by Cleo Jones
Once she was dressed, Zoë looked back to find Nate wide-awake and staring at her. “Morning,” she mumbled, avoiding making eye contact with him.
“Morning,” Nate replied, pulling her in close. Just as he went to kiss her, his phone rang, tearing him from the moment. He tried his best to ignore it, but whoever was calling didn’t seem to get the drift. They continued calling him back on a non-stop loop, making it clear that they had no intention of stopping.
“Ugh, just answer it already,” Zoë groaned.
Nate disentangled himself from the blankets and frantically searched the ground for his phone. He found it tucked away inside his jacket pocket and sighed when he glanced down at the screen.
It was Audrey.
Nate racked his fingers through his hair and rushed to press down on the ignore button as soon as another call from her came in.
Zoë froze when her phone began to vibrate as well. “It’s Evan,” she said, holding it up for Nate to see.
Nate gave her an irritated look.
“About last night,” Zoë continued, speaking cautiously. Her next words didn’t come easy. “Maybe we should just forget about it.”
“What?” Nate exclaimed. “You can’t be serious.”
“Well I don’t hear you throwing out any better ideas.”
“Actually, I think it’s pretty obvious what we should do here,” Nate said. “We should come clean.”
“Surprise, surprise,” Zoë muttered.
“I'm being serious,” Nate said, keeping his eyes steadied on hers.
Zoë, however, was already well aware of how serious he was. His insistence on doing the right thing regardless of the consequences was both his best and worst trait. “I know you are, but come on,” she said. “What do you expect me to say? 'Oh, hey Evan. I’m just calling to let you know that I slept with Nate. Yeah…that Nate. If we could get your support, that would be great.’ Uh-huh. Because that’ll go over so well.”
Nate collapsed back down on Zoë’s bed and sighed. He couldn’t deny the fact that she had a point. Wanting to do the right thing was easy enough, but actually doing it was another matter entirely.
Zoë sighed and tossed her phone down on her blankets. Just when she was sure this morning couldn't get anymore complicated, it went and did just that. “Evan’s on his way over,” she said when she felt Nate burning holes into the back of her head. “You should probably go. If he sees you here this early he's going to know something’s up.”
Nate sat up and searched the floor for his clothing. When he was finally finished getting dressed, he turned to look at Zoë and hesitated in the doorway. “What is this?” he questioned in a serious manner, waving a hand between the two of them.
Zoë shrugged and tore her gaze from his. “I don't know what you expect me to say,” she admitted, studying her hands
“I don’t expect anything,” Nate corrected. “I just wish you’d do the right thing for once without being asked.”
“What about Audrey?” Zoë questioned, reading between the lines. “Should I assume you're going to rush home and tell her?”
Nate hesitated. He'd been so busy thinking about Zoë and how she’d handle things with Evan that he'd neglected to consider how he’d break the news to Audrey.
“See,” Zoë remarked. “It's not so easy, now is it?”
“I just…I don't want to hurt her,” Nate admitted. In the past, he’d never pegged himself as the type of guy to cheat. He always thought that he was better than that, and yet here he was dealing with the repercussions of a night he’d spent with a woman who most definitely wasn’t his girlfriend.
“Well I hate to break it to you, but I think you already have.”
Zoë’s words couldn't have been any simpler, but they hit Nate with an unexpected force. She was right. Neither one of them could undo what had already transpired.
Zoë sighed heavily and turned to look out the window beside her bed. “Anyways, you should go,” she said as she glanced back down at her phone. “Evan will be here any minute now.”
Nate nodded, reluctantly pulling away from the doorframe and making his way out of her apartment.
As soon as he was gone, Zoë rushed to hide any evidence that he’d been there and jumped in the shower to scrub the remnants of his cologne from her body. She was in the process of tying up her hair when she heard her front door open, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps.
Zoë didn’t have to guess who it was. Evan never knocked. He always just sauntered right in. It was one of the many minor character flaws he possessed that never ceased to annoy her.
“Surprise!” Evan called out when Zoë entered the kitchen. He was unloading a bag of groceries from the farmers market onto her counter, and his expression was far too relaxed for a guy who was about to get dumped. “I thought I’d come by and make you brunch. I’ve got all your favorites. Bagels, smoked salmon, fritters…the works.”
Zoë sat down at her kitchen table and forced a smile, but Evan saw right through it.
“You okay?” he questioned, stopping what he was doing to study her face. “I’ve never known you to not be excited about food.”
Zoë sighed and nodded at the empty chair across from her. “Sit down,” she insisted. “We need to talk.”
Across town, Nate found himself in a similar predicament. He sat at his desk and drummed his fingers against the wood, keeping his gaze focused on the foggy scenery outside his window as he tried to contemplate what to do next.
Audrey hadn’t stopped calling him all morning. If he dodged her calls any longer, she’d surely get suspicious. That is, if she wasn’t already.
Nate sighed and picked up his phone to type out a quick text to her.
Can you Face time?
Audrey replied right away.
I'm off to a fitting. Can it wait?
Nate wasted no time in telling her that it couldn’t. He wasn’t sure the courage he’d mustered up would still be there later. It was now or never.
Audrey called him not even a second later. “Nate?” she questioned, waving a hand at him. “I’ve been trying to get hold of you all morning. I was getting worried. Are you all right? You look a little under the weather.”
“Actually, I’m not,” Nate admitted, forcing the words out. “We need to talk.”
Audrey hesitated. She knew that statement well enough to know it didn’t lead anywhere good. Any conversation that began with the words “we need to talk” wasn’t one she wanted to be having. It wasn’t one she was going to have. She’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but when she’d seen the chemistry between Nate and Zoë during her last trip home, she’d already set about in crafting a plan to keep from losing him.
“You’re right,” Audrey replied. “That’s actually why I’ve been calling you.”
Nate frowned, remaining quiet as he waited for her to continue.
Audrey studied his face for a second before giving him an elated smile. “I’m pregnant!” she announced. “We’re having a baby!”
Chapter sixteen
Zoë stared down at the towering stack of catering requests that had built up for her over the weekend. Dull light filled her office, bringing out the redness in her eyes and highlighting her lack of sleep. To say her attention was elsewhere would have been putting it lightly. As much as she should have been focusing on work, she couldn’t stop dwelling on the weekend’s events.
Zoë had finally mustered up the courage to end things with Evan once and for all, but his reaction wasn’t one she’d seen coming. As soon as she told him it was over, he took one look at her and asked if it was because of Nate. When she told him that it was, he didn't ask for the how, the why, or the when. He simply stood up and left her apartment, making a point of slamming the door shut behind him.
That was two days ago.
Zoë hadn't heard from him since, but it wasn’t like she was expecting to. There wasn’t anything left for her to say to him. He deserved a woman who really loved him,
and that wasn’t her.
It could never be her.
Zoë sighed and glanced across her desk at a picture of her and Nate, which had been taken during their senior prom. He’d yet to call to let her know how things had gone with Audrey, and it was becoming pretty clear to her that he was stalling. Exhaling a deep breath, she picked up her phone and set about on confirming her suspicions.
Nate picked up on the first ring. “WGNO-Sports, this is Nate Cross speaking.”
The deep baritone of his voice was all it took to make Zoë lose her courage. What was she doing calling him at work over a personal matter? She should have waited for him to get in contact with her. It wasn’t like he could keep avoiding her forever.
“Zoë?” Nate questioned when she didn’t say anything, making it clear that he’d looked down at the caller ID.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Zoë replied. “This isn’t a bad time, is it?”
“Nah, it’s all good. I was about to take a coffee break anyway,” Nate replied, trying his best to sound casual. “What’s up?”
Zoë sighed and rolled her eyes at his obvious attempt at stalling the inevitable. “Oh nothing much,” she said, getting right to the point. “I just…I wanted to call and apologize.”
“Apologize?”
“You know…for the role I played in what happened over the weekend,” Zoë said, beginning to ramble. “I had a little too much wine, and my decision-making skills weren’t as refined as they usually are. I can understand why you would be avoiding me. I just…I don’t want things to be awkward between us from now on.”
“Zoë, it’s not like that,” Nate protested. “I’m not avoiding you. It’s just that…things have gotten a bit complicated with Audrey. Apparently she’s…well…she told me that she’s pregnant.”
Zoë heard what he said, but she was too shell-shocked to come up with a response. The only thing she could focus on was the dull thump of her heart against her ribcage.
“I don’t understand how,” Nate continued when she didn’t say anything. “We we’re always so safe…”
“Yeah, well apparently not safe enough,” Zoë said before she could stop herself.
Both her and Nate were quiet for a long time.
“What are you going to do?” Zoë finally found it in herself to ask, speaking so quietly she barely even heard herself.
“I don’t know,” Nate said in a somber tone. “Audrey wants to keep it.”
Zoë nodded even though he couldn’t see her. She didn’t need him to reiterate that which she already knew. They were over.
For good.
“I’m sorry,” Nate stated, reading her mind.
“Don’t be,” Zoë said. “Anyways, I should let you get back to work. Have a nice day.”
Zoë rushed to hang up before Nate could say anything else, resisting the urge to throw her phone against the wall. She rested her head on her desk in an attempt at regaining her composure, and she was still in that position when her co-worker entered her office.
Kelly gave Zoë a peculiar look and sat another stack of catering requests down beside her. “You all right?” she questioned, hanging back to watch her flip through them. “There’s a real nasty bug going around my kid’s school. You look like you might have caught it.”
“Gee, thanks,” Zoë said.
“Seriously though. If you’re sick I doubt Tia would mind if you left early,” Kelly continued, referencing their boss.
“I’m fine,” Zoë lied, glancing up at her. As much as she needed to vent, there was no way she was about to pour her heart out to the office gossip. “I’m just a little worn out from the weekend, that’s all.”
“Uh-huh,” Kelly said. “Well in that case, would you mind taking another look at the menu for the Willis banquet? I found a few entrées containing peanuts, and one of their daughters is allergic. It’s a liability waiting to happen.”
“Sure thing,” Zoë said, shuffling through her filing cabinet to find the menu in question. “I should have been more thorough. I’ll rectify it and have it on your desk by the end of the day.”
“No rush,” Kelly said. “Take your time. I’d like this version to be up to par with your usual selections.”
“It will be.”
Kelly thanked her and started to leave, but she stopped in midstride and paused in the doorway. “Are you sure everything’s okay?” she pressed. “You seem a little down about something.”
“I’m fine,” Zoë insisted, forcing a smile. “Never been better.”
Chapter seventeen
Zoë rushed up the flight of stairs that led to her apartment, keeping the pharmacy bag in her hand as hidden as possible beneath her purse. With her head hung low, she fumbled with her keys to unlock her front door and froze when she heard a familiar voice call out to her from down the hall.
“Looks like you ain’t dead after all,” Aniyah remarked, giving her a slow once over. “I was really starting to think you were. You know, considering you’ve been dodging my calls and texts for damn near a month. Shit…if I’d known you’d be this upset with me for skipping out on movie night I would have taken the bus.”
Zoë shrugged off her friend’s words and turned to unlock her deadbolt. She didn’t have time for this. There were much more pressing matters on her mind.
“What’s this?” Aniyah questioned when she caught sight of the pharmacy bag pressed beneath Zoë’s arm. “You aren’t sick are you? Because if you are…I’m gonna have to go. I’m not trying to come down with something this close to my wedding.”
“I’m not sick,” Zoë reassured her.
Aniyah relaxed and followed Zoë inside her apartment, taking a seat on her sofa as she responded to a text from Caleb.
Zoë excused herself and entered her bathroom, locking the door behind her. With her eyes steadied on her reflection, she shook the contents of the pharmacy bag into the sink and tensed when two pregnancy tests came spilling out. She couldn’t do this. Not alone, anyway.
“What’s going on?” Aniyah questioned when Zoë tore into the living room, frowning at the crazed expression on her face. “You look like you’re about to throw up.”
“I might,” Zoë admitted, struggling to catch her breath. “I just…I need you to come with me.”
“Come with you where?”
“The bathroom,” Zoë said as though it was common sense, motioning for her to follow.
Aniyah hesitated as she watched Zoë disappear down the hall, but her curiosity got the better of her and she was quick to follow. “I knew your ass was sick,” she said as she entered the bathroom and took a seat on the edge of the bathtub. “If I’m not in perfect health when I walk down that aisle, I’m blaming you.”
Zoë sighed and turned to look at Aniyah for the first time since she’d entered the bathroom. “You will be,” she said, picking up a pregnancy test and tossing it over to her. “Last I checked, pregnancy isn’t contagious.”
Aniyah gasped and brought her hand up to her mouth. “But how can you know for sure?” she questioned after taking a moment to adjust to the idea. “I mean…there are plenty of reasons a period can come late. Do you know how many pregnancy scares Caleb and I have had that ended up being nothing?”
“Thus the test,” Zoë clarified, nodding at it.
Aniyah nodded and glanced down at the instructions. “Well you know what you need to do next,” she said, handing the box back to Zoë. “Pull down them pants and get to peeing. There’s no sense in holding off the inevitable.”
Zoë hesitated before rummaging through her medicine cabinet for a cup. Once she was ready to do the deed, Aniyah stepped out into the hall and waited on the other side of the door for further confirmation.
“I bought two tests,” Zoë called out to her when she was done peeing. “Do you think I should take the other one too?”
“Duh,” Aniyah replied, stating the obvious.
Zoë sighed and reached for the second box.
“I think it’s been l
ong enough,” Aniyah called out after a full minute had passed without Zoë saying anything. She reentered the bathroom to find her sitting on the lid of the toilet with her head in her hands.
“I know,” Zoë said. “I just…I can’t bring myself to look.”
Aniyah took that as an invitation and snatched up both tests before Zoë could stop her. When she didn’t anything, Zoë looked up at her and tensed when she caught sight of the lackluster expression on her face. “Shit,” she muttered, rubbing her temples.
Aniyah set the tests back down and rubbed Zoë’s back in an attempt at comforting her. “Let me guess,” she said, giving her friend a serious look. “It’s Nate’s?”