24. He returned to her.

BETH.

In the history of all my work days, today had to be the worst of all. I sighed as I dropped a file on my table and packed my things, heading out of the office. I felt like taking a walk to take my mind off things, so I decided to do so, and not take a taxi.

The sky rumbled for the umpteenth time after I left work. It would rain again just like it did the day before. I glanced at my heels and wondered how I would survive the rest of the walk home. They were caked in mud from the sidewalk. Sighing, I pressed on. I would not be home soon enough, so I decided to stop over at Lara's place instead.

On getting to the door, I was about turning the door knob when I heard a squeal. It was Tony's voice, the voice of the man I couldn't stop thinking about for days now.

"Babe! We're having our baby! That was what it was for! I'm happy for us!" I heard him exclaim.

I felt a pang of hurt in my chest as I heard him say that. It meant that Lara had finally told him that she was pregnant. What Lara was doing to Tony was very unfair and I felt the urge to rush in and tell him everything, but I just can't. Girls code will always be girls code, and friends will always come before boys. I sighed at the thought of all these. One thing I was sure of however, was the fact that I love Tony and there was no doubt about it.

"Wait, really?" I heard Lara's voice say, although it was a bit low. I decided to place my ear on the door to eavesdrop on whatever they were saying.

"Yes, babe! This calls for celebration. Don't you know?!" Tony said.

"Oh my God, babe! I thought you weren't happy about it for a minute there."

"Why would I not be happy? I am literally the happiest man in the entire world at the moment. Don't you get it?! I am going to be a father to the child of the woman I love the most! Isn't that just perfect?"

My heart sunk again when I heard Tony say that. I could swear that there was a thing there when we kissed and had sex the other day, but it just felt like I was the only one feeling it. Despite how Lara treated him, I didn't expect him to stoop so low to run back to her like a lost dog, but what do I know? Love does things to people. That was made me more angry as to how Lara was using him. He does not deserve any of that treatment.

"Gosh, I don't know what to say to show how amazing you are," she exclaimed.

"Don't say it then. Show me," I him say to her. But after that, I didn't hear any other word. I placed my ear closer to the door again, but I still didn't a single word. I sighed and concluded that they had probably gone into the room. With this, I removed my heels and left it outside before turning the knob and walking in.

I closed the door behind me gently and turned, only to see the two of them engrossed in a kiss. I could not help but stare at them while I stood there by the door. The kiss was so intense that I wished I was the one in Lara's shoes.

Suddenly, Tony stopped kissing her and opened his eyes a bit, about to bring his head to the crook of her neck and trail some kisses down that part, when he saw me by the door. Immediately he saw me, he pulled away.

"Why'd you stop, babe?" Lara whined like a little baby as she opened her eyes, wanting more. Her eyes then followed Tony's eyes in the direction he was staring at. "Hi, Beth. Didn't see you there!" She exclaimed as soon as she saw me, flashing her teeth to me while I just stood by the door staring at them.

"Uhm, hi. I'm sorry…" I stuttered as I tried to find the right words to say, even though, I didn't know what to say. I also tried to avoid eye contact with Tony, who kept staring at me as if he wanted to see into my soul. "I'm sorry… uhm, for interrupting you guys. You can go on, I'll just go inside and—"

"No, it's fine. Come in." Tony replied. "We were just—"

"It's not fine to stop, duh." Lara replied and rolled her eyes. "There's nothing wrong if she's here though. But I want moreeee," she whined like a little child.

"Babe…" he said to her and turned to look at me again, like he was trying to see if I was affected by what I saw or not.

I immediately looked away and began to walk inside. "You two can go on! I'm going in anyway!" I replied like I wasn't affected by it, but Lara suddenly spoke.

"Beth!" She called out to me and I turned. By now, Tony had freed her and they were no more in each others arms. "Guess what?!" She said as she rushed over to me.

"What is it?" I asked her, looking uninterested.

"I told Tony about our baby! He's so happy about it!" She exclaimed, flashing her teeth at me.

"Oh, wow. Really?" I asked, trying my best to act surprised, despite the fact that I had heard them talking about it before I walked in. "I'm so happy for you two!"

"Thanks, babe. I'm coming," she said and rushed upstairs like she wanted to pee or something.

I sighed and turned to look in the direction Tony was and to my surprise, he was already staring at me. "Congrats," I said to him.

"Uhm, thank you." He seemed a bit uncomfortable as he replied me, but I acted like I didn't notice.

Why would he even be uncomfortable? He already returned to the woman he loved. Suddenly, he spoke about something I didn't want to hear.

"About the other night," he said as he walked up to me.

"Tony, please, don't talk about it. We already agreed it was a mistake. Don't bring it up again."

He paused a bit, staring at me intently as if he was trying to see if I was telling the truth or not. Then, he replied calmly and softly, like a whisper. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes. Yes, I am. Let's just let it go and act like it never happened. And let's keep this between us. Lara mustn't know about it." I said to him.

Now, I was doing it again. I was always protecting Lara even though I knew she was doing all the wrong things. I felt deeply sorry for Tony, but I couldn't do anything to help.

"Beth," he called and touched me on my arm.

I felt giddy all over and the touch on my skin tingled me but I had to fight the feeling. Immediately, I pulled his hand off my arm. "Let's end the discussion here, Tony. I'm going in to rest. I'm tired, had a long day at work." I said and without waiting for his reply, I walked inside, leaving him there.