~ Blind Charade ~
by Eveh
Disclaimer: This is an alternative story. This is a sequel to Unknown Factor which is a sequel to Infrequent Liaisons which is a sequel to Your Weakness Is Me. It's now necessary to read the others to understand this one.
Love/Sex Warning: Not so much in this one.
Language: Mild.
Thanks: To idle time.
Write me at: xengab01@hotmail.com
Blind Charade
by Eveh
"I really don't understand at all why you're doing this. You told me that you don't support their relationship, but-- and I may be wrong here-- isn't allowing them to come to your house as a couple sort of supporting their relationship? You've got to make a decision here darlin' either you're going to actually support them or give them an ultimatum or something. Do you even know what you're doing? I mean, are you purposely trying to send as many mixed messages as you possibly can? How long have you known about them now? It's been three months right? Which means Tamera is three months pregnant which is exactly three months that you have sat back and done nothing. I thought that you didn't support..."
"Kelli, you really need to shut up because you're starting to repeat yourself."
"Lacey, all I'm saying is that I don't understand."
"There's really not much to understand. Morgan is my friend and I'll support whatever decisions she makes even if I don't agree with them."
"That doesn't strike me as being very fair. If I do something you don't like you don't always support me. As a matter of fact you didn't support me when I decided to quit my job and live off the land. The way I remember it you actually took the phone away from me when I was trying to call my boss. Where was your unwavering support then?"
"Honey, you were drunk at the time. I didn't think that when you sobered up you would want to be faced with the fact that you didn't have a job and bought some farmland out in the country which you wouldn't know how to farm."
"That may be, but my point was you didn't support me quitting my job."
"Do you want to quit your job?"
"Of course not. I love my job, you know that."
"Then why are we even talking about this?"
"Because I think it's important. I think Morgan is taking advantage of you."
"Did you just jump subjects on me."
"Possibly. But what I'm talking about now is important. I think Morgan is taking advantage of you. She's able to come to your home with her 'girlfriend' and act like she's in this loving relationship when in fact she's screwing her brother's wife behind his back."
"This may come as a complete shock to you, Kelli, but they are in a loving relationship. It's an unconventional relationship, of that there's no doubt, but it is a loving one. Plus, I don't think either of us have that much room to speak considering our relationship."
"What about our relationship?"
"There's no need to really get defensive here, I'm just saying...I don't even know what I'm saying. I just know that we have no room to judge their relationship and I'm not going to judge Morgan. I'm her friend and I promised not to do that a long time ago."
"No. What do you have to say about our relationship? I want to hear it. You've got me interested now."
"Okay. How long have we been together?"
"Well off and on, I'd have to say two years. What's your point?"
"You'll see. So okay we've been together off and on for two years. Now, during the course of our relationship how often have we been in relationships with other people while we've been together."
"I think I know where you're going with this, and our situations are completely different."
"How really? Matt always thought that we were just really good friends."
"Matt was clueless. And that really doesn't count because you two did have an open relationship."
"Okay David proposed to you. He was completely monogamous and you were supposed to be as well."
"But we weren't together then. We only got back together the night he proposed and I broke up with him very soon afterwards, so again your example doesn't count.
"Why didn't you marry him, anyway? He was a good man with a good job. He loved you very much."
"It just didn't feel right. Why didn't you marry Jacob? He loved you and was a man with a good job, as if that really means anything."
"Having a job does mean something. I don't want to be in a relationship with someone who's just going to mooch off of me."
"So if I didn't have a job you wouldn't be with me?"
"Of course I would. You're my friend first and foremost. You'd have my full support while you go out and search for another job. I would just hope that you saved yourself enough money while you're searching for a job because loans from me come with interest rates higher than Mt. Everest.
"You bitch. That's awful."
"Ow. I know your mother taught you not to hit. At least she swore to me that she did."
"When were you talking to my mother? I don't like it when you talk to my mother."
"Stop pouting. It's very unbecoming. And the last time I talked to your mother was when we went over to her place and had dinner. She cornered me in the kitchen wanting to know if you were dating someone. I think she wanted to set you up with someone, again."
"When will she ever give up?"
"Probably not until you're settled down and married with two point three kids. So when are you going to get married anyway? Actually, when was the last time you did date anyone?"
"Weren't we talking about Jacob?"
"I don't think we were."
"No we were. You never answered my question. Why didn't you marry Jacob?"
"I didn't love him enough."
"I kind of knew that. Have we ever loved any of them enough though? They all certainly did love us."
"Do you think that if I had married Jacob or you had married David that we would be in the same situation as Tamera and Morgan? Ever since I've found out about them I've been just wondering..."
"I understand. I understand now why you're having them over for dinner as a couple."
"It's just that...you know that could be us."
"I know darlin'. I get it now."
"So Kelli, what does that mean about us?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's time I tell Mom that I'm with someone. I kind of think she suspects anyway."
"I'm sure she does."
"Lacey do you think, though, that if you let them carry on like this you're really helping them? They want you to tell Nathan, right? I mean they want to stop their charade."
"I don't know what to do."
The doorbell rang then undoubtedly signaling the arrival of the two expected dinner guests. Kelli wondered briefly how the two were able to get away from their significant others for a night. They probably lied, like cheaters often do.
Lacey had left to open the door and returned to kitchen with a gently smiling Tamera and a softly scowling Morgan in her wake. For some reason-- that Kelli was fully aware of-- Morgan didn't like her much. She had even confronted her on one specific occasion letting the tall brunette know full-well what she thought of her using Lacey like she did. Morgan had always perceived Kelli and Lacey's friendship as often being one-sided and in some ways she was slightly jealous. She probably wouldn't have been if she had known that her best friend was actually in a intimate relationship with the other woman, but Lacey had secrets she kept as well and she wasn't about to be so careless as to be caught doing anything she didn't want anyone else to know about.
"Kelli, it's nice to see you again. I wasn't aware that you'd be here this evening." Morgan may have not liked the woman, but she did have manners. Plus, she didn't want to upset Lacey because then her friend might take away this gift she had given Tamera and her.
"Morgan, it has been a long time," Kelli approached the blue-eyed woman and offered her hand in greeting. "I kind of talked Lacey into letting me be here tonight. We hadn't seen each other in quite some time actually."
Morgan took the other woman's hand and shook it gently. "Well I guess the more the merrier," she turned to Tamera. "I'm not sure if you've met Tamera yet." Taking her queue Tamera stepped over to the two brunettes and gave her best smile to Lacey's friend. She didn't want to offend their host because she liked this. She liked that Morgan could take her out over to a friend's house and that they could act like a couple. She liked that Lacey had acknowledged their relationship and at least given it some merit.
"I haven't," Kelli offered her hand to Tamera. "It's nice to meet you. You're partners with Morgan right? I mean you both own the same practice. You're doctors right?"
"Oh yes," Tamera chuckled, "we are."
"That's really great."
"What is it that you do, Kelli?"
"I'm a professor."
"Yes well now that everyone knows everyone else shall we eat?" Lacey asked from her spot over the stove. "I think everything here is edible unless Kelli got near the stove and I just didn't notice."
"That's not funny darlin'. You know I can cook." Kelli's soft southern accent caressed the room easily allowing the endearment to go unnoticed.
"Of course you can. Didn't mean to insinuate that you couldn't," Lacey immediately responded. "And to prove your cooking skills why don't you open the bottle of wine that's on the table."
And so started the dinner. The atmosphere was relaxing and the company genuinely entertaining. Morgan and Tamera had certainly never enjoyed such a casual night together. Kelli did find it odd however, that the two women who had been living in their shroud of secrecy and were experts in the field, didn't once notice or mention Lacey and her relationship. They weren't flaunting it, of that there was no doubt, but they didn't hide it either. The brunette found it quite interesting indeed. Maybe it was just that what they were looking for is just what they saw. They thought Lacey and Kelli were just friends, so friends is all they could be.
Suddenly, Kelli had a new understanding of Nathan's position. He wasn't blind he was just in denial. He was looking at his wife and sister and only seeing what his mind would and could accept. She was the only one in the room who gave Nathan credit for not being blind but only being selective. If Lacey wasn't going to tell the man and end this whole charade then Kelli would have to consider it. She swore no allegiance to Morgan, and Lacey hadn't asked her to keep the secret. A baby was going to eventually be subjected to this bizarre notion of family if someone didn't just stand up and do what everyone wanted done anyway.
The End. Kind Of.
Continued In Expected Surprise
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