Chapter 385) Stryke Out

Windenburg
Cameron Lake House

Steering her bicycle towards her home, she could see the motorcycle before she saw him.
Her first instinct was to turn the bike around and rush off, but he had already seen her, and it would be silly and immature, plus, at some point she’d have to go home, who was to say he wasn’t still gonna be there. Or come back.

She stopped, got off and pushed the bike into its usual parking spot, ignoring him, while he waited, quietly, by her front door.

She walked up to him and just looked at him.

“I came to say I am sorry.” he said.

“Not as sorry as I am.” she told him.

“Can we talk inside for a moment?” he asked, pointing at the still shut door.

She shook her head.

“Come on. Let me at least explain some stuff to you.”

“There is nothing to explain. You used me, then left, I got that part. What I don’t get is why you are back now when you already made a clean break. Oh, wait, let me guess, I know. You woke up this morning and suddenly realized you love me and can’t live without me?” sarcasm was dripping off the last part of Sophie’s rant.

“Of course not. This isn’t a chick flick. Look, not trying to be a dick, but I have a girlfriend.”

“Figures. Just leave. This is pointless.”

“I came to apologize. I am not the kind of asshole you probably think I am now. I feel like shit about this, you’re such a nice person, and I shouldn’t have just left like I did. I wasn’t myself. When you first found me, I had been drunk AF, as in completely wasted, I had been speeding and laid down my bike in some corner since I was inebriated and not familiar with Windenburg, hurt like hell and almost knocked me out, but even as trashed and injured as I was, I knew if someone found me like that, I’d go to jail for drunk driving. Luckily, I didn’t break any bones, so I dragged my bike off to the side, then got away as far as I could before passing out, next thing I know is you found me. I was still kinda drunk and in a bad place then. I had a shit-day that day. My best friend’s brother … umm … I walked in on him with my girl. They were both drunk, as was I, we fought, it got really bad. Eventually I just got on my bike and left.”

“Sounds like you need better friends. And a better girlfriend.”

“Yeah, that’s just the thing with relationships, it’s not always paradise. Plus, there is that sex, drugs and rock’n’roll aspect, it’s all still kinda new to us and we’re trying to figure out how to be a real band, not just some back-alley act anymore. We’ve come so far, so not like I could just walk out or everything we worked so hard for until now would have been for nothing.”

“You’re in a band?”

“Yeah, we’re called Stryke 3. Still working on our big break, but you probably heard of us, we even opened for ViVa on three of her local shows and we made a lot of headlines for it, even national news. I founded the band with my best bud and brought his brother in too. We’re three members, I’m Stryker … so we went with Stryke 3 … get it? My girl helps us manage shit. She isn’t great at it but takes it off my plate. We all work as barkeepers to make rent and all, but problem that comes with the trade is that the other boys can’t stay sober long enough to book shit for us or sign any contracts and I write most of our material, can’t do everything myself.”

“Never heard of you, but I hope your music is better than your naming ideas.”

“You never heard of us? Wow! We need to fix that. I can get you into a show. We play at the Skyline in San Myshuno now, Saturdays for now. We got a standing engagement for three months, depending on how it goes, it may be extended, which is huge and may lead to a contract. You know where the Skyline is?”

Sophie nodded and couldn’t help but appreciate the irony. The Skyline was a multi-city club franchise which was owned by a different branch of the Cameron family. The same ones who paid for the Cameron Estate she had grown up at. That was irony punching you in the face right there.

“You know what, Stryker? Come inside for a moment. I do have something to talk to you about as well. Won’t take long.”

She let him inside, but didn’t bother leaving the hallway. Gathering her courage, she looked up at him.

“I am pregnant.”

“What? Shit! Oh, come on, don’t do this to me. You’re not saying what I think you are saying? Seriously girl, it was just one time. One single time. One single moment of weakness. Not to sound rude or imply anything, but are you sure that it was me? I know it can happen, but what are the odds, right?”

“I am sure. To be perfectly honest, you were my first and only. So, yes, definitely yours.”

“Your … did you just say … this was your … you were a … oh come on. Nah. No way! NO way! Fuck me! Don’t be like this. No way you were a virgin! Why didn’t you say anything? Holy crap!”

“Say what exactly? This isn’t something you lead with at my age, especially not with a guy like you. And do not think you were the only one with a severe lapse of judgement that day.”

“Ok, look, I am not gonna flake on you, I’ll do the right thing, I’ll pay and all. Just give me some time to find the right words to explain this shit to my girlfriend. Man, she’s gonna turn me into a woman for this. Dammit.”

“You mean the girlfriend who slept with your best friend’s brother? Kinda hypocritic if she were to give you a hard time for this, don’t you think? But you’re not the only one screwed, no pun intended.”

“I think knocking someone up while cheating is a new level of being a shitty partner, so I am still the asshole in my relationship. And why are you screwed? Didn’t you tell me you were single? At least you don’t have to fess up to your boyfriend. And I thought you had this really cool big child-loving family you’re so close with. They’ll help, right?”

“Obviously I am single, or I wouldn’t have been …. ahem … pure. Yeah, my family is pretty great and will help, once I tell them about this, which I have avoided like the plague, because I am not quite ready for what they all are gonna tell me. Look I get it, as you said, sex, drugs and rock and roll, that may work for you. For someone like me, all everyone is gonna see is an idiot and a hussy.”

“Come on now, nobody is gonna think you’re a hussy. Or an idiot. I was the idiot. You were just … umm … you were … what’s the word?”

“Naive? Yeah, that’s just another way to call me an idiot at this point. Gullible, naive and stupid.”

“Okay, here’s a thought. Since this is really early on, I mean, we just did what we did a few weeks ago, there is a way to get out of this without anyone knowing if you want. I don’t know how much something like that costs, but I’ll find the money somehow.”

“Did you just suggest …. are you saying … get out! OUT!” Sophie started shoving him to the door, trying to reach behind him to open it which he mistook as an attempt to hug him, which caused her to push his hands off her.

“Wait! That was just an idea! I am not saying you have to or that you should. Stop!”

“That’s not an idea for me! I love kids! I WANT to have children! Not like THIS, but now that I am already pregnant, I am not giving it up like that. Besides, this may well be my only chance to ever have a baby of my own, so no way. NO WAY! If this is you trying to get out of your responsibility, think again! I am not gonna have an abortion as some kind of quick fix backspace button for the mess we both made! You are just as little innocent in all this as I am. If you were so worried about pregnancies, you should have put on protection. And what do you have to complain about? I bet you do this all the time. But do you think I imagined my first time to go like that? I thought it would be planned, super-romantic and deep, with a man I love and who loves me. And I thought that very guy would ask me to marry him, we’d have a super-romantic wedding and then eventually kids. Instead: this! I’ll never get that moment back, any of those firsts, no second chances. This terrible mess is now what was supposed to be great memories to look back on in many years from now! You took that from me and I was dumb enough to let you!” while yelling at him, she had finally managed to open the door and shove him outside, where he barely kept himself from landing on his behind.

She slammed the door shut, locked it and leaned against it from the inside.

Tears running down her cheeks, she slid down the door into a seated position, feeling numb, while he banged on the door from outside, trying to peek into the window, while pleading for her to talk to him and that he didn’t mean it like that.

After some time, he gave up, then she heard an engine of a motorcycle howl up and listened to it fade into the distance, while she cried.