Trading Heartbeats
Chapter 20 - The Third Listener
Khaila, Brittany and Sonelle all exchanged looks of uncertainty and unease. What had Amelia been doing in the pharmacy? Moreover … buying a pregnancy test? "Are you ready to buy that," the clerk asked having noticed the girls' frozen state. They immediately snapped out of their daze and looked at the clerk. Finally, Khaila had stepped forward and purchased the pregnancy test she'd been clutching in her hand. As the clerk bagged it, he handed it back to her. With a small smile of gratitude, Khaila and the girls quickly left the pharmacy and proceeded back into the supermarket where they picked up a bit more groceries, paid for them at the cashier and left to the car.
On the way to their apartment, Khaila, who had taken a seat in the back nearest the window, stared out at the cars overtaking other cars and zooming their way past stop signs. If Amelia had been pregnant, whose child would it have been? Cody's or Punk's? She couldn't have felt something that early if it were for Punk, though … could she? Khaila had. Khaila's heart felt as if it were sinking lower and lower to the point where she had begun to feel sick all over again. "What a little, ugh," Brittany exclaimed at the top of her lungs as she drove rather fast down the streets of Chicago.
"Brit," Sonelle said uneasily as she watched people and lampposts swoosh past with incredibly speed. "Brit … Brittany," Sonelle exclaimed. Just then, Brittany had swerved a curve and slammed down on the breaks, stopping right beside the pavement. Sonelle, whose nails had almost dug through the material covering the car seat, looked at Brittany nervously. Brittany still fuming, continued to grasp onto the wheel and stare angrily at the road in front of her.
"I just can't believe her! See the mess she gets herself into? If only she'd kept her hormones in check, she wouldn't be having these problems, but no, she just had to have a craving for Punk that night," Brittany ranted all in one breath. Khaila, although smiling at Brittany's ranting, decided to continue staring out the window at the pedestrians walking briskly up and down the pavement. Khaila had agreed with everything Brittany had said. In fact, she'd been thinking the same thing … with the exception that vulgar words had been thrown into the mix. After Brittany had finished venting all her aggressions and anger against Amelia, they were on the road once more.
In little to no time, the girls had settled themselves into each of their apartments. Khaila, who quickly locked her apartment door and then proceeded to lock herself in her bedroom, sat on the edge of the bed staring at the paper bag that she'd dropped on the floor. Her chest heaved as she deliberated whether or not she should open it. Had she really wanted to know whether she was pregnant or not? What if she was? … After everything that's been happening, did she really need more worry? Khaila gnawed on her lip simply staring at the paper bag that seemed to be beckoning to her.
In a final step, Khaila rose up from her seat on the edge of the bed and picked up the brown paper bag. As she pushed her hand inside of it, she removed the box that had been inside. Letting the paper bag fall to the floor, Khaila turned the box over and over in her hands as she walked into the bathroom. She paused as she looked at herself in the mirror standing with the small rectangular box in her hand. In one quick move, Khaila opened her bathroom drawer and dropped the box inside, closing the drawer once more.
As she proceeded outside to her bedroom once more, she lay herself on her bed taking her pillow into her arms. Slowly and silently, tears had filled up her eyes only to run down her cheeks and onto her pillow. How could she have let this happen? What had she possibly done wrong? All the questions circulated about her head more than they needed to. Khaila's tears poured faster, now that she'd engaged in full-fledged crying. As she embraced her pillow, she shut her eyes hoping that maybe she would be able to cry herself to sleep and forget about the image of herself that she'd just stared at in the bathroom. As she continued to hug the pillow closer to her, she faintly pretended it had been Punk, and with this thought, her crying had seemed to lighten up. She'd amazed herself with this. Even though she was angry at Punk, she wasn't really angry at him. She still loved him … she knew she did.
Sonelle and Brittany had lounged themselves on the living room floor, staring up at the T.V. and eating ham and cheese sandwiches. Brittany had just about been half-way through chewing when her phone had lit up and rang loudly. Casually reaching over for it, Brittany answered the phone. "Hello," she muffled. Sonelle watched as Brittany's face had turned an instant shade of pink and she swallowed her food rather quickly. "Oh, hey, Justin," Brittany said as she rose from the floor and headed back into her bedroom. Sonelle chuckled a bit to herself as she continued to eat her sandwich.
As Sonelle had finished her eating, she carried the plate into the kitchen and placed it in the sink. Making her way back over to the living room, she turned off the T.V. and sat herself on the couch nearest the window. Things had gotten considerably lonely for Sonelle without Kofi around. Of course, she had her friends, but she couldn't help but feel another part of her was missing with Kofi gone now. With a gentle sigh, she continued to gaze out of the window, wondering whether Kofi had been thinking of her too.
"Right, Kofi," a voice asked. Kofi immediately turned her gaze from out the window and back to the superstar that had been seated next to him - The Miz. Miz had been looking at Kofi confusedly. "Are you serious, man? You didn't hear a word I said," Miz asked absolutely flabbergasted that he wasn't being listened to. Kofi chuckled a bit and shrugged.
"Sorry, man, didn't hear you," Kofi relayed. Miz simply rolled his eyes and turned his conversation towards the man sitting beside him - a very bored, Kevin Kiley (Alex Riley). Kofi gave a small chuckle as he stared back out of the window. Thoughts about when he would see Sonelle again had been running through his mind. As he checked the time on his watch, it had been 5:45pm. Their show would go on in about 2 or 3 hours. Had he enough time to spare maybe a 5 minute phone-call? Or rather would his schedule and hassling allot him that time?
Kofi pulled out his phone readying himself to call her. Suddenly he looked towards his right in order to make sure Miz had still been conversing with Alex Riley, and indeed he had been. Kofi smirked a bit to himself as he dialled Sonelle's number and pressed the phone to his ear. In two rings, she'd picked up.
"Hello," she asked. Kofi's muscles had tensed up at the sound of her voice. Although the last time he heard from her was a day ago, the simple sound of her voice had driven Kofi insane. Finally allowed to move his muscles, Kofi smiled before answering in a hushed tone.
"Hello there." Sonelle, on the other line, had a smile stretched far and wide across her face. "How are you," Kofi continued.
"I'm good," Sonelle relayed. Kofi smiled; it was a comfort to hear she was doing fine. He'd hate for his travelling to push her into some sort of manic depressive mood.
"That's good," he whispered, "I miss you."
"I miss you too, Kofi," Sonelle admitted; her eyes had begun to water. Although it'd only been a day since she'd last seen him, she felt as if he were gone for a lifetime.
"Hey, I know I might not see you for another two or three months, but … I've decided on something," Kofi told her as a smile had begun to sprawl across his face once more as he heard Sonelle's giggle.
"And what's that," he heard her whisper. His small smile had turned itself into a small smirk.
"Well, I've decided that I'll send you a letter … as in an actual letter with pictures of art from different art museums," he told her. Sonelle let out a bit of an excited shriek as she replayed the words Kofi had just told her, in her head.
"Kofi, that's so sweet - I just … I love you," she told him as the tears in her eyes had collected all that they could and now spilt onto her cheeks. Kofi smiled grandly as he heard Sonelle speak the three words he'd adored hearing her say.
"And I love you," he whispered to her. Suddenly, Kofi felt the car jerk to a stop. As he snapped himself back to reality, he hadn't noticed they'd made it to the hotel already. Realizing that, at this point, he would have to bid Sonelle goodbye as the most complex part of the journey would take place now, he stepped out of the car and heaved a heavy sigh. "Sonelle … I've got to go. I'll try and call you later," he told her. Sonelle's smile had slowly begun to fade as Kofi muttered out the first few words.
"Alright then," she told him. The two bade goodbye to each other and hung up. Promptly stowing away his cell phone into his pocket, he proceeded into the hotel in order to change into his wrestling gear, as well as gather up his suitcase and gym bag to take to the arena. In a few moments, he'd checked out of his hotel, loaded his gym bag and suitcase into the trunk of his rented car, and proceeded now to the arena. Retrieving his gym bag from the back of his car, he quickly entered into the locker room. As he stepped in, however, he'd noticed some superstars on the roster staring oddly at him. Kofi merely shrugged it off and placed his gym bag down on the floor where he took his trademarked sweat bands and buried his head in his hands concentrating on his match tonight.
Suddenly a hand had grasped onto his shoulder, Kofi immediately spun around clenching both his hands into fists. To his satisfaction, he'd stared up at a peaceful Justin Gabriel who had already been changed and had been seemingly ready for his match tonight. "Kofi," Justin said in a hushed tone, "dude, there's something I need to tell you without the ears of the interfering around." Kofi raised one eyebrow and looked around at the superstars, who had still been ogling at him oddly, suddenly turn their gaze from Kofi to whatever they could find as they tried to look completely unsuspicious. Kofi gave a slight nod.
Rising from his seat on the bench in the locker room, Kofi and Justin proceeded outside into the hallway. Justin immediately told Kofi what he'd been meaning to tell him, "Do you notice all the guys looking at you strangely?"
"Well … yes," Kofi replied still suspicious as to what Justin would possibly want from him.
"They think you're to blame for Punk's absence," Justin told him truthfully. Kofi scoffed a bit and then chuckled.
"What? No … I didn't throw the first punch. All I did was ask him why he did Cody's girl," Kofi responded.
"I believe you, man. I mean, I've been wondering the same thing myself. What made him and Amelia get so heated that they'd forget nearly everything that they cared about," Justin asked rhetorically. Kofi nodded in agreement to what Justin had said.
"Thanks, though," Kofi expressed to Justin who gave a slight nod before heading off into another direction. Kofi too headed off down the hallway so as not to face the odd stares that the men in the locker room had seemed to give whenever Kofi stepped within range of them. However, little did both men know that as they discussed the personal story of an affair and a betrayal, a third listener had inconspicuously tuned in.