Chapter 453) Good/Bad Girl

“I’d rather have an enemy who admits that they hate me, than a friend who secretly puts me down.”

― Karen Salmansohn

Del Sol Valley
Starlight Accolades Gala Hall

Sophie looked as if she were barely holding on to her composure, while the blonde woman across from her had a very satisfied expression on her face.

“You really are some dumb broad. You finally had a decent enough figure to not insult the eyes of anyone having to look at you, then go and unnecessarily pump out yet another baby ruining it all. How can someone be so idiotic? I heard that the dumbest people are the best lays, there must be something to it, cos whatever Stryker sees in you, I am not seeing it. All I see is a boring, plump, third-rate fast-food fry cook chick that rewards herself too much with bonbons and ice cream by the bucket. I can’t even see your ribs, unless they are under those udders you call breasts. Gross! Just as gross as you were years ago when somehow your act and lies stole my man from me by brainwashing him with fake news and turning him against me.”

“Aww, mind if I tag in, so you can try to sink your claws into a bitch your own size, Alycia? Oh my! Were you running late getting here in time? Girl, I don’t know how to tell ya, but you forgot to finish getting dressed. Half your merchandize is on full display. Then again, skinny as you are, not much to see anyway so I guess you’re good.” Fallon had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, as she did, and her facial expression was a devilish mix of mockery and challenge.

Sophie felt genuine relief about Fallon taking over, while a snorted laugh escaped her when she looked over Alycia and saw Fallon wasn’t even so wrong. Being confronted by Alycia had startled Sophie stiff, she couldn’t even get a word out to defend herself. Fallon had no such inhibitions openly staring at what little there was to Alycia’s designer gown, which could hardly be called more than a glittery bathing suit with a sort of train in the back, reminding Sophie of something a Vegas showgirl might wear for some burlesque performance.

“UGH – so immature. You two wouldn’t know high fashion if it bit you in the face. Then again, hopefully it does, could only be an improvement.” Alycia let out a dramatic and theatrical sigh.

“Oh, is that what happened to you then? I was always wondering why you are so much uglier than your sister, just guessed the better part of you ran down your mother’s butt when your dad tried to pull out in time, you failed coitus interruptus.” Fallon shot sharp, making Sophie gasp, while Alycia’s eyes narrowed.

“What do YOU want again, Fallon? You’re not here for an award, so why don’t you go off and do your security rounds with your bodyguard husband, like a good working class bitch? You already did enough damage last time we were both at an event! You are SUCH a bitch publicly releasing photos you took unauthorized! You best believe you will hear from my legal team, they are already building a case! You better hope I never happen upon some real dirt on you, or you can bet it will be published from this galaxy into the next! I can’t believe you did that!”

Fallon put on her best innocent girl face, pouty lips and big eyes.

“Whatever could you mean? Oh, you mean that one time, when Sophie wasn’t with Stryker and you tried SO HARD to get into his pants that is was literally disgusting? If I were you, I wouldn’t even breathe that around anyone, least of all his wife. And what a shocker that your hubby wasn’t thrilled. When I knew Eli – INTIMATELY – he liked things kinky. Guess he prefers being part of the kinkiness, not as a bystander while his wife is trying too hard with another man. Aww. Poor Eli.” Fallon’s tone mocked Alycia even more than her words, while Sophie frowned. Did Fallon just say that or was Sophie hearing stuff? Alycia came onto Stryker? WHAT!?

“I’ll tell you what. You are so worried about what I may or may not do with Stryker, here’s food for thought: if Eli leaves me, or worse, tries to divorce me because of your stupid stunt, I will go right after Stryker and not rest until I broke him and this cow there up! How do you like that?” Alycia’s eyes were shooting sparks, Sophie’s eyes got wide, while Fallon’s narrowed.

“Oh, look at you, daring the vampire. That really sounded like a good idea to you? I’ll tell you how I’d like that. I’d love to see you try. Last time you threw yourself at him, poor Stryker looked so disgusted, his eyes begging for a spray down with industrial strength sanitizer wherever you put your paws on him. He doesn’t want you anymore, get the message already! He even told you as much, loud and clear, everyone heard him. Except you. And to answer your question: if I see you trying to make a pass at Stryker one more time, I may go and remind Eli of how much he really liked me, and make you watch. And that would probably leave me parched, needing to feed, while there’s not much to your skinny ass, I am sure I could get every single last drop out of you, and then just hide the raisin-like remains so well in the desert, chew toys for the coyotes. Still wanna really try me, the ice princess, the vampire bitch? Really? Your balls big enough for it, Alycia? I don’t think they are and you need to let it go, keep away from Stryker and just move the fuck on.”

Sophie and Alycia both looked shocked, Alycia’s shock turned to anger, hissing at Fallon

“Freak!”

“Straight back at ya, you living skeletal remains. Tootles then, don’t you have somewhere else to be, cos you are really not wanted here AT ALL. Sooo .. you may go now. Go, go. Dismissed. Off with you. Shoo!”

“Terrible bitch! I really hope there is someone out there like that Van Helsing person and that they will come along and just decimate you and your entire nasty entitled family! As gruesome as possible!” Alycia snarled at Fallon.

“Yeah, sure. Don’t trip over your gown while making your usual dramatic exit – oh wait, there is no gown in the front to trip over. Maybe next time hold off on buying clothing until you can afford an ENTIRE dress, not just 50% of it. And there are always outlet stores and last season sales …. poor broke bitch. Or here’s a thought from one working class bitch who has money to a trophy wife who doesn’t: try getting a job and make your own money, rather than go from mooching off mommy and daddy to ambitionless trophy wife living blow job to blow job.”

Alycia turned and rushed off, nearly visibly fuming for anger.

Smiling, Fallon winked at Sophie, who then started to relax and smile as well.

After watching Alycia exit, Sophie turned to Fallon, whom she usually feared as well, mostly because of her forceful and often mean ways.

“Thank you.”

“Oh, my pleasure. How old are you now? Mid-twenties? How can someone old enough to be married and have 4 kids not know how to stand up for themselves. If you were a teen, maybe I could get it …”

“I just turned 30, actually.”

“30?! Oh jeeze! Well, happy belated birthday. And you have four kids now. What example do you think you are setting if they were to see you getting walked all over by Uglycia? I don’t know about you, but I am raising my kids strong and confident. If I go down, my kids would see me go down fighting.”

“Mine never see me around people like Alycia. Maybe not to you, or Stryker, but to many people she is VERY intimidating, as are you, no offense. Stryker doesn’t get it either, no matter how many times I have explained it to him. Regardless, we go through great lengths to keep our kids completely out of the spotlight, nobody knows what they look like, we will never take them to red carpet events. I don’t like those events either, always under everyone’s scrutiny. And Alycia’s right. I should have watched my weight better. Stryker kept telling me he didn’t like me too skinny, and after losing our triplets I got REALLY skinny for a while. Once I got better, I started eating better and then got pregnant again. BAM, baby weight did a number on me again. Now I am almost where I was again.”

“Girlfriend, I like you, but I am just not the right address for pep talks, I know NOTHING about weight loss, I couldn’t lose or gain if I tried, for obvious reasons, but to me you look just fine. I just don’t understand why you keep trying to make yourself so small, my pride and self-respect would never allow me to do that to myself. Listening to you it sounds as if you can barely fit through a door frame, which is nonsense. I am not into chicks, but far as I can see you check off all the right marks, pretty face, big boobs, nice hips, defined waist … I mean we don’t all have to look like mass-produced batches, all poured from the same mold, men don’t all have the same taste, just like us girls. And looking at Stryker acting like a little lap dog around you, I’d say he likes what you got. He used to be a lot less ahem … well … what’s the word? Well, let’s just say he was VERY different around women back in the olden days, a total dick. Women were good for one thing in his book, he had zero respect for the chicks who let him have his way with them, he has always taken the fuck and go approach until he met Alycia, who as you know unfortunately is my best friend’s sister, so I had to deal with that bitch since elementary school. And I am not one to fault Stryker for his old ways, but even I was more discerning in how I chose my temporary entertainment and I even stuck around longer than one night most of the time. It’s a far cry from that to whom he has become since you two have been together.”

“You knew Stryker back when he was … umm … like that?”

“A raging alcoholic and addicted to anything that could get him high, not even trying to fix himself or better his situation? Yup, I knew him all right. I have known him since I was in high school and he was dating my best friend’s older sister, our lovely Alycia. I swear initially she only gave him the time of day to piss of her parents, especially her mother, who is basically just an older version of Alycia. The dad is a total sleeping pill. Eventually, Styker just became Alycia’s pet project, both oddly co-dependent on each other, he was the stoic lightning rod for her moods, but she had money, not too much, cos her mother cut her off, but daddy would sneak her piles of dough when he could. Her sister Starling and I used to laugh at them all for being such victims, Starling is NOTHING like her family, so she married the first decent guy just to get out from underneath her control-freak mother and freak-freak sister with the then-failure-at-life addict of a boyfriend and permissive drooling idiot dad. But until Star got the heck out of there, yeah, Stryker and I have been around each other a lot back when. I know the old version and attest the new one is like a completely different man, unrecognizable. Whatever you did to him, good job, keep it up.”

“Oh! Wow. Thanks for being so honest and sorry for being blunt, but I just gotta ask have you ever …. with Stryker… you know?” Sophie asked the question she wasn’t sure she wanted answered but couldn’t help it.

“Me and Stryker?! Eeew! Definitely not back then, no offense, but even a Stryker nowadays, clean – in more than one way – and even kinda rich – isn’t doing it for me, and the old Stryker could have been the last man on earth, someone could have tied us together naked – and he would have remained pristinely untouched by me, and I would have split him wide open by his ass cheeks had he even thought about trying something with me. Really not my taste at all. You enjoy that train wreck of male melancholy, all yours!” Fallon grimaced.

“Oh.” Sophie didn’t like the way Fallon put it but loved the fact that they never got intimate. Something told her if they had, Fallon wouldn’t have denied it.

“Look, Sophie, here are a few facts of life. No, I never had your man, nor do I want him, but I am genuinely happy that he makes you happy. Yes, I will ALWAYS T-bone Alycia if she tries to go after Stryker again, and yes, I was 100% bluffing when I told her I’d do her dude to get back at her, I got something much better than Eli Stiles and I am not risking what I got with Bear. Neither would I feed on her nasty neck and her blood is probably so toxic from her being such a bitch. No thank you! But as long as she believed it, who cares, right? I am not much of a motivational speaker, but here’s a word of advice: a skinny ass, good looks, confidence and even to a degree success are always 30 % fact and 70% fiction. You go out there and TELL everyone what they are supposed to think of you. YOU tell them you are beautiful, have a kick-ass figure, you don’t let miserable toothpicks like Alycia tell you how to feel, you tell THEM. Just be the pigeon on the chessboard, fake it till you make it until you can be real, cos nobody would dare doubt you anymore.”

“Pigeon? Chessboard?”

“Ha, your face. How can you know my dad and not know that one? He spews that analogy so much, I think he learned it from his dad. It’s something about expecting common sense or decency from some people being like trying to play chess with a pigeon — it knocks the pieces over, shits on the board, then flies back to its flock to claim victory and nobody can tell them otherwise. Alycia is a prime example, she always tries it with me, but I am a big ass cat here, she has no prayer with me, I could swallow her whole if I wanted to, but I enjoy toying with her too much. I know the more vulgar I get the less comebacks she has, but that won’t work for you, so, maybe you have to be the pigeon for a while until you truly believe you are every bit as beautiful as any woman in here, if not more so. Evidently Styker does. Why not believe your husband over all the people you don’t even really care about?”

Fallon winked at Sophie, but her smile vanished when Sophie flung herself into her arms and hugged her.

Not a hugger at all, grimacing, Fallon endured it, looking around, hoping nobody saw the mushy scene that was very much unlike her, and her eyes met her husband Bear’s, standing at a distance by the door to this private room, his knowing smile said he had watched it all, which he confirmed by mouthing the words “I always knew it.”

He always told everyone wondering why he stoically endured his wife’s outbursts and mean episodes, that at the core Fallon was compassionate and had a heart of gold, she just liked to hide it to not appear vulnerable.

Fallon now plucked Sophie off herself.

“Sorry Sophie, duty calls, my hubby and I are overseeing the security here tonight, and I also have to go be extra-mean to said husband now, so he doesn’t think he’s right or has me figured out. I like to keep him guessing. Enjoy the night, be proud of your husband, I may not be a fan of his, but I can appreciate how far he’s come, so celebrate and live the fine life tonight. And enjoy the night without kids later – but please, use protection. Four kids really ARE plenty now.”

Puzzled, Sophie watched Fallon walk off, right as Stryker joined her.

“Sorry babe, long line at the bar and the bartender was very confused by me ordering two virgin drinks. Guess old reputations never die. Was that Fallon I saw walking off? Yuck and yikes! You okay? She didn’t harass you, did she?”

“Oh no, not at all, she was very nice, actually. VERY nice!”

“Nice? Fallon Barrett being nice? Oh, then it must have been her twin sister Blythe. Nobody can keep them apart until you talk to them. Then you quickly figure out who you got. Blythe is super-sweet. Fallon is … well … ya know … the opposite.” Stryker snickered.

“No no, it was Fallon. She got rid of Alycia for me, who was being so mean again. I was completely speechless and at her mercy when Fallon came over and almost made her cry. That was great.”

“Alycia is here? Again? Jeeze. That girl is like herpes, can’t get rid of her. Why can’t certain blasts just stay in the past?” Stryker frowned.

“Great question. For the record, Alycia also isn’t over you. She threatened to take you away from me. I also heard that she tried last time you went to an event, after I just had Robin. Why did you not tell me about that?” Sophie told him.

“There was nothing to tell! Alycia was there, she was being a connving bitch, that just goes without saying. I know how you get when my past comes up, especially the women in it, so why wake sleeping dogs. You KNOW I would never.”

“Yeah, I do. And Fallon confirmed that you didn’t go for it. This is why I hate these events, so many gleeful backstabbers and mean people just bracing to see everyone else stumble, but you had to drag me to this one again.”

“Oh yeah. I happen to love flaunting my wifey, the woman who gave me a second lease on life, the woman without whom I wouldn’t even be here in the first place! You are beautiful, Soph, and if you still haven’t figured this out, I will tell you again that I wouldn’t fuck Alycia with some other dude’s dick. That is a past life I’d love everyone to forget. Sober, she isn’t interesting at all, I guess that’s why she used to try so hard to keep me nice and addicted back then.” Stryker smirked at her, that smirk that still made her weak in the knees, as did the moment the ushers appeared to collect everyone as the event was ready to get started and that night she got to watch her husband, father of her four children, receive another award for his outstanding successes, while somehow, she felt like the real winner.