Chapter 22

JAY'S POV
For the first time in over 10 years, Amber Swift was looking up at me as I approached the table where she was sitting crowded by Pauline and Eve. I knew it wasn't a friendly meeting as I approached them but was what I heard true? Amber Swift had three children?
The look on her face answered my question but I still wanted to hear it from her. How had she ended up with three children without a husband?
"Why would we make up something as serious as that, Jay?" Eve cooed at me but I wasn't interested in what Eve had to say, I was more focused on Amber who looked like she was having an anxiety attack.
"Are you alright, Amber?" She flinched as I tried to touch her and I withdrew my hand quickly.
"How do you think she'd be alright with everything that had happened to her?" Pauline asked as she winked at Eve. I had a bad feeling they wanted to stir up something but before I could react, Amber got up from her seat and headed for the door.
Eve caught her arm, "Don't leave now, Amber. We've still not done our catching you" Amber looked physically sick and I was worried but it seemed like Eve and Pauline had a driving force and nothing was going to stop them from unleashing hell.
"Take a seat, Amber. You're causing a scene, all I want to do is talk. It's been forever and we have enough girly stuff to talk about" I noticed Eve's smile didn't meet her eyes, it wasn't genuine. Then, why was she acting like she and Amber had been best friends in highschool?
Amber stumbled backwards as she sat back down on the chair, I noticed she hadn't said a word to any of them and I couldn't understand why she was letting them push her around.
"I haven't seen Melissa by the way, is her husband still cheating on her?" Pauline casually blurted out and I had to resist the urge to hit her. Who says something like that in public? Amber's expression had moved from uneasy to just plain fear, she was scared of them and they knew but they weren't stopping their attack. I decided to intervene,
"Eve, what do you think you're doing? If she wants to leave, let her go" I pulled her aside as I tried to get her back to her senses. She gave a loud laugh,
"You really don't know anything about Amber Swift. She's absolutely not the angel you think she is" I was already tired of the back and forth.
"If you have something you want to say, Eve, go ahead and say it so we can all enjoy this party. You're causing a scene and it's getting seriously annoying"
"Well, Amber Swift got pregnant out of wedlock, was disowned by her family, she didn't go to college and she works at a convenience store now" What?
AMBER'S POV
I knew I was bound to run into Jay Harley at the party but this wasn't the way I envisioned our meeting to go. Tears were welling up in my eyes as I listened to Eve and Pauline drag out words I couldn't tell them to stop saying as much as I wanted.
"Are you alright, Amber?"Jay reached out his hand to touch me but I flinched involuntarily and he quickly withdrew the hand while muttering an apology. I wanted to tell him he wasn't at fault but part of me knew I wouldn't have been sitting at a decade anniversary reunion party listening to Eve and Pauline talk trash about me if I hadn't followed Jay Harley that night.
******Flashback*******
"I can't find Mel anywhere, can you stay with her so I can go check inside the house?" Daniel Fletcher turned to Jay Harley who was almost as drunk as I was as he stood up and dashed towards the house to look for Mel.
I looked at Jay's face and smiled, "Daniel asked me to sleep with him a moment ago and now he's asking you to take care of me. Why are you guys so complicated?" I heard Jay chuckle slightly followed by a hiccup,
"Daniel isn't a gentleman, if it was me, I'd ask politely and you wouldn't have to be disgusted by the offer" I laughed a bit, that made sense in a weird way.
I was still laughing when he made the offer, the offer that had gone ahead to ruin my life even though that night was the second best night in my life, the first been the night I gave birth to my triplets.
"How'd you think she'd be okay with everything that had happened" Pauline's voice drifted me back to the present as she asked Jay the million dollar question and winked at Eve. I decided it was time to leave, I had taken this seat for that purpose anyways but Eve caught my hand as I turned around to walk away.
"Don't leave now, Amber. We're not done catching up with you" she smiled again and I felt sick to my stomach. Why wasn't Mel anywhere around? Pauline caught me looking around and asked,
"How's Melissa by the way, is her husband still cheating on her?" Eve gave a little laugh as Jay held her arm and grabbed her to a corner but she was still loud enough for everyone in the gym to hear.
"You really don't know anything about Amber Swift. She's absolutely not the angel you think she is" She shot me a look that interpreted "brace yourself" as Jay looked at me in confusion. I held my breath as Eve blurted out,
"Well, Amber Swift got pregnant out of wedlock, was disowned by her family, she didn't go to college and she works at a convenience store now" I held my breath as the floor started spinning, this was it, this was the last straw that was going to break the camel's back. Tears started streaming down my face as I ran past Pauline and raced out of the gym.