms that were pressed over her mouth, the heat flushing to her head, the inescapable panic that rose like bile on her tongue.
Anita's statements weren't quiet accusations. She spoke them as fact, and each sentence drilled further within her, creating a hole in her heart.
Trembling, she closed her eyes.
"Maggie?" Flushed with heat, Maggie looked up, eyes burning. Anna's mouth was pressed together. "You're not denying it."
She found herself laughing bitterly, tonguing her lips and glancing away. "Bianca wouldn't have told you this-"
"Maggie." Maggie's denial was persistent with her hurt, and she shook her head blindly. "Maggie, she told me."
Maggie swallowed hard.
"Was it really four times since you and Aiden have been together?"
Another hysterical burst of laughter, and Maggie buried her hands in her face. "Yes," she answered quietly. "I guess - I wasn't really - it wasn't like I was counting."
Bianca's friend was quiet, and face still buried in her hands, Maggie felt a shift of weight on the couch, the soft rustle of fabric as Anita sat down beside her.
"It's none of my business, Maggie. But I have to know - do you have any intention of telling Aiden what happened between you and Bianca?"
She felt so ashamed. Her cheating on display and common knowledge. Maggie shuddered, wiping at her sudden tears. "I wouldn't know how to explain it."
"Are you still in love with Bianca?"
The question was more than she was ready for, delivered soft and gentle; splicing into her like an arrow, creating a sudden stab of pain. "I love AIDEN," she enunciated, bringing her hands down, staring at Anita. "Are you going to tell him? Is that what this is about?"
Anita's eyebrows furrowed, deep with bewilderment.
"Wanting Aiden for yourself," Maggie said flatly. "Threatening me so you can run to him and be the pure saintly martyr - his one true love."
Anita's smile was sad, and utterly sincere. Maggie's guilt only grew.
"He won't hear it from me. But I can't guarantee he won't hear it from someone else. And that's worse, Maggie."
"Bianca wouldn't do that," she whispered thickly. "Stop it. She wouldn't try to hurt me like that."
"Bianca's in love with you." Maggie shuddered and shook her head erratically. "And she's convinced you love her too. And frankly, based on what I've heard, I can't say I blame her all that much for thinking that."
"Bianca doesn't love me." Maggie's words were a harsh snap. "She only thinks she does because she's alone and... I'm the only one whose never betrayed her."
"Turning your back on your love isn't betraying her?" Maggie shut her mouth, swallowed down the nasty reply.
"Anita, why are you here?" she managed roughly. "Why are you telling me this? Are you just letting me know you know? Are you just here to make me feel worse? Because, if you are, you can save yourself the trouble."
Anita sighed. "I just want what's best for Aiden." Rising to her feet, she looked down at the tiny woman. "Out of all the people involved in this, Maggie. I know you the least. I don't know what your intentions are. I don't know why you would insist on staying with one and lead the other on. But two of the people I care about most in this world consider themselves in love with you - which leads me to think you're not that bad of a person. You risked your life to save Bianca's. You've become a part of Aiden's family when he needed you the most. Maybe you love them both - and that's what's tearing you up inside. I don't know." Anita knelt down, and looked into soft, brilliant eyes. "But please, figure it out soon. If you don't love Bianca, tell her and make sure she understands. If you don't love Aiden, leave him now. Because, Maggie, if you don't figure this out, it's going to get a lot worse."
She breathed out raggedly. "How can it get worse than this?"
Placing a gentle hand on her knee, Anita looked at her sadly. "Do you really want to find out?"
--
end chapter