A Perfect Song

[15]

I hurried down the driveway, tears streaming down my face. I was a whirlwind of emotions and part of me felt guilty for even having feelings about the whole situation.

I wasn't around when they dated and it's not like he cheated on me, but I was still hurt and more than that I was worried, worried that this was the end of us and this all had to happen just before he was due to leave town and go back on his tour.

I made it to the front gate which was crowded with reporters and news trucks, assumingely waiting for Jayce to bombard him with questions about Mackenzie and their relationship.

I pulled my hood over my head and hurried towards the taxi, pushing through the crowd ignoring all the questions I practically dove into the taxi, shouting the diners address.

Once I was in the taxi and we had successfully driven through the commotion I pulled my hood down and attempted to collect myself.

I didn't want to look like a mess when I entered the diner, even though what I really wanted to do right now was go home, well back to the apartment and hide away in my dark bedroom and try to forget this whole ordeal, even though I knew that wasn't happening.

Shuffling through my bag I pulled out my small makeup bag, which held only the essentials while I traveled, and from it I plucked out my compact mirror tossing it open to see the damage I would be working with.

I was never one to heavily use makeup, in fact you'd be lucky to catch me wearing any on my good days, let alone my bad days but today just felt like a day where I should at least pretend to care about how I looked.

After throwing on some light foundation I ran a mascara brush through my eyelashes and decided that simple would do just fine.

I pulled my hair out of whatever mess it was tied in and combed my hands through it because one thing I didn't have on me was a hair brush.

When I was satisfied and really just bored of caring I shoved my things away and resumed watching out the window until we finally arrived.

I had the driver stop just around the block so I could take the back entrance into the diner without anyone seeing me, I gave my usual double knock on the door which was always locked and could only be opened from inside as a safety precaution and moments later the door opened revealing Sam.

She didn't even say hello before she dragged me inside and closed the door.

"Sam," I whined as she pushed me into the staff room, which was empty. "Are you okay?" She asked, and as if on cue tears welled up in my eyes. Sam frowned at me and wrapped me in a tight hug.

I leaned into her and tried my hardest not to cry which was proving to be tough so I pulled away and pretended to be fine.

"I should tell you, Mackenzie's out there, proudly showing off her bump and the press is eating it up" Sam said cautiously, I looked at her and my heart felt as though it had stopped for a second before breathing normally again.

Of course she would show up here, where I work rubbing it in as if today wasn't hard enough already.

I was about to respond when I knock sounded at the door and David popped his head in, "Hey Lace," he gave me a half hearted smile "uh, Jayce is out here and he wants to talk to you, Mackenzie's here as well"

Guess this is as good a time as any to deal with this, not.

I wiped my eyes and took a deep breath "have them wait in my office, I'll be there in a minute" I said confidently, David nodded and left the room.

"You don't have to do this, I can tell them to leave" Sam suggested, I turned to my bag and pulled out a yellow sundress to change into.

"It's fine, I'll just get this over with and get to work" I said, I would cry about this later but for now I guess I would get some of my questions answered, not that I even wanted to ask anything or learn the answers.

I pulled off the sweater and shirt I was wearing leaving me in my bra and I slipped the dress over my head before removing my sweatpants.

"I applaud you hun, yer as tough as nails" Sam placed a comforting hand on my shoulder before she walked out of the room.

I followed after her and walked into my office where a smug looking Mackenzie sat, all poised, with a smirk on her face wearing the tightest dress possible to show every single part of her baby bump.

Jayce stood on the other side of the room, lost in his own thoughts, as if he didn't even see me enter the room.  I closed the door louder than I intended which grabbed the attention of them both, Jayce stood up strait and took a step towards me but when I didn't look at him he stopped.

"what can I help you with today?" I asked as if they were regular customers, I used the best fake customer service voice I could muster up which still had a bitchy tone to it, whoops. "I just wanted to formally introduce myself to the 'step-mother-to-be', isn't that what people do these days?" Mackenzie let out a snorting laugh, as though she was trying her hardest to upset me.

I had to admit though, it was working.

Jayce still stayed silent and watched out the window as if ignoring this conversation would make it go away completely, to bad it wasn't that easy. 

Mackenzie cleared her throat obviously and stood up from the chair adjusting her dress before she walked towards me extending her hand, I stared down at her and debated whether or not to take it. 

I didn't want to seem rude, but I also didn't want to seem like I was okay with whatever was happening, when I wasn't and I didn't know if I would ever be. The thing is, a baby isn't something you can just get over, they're permanent things who require a lot of attention from both parents and the last thing I would ever want to be is a home wrecker, I am not that kind of girl and I won't allow them to make me into one.

Its bad enough that my entire life is in the news ever since I started seeing Jayce but I didn't want people hating on me more.

I glared at her without saying anything, which she just smiled at before walking closer to Jayce "I guess I'll see you later than" she winked Jayce gave her a short shameful nod before she left the room, closing the door behind her.

seconds after she was gone Jayce moved towards me, "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you" he let out a sigh and leaned against my desk, "I guess this whole thing just came as a shock to me" he added, I chuckled and he looked at me confused.

"Shocked me to Jayce," I explained, "I know!" he answered immediately, brushing his hands through his hair quickly.   I felt a tinge of guilt as I watched him, he was clearly stressed and bothered and that last thing he would need right now is a fight with me, hell I don't even think I could handle a fight with him today.

I was two seconds away from another breakdown and I still had to work today, story of my life.

"I'm sorry," he breathed out, I sat on the desk beside him, our shoulders brushing together. "it's not your fault Jayce," I reassured him. He looked over to me and gave me a weak smile.  "You haven't done anything wrong, she was in the picture long before I was and there's nothing I can do about it, you either"

"But she isn't in the picture anymore, you are" he reached over to rest his hand on mine and I let him, "in fact you're the whole damn picture, Lacy" he stood up pulling me with him, I tripped into him but he held me up, as usual.

"Jayce.." I breathed out, our faces just inches apart "I can't compete with her"

"Lace, there is no competition.  I chose you, I will always choose you.  Mac and I are a thing of the past and I will love my child and tolerate her, but it doesn't change how I feel about you" I watched him, breathless.

hot tears streamed down my cheeks but I couldn't tell if they were happy tears or just more sad tears, Jayce wiped them away with his thumb and kissed my forehead while he wrapped his arms around me.

I melted into his embrace "I love you" he whispered.