YOURS TRULY

by Bella Grant

  I moaned weakly as I finished and flushed the toilet, hauling myself up to the vanity to wash and rinse with mouthwash. I was gargling when I noticed Kelly was standing at the door with a silly smile on her face.

  “You think me throwing up is funny?” I scowled at her after spitting and rinsing again with plain water.

  “No, but I sure am excited about what’s causing it,” she responded.

  I frowned at her. “What are you-” I halted as it hit me and continued in a whisper, “-talking about?”

  “I think you know,” she stated, nodding her head. “It’s so obvious I wondered when you’d figure it out. You’ve been going through morning sickness like crazy and never once suspected.”

  “Oh my God!” I gasped and clutched my belly as though I suddenly expected it to be the size of a beach ball. “Oh God, I’m pregnant!” I didn’t need a pregnancy test to prove it. The countless sex without a condom. Us going at it like damn jackrabbits. I had always been on the pill while William and I were in a relationship, so we hadn’t used a condom since we were exclusive. I had been comfortable with Seth not wearing a condom because of it, but completely forgetting that I needed to play a part if I was going to prevent conception. I also couldn’t remember for the life of me the last time I’d seen my period. How could I have forgotten something that had been a part of my life since I was thirteen. I was never late.

  Dizziness swarmed me and I had to sit hard on the lid of the toilet. I placed my face in my hands in distress. What was I going to do? Everything was already so damn complicated. I couldn’t have a baby right now. What the hell was I going to do with a baby when I was planning to hand in my resignation? Seth and I hadn’t talked about having a family, not even marriage, though he had hinted at wanting me to be a part of his life forever. I refused to use a child to get him to stick around after he found out about my lies, and I refused to entangle him in child support.

  “You know, if you’re not exactly thrilled at having Seth’s baby,” Kelly stated, reminding me she was still there, “you have another option.”

  I shook my head. “No, if I’m pregnant, and we don’t know for sure that I am yet, I’m going to keep this baby.”

  She smiled at me in approval. “Good. I’ll be a kick-ass aunt and Seth will make such an amazing father.”

  “No, you cannot tell Seth!” I objected.

  “You cannot tell Seth, what?”

  I stared in horror as he appeared behind Kelly, who had jumped at his question. I paled and my mouth fell open as I glanced at Kelly to help me. She instead squirmed by Seth and hurried away.

  “It’s just family stuff,” I lied, hating myself for lying to him, but what could I say? I didn’t even know if I was pregnant yet. I would need to confirm before I said anything.

  “You want to try that again?” he asked, filling the doorway with his large frame. He was dressed sharply in a dark charcoal suit, his black shoes shiny. His face that I was so used to smiling was set in a hard line.

  “It’s nothing,” I insisted and got to my feet. “I just didn’t feel well and didn’t want Kelly to mention it because I know how you worry.”

  “Is that one of those complicated lies you have to tell me?” he inquired, and I heard the anger coating his words.

  I stared at him uneasily. Did he know about Greg? No, he couldn’t. I knew Greg, knew him enough to know he wanted the information too badly to say anything to him until the bid was over and he had the information he needed from me. Seth couldn’t possibly know, so he must be angry about something else, but what?

  “Did I do something to make you upset with me?” I asked. “Have I overstayed my welcome and you wish us to leave?”

  “Do what you wish,” he answered and walked away.

  I remained in the bathroom, my heart hurting at the callous and uncaring words. If only I knew what was wrong. I knew he didn’t like it when the improv instructor had picked on me and repeatedly complimented me. He wasn’t mad about that, was he?

  When I left the bathroom with the intent of finding Seth, the front door closed behind him. Whatever he had returned for, he had found it and left. Without so much as a goodbye.

  “I messed up,” Kelly stated, walking from the kitchen with big fat tears rolling down her face. “Me and my big mouth. I swear I didn’t mean to say anything, Robyn. It just slipped out.”

  I froze, my blood running cold. “What do you mean?”

  She swiped at her tears with her hands. “Last night we were waiting for you to get dressed,” she said, sniffling. “I don’t remember what we were talking about, but I mentioned that you worked for Greg.”

  “You did what!?” I exclaimed in shock.

  “I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “I swear I tried to make up for it and tell him I must have mixed the name up, but I don’t think he believed me. I think he connected all the dots.”

  “Oh no,” I groaned and headed for the stairs. “I’ve got to go to work.” I had to get there to get the bag of ecstasy from Greg before Seth showed up there. Getting it was the only reason I was doing this and I would not love and lose in vain. I located my car keys and handbag and clattered back down the stairs.

  “I hope I didn’t ruin things for you guys,” Kelly stated, trailing me to the door.

  “Is that the reason you’re home?” I asked her in despair. “Did Seth fire you?”

  She shook her head. “No, he decided to hire me on payroll so I have to do a medical. I’m going in a little later.”

  “This doesn’t make any sense,” I muttered in frustration. “If he figured it out, why didn’t he say something last night or now when he was here?”

  Kelly shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it doesn’t matter to him.”

  I thought of how he had answered me so coldly, the silence between us and our lovemaking last night. It did matter to him.

  “It does, trust me,” I stated. “I don’t think we should be here when he gets home this evening. In fact, I’m going to end this relationship. I’m resigning from Halliday Inc. and I’m dropping by to collect my things and I am leaving.”

  Kelly’s face paled. “You’re not even going to talk to him about it and explain?” she asked in surprise.

  “What do I say to him?” I demanded, tears beginning to gather in my eyes. “You think he’s going to care because I did this for you? He’s going to be hurt that I didn’t like him for him at first, but was coerced into being with him. I don’t even know if he will believe that I love him and that I’m not just doing what Greg wants. I have to leave!”

  “And take his baby with you? He deserves to know.”

  “As far as we know, there is no baby,” I said firmly. “Do not let that slip, and you may want to resign from that job.”

  I walked away, hurrying to the elevator and taking it up to the parking deck on the roof of the building. I unlocked my car and jumped in, driving faster than usual in an attempt to get to the office. If I were him, I’d immediately confront Greg and I had to get there before he did.

  But why hadn’t he confronted me? That was the question I kept asking myself, and I had no response. Why hadn’t he immediately kicked me out?

  At the office, I didn’t even park properly, my wheels curved as I hurried from the vehicle and towards Halliday Inc’s building. I barely waved good morning to the personnel at the front desk before taking the elevator upstairs. I was relieved Greg wasn’t there yet, and there was no sign of Seth either.

  Once inside the office, I was unlocking the bottom drawer where I kept valuables for the office such as some keys to restricted areas of the building and any file I borrowed from Greg’s office. I saw the bunch of keys and hesitated. As his personal assistant, I had a key so I could access his office in the event he wasn’t there and something important popped up. This definitely struck me as important, so I used the key to get into the office, locking the door behind me. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought to do this before.

  I rushed to his d
esk where he had placed the small bag of drugs the last time I saw it. I searched the drawers, shuffling papers aside and didn’t find it. I cursed beneath my breath as I moved to the filing cabinet in the room. I was checking the second drawer of the cabinet when I heard a key scraping in the keyhole. I froze and watched in horror as the door opened and a surprised Greg walked in. His face turned red with anger as he took in the scenario before him.

  “Good morning,” I greeted with forced cheer. “I was, umm, looking for a file I need.”

  He kicked the door shut behind him. “Cut the crap, Robyn. You and I both know what you’re looking for.” He locked the door from the inside with his key. “And I’ll give it to you, too.”

  “If you touch me, I’ll scream,” I snapped at him. “Go ahead and try me. I’m done with these games, Greg. I’m quitting and there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop me. Give me the pills.”

  “Give me the information I asked you to get.”

  I walked over to his table and snatched a sheet of paper from the notepad. I grabbed a pen from a holder and scribbled the figure on it. “This is the amount of money Seth will be bidding tomorrow,” I told him. “And I’ll rip it to shreds and conveniently have a memory lapse if you don’t give me what I want.”

  “You don’t call the shots here,” he stated, his voice full of wrath.

  “Except I think I do,” I murmured with a smile. “I think all this time I had the upper hand and just didn’t know it. The pills, Greg, now.”

  “You have no idea who you’re playing games with, you little bitch,” he snarled at me as he walked over to the corner of the room where there was a stylish table with a vase of flowers. The table had one drawer which he opened and removed a brown envelope. “I’ll eat you alive and spit you out right at Seth’s feet.”

  “Leave Seth out of this,” I snapped at him. “Just give the damn pills to me.”

  He threw the brown envelope onto the desk and I ripped it open. I held up the bag and checked. They looked like the right set of colored pills. “These better-” I shrieked when he pounced on me, trying to rip the piece of paper from my hand with the figure Seth was planning to bid on TelStar. I tried to hang onto it, but his fingernails were bruising, cutting my skin and drawing blood as he forced my hand open and removed the paper.

  “Got it!” he cried triumphantly, and the minute he stepped back, I rushed to the door to get out. I wasn’t giving him the opportunity to force the pills from me either. Like before, I needed to flush them fast.

  “You got what you wanted,” I spat at him. “Now leave me the hell alone.”

  “Not on your life sweetheart,” I heard him murmur as I opened the door with the key I had and slipped out. “Not on your life.”

  I wasn’t about to linger about the office. I was done with Greg and Halliday Inc. I tried not to think about Seth and how he would feel, knowing I’d betrayed him. I swiped my bag from my desk outside Greg’s office and rushed from the building. I wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

  On my way back to Seth’s condo, I had a pretty good grasp on what I had to do. I stopped by the department store first to grab a couple pregnancy tests. I’d never had to use one before and wondered at the accuracy of one, so I picked up two different brands. I paid for my purchase and jumped into my car to continue my journey. As thoughts of Seth tried to creep in, I forced them away. Now was not the time to break down and if I thought about him, I would. I had to try to make things right.

  At his condo, I parked, knowing I’d be leaving again soon. I was going to be there only long enough to pack my clothes and leave. I couldn’t stay and witness firsthand his disappointment and hurt when he found out I had been after his bid price from the beginning. Even if I told him Greg had been blackmailing me, he wouldn’t believe I loved him.

  I entered the condo and headed straight for the bathroom. I needed to know whether or not I was carrying Seth’s child. I used both kits at the same time and left them on the vanity while I rushed to the bedroom to start packing. Although the instructions on the kit asked for a waiting period of five minutes, I didn’t check until after I’d packed all my things. I wanted to erase evidence of me being here when Seth returned home. He would understand why and it would be easier for him to get over me if he wasn’t seeing constant reminders of me in his home. Too bad I couldn’t just as easily erase the memories.

  I stood my bags up in the hall and returned to the bathroom, my hand shaking a little. I took in a deep breath and peered over at both results. Positive. A bitter-sweet sob tore from my throat as I wrapped my hands about my waist. I was carrying Seth’s baby. My heart squeezed with love and sadness. I couldn’t decide as yet about the future of this child with regards to his or her father but I did know of a certainty that I would be keeping my baby.

  Wrapping away the evidence of my pregnancy, I disposed of them in the garbage chute. I slowly walked through the door to the bedroom and paused, staring around me. If the walls could talk, they would have a lot to say about what I’d shared with Seth – sex, love and laughter. Would I ever be able to experience this with another man?

  I couldn’t stop the tears from falling then, heartbroken that through no true fault of my own, I was about to lose the one man I cared for.

  Seth

  Congratulations. You’ve won the bid for TelStar. I stared at the message that had just arrived and waited for the feeling of euphoria I usually experienced when I won such a big venture. And…nothing. I was numb. How could my life, which had recently been full, now be so empty?

  I could feel the tears burning at the back of my eyelids, but I refused to shed them. She didn’t deserve them. How could she have schemed with Greg behind my back? I hadn’t been able to confront either for fear I would break down from the hurt and pain they had inflicted on me.

  The more I thought about this, the more confused I was. Yesterday evening when I had arrived home, she was gone. Her clothes had been packed and she had evacuated. I had been surprised Kelly hadn’t left with her, and in some ways, I was relieved she had stayed. The house would have felt empty if she had left too. Although it boggled my mind why she was still there if her sister had left me.

  Her leaving me was a testament of her guilt and settled every doubt in my mind that I had drawn the wrong conclusion. If she had no secrets to hide, if she had no lies to account for, she wouldn’t have found it necessary to run away.

  After the improv class, I’d wanted to confront her, had planned to confront her, but at the condo, we’d ended up having sex instead. I loved her so much I decided not to confront her but to possibly wait until she revealed what she had been up to with Greg. I didn’t want to lose her, and for the first time, I didn’t care if she wanted me for me or if she just wanted my money. Or if she wouldn’t have dated me if Greg hadn’t pushed it. So, that was a lie, I did care, but I cared more about loving her and not losing her.

  I hadn’t been distant from her because I wanted to end our relationship. I had been distant as I talked myself into being able to accept whatever was going on so I could be with her. I wanted her in my bed every night. Maybe I wouldn’t marry her, but I still wanted her like I’d never wanted any other woman.

  I only had a few things sorted out in my head and didn’t have the full picture. She worked for Greg. That was now obvious. She had lied to me about that and told me she worked at the building beside Greg’s office. She had heard me talk about Greg so many times and never once mentioned he was her boss.

  The phone on my desk rang but I ignored it. It rang a few times again before I grasped the handle and lifted it to my ear. “Armstrong,” I stated blandly.

  “Hmm, I guess congratulations are in order,” Greg spoke from the other end of the line. “You just won another company.”

  “So I did,” I remarked, noticing for the first time the envy in his voice. “I told you I’d help you get it if you were interested.”

  “I prefer to fight my battles myself,” he respond
ed.

  “I wasn’t aware we were engaged in battle,” I announced. “Do enlighten me.”

  He chuckled. “You know how it is with business.”

  “No, actually, I don’t know how it is with business,” I denied hotly, hearing the edge in my voice.

  “Ah you’ll find out soon enough,” he responded in a scathing voice that send a warning shiver down my spine. “They say all is fair in love and war, don’t they?”

  “What the hell are you getting at?” I demanded, too pissed off to hold back. “I know you convinced Robyn to go out with me like I was a pity project or charity case.”

  He laughed again, the sound empty. “You have no idea. You think I care if you fell in love with her or that she fell in love with you? This has always been about business. Always. Why did you think I stayed by your side? For friendship?”

  He hung up before I could respond, although I wasn’t certain I had words enough to express what I felt for him at that moment. I sat rooted to my chair as his words sunk in. Everything in my life had been one big lie. Greg wasn’t the friend I thought he was and Robyn was just like him.

  I was hurt at the thought that they might be romantically involved. That the way we made love, our late-night sessions watching old sitcoms were all lies. I needed some answers and didn’t know where to turn to get them. I didn’t even know if I wanted to confront Robyn face to face. I didn’t trust myself around her.

  Just then the office door pushed open without a knock and Kelly barged in, shutting the door behind her.

  “We need to talk right now,” she announced, marching to the desk. “And before you ask, no Robyn didn’t put me up to this. If she knew I was here, she would probably disown me, but I can’t sit by and watch you two make the worst mistake of your lives. You guys are so good together.”