Kylie stood in the bunker with her hand on her hip. Her pink suit jacket clung tight to not only her pendulous fake breasts but also her pregnant belly. She put her other hand on her stomach and pouted her lips. "Hi, boys. I'm so embarrassed that you have to see me like this."
Lincoln stood up and hobbled toward the woman. He lovingly put his arm around her. "It's really terrible what happened to Kylie." He gripped her shoulder tighter. "Tell him what happened, sweetie."
Kylie removed Lincoln's hand. "Oh, I don't know if I can. It's almost too difficult for me to even… recall what happened. Why don't you tell them, Lincoln? After all," she said as she raised the back of her hand to her head. "I've been through so much."
Lincoln glared at Kylie. He had never been a fan of her theatrics. He found her to be abrasive, vain, and too excitable, but, despite all that, Kylie had always been loyal to him. When she and Alex dated, Lincoln hoped they would get married. In fact, he was the one who pushed for the two to become a couple. He wanted to merge the Naysmith and Ambrose dynasties. That would solidify their place as the most powerful family in Baltimore. Of course, Alex had other plans. He wanted to date the commoners.
Kylie's less attractive qualities aside, Lincoln was over the moon when she called him and revealed that Alex spent the night at her place. Not only was she able to lead Riley to Alex, but their one-night stand was the perfect blunder. Lincoln knew Alex wouldn't keep his affair a secret from Debbie. He figured once the cat was out of the bag, Alex's life would implode. And Kylie's pregnancy was the perfect twist, a nice little cherry on top of Baltimore's messiest sundae.
Lincoln rubbed his hands together. He had no idea what had happened between Alex and Kylie. He had to think quickly. "Alex stormed into Kylie's apartment and seduced her."
Kylie twirled a lock of hair in her fingers. "I would have never slept with him if I knew he was in a relationship. I'm not that kind of girl, you know? He told me he was single."
Annoyed by the interruption, Lincoln cocked his head toward Kylie. "Didn't you want me to tell the story?"
With a roll of her eyes, Kylie motioned toward Lincoln. "The floor's all yours, old man."
Lincoln's eyes narrowed. "Anyway, yes, Alex lied. Then he slept with poor, sweet Kylie. To make matters worse, the next morning, he made Kylie betray her only brother. Alex made her tell him Riley's location so that Alex could go and fight her brother."
"Riley who?" Christopher asked.
Kylie cleared her throat. "Naysmith. Riley Naysmith."
Christopher scratched his chin. "Huh, that name sounds kind of familiar."
Lincoln brought his hand to his chest. "Well, it should. Riley was a good man. He was Alex's business rival." He glanced toward Kylie, then back to Christopher. "Sadly, he died during a fight with Alex. Last week. He tried to infiltrate Alex's lair and put an end to these super soldiers. Then, bam. He died. Alex blew up the lair with Riley inside."
Kylie looked up to the ceiling and blew a kiss into the air. "My dear brother, I miss him so much. Rest in peace, Riley."
Christopher scratched his head. Something about the story didn't feel right, but he couldn't explain why. Because he didn't have any proof, he figured he was just being paranoid. "I'm so sorry, Kylie. I admire you for going through with the pregnancy, though."
Kylie raised an eyebrow at Christopher. "What?" Then she looked down at her stomach. "Oh! My pregnancy. Yeah, right. Well, what can I say? I'm a giver." She rubbed her belly. "I'm going to name it Riley. Regardless of gender."
"How far along are you?" Christopher asked.
Kylie stopped caressing her stomach. "Uh, how far along am I? Oh, gosh it's so easy to lose count. I'm about 3 weeks."
Christopher stared at her protruding stomach. "Three weeks?"
Lincoln raised his hand. "Months! She means months." He turned to Kylie and spoke to her as if he were giving her instructions. "You're three months pregnant."
Kylie playfully hit herself on the head. "Right, three months. Must be the baby brain! You know what they say, babies steal your brain cells."
Mark, who was sitting in the corner of the room, nodded. "That's true. I learned about that in sex education class."
Lincoln squinted in Mark's direction. "Did you go to public school? You know what, never mind. That's beside the point. What matters is, Alex Ambrose is a good-for-nothing cheater, and even worse, now he's an absent father. Could you imagine leaving such a gracious woman in such a way?"
Kylie smiled at Christopher. She leaned on the arm of the chair he was sitting in. As she did, she seemingly picked up her baby bump and readjusted it. She traced her finger up and down Christopher's arm. "Of course, he couldn't. He's a big, strong gentleman. Alex Ambrose, on the other hand, is a fool. I mean, how pathetic! He's such a mess. He can't even decide who he wants to date."
***
Back at Alex's newly renovated house, things were not looking up. Yvonne and Alex were in the midst of a fight. As they hurled insults and ultimatums at each other, they had no idea Debbie was listening to them. She hid behind the basement door, taking in every word.
Alex's voice echoed through the basement as he yelled at Yvonne. "You're my friend. What happened between us – it was nice, but I need more than nice."
Debbie scoffed to herself. "Nice? It was nice? What was nice about it? I guess cheating is considered nice now. This is unreal."
"You need to go. As soon as Ken and the camera crew leave, I want you to pack your bags, and go home. I can't have you around anymore," Alex explained.
Anguished, Debbie leaned on the door. "I wonder when he's going to say that to me." Tears pooled in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away. Then, she heard Yvonne raise her voice.
"She's not the only one who loves you! At some point, Alex, you're going to have to choose. Me or Debbie," Yvonne shouted.
Debbie shook her head in disbelief. "This can't be happening. I have to get out of here."
She didn't wait to hear Alex's response. She sprinted up the stairs, almost crashing into Louis in the process.
"Debbie! What's happening? Wait, Ken told me something. Debbie," Louis said.
She didn't turn around. At that point, she didn't care. She didn't care about Louis, and she certainly didn't care about Ken Stokes. She desperately needed to get out of the house.
She ran into her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. "You know what? Yvonne and Alex can stay in the basement and fight all they want. I'm sick of this. I'm going to find Christopher myself."
Debbie ripped open the doors that led to her walk-in closet. She surveyed the room. "If I'm going to make a run for it, I need to be prepared. I need to put together a go-bag."
She grabbed an empty Birkin bag off the floor. She peered inside it. "Yeah, that'll work."
She stuffed the twenty-five thousand dollar bag with things she thought would serve well on her journey. She grabbed an extra pair of socks, a can of super-strength hairspray, and a box of pink sparkly band aids. It was obvious that Debbie never had to run away from home before. "This should do the trick. I don't need Alex or Yvonne. I can do this on my own."
With her purse tossed over her shoulder, Debbie rushed back downstairs. The filmmaking crew crowded the living room, packed together like sardines. They were wrapping up the shoot and putting away all of their equipment. Debbie tried to sneak past them without getting noticed.
She successfully dodged the caterers, who were carrying trays of food out to a truck stationed at the front of the house. She also managed to duck under the gaffers as they carried huge light fixtures. However, right before she made it out the door, she bumped into a cinematographer who was reviewing segments of footage.
"Sorry," Debbie muttered as she attempted to push past him.
The cinematographer picked up his head. "Hey! Debbie Clifton, Baltimore's sweetheart."
Debbie glared at the man. "Yup, that's me all right."
"Heading out to the forest for a little hike? Need to clear your mind?" he asked.
She bit her bottom lip. "None of your business."
She stormed out of the house without another word.
The cinematographer focused on Debbie as she walked into the woods. Discreetly, he pulled out his cell phone. He dialed a number and lowered his voice. "Hey, just so you know, the girlfriend just ran into the woods… Yeah. Now would be a perfect time if you were going to do it. Okay… no problem." He hung up the phone and watched Debbie until she disappeared.
Enraged and disappointed, Debbie stomped through the forest. She shouted into the air. "Christopher! Where are you, Christopher? Please come back! Alex is being a jerk! You need to put him in his place! Christopher?"
Debbie felt her face flush. She was so angry, embarrassed, and upset. Alex broke her heart. Yvonne broke her trust. She didn't know which was worse. Ugh, she thought. I have to get my mind off this. Okay, Debbie. Just focus on Christopher. Put all this energy into finding Christopher.
She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Christopher! Come on, Chris! Where are you?" She lowered her arms. "This is no use. Maybe I should just walk to the hospital. I'll have more luck there."
Debbie rubbed her temples. Her mind went back to Alex. "How could he do this to me? Everything I've ever done was for him. I put my all into his business. I take care of his home. And how does he repay me? He kisses my best friend."
A boulder sat on the trailer in front of Debbie. She plopped down on it and put her head in her hands. "I remember our first date. He took me to an Orioles game. I had never seen a baseball game in my life. It was so exciting. Not the baseball, of course. Just being there with him. He was like a celebrity."
She smiled at the memory of Alex. "Every player on the team wanted him to sign their baseballs. It was incredible. He was so romantic and charming. For our second date, he rented out the whole National Aquarium because I told him I liked dolphins. He even got me blue hydrangeas because, well, dolphins are blue. It was so thoughtful. No wonder I fell head over heels for him."
She let out a dejected sigh. "What happened? Was it something I did?"
She stared out into the forest, listening to the natural ambiance. When she heard the snapping of a few twigs. She looked around but saw nothing. "It's probably another bunny."
That reminded her of when she and Yvonne giggled over the bunny earlier that day.
Yvonne. Her betrayal stung just as bad as Alex's. How could Yvonne lie to her face? Debbie pursed her lips at the thought of it all. "Why would she do that to me? For days, she calls me a murderer. She tries to tell everyone I'm a lunatic. Then, she pretends to be my best friend just so that she could get closer to Alex. Who does that?"
She scuffed her shoes in the dirt. "I bet Alex never rented out the National Aquarium for Yvonne." She squeezed her eyes shut. "This is stupid. We're adult women. We shouldn't be fighting over a man. I shouldn't be so desperate, even if he is the love of my life. Or at least I thought he was."
Then, Debbie saw something moving through the trees in front of her. She looked up. "Christopher? Is that you?"
No one replied.
Debbie stood up. She adjusted the position of her Birkin bag on her shoulder. "Are you a member of Ken Stokes' film crew? I swear to god, if you are recording me, I will break your camera. I'm serious." Still, no reply. Debbie shrugged. "Maybe it was just a deer or something. I should probably get going anyway. The sun is setting."
Suddenly, a man, dressed all in black, jumped in front of Debbie. She hopped back and screamed. "Stay away!"
The man was short. He wore a black trench coat and leather gloves. His face was completely in shadow, covered by a wide-rimmed dark hat. Debbie couldn't make out any of the man's features as he stood in the shadow of the forest.
Even as he stepped closer to her, he remained a mystery. He brought a finger to his lips and shushed Debbie. "Calm down, Miss Clifton."
She recognized his voice, but she couldn't remember where. She squinted, trying to get a better look at the man. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"
Covertly, as she continued to back away, Debbie reached into her bag and grabbed the bottle of super-strength hairspray. She held onto it tightly.
The mysterious figure reached out to her. "What do I want? Why, Debbie, I want to help. I know what happened. I know how you feel. I know what it's like to lose everything."
"You don't know anything," Debbie said through gritted teeth. She may have been in a vulnerable position, but she wasn't about to run off with strangers in the woods.
In one fell swoop, she pulled the bottle out of her bag and sprayed the man in the face.
He raised his hands to cover his eyes. "Oh, my god! What is that?"
"Super-strength hairspray, you jerk!"
The man ducked his head down, and when he did, Debbie kicked him onto the ground. "Take that!"
Without hesitation, she ran like a bat out of hell, sprinting with all of her might.
However, the man wasn't ready to give up yet. The hairspray did little to deter him. He chased after Debbie.
It didn't take long before he caught up with her. He grabbed her by her Birkin bag, yanking her to the ground. With a grunt, he aggressively ripped the bag off her shoulder and threw it into the forest.
The man chuckled to himself. "This would have been so much easier if you didn't fight."
That sentence hit Debbie like a freight train. She knew exactly who that was. She tried to get up. "Get off of me–"
BAM! The man struck Debbie in the head with a thick branch. It knocked her out cold.
He maniacally laughed. "That was a piece of cake."
He slid off his black leather gloves and pulled a phone out of the pocket of his coat. "This is bound to impress the boss."