Trading Heartbeats
Chapter 19 - Redheaded Girl
"Hello," the voice rang out through the cell phone once more. Khaila had immediately snapped back to reality, shoving all her inquiring thoughts aside - for now, at least.
"Yes, sorry, um … hi, Cody," Khaila answered him unsurely as she placed the cheese-topped cracker in her mouth.
"Hey, um, listen. I-I really need to ask you something," Cody stuttered as the noise in wherever he had been continued to grow. Khaila raised one eyebrow as she continued to snack on her crackers and cheese.
"Go ahead," she spoke hesitantly once swallowing her food. It seemed as though a long period of time had passed before Cody had answered her again.
"Well … I just wanted to know if you knew where Amelia was. I-I heard she wasn't with you guys upon arriving at the airport," he told Khaila once more. Khaila froze just before she had been going to place another cracker and cheese in her mouth. She hadn't known how to tell Cody this without worrying the living daylights out of him. Khaila's brain phrased and rephrased the exact same sentence, "She ran away from the apartment", several times in her head looking for the least severe to use. Finally, after several minutes of deliberation, she hadn't come up with anything. With a small, unperceivable sigh, Khaila had answered.
"To be honest, Cody, I don't know. All her things were gone by the time I'd made it back to my apartment. All she left was a note saying that she was in Chicago, and that she'll be fine," she truthfully relayed hoping Cody hadn't gone into some cardiac arrest at the sound of his missing girlfriend … well, ex-girlfriend. Although Khaila had known that Cody was rather upset with Amelia that night, she couldn't shake the feeling that Cody still felt strongly about her. Just by the way of him asking about her whereabouts showed his concern. How could Amelia have been so stupid as to mess all that up? From the other line, she heard nothing. "Hello," she asked worriedly.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm here," Cody answered, apparently shocked that not even Amelia's friends - well, ex-friends - had known her whereabouts. Had he truly cared though? Of course, I do … I think, he thought to himself. Could he forgive her? He had been unaware that he had unconsciously been shaking his head, until Khaila's voice had rung out through the other line of the phone.
"Cody," she asked concerned once more. Cody immediately snapped out of his daze.
"Yes, well, thank you, Khaila," Cody answered once more. Khaila, who had just finished chewing her sixth cheese and cracker, answered back.
"No problem," she said, "well … bye -" Suddenly, Khaila heard the room that Cody had been in go completely silent with exception of a few shouts that had seemed to be coming from down the hallway. She'd thought that she could hear Punk's voice. "Wh-What's that," she asked in a low voice, praying and hoping that it hadn't been Punk.
"I'm not too sure," Cody stated slowly, apparently him and the rest of the people behind him had been listening keenly to the dispute occurring in the room down the corridor. Just then, a door had been slammed shut down the corridor. Everyone lined the hallways, looking interestedly at what had happened. Several moments passed until the door had slammed shut once more, a blasé CM Punk strolled past each and everyone of them not bothering to glance at either. Fire had grown in Cody's eyes as he watched the man that had completely torn his relationship in two, breeze past. Cody had suddenly felt his fingers curling themselves into a very tight fist. His first instinct had been to run and attack the man who had decimated both his and Amelia's relationship in the greatest way.
"Cody," the voice on the other line had seemed to give him a bit of the startle. All the thoughts of the bloody battle he'd get himself into with Punk in the parking lot of the arena had suddenly been interrupted by a sweet voice from the other line.
"Yeah," he asked releasing his fingers from their curled positions and giving a slight, small sigh.
"Please don't tell me Punk quit again," Khaila asked in a sigh. Cody gave a slight chuckle.
"I guess we'll both see what Vince has to say on Monday," Cody continued. Khaila smiled and gave a slight chuckle.
"Vince is going to speak? That definitely means he's fired or he quit," she answered back. Cody and Khaila went back and forth on the phone about Vince's tight-ship and other WWE incidents, until it was time for Cody to go. Both bidding goodbye, they hung up. Cody smiled for the first time since the … occurrence. In fact, for those few seconds of conversation that he'd had with Khaila, he had completely pushed the thought of the affair, even thoughts of Amelia aside, and in a strange way, he'd begun to like this feeling of forgetting.
Punk had marched straight down to the hotel he and the rest of the roster had been residing in for their time spent here; however, as recent events had concluded, Punk no longer had a time limit concerning how long he had to stay in a certain town. He could simply pop in and out of each and every city he wanted to, but was he going to? No, this is CM Punk after all, isn't it? He much preferred being at home even if it were by himself sometimes.
As Punk lay himself on his bed once inside his suite, he looked over at his still- packed suitcase and large duffel bag that he'd brought from the arena just now. Quit, huh, he asked himself with a slight smirk etched on his face as he stared up at the ceiling. Punk's mind had crossed several, general and random things, those of which included the following: where he would go next after the time he was allotted to stay in the hotel had been over, what he would do now that he hadn't been wrestling, when he should see the new Captain America movie that had been coming out. He'd answered all questions except for one that he'd only just thought of. What would he do about Khaila? Punk could feel his face muscles move themselves into the shape of a small frown.
How could he have been so stupid as to throw away all he'd had with Khaila for a 'quickie' with Amelia? He sighed, rolling over onto his stomach and contemplating last night's turn of events. Both he and Khaila had walked into the suite perfectly content with each other, both incredibly cloaked in their love; this all changed, however, by the end of the night. Punk continued to stare at the lamp on the bedside table as he thought of Khaila. "God, Punk, you're so stupid," he mumbled to himself after shutting his eyes closed, allowing his thoughts of Khaila to become visual. Suddenly, he'd come to the same conclusion he had previously drawn - he was going to get her back.
I guess I'm coming home, he told himself subconsciously, bearing a sly smirk on his face. After this week, he was going home to Chicago, from there … he'd make it his utmost responsibility to have Khaila once again. Whatever it took, he'd make it happen, and with this pleasant thought in mind, Punk had slowly drifted off to sleep.
The morning light had crept into Brittany's and Sonelle's bedroom window. Sonelle, having been awoken by the light first, sat herself up on her bed, drowsily looking around at Brittany who had still been heavily sleeping. Rising up from the bed, Sonelle dragged her feet all the way to the kitchen passing the clock on the wall which read 10:15am. She flung open the refrigerator door, peering into an empty refrigerator. Sighing, she closed the fridge door and leaned against it. Suddenly, out of the hall, came another drowsy, half-asleep creature. Brittany had woken up minutes after Sonelle had and was trudging her way into the kitchen. Both Brittany and Sonelle stared at each other drowsily for a while before Brittany spoke, "Food?" Sonelle sighed and shook her head.
"We need to go shopping," she said opening the fridge once more showing Brittany its emptiness.
"Great," Brittany added sarcastically. "I guess, I'll go change," she yawned as she rubbed her eyes and sleepily proceeded down the hall. Sonelle nodded.
"I'll tell Khaila we're going shopping," Sonelle announced. A muffled 'okay' echoed back. Sonelle, seating herself cross-legged on the couch, quickly dialled Khaila's number. The phone had rung three times before a sleepy voice answered.
"Hello," Khaila answered the phone only half-awake still laying in bed.
"Morning," Sonelle bade just as tiredly as Khaila had answered, "do you have food?" Khaila groaned as she rolled over in bed.
"I'll check," she reluctantly uttered as she rolled herself out of bed and trudged to her kitchen. As she peered into her refrigerator, she had realized, just as Sonelle had, that it was completely empty. Even the box of crackers and the few slices of cheese that she had been munching on last night were finished. "Nope," she muttered to Sonelle while sinking to the ground tiredly.
"Brit and I are going shopping, do you want to come," Sonelle asked laying herself down on the couch.
"Sure," Khaila yawned. "I'll go shower and get dressed. See you soon." Sonelle muttered a small 'mmkay' before hanging up. Setting her phone down on the small coffee table in front of the couch, she stared up at the ceiling trying to stay awake. As she did so, however, her thoughts had begun to wander. I wonder what Kofi's up to, she asked herself subliminally. Assuring herself that he was probably on a plane at this exact moment, she then pondered upon another question - one that had been haunting her ever since he'd mentioned leaving in the first place. When would she see him again? And if so, would the saying be true? Would distance have really allowed their hearts to grow fonder or would it have just weakened their relationship due to only having 5 second phone calls and the inability to see each other daily?
Without even thinking about it, she'd looked down at the promise ring Kofi had given her. Reflecting back on Kofi's words, 'It's not goodbye', a sudden surge of confidence had been instilled in her. Her lips spread themselves into a smile. I love you, Kofi, she thought to herself as she brought the ring to her lips and kissed it. Suddenly, Brittany had strolled out of the hall looking quite put-together. Brittany sat herself on the couch holding her phone up to her face and texting. Sonelle chuckled a bit and got up, leaving the living room to get dressed.
Just as she'd closed her phone down and set it on the couch, she wondered whether Justin would bother calling her anytime soon. Hugging her knees, Brittany sat there staring out the window over-looking the streets of Chicago. Brittany, being the deep-thinker that she was, allowed her mind to wander to several aspects beyond Justin. She thought back to Friday night … what had happened, how everything had been left in turmoil. She was absolutely disgusted by Amelia. How could she do something so despicable and wounding to her best friend? Why would she? Brittany sighed and shook her head. The worst part of it all was that Khaila hadn't shown any emotion about it besides when it had happened. Had she really been ignoring it? Or was she conflicted about whether or not she still cared for Punk? Or … maybe she felt somewhat pathetic about possibly being pregnant for an unfaithful man? Brittany's mind raced from question to question before a ringing noise had disturbed her. Jumping a bit she looked down at her phone that had lit up suddenly; as she picked it up, a male voice rang out from the other end, "Good morning, darling."
Brittany's lips spread themselves into a large smile. "Morning," she told him as she continued hugging her knees listening to Justin's voice over the phone.
"How are you," he asked politely.
"I'm fine … missing you, but I'm fine," she admitted, "and you?" Justin gave a slight chuckle.
"I'm glad that you're fine, love," he told her before answering the question. With a sigh, he continued, "I'm okay; I miss you a lot more." Brittany smiled a bit.
"When's your next show in Chicago," she asked, hoping that she could maybe see him some time soon. Justin looked down at his luggage as he sat in the airport. In all honesty, he hadn't even known where they were heading to for their upcoming show.
"I-I don't know," he whispered to her. At these words, Brittany's heart had sunk a bit. She could hear a muffled sound in the background. She could've sworn she heard the voice say, 'Come on; we've got to go'. By the sound of Justin's sigh, Brittany had known she'd heard correctly. "Hey, I-"
"I know," she whispered. Justin gave a slight chuckle.
"I'll try and call you when we touch down again," he told her in a hushed tone. Brittany gave a small smile.
"Okay," she whispered her response. "Well bye-"
"Brittany," he said, disallowing her to hang up.
"Yes," she asked.
"I love you," he whispered to her. Brittany's smile stretched far and wide across her face as she responded just as quietly.
"I love you too." In a short second after bidding each other goodbye, they'd hung up. Brittany, still bearing the smile on her face, hugged her knees closer to her chest contemplating Justin's and her last words. Then, in a swift second, a knock had been heard at the door. Brittany walked her way over to the door and opened it to see a (now) wide-awake Khaila. "Ready," she asked Khaila. Khaila gave a slight nod, and as she did this, Sonelle had made her way out of the hallway and towards the door as well. With Sonelle picking her keys off of the kitchen counter and stowing them away in her purse, the three girls departed their apartments and headed straight for their local supermarket.
Entering into the air-conditioned establishment, the girls picked up one basket and proceeded down the aisles. "What do we need," Sonelle asked as she looked around at all the products crammed onto shelves.
"Food," Brittany answered. Sonelle gave a slight chuckle and continued walking down the aisle. The girls had picked up a few things such as: bread, ham, cheese, and orange juice. As Khaila continued to walk down the aisles behind Brittany and Sonelle, who had been arguing about what type of cereal they should buy, she'd glanced curiously at the many exits leading out of the supermarket. Suddenly, her eyes had caught a sign that made her stomach turn - 'Pharmacy'. Khaila placed a hand on her stomach, slowing her walk a bit. Could she maybe have wanted to get a pregnancy test? It had been a week, hadn't it? Khaila's breathing had gotten heavier as she deliberated on her thoughts.
"Right, Khaila," said Brittany, distracting Khaila from her previous thoughts. Sonelle, who had seemed to notice Khaila's vagueness, followed her gaze to the 'Pharmacy' sign. Sonelle immediately understood. Putting back the cereal she'd been arguing about with Brittany, she stepped closer to Brittany.
"Khaila wants to go to the pharmacy," Sonelle whispered to her. Brittany's expressions had changed rapidly from confused to aware.
"Oh," Brittany said understandingly. "Khaila," she spoke once more, this time in a hushed tone. Khaila tore her gaze from the pharmacy and looked up at her. "You want to go to the pharmacy, don't you," Brittany persisted once more. Khaila looked down at her own stomach and then back up at Brittany, nodding. With a slight smile, Brittany had grabbed onto Khaila's hand and the three girls' proceeded into the connected pharmacy. The strong scent of medicine had caught the girls completely off-guard leaving them to crinkle their noses, sneeze or shake their heads vigorously in attempts to rid themselves of the smell. Brittany and Sonelle nonchalantly allowed Khaila to go on her own and pick up her pregnancy test as they strolled uninterestedly down the aisle that had been shelved with cough medicines.
Khaila subliminally thanked them for the privacy they'd given her and proceeded down the correct aisle for the product she'd been looking for. Soon, after strolling past many other products, she'd stopped directly in front of the pregnancy tests. Khaila looked right and left making sure no one would see her. As she reached for the box, however, she'd notice someone come into the aisle and then turn back, hastily walking away. Khaila peered out from the aisle suspiciously only to catch a glimpse of the girl's long, red hair as she quickly took the bag containing most of her products and fled the store. Khaila took one step forward as if she were about to run after the girl she sworn was Amelia, but thought twice. After what she had done, she was no friend of hers.
Sonelle and Brittany raced out from the aisles; apparently they too had seen what Khaila had. "Oh, she forgot this one," the clerk said. Picking up the box which read Clearblue: Digital Pregnancy Test, the clerk ran outside of the pharmacy shouting 'miss' and 'hello' down the street in an attempt to signal the redheaded girl about her forgotten product.