A Shift In Balance



Nick, who now found it amusing to play by Heather’s rules, pushed her bathroom door open while she was inside. She had her leg on the side of the tub and it was covered with shaving foam. And on her face, some kind of morning facial mask.

“So sorry to bother you, but we’re going to take the dogs for a walk. Just thought I’d tell you since you wanna know every time I make a move.” Nick said, sarcastically. She rolled her eyes at him and slammed the door in his face. He just smiled and took AJ’s arm so they could go. Then he suddenly turned and made sure Brian was ok with staying behind.

Brian just waved his hand and watched them go. He really didn’t want to stay back with Heather. Mainly because he was afraid of how she would act alone in the house with him after she was told he liked her too.

“Just chill, Brian. You love Lee, and nothing’s gonna happen.” He told himself. And he continued to tell himself. Because he knew Heather was going to come on to him and she was going to do it strong.

Heather opened the bathroom door and saw Brian sitting on her bed, waiting. She took the towel from her head and let her blonde her fall. Brian swallowed hard. How on earth had he gotten himself into this mess. And how was he going to keep this girl thinking he was interested.

“Sneaky bloke. You should have told a girl you were lurking around in her bedroom.”

“I guess I wanted to surprise you. And I wanted to tell you to get dressed. We’re going out.” Heather was so intrigued by Brian’s innocent charm that she didn’t think twice about leaving Nick alone. She never even questioned Brian’s motives. All she knew was that she had to seize this opportunity alone with him.

AJ and Nick were out with the dogs, talking about whether Brian could pull it off or not. They had stayed up for hours the night before figuring out how Brian would get Heather to slip up. And if he could do it successfully, she could be out of Nick’s house as soon as the next day.

“Mom called me this morning. She’s been reading the stories and seeing the pictures. And, I didn’t know what to tell her.” Nick confessed to his friend. AJ stopped in his stride and Nick did as well.

“Yeah, but you had to have told her something.” Nick nodded, not really wanting to admit what he told her.

“Well?” AJ insisted.

“I told her that Ava was just a friend of mine and there was no baby on the way. I told her that this thing between Ava and I is strictly platonic. I lied to my mother, AJ. I swore I’d never do that again when it came to Manda. But here I go again.” He felt bad for not telling her the truth. But he really didn’t want her involved. He wanted to fix things himself.

“Well, then this has to work. That way she doesn’t have to know. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to help you lie to your mother. But, if she found out what was going on out here, all hell would break loose.” AJ was completely right. If Jane were to find out now that Ava was carrying her son’s baby, she would lose it. Not to mention the fact that Heather was blackmailing him and forcing him into marriage. The ultimate commitment.

On the way back to the house, the two saw Brian pull out of the driveway with Heather in the passenger seat. Both Nick and AJ had identical smiles on their faces. Brian was instructed to take her our for a brief lunch and then find some way to get her back to her house. Not Nick’s. They crossed they’re fingers.

~*~*~*~*~*~


“You know, I still can’t believe Nick got that girl pregnant. Especially when he had a woman like you on his arm.” Brian said, shaking his head. All rehearsed.

“Well, actually... he was with her before he met me. I think a month and a half.” She explained. Then she took a sip of her tea.

“Over a month? I never knew that! Wait... how did you know?” This was it. The plan was going into effect.

“I have the test results remember. The little baby’s due in spring. It really is a shame that he’ll never get to see his first son. But, oh well, life’s unfair. Is it not?” Brian pretended to agree with her totally by picking up his glass and toasting to her comment.

On the way home, Heather kept her hand on Brian’s thigh. And he found a sure fire way to keep her from moving it. He just had to make himself hard to get.

“Now Heather, you know you shouldn’t get something started that you can’t finish.” She would just smile and keep her pale little hand where it was.

“Let’s not go back to Nick’s. Let’s go to your place where we can have some privacy and talk.” She took this as an invite for a more than romantic evening. So, naturally, she agreed.

She showed Brian where her house was and they pulled into the driveway. Nick and AJ, who were hiding on the side of the house heard Brian and Heather get out of the car and go inside. Nick looked at his watch and smiled.

“Perfect timing, Brian. Perfect.” He mumbled, AJ agreeing with the nodding of his head. Just as planned, Brian opened the curtains and told her he wanted to see what kind of view she had of the front yard. This gave Nick and AJ a perfect view of the study, and the picture the safe was hidden behind. He also unlocked the window without Heather’s noticing. This would be useful to his two hiding accomplices later.

They could see Brian talking, but they couldn’t hear his words at all. All they could to was hope things were running smoothly.

“This is the nicest house I’ve ever seen. I’m impressed, really.” Brian lied. In his heart, he knew his home was nicer. Just because Lee was a genius when it came to interior design. And to be frank, her house reminded him of Lara Croft’s in those Tomb Raider games. So old fashioned and plain.

“Why, thank you Brian. I do pride myself in it. Just wait until Nickolas finds out he has to move in here.” Brian did get tickled by that thought. Nick could never live in a place like this. It was way to traditional. Nick was more of a modern person.

“Speaking of Nick, where are those sacred test results? I’m just curious as to where you’d hide them.” Brian said, hoping he hadn’t spoken too soon. But to his surprise, she turned and went to the portrait.

“Shit! AJ’s She’s gonna open the safe!” Nick exclaimed, even though his voice was still low. Brian could see Nick’s blonde head pop from the bushes, and he motioned for him to get back down. Heather turned back to Brian and Brian quickly put his hand down.

“They’re in a safe, behind this portrait.” Brian went up to her and looked at the portrait on the wall.

“Can I see them? I mean, if I’m asking too much, just tell me.” He caressed her cheek, and Heather was just too taken by him to protest. She was too taken to even think straight. She swung the portrait away from the wall and the safe came into view. Brian glanced at the window and saw AJ’s ring-covered fingers give him an “OK” signal.

“I only just discovered this safe a few weeks ago. Not long after I found about Ava and Nick’s secret.” She started the combination and the little door popped open. Then she showed the sheets of paper to Brian.

“Wow. Poor guy. This is definitely his. Because I remember him telling me he went to Disney World around this very date.” She smiled and he gave the results back. She put the papers back and closed the safe. Then she put the dial on zero, just out of habit.

Nick looked over at AJ and grinned. He had gotten every single number on film. Clear as crystal. Now they sat still and waited for Brian to take Heather upstairs.

“But enough about Nick. Let’s go upstairs and I’ll let you start again what you started on the ride home.” He kissed her on the neck and then took her hand. As she led him toward the stairs, he turned and looked at his friends outside. He stuck his tongue out, disgusted by having to kiss her as they planned.

On the way to the stairwell, they passed the alarm system pad on the wall. It was just where Nick said it would be. He ran his fingers over the pad and turned it off. A green light on the pad turned red, and this meant the alarm system was disarmed. He put up his thumb and followed Heather up the stairs.

Nick counted to 25. This allowed Brian and Heather to get upstairs and to her room. Then he opened the window slowly. He let AJ go in first, and then he stepped in. They went straight to the safe. AJ rewound the tape in the video camera and watched it. Nick did do a good job zooming in and focusing. He played the tape slowly.

“Ok. She started on 0. But she turns it twice to the right without hitting a number. Ending on 0.” Nick did this. “Now go left to 32.” Nick did this too. “Right, passed 32, then on to 12..... after that, go left, passed 12, then on to 22.” The safe popped open. They both laughed silently. AJ turned the camera off and waited for Nick to make a move.

“Finally. We pulled it off.” He whispered. Then he took the test results from the safe. He tucked them in his back pocket and closed the safe again. Putting the dial on zero, just as he saw Heather do.

“Ok, let’s get the hell out of here.” They slipped back out through the window and closed it. On the way back to Nick’s house, AJ called Brian’s cell phone.

Brian was just taking the strap of Heather’s dress off of her shoulders when his phone rang. He knew they had gotten everything and were out. He looked at the number on the screen of the phone and made a disappointed face at Heather.

“It’s Nick. I should probably be getting back.” She looked at her watch.

“But it’s not that late.” She argued. Brian just put his warm hand on her waist and kissed her forehead.

“He’s my best friend. And this is all hard on him. If he needs me, I should be there for him. I’ll tell you what though, you come on back to the house 10 minutes after I leave. That way he’ll have no idea we were together. This’ll just stay our little secret.”

“But Brian, when can we do this again?” Brian wanted to say “never”. But instead he just said what he thought he needed to hear.

“As soon as I can get Nick out of our way, baby. See you back at the house.” He turned and left, smoothly, as if he had no idea what had just happened.

He turned the alarm system back on and then locked the window again on his way to the front door. Once outside, he had to smile. Heather had just been had.

By now, Nick was burning the papers in his kitchen sink. The dogs were barking, wondering where the flames where coming from. Once the paper was just a pile of ashes, he ran the water and let them wash away.

“Bye-bye” He whispered as the black ashes went down the drain in a clockwise direction. Brian came in and rushed into the kitchen where both Nick and AJ were.

“You got it alright?” He asked, eagerly. AJ nodded and pointed toward Nick who was still standing at the sink.

“Ashes to ashes... dust to dust.” Was all Nick could say. Brian smiled and went to the sink. He could smell the smoke of burnt paper in the air. And he no longer regretted leading Heather on.

“Hurry up and call Lee. I know you want to. But keep it short. Cause I wanna call Ava. I want her over here first thing tomorrow morning.” Nick announced. Brian did just that. He got the phone and left the room to tell Lee about all that he had done that day. And again, she was amused by it.

Brian was off of the phone and Nick was on by the time Heather got there. She took the phone away from his ear and put it to hers.

“Who is this?” She asked, grumpily.

“No one for you to be concerned about, bitch.” Ava replied. Heather knew the voice right away and clicked the phone off.

“No one said you could call her! You are forbidden to do that! And you know it!” Nick just sat down on the stairs and rested back on his elbows.

“Well, I won’t have to call her after tonight.” She looked at him, crossed and confused.

“The engagement is off, Heather. So pack your shit up tonight and go home! Ava’s gonna need that room when she comes home tomorrow. Oh, and she’s gonna need this too...” He reached up and snatched the engagement ring from her finger.

“She picked this out. She should wear it. Why, you might ask. Because she’s worth it and you’re not.” He teased. AJ started giggling in the corner.

“What do you mean the engagement’s off? You can’t do that. Nickolas, I swear, I will tell the world about your illegitimate baby-on-the-way with that slut!” Brian came down the stairs and sat down a few steps above Nick.

“But you can’t prove it. The world needs proof, not rumors.” Brian added in. She looked at him in total disbelief.

“Proof! I have plenty of proof! I have the damned results from her pregnancy tests! Brian, you saw them...” Suddenly AJ came up to her and held the envelope that the results were in before her face. She saw the address of Ava’s GYN and she went crazy. She grabbed the envelope and looked inside. Empty.

“What the hell is going on here!” Her nose flared up and her pale white cheeks flushed pink. Her perfect blonde hair started to look a little messy after to raked her fingers through it in frustration.

“Sorry Heather. I don’t think that things between us are gonna work out now.” Brian joked, hitting Nick on the shoulder and slapping hands with AJ through the banister.

Heather looked up at the three men. Then she threw the envelope down and stormed out, nearly closing Antoinette’s tail in the door. She went back to her house and looked inside the safe. It too was empty. They were right. She had nothing on Nick now.

No ring. No marriage. No money from Father. Nothing. She went back to Nick’s house and went to her room. Nick was in the hallway in front of the door to his bedroom.

“Remember. Out by 6 in the morning. No later. I have to fumigate in there before Ava comes.” She rolled her eyes at him and closed her bedroom door. Most of her things were still in her suitcases. So she figured she might as well just sleep off her anger and sadness.

Even though Nick had won, She wasn’t going to admit defeat. No one, absolutely no one got the best of Heather Errington. The thought of her father winning their bet was already out of the question. But for Nick to win at her game? She would be damned if she let that happen. It was time to break out the queen.




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