Slender Bridge

by Katrina Clemons

  “Scott!” I gasped, horrified at what he was saying.

  “Don’t ‘Scott’ me, Helen. I’ve been down this entrapment road before, sweetheart.”

  The scalding tears began to pour down my cheeks. “I’m not trying to trap you, Scott. I really am pregnant. You have to believe me. What about what you just said about us getting through this together.”

  “That was before I knew what a conniving bitch you were.”

  “You have no right to speak to me like that!” I jumped to my feet angrily. “You were the one that came sniffing.”

  “I must confess. I thought I was the actor, but you have me beat, hands down. Who put you up to it? Was that what your little girls’ night was all about last week? To up the ante before I left, so you sought advice from your girls to make sure everything came across sounding legit?”

  “You have no right…”

  “I have every right. This is my life you’re trying to play with, Helen. I never saw it coming. I’ll give you credit for catching me off guard. I told you from day one I didn’t want children. And you still slept with me. And to think I was starting to feel that you were special, that you were the one. You messed with the wrong man, honey. Better luck with a simpler fellow.”

  I watched as he strode to the door. My heart was in my mouth as he got to the door. He turned and looked at me coldly. He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. I watched as he separated the key to my apartment from the set, and calmly walked back and placed the key on the coffee table. He opened his wallet and counted out some bills. He placed them beside the key.

  “If you aren’t pregnant, consider it your just desserts for putting up with my ass. You can keep the gifts too. You’re the most expensive one yet. Eve got only three thousand. If you are pregnant, there’s enough there to take care of things to become ‘unpregnant’, and leave change for your worries. ”

  I blanched as the realization of what he was suggesting sank in. I looked in horror as he turned his back on me and walked out of the apartment.

  My breathing became erratic as I collapsed onto the floor, rocking myself as I choked on my sobs. It felt like hours later before I dragged myself to the bedroom. I called his phone, but it rang without an answer. I texted, but there was no response. I tried calling again, only to get voice mail. He had either turned off the phone or blocked my calls.

  I did not sleep a wink. I cried on and off in spurts as I remembered the hateful words he had spewed at me. The killing blow had been the money. How low could he sink to make such a suggestion?

  I watched as the morning sky grew bright. One look at my matted hair and puffy face told me there was no way I was going to work this morning. Not even when I had gone through my break up with Josh had I looked this horrible.

  I called my mother and made up an excuse about being under the weather. She promised to pop in at lunchtime. My next call was to Scott. Voice mail. Desperate times called for desperate measures. I looked up the number for the hotel and dialed it. If this didn’t work, I would go over there and find his room, even if I had to knock on every door. I was going to make him listen to me!

  “The Creek Town Royalton Hotel. How may I direct your call?”

  “Scott Dawson’s room, please.”

  “I’m sorry, but Mr. Dawson is no longer a guest here. He checked out this morning.”

  My heart plummeted. “Checked out? Are you sure? He’s not due to leave until next week.”

  “Yes, I’m sure. If you’re calling from the car rental agency, he asked me to inform you that the vehicle would be at the airport with the keys on the seat.”

  I swallowed against the hard lump in my throat. I barely got out a whisper.

  “Thank you.” I hung up. The tears started and refused to stop. I sat there, numb. I didn’t move until I heard the knock on my door. I moved with leaden feet and pulled it open. When I saw my mother, Clare, and Susan, I crumpled yet again.

  Chapter 17 – Helen

  “I win! I win!” Susan clapped her hands joyfully as she wrapped a piece of tissue around my protruding stomach. My mother presented her with a ribbon, which she pinned on her chest. She had won three of the six baby shower games so far.

  Clare pouted. “Are you sure this doesn’t count?” She held up a length of tissue that she had had to wrap around me twice.

  “Not even if she was having quintuplets could she have been that big, Clare.” Monique laughed.

  “Okay, ladies.” Bianca clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Let’s take a break and get some food, especially into that tummy! I’m sure that child is going to be pushed out wearing a chef’s hat with a skillet in one hand and a spatula in the other. Thank goodness you’re closed for the holidays! Otherwise we would have been having this shower in the kitchen while serving guests in between. You are one hard woman to surprise, I’ll give you that.’

  I giggled. “I’ll give you guys your props, though. You got me good. I would have guessed Clare or Susan would be up to something, but not you, mum.” I looked around at the group of approximately fifteen ladies who surrounded me. “I appreciate this so much.”

  “Awww. You deserve it, hun. There’s not one person here who can say you don’t. This child will have one of the best mothers it can have. That’s a guarantee. Now eat up. I won’t have you starving my godchild.” Clare shoved a plate heaped with sandwiches into my hand. I waddled to my seat, which was decorated to look like a throne, and slowly lowered myself into it. I munched on my sandwiches as I watched them bring a table piled with gifts to the center. When we were all finished eating, my plate was removed, and I was blindfolded.

  I spent the better part of an hour unwrapping gifts, guessing what the gift was, and then guessing who had given me which gift. When at last I had unwrapped the last gift, the blindfold was removed. I blinked in the sudden light.

  The party wound down shortly afterward. It was still light out when I shrugged into my coat and boots, then pulled on my mittens and beanie. This Christmas had proven to be colder than last year, and true to the predictions, it seemed as if we would be having a white Christmas in two days.

  The gifts were loaded into three cars and taken over to my apartment. Clare and Susan did the carrying back and forth until my living room was flooded with gifts of all shapes and sizes. I would eventually have to get them into the spare room, which I was setting up for the nursery. But for this evening, they would be fine in the living room. I shrugged out of my outer clothing and made my way to the kitchen in my socks.

  “I’m starving!” I came back to the couch with a tub of ice cream and sat.

  “Damn, girl! Are you sure it’s only one child in there?”

  “That’s what Dr. Hinds says.”

  “Tell him to check again.” Clare sat then reached over to rub my stomach. The baby moved, and she jumped.

  “Did your greedy child just kick me?”

  “Oh, so when he/she behaves, it’s your godchild, but when you get kicked, it’s my greedy child. Some godparent you will be.”

  “That’s why I’ll be the favorite godmother, won’t I, little Sue?” Susan sat on my other side and rubbed my stomach. The baby kicked again. “Feisty little thing, aren’t you. Well, we know that didn’t come from your mild-mannered mama.”

  Susan and Clare exchanged glances, and I fell silent. I buried my head in the tub of ice cream. We had an unspoken pact never to speak about that day in July when my world had shifted on its axis forever. But now and then they broke the truce. I glanced up and caught Susan mouthing something to Clare. I looked from one to the other and frowned.

  “What?”

  Susan flushed guiltily, and Clare looked everywhere but at me. My eyes narrowed.

  “What did you two do?”

  Susan blurted out. “You deserved it, Helen. You tell her, Clare. It was your idea, after all.”

  Clare rolled her eyes. “Way to leave me holding the bag, Sue.”

  “What was your idea, Clare?” My
heart started to race. Surely they hadn’t called Scott.

  “You’re going to thank us for it, Helen. But Susan is right. You deserved even this much. Come with us.”

  They helped me up off the couch and guided me to the spare room. There, leaning against the far wall, were the parts of a crib. I stared in shock. It was the exact crib I had seen and wanted but had declared to be too expensive. I saw red.

  “Send it back.”

  “But…”

  “I don’t want anything from Scott Dawson. Send it back.”

  Clare flipped her wrist nonchalantly. “Oh! It’s not from Scott. Hun. Read the tag. And please don’t get upset.”

  I walked over and plucked the card off. Vivian.

  I turned aghast. “She knows!? How does Vivian know I’m pregnant, Clare?”

  Clare sighed. “Promise you won’t get mad?”

  “I make no promises.”

  “Oh, alright! When Scott high-tailed it back to New York ahead of time, she got suspicious. It seems she was talking with Michael about you and about Scott’s sudden reappearance, and he told her that he knew me and that I happened to be your best friend. He gave her my number. She called me one day and interrogated the heck out of me. Finally, I told her that you were pregnant. She has wanted to reach out to you, but I’ve been keeping her at bay. I told her about the shower and the plans we were making. She asked some casual questions about gifts, and I may have mentioned the crib you wanted. The next thing I knew was it turned up at my store. Susan and I snuck it in just after you left to go to your mother’s this morning. That’s why we were a few minutes late.”

  I took a deep breath and ran my hand over the smooth wood finish. The crib was perfect. Knowing that it was not from Scott, made it a tad more acceptable. But now I had to deal with the fact that his assistant knew and was probably feeding him information. All the same, as far as he was concerned, there was no child, one way or another.

  I sighed. “Ok. You live to see another day. But you should have told me.”

  “How could I? You were liable to have anyone who mentioned Scott, or anyone connected to him, shot on sight. I don’t blame you. But I think Vivian is an okay one. I swore her to secrecy by the way. When she heard the stunt he pulled, she swore she was going to cut off his balls and feed them to him. It was rather challenging to convince her not to let on to him that she knew what had gone down between you two. I keep her abreast of what’s going on with you. I think there’s a third godmother in the wings.

  I sighed and waddled back to the couch. I did not know that to make of this turn of events. I guess I would have to do what I had been doing all these months: take things one day at a time. So Vivian knew. There was nothing else I could do about that.

  Clare and Susan left shortly after. I sat looking at the mountain of gifts. I had closed the restaurant from the twenty-second through to the twenty-eighth. My staff deserved it and, truthfully, we could afford it because of the catering job for the movie. I had included hefty bonuses in everyone’s gift when we had had our staff party yesterday. Most would be traveling to see family and friends in various parts tomorrow, Christmas Eve. I knew right where I would be tomorrow: working on the nursery. There was no telling when I would have another break such as this. Besides, there was no time like the present.

  Christmas Eve dawned with a slight dusting of flurries. Later in the day, it would start to stick. As a child, I had always loved a white Christmas.

  I padded to the kitchen and made myself a hearty breakfast. Tomorrow morning I would drive over to my parents for the day. If I felt like it, I would probably sleep over as well. After breakfast, I went to the nursery. It was nearly midday before I paused. I looked at all that I had done, and was quite pleased with my efforts.

  The crib was screwed up and positioned along one side of the room. Beside it was the changing table with its tiny drawers below. The drawers had already been loaded with the ton of clothing that had been bought. Everything was gender neutral as no one knew what I was having, not even me. Each sonogram that had been done had been unable to get the baby to turn in a way to determine the gender. And so we all remained mystified. There were old wives fables that said the mother can always tell. I was going to debunk that myth, as I had not a clue what gender my child was.

  I had a sandwich for lunch, washed my hands, and went back to my task. It did not take long for me to be done unpacking and putting away the other clothing and toys. I had two huge garbage bags with packaging. I would take them to the dumpster in the morning. It had started to snow, and it was not worth the effort of getting all cloaked up to dump two bags. All that was now left to complete the nursery was the curtains for the windows and the mobile to be hung from the ceiling. My father had drilled the hole and put in the hook. All I had to do was hang the contraption that would hang over the crib. I retrieved the step ladder from the kitchen and got to work.

  The curtains were hung with ease. I shifted the ladder over to the wall and moved the crib away. As I held up the mobile, I realized I would have to go higher than the second rung. The hook was quite far up. Now it made sense why the mobiles seemed to be on such long extensions. I took a tentative step up the third rung and stretched. One more step would do it. As I teetered on the fourth step, I stretched even more.

  I made a motion like a fisherman casting a line. I just needed the hole on the top of the mobile to grab the hook. I placed both feet squarely on the fourth rung and held the mobile up with both hands. I made a cast again, and this time it caught. But it caught me by surprise. I had anticipated going forward as it missed. As it caught, it threw me off balance.

  I tried to regain my footing. It all happened so quickly. Though it was from a height of only four feet, it felt as if I was falling from a mountain top. I twisted my body so that my stomach would not take the brunt of the fall. The last thing I felt was a searing pain down my arm, then I passed out.

  My head felt as if it was stuffed with cotton. My eyes fluttered as I tried to open them. The lights were so bright. Where was I? I heard the scream of a siren and felt the jerk as the vehicle came to a grinding halt. I realized there was a mask over my nose and mouth.

  “She’s coming around.” The paramedic shouted to someone beyond him. “You gave us quite a scare, little lady. Some Christmas gift! Your poor mama was not expecting to come to scrape you up off the floor. Don’t you know better than to stay off ladders in your condition? Now follow my finger with your eyes, not your head. Good girl. Now to the other side. Great.”

  The door was opened forcefully, and suddenly there was a flurry of activity in the vehicle. The stretcher was pulled out, and I was wheeled into the emergency room. I dimly recalled seeing my mother on one side and Clare on the other. It felt like an eternity, but in reality, it was only half an hour. I was thoroughly examined and given a clean bill with the exception of a fractured wrist.

  As soon as I was moved to a room, my parents and best friends descended.

  “Oh! Honey! How are you feeling?”

  “What happened?” I looked from one to the other.

  “You need to tell us what happened. I came over to give you a hand with putting away the gifts only to find you sprawled out and non-responsive I called the paramedics then everyone else.

  “I was fixing up the nursery. I was just trying to hang the mobile.”

  “Helen. I told you I would have done that for you. All you had to do was wait.”

  I had the grace to look ashamed. “I know daddy. It’s just that I was on a roll, and I was getting things done. So I just did it. I didn’t expect to fall.” My eyes filled with tears.

  “Don’t you give me those puppy eyes. You scared your poor mother, who then scared me. You’re lucky it was only a fractured wrist. Do you know you could have gone into early labor? They’re keeping you for observation to make sure you don’t have any issues.”

  “I’m spending Christmas in the hospital?” My eyes widened in dismay. “Hospital food tastes li
ke shit. I want your dinner, mum.”

  “That’s what you get for climbing ladders in your state. Shame on you, hun!” Clare chimed in, wagging her index finger at me. Susan was not to be left out.

  “Shame on you! Scaring little Sue like that! Are you okay, hun?” She reached over and rubbed my belly.

  My parents soon left, and Susan had to go back to her shop to send out some last-minute deliveries. Clare sat with me until visiting time was almost up.

  “Helen? I think you should call Scott.”

  “Nope. Why should I? He walked out on me. He told me to become unpregnant. He wants nothing to do with this child.”

  Clare switched the topic. “Have you read the tabloids lately?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Huh?”

  “Let me just cut to the chase before they tell me I have to leave. Helen, you’ve followed Scott’s activities. Don’t pretend you haven’t. Haven’t you noticed that there is no talk of him being in a relationship since you two broke up?”

  “Maybe he’s learned to keep it out of the public eye. He did with me.”

  “Or maybe he simply had not been in a relationship with anyone since he left you. There could be a perfect reason for that. I think you should call him.” She dialed a number and held out her phone. “Just press send.”

  “How did you get his number?”

  “Does it matter? Call him, Helen. I swear to God if you don’t call him, I will.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “Don’t test me. Call him, Now.”

  I pursed my lips. “No.”

  “Fine. have it your way.” I watched in horror as Clare pressed the send button. She turned the screen to me so I could see that she was not bluffing.

  “Visiting hours are over, miss.”