“Right. Thanks for the help.”
She hung up on me, leaving me fuming. I called Robert.
“How’s everything going?” he asked hesitantly.
“Well, she’s already called me a jackass, so how do you think it’s going?”
He laughed slightly, but I could tell that he didn’t know what to say.
“Look, I said that I would give her a chance, but she’s already fucked up. She got locked out of my computer and can’t get back in. If you want her to stick around, find someone that can go over and help her get logged back in. If this isn’t fixed by the end of the day, she’s fired. I need someone reliable, Robert.”
“Alright, I’ll take care of it. Just don’t do anything drastic.”
“I can’t deal with this shit right now. I have a business to run. I can’t afford fuckups.”
“Yeah, I got it. I’ll take care of it.”
“Good.”
I hung up and beat the shit out of my dashboard for a minute. I needed something to go right in my life right now. Between work and my fucked up personal life, things had to turn around for me now, or I was going to lose my shit.
My brain was going a million different directions the rest of the day. Anna kept calling with questions and problems. I was irritated as hell, but mostly because she kept calling when I was trying to figure out what the hell to do about Katherine. That was a problem that had to be solved immediately. I couldn’t afford to just not think about it. I needed to find a solution and get it going.
I walked into the office at the end of the day and stopped right inside the door. My files were all over the floor, scattered in piles. Anna looked up from her spot on the floor, a pen stuck in her mouth and a notepad in her hands.
“Just chill. I’ve got this.”
I ran my hand through my hair and stood there speechless. “What the fuck? I wanted this place cleaned up. You have the whole fucking filing cabinet emptied.”
“Yeah, but I noticed something in one of the files and then I started looking at the others and-“
“I don’t give a shit!” I shouted. “Fuck! I wanted this organized. I told you what to do.” I glanced at the desk and noticed the stacks of paper still sat there. “You didn’t even do the fucking paperwork.”
“Hey, you asked me to organize this place. It’s a mess, and I have a lot of work to do to get it in shape.” I glanced toward the window and did a double take when I saw papers taped to the window. I stormed over and pulled one down, shaking my head at the sight before me. “What is this?”
“Okay, don’t be mad, but I was going through some files and I noticed these charges on the accounts, but I couldn’t figure out what they were for. So, I started going through the files and found all these other charges that were similar. So, I started-“
“I didn’t ask you to be Sherlock Holmes. I just wanted the office organized.”
“At least let me show you-“
“Get out,” I said tightly. I was barely controlling my anger right now. This was the last thing I needed at the end of the day.
“Excuse me? You’re not even listening to what-“
“I said, get the fuck out.”
She huffed and walked over to the desk, grabbing her purse and flinging it over her shoulder before storming out. Sighing, I walked over to the desk and took a seat. I looked down at the paper I had taken from the window and looked it over. At first, I didn’t see anything. But as I looked at it again, I noticed a strange charge on there. The invoice was from one of my suppliers, and if I was guessing right, they were adding on charges and hoping I wouldn’t notice, which I hadn’t, because I never organized my fucking office. I stood and walked to the window, pulling down the other invoices. All of them had the same fucking charge on there. They were gouging me, and I had allowed it to happen because I was too fucking distracted with work.
Fuck. I pulled out my phone and dialed Anna’s number. “Anna?”
“Fuck off, asshole.”
She hung up before I could say anything else. I dialed again. “Just hear me out.”
“Like you heard me out? I don’t work for assholes.”
She hung up again. Shit. This was going to take some finesse, something I didn’t really have right now. I called Robert.
“What do you want, asshole?”
“I need a favor.”
“I already did one for you.”
“I’ll owe you.”
That got his attention. “What’s the favor?”
“I need you to call Anna and convince her to come back to work tomorrow.”
It was quiet for a moment. “Why would I need to convince her to go into her job?”
“Well, I was having a bad day and I sort of fucked up. Let’s just say that she’s not answering my calls.”
“I don’t know. It’s gonna cost you.”
“I already said I would owe you one.”
“Yeah, but I’m not exactly her favorite person either. I’m not sure this is such a great idea.”
“Then why the fuck did you hire her?”
“Because she needed the job and I knew she would do a good job. She just needed a chance.”
“Well, I need you to get her back here.”
“You’re going to have to say please.”
I gritted my teeth. “Please.”
“Alright, I’ll see what I can do, but if you fuck this up again, I can’t do jack shit about it.”
“Understood.”
I hung up, then taped the papers back where she had them on the window. I had a feeling that I should bring by some donuts in the morning or something to make up for yelling at her. I was so lost in my head today about my situation with Katherine that I couldn’t even concentrate on work. Then I snapped at Anna and fired her when she was just trying to do her job. Something had to give, and that something was my situation with Katherine. I needed to find a way to fix it before it ruined every aspect of my life.
I knew that was easier said than done. I was fucked. How had I screwed up so bad? Not only did I sleep with a girl that I had just met, but I got her pregnant. I wasn’t even sure I liked her. She definitely wasn’t a woman I would normally date. She didn’t seem all that concerned with anything but having a good time. Then again, she did say she was a nurse. Maybe she was just trying to blow off some steam.
And then there was the way that she delivered the news. It was like she was totally cool with having a baby out of wedlock. What the fuck was that? Didn’t all women want to be married before the kid came? My brothers were going to give me so much shit over this. I was always the responsible one out of all of us. I was the one they came to when they were in trouble and needed guidance. Who was I going to turn to? The only one that was even interested in a relationship was my brother, Derek, and he was almost five hundred miles away.
How would I even tell everyone? And my parents, God, they were going to be so fucking disappointed in me. When they heard about Derek and Claire, they flew out to meet her after we did. They fell in love with her instantly. What would they say about Katherine? She called herself Kiki. It sounded like a stripper name. What would I say when I called them?
Hey, Mom and Dad. I got this girl pregnant and I don’t know anything about her other than her name and that she’s a nurse. She refused to marry me and didn’t even care if I was involved.
My parents were going to kill me. I could see my mom walking up to me and slapping me upside the head for not protecting that young girl. And my dad would chastise me for not being his responsible son. If there was one thing I couldn’t stand, it was disappointing my parents. For as long as I could remember, I always did my best to make my parents proud. I never wanted to let them down and make them feel like they had failed. They already had one son that had gone MIA in the family. That was hard enough for my parents to swallow, but this? This would kill my mother for sure. I had to find a way to convince Katherine to marry me, or at the very least, get engaged.
I pulled out my phone
and dialed the number she had given me. It rang a few times and then she answered, her sweet voice echoing through the phone. How had I not noticed that before?
“Hello?” she said again.
“Hi. This is Eric Cortell, the father of your child.”
She chuckled on the other end. “Yes, Eric. I remember you.”
“Right, well,” I cleared my throat uncomfortably, rubbing at the back of my neck. I felt like a fucking idiot. “It’s not like we’ve been properly acquainted. I wasn’t sure…anyway,” I said clearing my throat. “Um, I’d like to talk to you the next time you’re available.”
“Okay, um, I don’t work on Wednesday. Will that work for you?”
“Sure, can you do breakfast?”
“How about afternoon? I work the night before.”
“Would you like to come out here for dinner? I can cook and then we can talk in a more private setting.”
“What about your brothers? Not that I mind them being there, but if they’ll be listening in, it won’t be very private.”
“I’ll make sure they make themselves scarce.”
“Okay, I’ll come over about 5:30.”
“Great. I’ll see you Wednesday.”
I hung up and took a deep breath. This was all just so out of my realm of expertise. I didn’t even know where to begin. The first thing I had to do was figure out how to cook.
I was scrambling. Dinner was a catastrophe. I burned the chicken to the point of it looking like charcoal, the mashed potatoes were soupy, and the asparagus was so soft that it hung limply from the fork. I couldn’t serve this to her. She was going to be here any minute and I had nothing to feed her. I quickly rummaged through the cabinets and found a box of Macaroni and Cheese. It would barely be enough to feed me, but I would go hungry so that she had something to eat. It was the least I could do since I had promised her dinner.
I quickly got the water going and got to work on throwing away the chicken and asparagus. The mashed potatoes couldn’t go in the garbage. They were pretty much liquid right now. The pots and pans were stacked in the sink and it smelled like there had been a fire in here. There sort of had been, but I opened the windows and hoped for the best. The macaroni was almost ready when I heard her knock at the door. Thank goodness she was running late.
I went over and opened the door, feeling nervous about all this. What I was going to ask of her was a tall order. I should have taken her out to a nice restaurant. I should have changed my fucking clothes. I still had on my work clothes and I smelled like sweat. I was already failing big time with my whole plan.
“Hi,” I said, swinging the door open.
“Hi. Sorry I’m late.”
“Not a problem.” I gestured for her to enter and cringed when she started sniffing the air.
“Did something burn?”
“Uh,” I quickly glanced at the sink and then back at her. “Yeah, sorry. Dinner is…well, it’s in the garbage now. How does mac and cheese sound?”
She pulled her lips between her teeth and stifled a laugh. “That’s fine. We could have just gone out to dinner.”
“Yeah, I wanted to do this here. I thought I could make dinner and it would be more private.”
“You don’t actually know how to cook, do you?”
“I can cook,” I said defensively. “I just usually grill out.” I shrugged as I stared at the stove. “It’s different inside the house.”
She nodded, holding back her laughter. “Well, you’re in luck because I love mac and cheese.”
“Good.” I went to the stove and finished making dinner and then served her a much larger bowl than my own.
“Why are you giving me more? Shouldn’t you be eating more? You’re a guy.”
“Yeah, but you’re eating for two.”
“That doesn’t mean I need two servings,” she smiled.
There was no way I was taking food from a pregnant lady. I didn’t care how hungry I was, there were just things that you didn’t do and that was one of them.
I cleared my throat and swallowed a large gulp of water. “So, the reason I asked you here is for a favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
“Look, I think that we both know that I’m not the type of guy to find myself in this position. I do things a certain way so that things always turn out the way they should. This is just so outside of anything I ever thought would happen to me.”
“Okay, I’m not sure where you’re going with this.”
I took a deep breath and let it fly. What did I have to lose? “I want you to pretend to be my girlfriend.”
She stared at me for a few seconds, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to figure out my angle. “You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend when we’re having a baby,” she said slowly.
“Yeah. See, I’m always the reliable one in the family. I’m the one that doesn’t screw up. I’m the one that’s never let down my parents.”
“So, this is because you don’t want to disappoint your family?”
“Basically.”
“What about your brothers? I mean, they already know that we had a one night stand. You can’t hide this from them.”
“It’s for my parents’ benefit. I can talk to my brothers and they’ll have my back. I mean, I’m sure I’ll owe them for the rest of my life, but they won’t let me down.”
“So, we pretend to be a couple for your parents. What happens when it falls apart? I’ll look like the horrible girlfriend and you’ll come off as the devoted father.”
“Well, they live in North Carolina, so it’s not like they’ll be around to know if we’re together or not.”
“You want me to pretend indefinitely?” she asked, her eye widening in horror.
“Well…”
“What about when I meet someone and want to get married? Am I supposed to still pretend that I’m your girlfriend? Take off my wedding rings when they come to town? And what about holidays? Am I supposed to see your family all the time instead of seeing my own?”
I scratched my head, not really knowing how to answer that. “I guess I hadn’t really thought of that.”
“What part of this did you actually think through? Because it sounds to me like you don’t want to be seen as irresponsible. But let me tell you something, I’m the one that’s going to be showing in a few months, walking around without a ring. I’m the one people will judge. You’re worried about your parents who are thousands of miles away.”
“Look, I didn’t say it was a great plan-”
“It’s not a plan at all,” she said, shoving back from the table and standing. “You know, if you wanted me to actually be your girlfriend, you could have suggested that we go out on a date and get to know each other or ask to at least spend some time with me.”
“I’m sorry,” I said sincerely. “I wasn’t thinking.” She rolled her eyes and picked her bowl up from the table, digging into her macaroni and cheese. “Would you like to spend some time together?”
“Seriously? Now you’re asking me?” She shoved another spoonful in her mouth and set the bowl back down. “I’ll call you when I have my first appointment,” she said as she walked out the door.
“That could have gone better,” I muttered. I sighed and leaned back in my chair, wondering how in the hell I was going to break this news to my parents. I was a grown man. I didn’t need their approval. I just wanted it. As silly as it sounded, I wanted them to be proud of me.
Katherine
“So, did you tell the baby daddy?” Chrissy asked as she leaned across the counter of the reception desk. I hadn’t been working with her this week, so I hadn’t had the chance to fill her in yet. “Did he totally freak out? They always freak out.”
“Well, it didn’t exactly go the way I thought it would.” I glanced around to make sure the she-devil, my boss, was nowhere in sight. “He passed out.”
“No way,” she said, her eyes wide.
“And then he paced his kitchen for an hour and a half
muttering to himself.”
“What did you do?” she asked, pulling out a box of Lemonheads.
I gave her a funny look. “This isn’t a movie.”
“It sure feels like one. So, what happened next?” she motioned me to hurry up.
“He went on some tirade about us following our base instincts and how what happened was perfectly natural.”
She grimaced and popped another Lemonhead in her mouth. “Okay, this no longer sounds like an interesting movie. He sounds uptight. Is he a professor or something?”
I shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. We haven’t really covered all that stuff. In fact, the only thing we really covered that night was sexual positions.”
“In the bar or at his house?”
“The bar,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“And then he covered you with his body and pounded you into the floor,” she smirked, tossing a few more Lemonheads in her mouth.
“How would you know?”
“Girl, this is my fantasy. Don’t screw it up.”
“And in your fantasy, did I end up pregnant?”
“I only daydream about the sexy stuff.”
“And do you often fantasize about your friends having sex?”
She stared off into space, completely ignoring me. “You know, I bet he’s like some really smart teacher. Does he wear glasses?” I shook my head. “I bet he does in class. And then when you go to visit him, he’ll swipe all the papers off his desk and throw you down and take you right there on his desk. God, it’ll be so hot.”
“Did you not hear the part where he lectured me on our base instincts? Somehow I don’t picture him as the type to throw me down and take me.”
“Well, how was it that night? Did he feel stiff to you?”
“Of course he was stiff,” I smirked.
“You know what I mean.”
I thought back and shook my head slowly. “No, he let loose, well, with a few drinks.”
“See? He was probably just really freaked out about the whole thing and that’s how it came out. So, what happened then?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows at me.
“Well, then he told me we were getting married and that he would provide for me.”
Maintenance Required: A small town romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 1) Page 6