Baby Be Mine

by Rosie Praks

  Good God! Beautiful? How did his friend deduce that from the name Avocado? He didn’t know how an avocado could be beautiful. And what was Caroline doing wiping his mouth for him? He wasn’t a goddamn baby. So he pushed her hands away from his face, slightly annoyed with her interference. He didn’t need anyone to look after him. He was capable of looking after himself. Although, he wouldn’t mind if someone else, who was sitting on his other side, were to wipe his mouth for him. Subconsciously, he turned to his other side and saw Clarice looking lost.

  She was confused. How could an avocado be beautiful? When Hunter explained the name to her, he said the plant was old and wrinkly, just like her. She just couldn’t understand it, but when she saw Fern give her a genuine smile, she returned the gesture. Fern seemed like a very nice person. Maybe she could get along very well with this girl.

  Caroline was genuinely angry because Hunter had pushed her hand away, which really hurt her ego. So in retort, she pushed that anger toward Fern instead.

  “Miss Fern, what planet are you from, saying an avocado is a beauty?” Caroline pretended to laugh innocently. “Avocado is merely a fruit. Plus, it’s old and wrinkly.”

  Bang on again. Clarice wasn’t happy the blonde was saying she was old. She knew already that out of all three women sitting there, she was by far the oldest. So it shouldn’t really have this much effect on her, but somehow, she was feeling too sensitive today. She didn’t like Caroline.

  “I think an avocado is a God-given beauty. Isn’t that right, Hunter?” Fern asked her friend again, to which he merely replied with a grunt and another cough. Fern shook her head and turned back to Clarice to smile at her before moving along to face Caroline. “An avocado is the elixir of beauty. Women use avocado for facemasks and everything. And I thought you would have known this. What planet are you from, Caroline?”

  Caroline didn’t know how to respond. She was at a loss for words.

  “No words?” Fern smirked at Caroline, knowing now that she’d beaten her enemy by one point.

  Clarice wasn’t comfortable eating lunch with people she didn’t know. And why were those two fighting anyway? More importantly, though, where was her appetite today? The food didn’t taste horrible or anything. She forked the contents on her plate, feeling a sense of nausea coming on, but she closed her eyes and breathed slowly. She supposed she didn’t like Hunter sitting so close to her like this.

  Hunter was unintentionally edging himself closer to Clarice still, as he could feel his seat being taken over by Caroline on his other side.

  But the fact that his cousin was constantly looking at his avocado in an admiring and worrying way throughout their whole conversation didn’t sit well in his stomach. So to counteract this feeling and to lift the strained tension between Fern and Caroline, he asked, “So how did you two meet?”

  “We met when she came to meet with one of our staff to talk about the conference in Queenstown,” Anton said, eyeing Clarice’s pale face with concern.

  Clarice didn’t want to be reminded of how she and Anton had met. She just wanted to be alone with him to ask him about their time in Queenstown, if he could remember at all of course. But taking in his reaction now, all he showed was his normal icy face, the same he had on before they went to Queenstown.

  “Do you know how I met Clarice?” Hunter teased, looking around at his audience.

  Oh, dear heavens, Clarice prayed, jolting her thoughts to Hunter’s comment. Please don’t let that Casanova tell everyone about how I—

  “She confessed her love to me,” Hunter finished her thoughts.

  This statement had Anton dropping his fork, which hit the plate, then dropped to the floor.

  Caroline fisted her hands beneath the table. Another challenge. Another target. When would Hunter stop seeing these women and start seeing the perfect woman right in front of him?

  “Confession? What kind of confession?” Fern asked, not realizing the tension happening inside their small circle.

  “I accidently delivered flowers to his house.” Clarice intercepted Hunter just in time before he started opening his big mouth and spouting out more lies about how she was delivering those flowers just to confess her undying love for him.

  “Oh, I thought you were… Owwww,” Hunter howled when Clarice stamped on his foot to shut him up.

  “Hunter, what’s wrong?” Fern and Caroline asked at the same time.

  “Mosquitoes,” Hunter muttered under his breath, glaring at Clarice.

  “Yes. They must be swarming.” Clarice forced a smile, agreeing with Hunter as she eyed him threateningly.

  Hunter just nodded his head, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Oh, he would gladly return the favor. When his foot was about to land on hers, his eyes caught sight of Winton trotting their way.

  Like a dog being pulled by a leash, Winton jogged to their table and only came to a complete standstill when he reached Clarice’s side, gawking at her like she was a piece of sweet candy.

  “I want black licorice. I choose black licorice. I don’t want strawberry or banana. I chose black licorice,” Winton said by way of announcing himself.

  “Winton, what are you doing here?” Anton asked his subordinate, who was still lost in his dreamland.

  “Black licorice. Winton wants black licorice.”

  “Winton!” Anton shouted at his subordinate again.

  “Wh-what?” Winton came back to reality. “Ah, boss. Sorry. What did you say?” he asked, but his eyes were still fixed on this exotic beauty. There was no need for a confused decision anymore. He’d made up his mind. He wanted that black licorice there, sitting next to Master Hunter.

  “Winton!” Anton shouted again.

  “What?” Winton shouted back. Ah, blue blazes, did he just shout at his boss?

  Winton turned around to see Anton glaring at him.

  “What are you doing here?” Anton shouted.

  “You didn’t turn up at the meeting so I thought you might be in the restaurant since it’s lunchtime,” Winton said to Anton, but his eyes and body were automatically turned toward Clarice. “Can I have my lunch here too?” he asked.

  “No, we don’t have room for one more per—”

  “Thanks, boss,” Winton said, shuffling Anton to the middle seat so he could take his place sitting right in front of his favorite black licorice.

  All Hunter could do at this point was stare wide-eyed at Winton. How dare Winton treat his avocado like this? Winton needed a lesson in who belongs to whom.

  “Winton… I—” Hunter began.

  “I’m Winton,” Winton said, stretching over the table so he could shake hands with Clarice.

  Winton felt all giddy inside. He wanted to feel that soft hand within his grasp so he could embed the feel of her skin into his memory forever.

  “Clarice.” Clarice smiled at Winton. “Very nice to meet you.”

  “The pleasure is all minnnnneee—ooooohhh.” Winton howled when he felt someone step on his foot.

  “Oh, must be those mosquitoes again,” Hunter said, pretending to act all innocent. “Very annoying. Just be careful. It might bite you too, Anton,” he said, turning to his cousin, who hadn’t a clue as to what was going on.

  “Mosquitoes?” Winton said, jumping up out of his chair. “I don’t like mosquitoes. They suck blood. The doctor said I have sweet blood. I can’t afford for those mosquitoes to drink my blood.”

  “That’s right, Winton. Mosquitoes love sweet blood. What are you going to do now that it has a taste of you already? I think it’s best if you go back insiiiiiddeeeeeee…” Hunter howled again when he felt Clarice stamping on his foot. But he ignored the pain and said through gritted teeth, his eyes sending a death glare to Clarice, “This way you won’t attract more.”

  “Oh, I should be fine,” Winton said happily, brushing aside the comment.

  Hunter wasn’t happy that his plan backfired. He was starting to get pissed off with this whole situation. In fact, the person he was getting pisse
d off with the most was Clarice. She was like a dead flower that had been revived by water just by having Winton and Anton staring at her. Sheesh! And what the hell was with Caroline? She was like bubblegum glued to his side. He wasn’t comfortable sitting next to her at all. So to vent his anger, he started stamping his foot on Caroline’s too when she edged closer to his side.

  “Owwwww!” Caroline shrieked, unladylike.

  “Did the mosquito bite Caroline too?” Fern asked, laughing.

  Caroline was mad, and because she thought the one who stamped on her foot was Fern, she stamped on Fern’s foot too.

  Fern let out a squeal, which led Anton to look strangely at the redhead beside him. This made Fern mad because Anton just saw her in a very unladylike position, so she exacted her revenge by planning to stamp on Caroline’s foot, except Caroline was quick and it ended up being Hunter who had to face the unpleasant wrath of Fern’s four-inch heel.

  And before Anton could comprehend what was really going on, everyone ended up moaning and groaning about having sore feet, with Winton rushing off back inside the restaurant, not wanting to experience another attack of the vicious mosquito that had everyone in so much pain.

  When the table was vacant of Winton, Anton still stared quizzically at the people around the table, wondering if there really were mosquitoes their hotel, but his thought was interrupted when the waiter came over with their coffees.

  “Sorry for the delay, sir,” the waiter said, giving the coffee to Hunter, passing it under Clarice’s nose.

  The sudden strong aroma wafted into Clarice’s nose, making her gag all of a sudden, and before she knew it, she raced to the women’s bathroom and spewed the entirety of her meal.

  What was wrong with her? She must really be sick. Was she really that nervous about talking to Anton that she couldn’t keep her food down? Maybe she was a little upset because Anton didn’t seem to know anything about that night, even when they’d mentioned their stay in Queenstown. Then she felt someone rubbing her back and handing her paper towels.

  “Thank you,” she managed to say after she wiped her mouth. Then she turned to face—

  “Hunter!” she shouted in fright. “What are you doing here? This is the women’s bathroom.”

  “So?” Hunter said, clueless as to why this would cause Clarice so much distress.

  “So get out,” Clarice said through gritted teeth. Sometimes Hunter could be so dumb.

  “You’re not well. I just want to make sure you’re fine,” Hunter said, coming closer, placing his palm on her forehead. “Your temperature is okay. So why did you vomit? Was it the food?” he asked, concerned. His face was so close to hers that she found she was having trouble breathing again.

  “I’m fine. I don’t think it’s the food. I hardly ate anything,” she said, turning the other way.

  Please, don’t look at those lips, she told herself. Just please don’t look at those lips.

  “You don’t like it?” Hunter asked, nudging her chin to face him, and they locked their eyes together. Then her eyes had a mind of their own as they inadvertently drifted to Hunter’s lips.

  “It’s nice, but I just can’t eat it,” Clarice said, forcing herself to look at his chest instead.

  “Your stomach is playing up?” Hunter asked innocently, tilting up her chin so he could look at those dilated pupils again. “I’ll take you to the hospital. You might have the flu or something.”

  “No, I’m fine. I’ll just go back—”

  And then she hunched over the toilet again as another strong urge came welling up to her throat, making her vomit once more.

  “Clarice, God.” Hunter started rubbing her back again.

  After the sudden urge died down, she stood and rested against the wall, but her body was just so weak that she slumped against Hunter instead.

  Clarice, oh my God. Hunter’s heart pounded, crying out for the woman in his arms. He wanted to continue to hold her like this forever, to feel this warmth transmitting to his own body. What was wrong with him? How come she felt so perfect in his arms? He couldn’t understand what was going on.

  “Clarice?” His voice shook a little. “You’re clearly not well. I’m taking you to the hospital now. Let’s go.”

  “Hunter, what do you think you’re doing?” Clarice asked hoarsely, pulling back from him, but she was just so tired, so out of energy that she let him carry her all the way to his car. But Anton, Fern, and Caroline intercepted them before Hunter could complete his mission.

  “What’s going on?” Anton asked, turning to Clarice. “Are you all right? You don’t look well. I should take you to the hospital.”

  “Fern will come too,” Fern offered. “It’s good if Junior Silverton has someone else to look after her while he drives.”

  “It’s fine. I’ve already decided to take her,” Hunter said, tugging Clarice’s head close to his chest again. “And didn’t you say you have another meeting after lunch?”

  Shit, Anton swore to himself. He’d totally forgotten about that other meeting. “Then you take good care of Clarice,” Anton demanded. “I’ll call you later.”

  Anton watched his cousin leave with Clarice and Fern in tow. After the car disappeared from his sight, he quietly went back to his office to prepare for his meeting.

  Caroline watched the entire exchange with fists clenched by her sides. This cannot be, she thought. She must get rid of this girl. No one else would get Hunter.

  Chapter 24

  “Please pick me up. I’m at Auckland Hospital.” Clarice left a message on Max’s cell phone from the pay phone, then went back to her seat in the waiting area. She closed her eyes, feeling so exhausted.

  She felt so sick. She didn’t know her nerves could get this bad.

  “Clarice,” a soft voice whispered in her ear. Anton, it sounded like Anton that night they were together.

  Clarice opened her eyes, then immediately shut them again. She felt her heart hammering within her chest and her breathing became labored. It was Hunter. He was so close to her that she could feel his warm breath. Suddenly, a hot rush of lust hit her like a ton of bricks, smacking her right in the face.

  “You haven’t gone home yet?” she asked, turning away to stop this yearning. She opened her eyes again and stared at the grey linoleum.

  “Are you okay? I bought you some juice. I thought the sugar might help,” Hunter said, eyeing Clarice, wondering why she was so intent on staring at the linoleum.

  “Do you have a straw?” she asked quietly.

  “No. Why do you need a straw?” Hunter had enough of Clarice looking at the linoleum. Did she find that grey floor more interesting than his handsome face? He nudged her chin around to face him.

  “I don’t want to drink anything acidic that can cause my teeth to rot. I want a straw.” Clarice closed her eyes again.

  “You, Avocado, and your oral health,” he said. Then she felt his presence disappear again.

  Thank heavens! She could now rest in peace. She didn’t know whether she could handle looking at Hunter any longer. The more he stayed with her, the more she was reminded of Anton that night. It just wasn’t right. And then there was Anton. He acted like he didn’t know her at all. Which she admitted hurt her a little. She really must talk to him and get it straight, out in the open.

  And when would they call her up? She was so tired. She just wanted to go to sleep.

  Just then Fern returned from getting her coffee, which made Clarice want to gag even more.

  “I’m so sorry, Clarice. I didn’t mean to make you sick again. I’ll throw this away.” Fern apologized and threw her cup of coffee into the trash bin.

  All Clarice could do was shake her head.

  “I’m sorry. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me,” Clarice replied weakly. “I’m sorry about your coffee too.”

  “It’s nothing.” Fern smiled to reassure her new friend. “I can always get another one later.” Then she looked around the waiting room. “Where is Hunter?” />
  “I don’t know,” Clarice answered, closing her eyes again. “He just disappeared.”

  “Hunter seems to be quite attached to you, isn’t he?” Fern asked, still smiling.

  Clarice didn’t know how to answer. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Fern.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Fern shoved aside the subject.

  She had a niggling suspicion that Hunter must like Clarice. Hunter had never acted like this before. He’d never cared for any woman as much. Clarice was the first. She really hoped Clarice might be the one to tame his wild ways. And if it did happen, she would offer her friend her full support.

  “The doctor should call your name soon,” Fern said instead. “I’m very glad to meet you, Clarice. I believe we can be great friends from now on.”

  “Mmmm.” Clarice nodded her head in agreement. Being with Fern had a calming effect on her, just like being with Whitney and Elise. Just then, her name was called and she went in, smiling a bit to reassure Fern she would be fine.

  After a series of tests, which included the urine test and blood pressure, she was escorted back into the doctor’s office. She really couldn’t wait any longer for the diagnosis.

  The flamboyant doctor that greeted her had a grin from ear to ear.

  “I just love my job when I have news like this,” he said, practically bouncing in his chair. “My name is Dr. Flint, by the way.”

  Clarice couldn’t understand. Surely being sick wasn’t something to be so happy about.

  But strangely, he giggled. “Oh, I don’t even know how to say this.” He waved his hands in front of his face to cool his already red cheeks. “I’m so excited and giddy inside. This is my first day here. I don’t even know how to respond to the news.”

  “Maybe you should just calm down before telling me, Dr. Flint.” Clarice offered her advice, speaking in a soothing voice just like she would with her patients when they were anxious or excited about their dental treatment. “Just take deep, slow breaths and then tell me.”

  “Yes, yes, of course,” Dr. Flint said, calming down a bit, but then he got all flustered again and started flapping his arms about when he thought of the news. “Oh, I can’t help it. I want to tell you straight out, but I don’t know where to begin,” Dr. Flint said, slumping back in his chair in defeat.