Maybe Baby Lite (37 page)

The day of training went
well. Mark sent more videos back with me to review this evening.
Maybe Clint wouldn’t mind watching them with me.

Needing to go to town to
buy beer and snacks, I returned to the main house to retrieve my
new car. Trey had provided me with the code for the garage. This
was my first time driving my new car; I was pumped. I cruised out
on the highway, enjoying the feel of the ride with the top down. In
Bristol, I picked up a six-pack, a bottle of chilled sauvignon
blanc, and some pizza rolls that were easily nuked.

I returned to the estate,
carefully parking my car back into the garage. I carried my
purchases back up the path to my cottage. Clint was just coming
over as I arrived.

“
Great timing, I guess,”
he said.

“
Yes, and I got your
favorite,” I said, showing him the six-pack. We went in and got
comfortable.

“
Have you had dinner yet,
Clint?” I asked.

“
I’m drinking it,” he
toasted, raising his cold beer.

“
Nonsense,” I answered.
“I’ve got a big bag of pizza rolls for us. Let me nuke them and
then dinner will be served.”

We talked and laughed,
drinking, and eating our pizza rolls. I switched the television on
and we found the end of an old sci-fi movie to watch. We caught up
on what everyone had been up to. Clint reported that he’d met a
nice girl when he was at the Sanctuary.

“
That's so awesome! Why
didn’t I know about this?”

“
I think you might’ve been
otherwise occupied,” he winked.

“
Very funny. So, tell me
about her.”

“
Her name is Clare. She
works at the Sanctuary on weekends. She goes to school at the
University of Georgia in Athens. She’s studying veterinary
medicine.”

“
Clint, that's so perfect
for you. What about the distance? That’s going to be a drag, isn’t
it?”

“
We’re not engaged yet,
Tylar,” he laughed.

“
Hey, maybe if you drive
down there to see her some weekend, I can tag along and visit
Gina?”

“
Or maybe I can tag along
with you in your new Mercedes?” he asked.

“
Oh, you heard,
huh?”

“
No, I saw you pull out
earlier. Mighty fine ride, ma’am.”

“
It was a birthday
present…from Trey.”

“
Some birthday
present.”

“
Do you have a problem
with Trey?” I asked.

“
Not at all, Tylar, just
be careful,” he warned.

“
Why do you say
that?”

“
Look,” he said, “I can
tell that you care for the guy, okay? All I’m saying is don’t get
too emotionally invested in him.”

It was too late for
that.

“
When his parents get back
from Europe, I doubt if he’ll be back here until next year when
they go again. That’s just how it’s always been with him, you
know?”

“
So you don’t think that
he cares for me?”

“
I think he cares for you,
Tylar, as much as he cares for any of his possessions. I’m sorry; I
call it like I see it.”

“
What would you say if I
told you I know for a fact he cares for me, perhaps even loves me?”
I didn’t want to get into the details of my knowing Italian and
hearing the exchanges between Trey and Carmelita.

“
I'd say that I hope it's
the kind of love and caring that makes a person thrive, and not the
toxic kind that makes a person owned.”

Before I had a chance to
respond my cell phone rang.

“
Booty call,” Clint
teased. I threw a couch pillow at him as I grabbed my phone off of
the counter. It was Trey.

“
Hey,” I answered, dodging
the pillow that Clint threw back at me.

“
What are you up to?”
smooth and silky’s voice asked.

“
Just hanging out with
Clint,” I said. There were several beats of silence.
“Hello?”

“
Yes, I’m here. Tylar, I
thought we had an agreement?”

“
What are you talking
about?” I was totally caught off-guard.

“
I’m talking about the
fact that less than a week ago I made it perfectly clear what my
expectations were concerning you and other men.”

I hurried into the bedroom
with my phone, trying to keep the conversation as private as
possible. “I’m not
fucking
him, Trey. He’s a friend. You didn’t say anything
about me not being able to have friends.”

“
Tylar, I don’t want to
argue the fine points of our agreement. You're free to hang out
with friends, as long as the friends are female.”

“
I don’t believe this,” I
exclaimed, my voice rising, “I don't intend to abide by any
agreement as asinine as this! That wasn't my understanding at
all.”

“
So what are you saying,
Tylar?” His voice was like steel.

“
What I'm saying, Trey, is
that I’m exercising my right to opt out.” I ended the call and
returned to the living room where Clint was politely appearing to
be engrossed on whatever was on the television.

“
Everything okay?” he
asked.

“
Maybe you’re right,
Clint. Trey seems to have a problem with my having friends of the
opposite sex.”

“
I should probably leave,
Tylar.”

“
No Clint, please don’t. I
already told his majesty that I don’t roll that way. Unless you
think he'll retaliate against you with your job or
something.”

“
I’m not worried about
it,” he replied, pulling me down next to him on the
couch.

“
C’mon, I want to see
those dressage videos of yours. Let’s have a good
laugh.”

I gave him a playful punch
on the arm and clicked on the videos. Clint was extremely
complimentary on my progress; I wasn’t sure if he was sincere or if
he felt bad for my situation with Trey. When Clint left around 10
p.m., I called Gina.

“
What’s up girlfriend?”
she answered.

“
Just wanted to hear your
voice,” I answered.

“
What’s wrong?”

As much as I'd not wanted
to divulge ‘the agreement’ to Gina, I needed my friend’s
perspective on it. I laid it all out for her.

“
Are you shitting me?” she
asked, indignant.

“
I mean it’s not like I
want to be with anyone else but Trey,” I said. “I simply have a
problem with him dictating the gender of my friends. I don’t think
he’s being reasonable.”

“
Listen, Ty. I warned you
about him, didn’t I? Sexual exclusivity is one thing. I mean, yes,
it’s a good thing and a reasonable expectation. But what Trey's
expecting goes way beyond that and you know it without me having to
tell you. He wants to control your life it seems. God, what did his
mother do to him?”

“
I know very little about
his past. But he’s sure as hell an expert on mine,” I replied,
wryly.

“
Take my advice, Ty. Let
things cool between you and Trey for a while. You need to get some
perspective. I know that he was your first, but you need to put a
little distance between yourselves so that you can see clearly. I
don’t want to come back to find you’ve turned into some Stepford
bitch, ya know?”

I had to laugh at that.
Gina was right though, I couldn’t become some replicant. She
promised to call me the following week to check up.

The next few days passed
in a blurry haze. I was doing all of the things that I was supposed
to be doing, but it seemed as if I was watching myself do them. I'd
fallen into a funk. Thankfully, the dressage training was going
well. On Friday, Mark did a mock testing of our routine. He felt we
would easily pass the FEI test for five-year-olds. We still had
three weeks to go. As we were winding down that afternoon, Mark
walked with me to the stables.

“
Are you okay, Tylar?” he
asked, showing some concern.

“
Yeah, I’m fine.
Why?”

“
You just seem a little
down this week, that’s all. Anything you want to talk about? I’m a
good listener.”

“
I don’t want to bore you
with my problems, Mark.”

“
I wouldn’t be bored, I
promise. You wanna grab a beer somewhere?”

I thought about it for
less than five seconds, “Great idea.”

“
Good, then I’ll meet you
at the main drive about six?”

“
Sounds good. See you
then.”

I untacked Derringer and
returned him to his stall for the night. “Derringer, I hope I’m
doing the right thing here, boy. I wish you could help. You know
him better than I do. Wish me luck,” I said, giving him a kiss on
his nose.

Mark was waiting when I
met him up at the main drive at 6 p.m. He opened the passenger door
to his red dually pick-up truck and lifted me up into the cab. I
was glad I hadn’t worn one of my short jean skirts. Mark looked
nice in his blue jeans and white polo shirt. His tanned skin from a
career outdoors gave him sort of a rugged look. He fired up the
diesel engine and we pulled out of the drive onto the
highway.

“
Ever been to Bunkers?” he
asked.

“
I’ve never heard of
it.”

“
It’s kind of an
after-five dive,” he admitted, “but the beer is cold, they have
great barbecue sandwiches, good selection on the juke box, and pool
tables if you play.”

“
Haven’t played for a
while,” I said, “but it might be nice to shoot some
pool.”

The truth was I'd welcome
any distraction from my current funk and thoughts of Trey. I'd
heard no more from him since I had opted out of our arrangement. I
drove myself crazy wondering what he was doing and who he was with.
I was every bit as possessive as he was and I felt like a
hypocrite.

Bunker’s was packed. Mark
and I found a table in a corner that was a bit quieter than the
bar. He ordered a draft beer; I ordered a vodka sonic.

“
So, how’d you find this
place?” I asked, conversationally.

“
I came here once with
Jenna, she introduced it to me.”

Oh great, that’s all I
needed, to piss Jenna off. Being out with Mark would give her some
real ammo. Mark noticed my discomfort.

“
Jenna and I aren’t a
couple or anything, just friends.”

“
Are you sure Jenna sees
it that way?”

Mark laughed, “I can’t
pretend to know how Jenna sees it. I can tell you this. I’ve made
it clear to her that I want no romantic ties, at least to
her.”

I caught the last part of
his sentence, glancing up at him but he was gazing around the room.
Perhaps he hadn’t meant it to sound the way it did.

“
Are you hungry?” he
asked, looking over at me now.

“
I could eat.”

When the waitress brought
our drinks, Mark ordered two barbecue sandwiches with
fries.

“
C’mon, let’s dance,” he
said, pulling me up from the chair. There was a wooden dance floor
near the jukebox where several couples were dancing to an old Anne
Murray song. Mark pulled me close as we slow danced, the lyrics
flooding my mind with thoughts of Trey.

Mark rubbed my back with
his hands as we moved to the slow tempo. I wanted to dance to this
song. But I wanted to be dancing to it with someone else. It seemed
like the song went on forever. Finally, it was over. I thanked Mark
and headed back to our table.

We drank our drinks; Mark
ordered another round when our food came. The barbecue pulled pork
was delicious. I ate every last bite of my sandwich. We were on our
third round of drinks, and definitely things were loosening up when
Mark broached the subject.

“
So, you want to tell me
why such a pretty girl has been so blue all week?”

“
It’s complicated,
Mark.”

“
You know, Tylar, I’m not
blind. I see the way that Trey is with you. He’s always watching
you, treating you like his prized possession.”

There was that word
again,
possession
as in
possessiveness
,
possessively
, or how about
just
possessed
.
That was exactly how I was starting to feel,
possessed
by a demon.

“
That's not what love is
supposed to be,” he continued.

“
Wait a minute, Mark,” I
interrupted, “Trey has never committed his love to me, nor I to
him. We haven’t known each other all that long.”

“
You know as well as I do
that love is not a product of time, and it doesn’t have to be
professed in order to exist between two people. All I’m saying is
that loving someone is not a license to own them.”

“
With all due respect,
Mark, you’ve only been here for a very short time. I doubt that
your observations could be so conclusive relative to
Trey.”

“
It’s not just Trey, it’s
you as well. You ask to be treated that way; everything about you
begs to be dominated by him.”