by Eva Luxe
“Ouch, that hurt. I have a soft side too. Not many people witness it.”
“I can believe that,” she said with an airy chuckle.
The elevator bell rang and the golden doors opened.
“Before you leave, you forgot this.” I handed her the phone I had given her earlier. She often would leave it. It was a mistake.
But it irked the hell out of me.
“Oh, thanks! Sorry. Have a good day.” She jumped into the elevator and the doors closed, whisking her down to the floor level.
My phone rang back in the living room, and I jogged over to get it. It was my lawyer, Mr. Greene.
“Mr. Greene, how are you?”
“Grant? Grant Carter, is that you? Why you sound… jovial.”
“I do?”
“That young girl leaving an impression on you?”
I cleared my throat. “What were you calling about again?”
“About that. That credit card you got for her, the company called, said that she was spending a high amount. Might wanna deduct it from—”
“How much?” I said, cutting in.
“Well, for the two weeks she had the card, she went through almost three hundred thousand. Some of it was school tuition I gather. But then there are a lot of cash pull outs.”
“Cash pull outs?”
The voice in my head spoke aloud again. Surely Stacy was an exception to what I thought about women.
“Yeah, I don’t have the total yet, but it’s got to be over ten grand,” Mr. Green said, coughing. He needed to lay off the cigars.
“Okay, thank you for informing me. Anything else?”
“Is the girl pregnant yet?” Mr. Greene asked without hesitation.
“I don’t know. We find out this week. Stacy hates doctors, but she has no choice on this one,” I said, sitting down on the sofa and relaxing back into the memory foam.
“Well then, be merry Grant.”
“You too.”
I hung up and dove back into my work.
The questions wouldn’t stop.
The fears rekindled themselves to a stronger flame. I remember how my mother did my father. The cheating, the lies, the heartbreak. My heartbreak.
***
I spent the rest of the day fighting myself.
It wasn't fair to judge others based on one unique person. It didn't help that other women seemed to confirm what I thought about them as a whole.
Except Stacy.
She was going to be back in a few hours.
And I was going to find out what she was doing with that money, and who she was meeting.
Maybe this was a plan for her all along. To make me fall for her, take my money, my son, maybe ruin me for good.
I sat on the couch and moped about my living room. The office called, concerned that I didnt come in.
I told them I was fine and remained where I was until...
The elevator doors opened and I snapped my head up in attention.
"Good afternoon," Stacy chimed.
"You're home early."
Stacy sat her back pack down by the sofa and folded her arms. "You sound surprised."
"Of course. You've been gone for so long these past weeks." My voice grew firm. She knew where this was going.
"Well, now that midterms are over, I won't have to do that anymore."
That wasn't going to get her out of this.
"Tell me, I want to know."
"Know what?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Tell me who you've been seeing these past few nights."
"Seeing?" Stacy frowned. "Please don't tell me you're thinking what I think you are."
"Stacy, you're out way too late at night. You're spending a lot of money--"
"You said I could do it," she bit back, pointing her finger at my face.
"And that's fine, but I want to know to who and why. You're not in any trouble are you?"
She whipped around and threw her hands in the air.
"Oh my god. Now you're trying to act like you care!"
I put my foot down. "I do care! That's why I have to know."
"Well, you need to know that I'm not your little sister too. I'm not gonna be carted away by anyone--"
"This has nothing to do with that and you know it," I said, raising my voice. Not yelling, I didn't want to hurt her, but I wanted my point made.
"Then what?" Stacy asked, holding her hands out.
"I'm skeptical as to why you won't tell me. Don't you trust me?"
Stacy stayed silent. No yes or nos. She was undecided.
"I'm still trying to answer that question myself. You're a nice guy, Grant--"
"Don't give me any of that," I dismissed, waving my hand in the air. I threw myself back on the sofa I had planted myself in all day today.
Stacy was holding something back, and all the negative thoughts in me pointed in the direction of another lover.
She had me, but did I have her?
Stacy doubled over and vomitted all over the floor.
"Stacy!" I shouted, running to her aid.
"Are you okay?"
"Yea--" she thew up again before she could finish speaking.
"We need to get you to the doctor's office," I said, scooping her up into my arms.
"No, I hate--"
"Hush, you. These are the signs of being pregnant," I reminded her.
I ran over to the elevator with her firm in my arms. Stacy rested her had on my shoulder, her breath shaky from nausea. "You're going to be okay."
"Ew, I hope so. I heard pregnancy isn't such a wonderful ride."
"That's because of the guys who got them pregnant. I'll make sure you have the best."
The elevator opened and I made sure to press the emergency button so I could get down to my car garage quicker.
"Oh god, are we going faster? Put me down, I'm gonna—" I positioned Stacy so she could throw up into the small bin I had inside the elevator.
"Gross, I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize for anything, this is only natural," I said, wiping her mouth with my sleeve.
"I do trust you, you know," Stacy revealed, her eyes glittering up at mine.
"That is wise of you."
Stacy sighed. "But you don't trust me. Do you?"
“I won’t lie. It’s hard when you don’t tell me the truth,” I admitted.
“I know…”
I drove her to the hospital where I had a private wing take her in. The nurses wheeled her away and told me to wait a few for the doctor to see her.
I wasn’t the one to wait around for things, I wanted answers now.
But the nurses here were just as tough as I was and I didn’t feel like fighting any nurses.
I paced the small private waiting room that I personally had designed for the utmost comfort.
But right now the only thing I felt was anxiety.
What if Stacy was lying?
What if the baby wasn't healthy?
Why the fuck did I feel vulnerable? I was Grant Carter, I was invincible, God.
Yet this one girl, Stacy, brings me back to mortal form. Along with all the maladies that came with it.
Love, worry, concern, and the worst of all, pain.
The nurses approached me with coffee and water to see if they could calm me down.
"Sir, would you like to take this? It will make you calmer," a nurse said with a silver plate of a small paper cup and a tiny yellow pill.
"No thank you. I'm good."
No God needed medication.
The doctor strode out with his pad. I willed myself to stay calm and met the doctor with a good handshake.
"Hello Mr. Carter, we're giving Ms. Endow liquids and making sure she's well and hydrated. She says she might be pregnant. We'll be doing the test shortly."
"So she's okay for now? Can I see her?"
The doctor nodded his head with a smile. "Of course. Follow me."
Following the doctor my phone buzzed in my pocket. The doctor stopped a
nd turned around to see me take out my phone.
“Room twenty three,” he whispered, walking off.
I nodded my head to let him know I understood and answered the call.
“Mr. Greene, twice in one day. Something wrong?” I leaned on the wall next to Stacy’s room. I contemplated about going in while I was on the phone, but in her state that’d be tacky and stupid of me.
I didn’t do either of those.
"I have some information that I have gathered at your request. That is, if you still want to hear it."
I told Mr. Greene a week ago to have Stacy followed, find out where and who she was talking with.
I held off on finding out through my resources though. If anything, I wanted to have Stacy tell me the truth.
She said she trusted me, but obviously that was a lie too.
She didn't tell me for a reason. Either she's lying about not having a boyfriend, or she's in danger.
But she wasn't going to.
And I had to let go of that false idea that kept me hanging in the air by a drawstring. I needed the truth or else my business would suffer from the lack of my full attention.
"What is it, Mr. Greene. Tell me everything."
Mr. Greene's chair creaked in the background as he shifted his weight. Clearing his throat, I heard him shuffle some papers around. "The people she talks to are very secretive. We couldn't get any info out of them. But there's this restaurant she's going to every night. There's a guy there that chats her up--"
"A guy?!" I said, perking up off the wall. My heart began to quicken. Had I fallen that weak that I lost my morals?
"Did they touch?" I barked.
"No. Just talking. Him and another girl."
My head began to pound and blood rushed through my veins like a roller coaster ride.
"Anything else?"
"No, I had the black market checked to see if she was marked or anything. But everything checks out. The only thing is," Mr. Greene coughed and cleared his throat, "is that her mother has lost her job, and was behind on rent. I guess that could account for all those cash withdrawals," Mr. Greene pointed out.
The only thing on my mind now was who the hell this guy was.
Chapter 13
Stacy
The room was spacious and comfortable. Something a lot of money could buy. But being in this room by myself was still giving me the chills.
I didn't care for hospitals or doctors, but Grant was here and I could trust that he'd make sure that the doctor's wouldn't mistreat or misdiagnose me.
The nurses had placed the remote to the television by my side so I could watch tv. Too bad that wasn't helping either.
I remembered when I was young, that whenever I was stressed, I'd turn on the tv and let all my worries melt away in the fictional lands of tv shows.
Now that I was a touch older, the same techniques didn't work. I had a million and one responsibilities crying out for me and no one to catch me when I fell.
Well, there was Grant. But even that was touchy. I didn't tell him everything.
Now he was suspicious. This contract wasn't about love. However, it had slowly slid in that direction.
I smoothed a hand over my belly and looked over to the door of my room.
I needed a familiar face, and Grant wasn't here yet. Pushing myself off the bed, I hit the floor with my bare feet and wobbled over to the door to take a peek out.
The cold tile beneath my feet helped give me an energy jolt. From all the fluids the nurses gave me once I was settled in, I felt a little dizzy.
Thank goodness the nausea was gone…for now.
I cracked open the door and stuck my head out of it. Looking down both ways of the hall, I didn't see any sight of Grant.
"Grant?" I croaked out. My voice was weak, and so was I. What if I wasn't pregnant and I was just sick?
I tapped my forehead and made all these ridiculous thoughts go away, the stress from that was the last thing I needed.
"Grant?" I tried calling out again. No answer. I was expecting to see his head peek around the corner or something.
Holding onto the wall, I slipped out of the room and held onto the wooden handling that lined the walls.
There were voices ahead, and when I made it up to that point, I saw a small group of three doctors.
"Ms. Endow, you're up and about. Are you feeling okay?" the doctor asked.
"Have any of you seen Grant?" I asked them.
They all looked at each other as if one of them had an answer.
"I saw him about fifteen minutes ago, I was bringing him to your room. Did he not go inside?" the doctor asked.
"Really? He didn't come in. Did something happen?"
I had enough energy where I was able to let go of the handles in the hallway and stand on my own two feet.
Gravity fought to sway me side to side, but I stood my ground. What was going on now?
I thought I had heard Grant's voice outside my room earlier, but all this dizziness had me drift in and out of sleep.
Plus, the room was comfortable.
"Doctor William, Ms. Endow!" one of the nurses called. She ran over and grabbed my shoulders. "You know you shouldn't be up on your feet yet. You were really weak when you came in!" she scolded.
"Nurse Ellen, it's good for her to get a little exercise. I was just about to take her back to her room."
The nurse gave the doctor a slight frown and shook her head. "You advocate for too much movement, doctor," she said with a smile.
Turning her attention to me, she tugged on my hand and guided me back to my room.
On the way back, I looked all around me to see if Grant was closeby. Tough luck, he was no where to be found.
I stopped in my tracks before we entered back into the room.
"Nurse, have you seen Grant? I'd really like it if he came into the room with me."
"Darling, I haven't seen him for the past forty five minutes. Now come on, I'll get you something to eat after you take your pregancy test."
Food. That was a good motivator. Grant was under contract, so it wasn't like he skipped town.
Pushing my worry to the side I went back into the room and waited patiently.
Grant would be back soon anyways… I hoped.
I turned on the tv when the nurse who brought me back to the room popped her head inside.
"Dear, I'm going to see if I can't find Grant for you. He's bound to be around here somewhere," she said, tapping her nails on the door.
"Okay, thank you very much."
She left, closing the door behind her. God, I hated closed doors. I stared at the remote sitting next to me and finally picked it up.
Something interesting had to be on tv.
I browsed over the weather channel and a few news channels. The only thing the news had on these days were negative things, never anything positive. If it was positive, it wouldn't get much more than a whisper on tv.
I sat back in my bed and tried some breathing techniques.
Grant was a busy man, he had a multi-billionaire company to run. Of course he couldn't look after me twenty four seven. He had been close by my side for most of our time so far, so I guess he earned a pass.
***
A warm touch to my arm woke me up. I turned my head and opened my eyes up to the nurse who had promised to find Grant.
She had a plate of food that smelled so damn good. The last time I had cooking like that was when I lived with mom.
"How long have I been asleep?" I asked, sitting up.
"Only for a few minutes. Doctors said I could give you something to eat while they're waiting for the main hospital to drop off the pregnancy test strips for you."
I took the plate of food and the opened the plastic dinner wear. I stuffed my mouth with food and savored it going down my throat.
"God, this is good."
"You're just hungry," the nurse chuckled.
"Did you find him?" I asked, curious if she saw grant.
"Not
yet, dear. He may've stepped out for a while."
"I see."
The nurse patted my back and left the room, this time, leaving the door ajar.
On the table to the side of my bed, my phone began to buzz. It was my personal phone and I hopped out of the bed from the little energy the food gave me to get it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Stacy, how's everything going?" Willow asked.
"Willow! Hey there. I'm fine. A lot of crazy stuff has been happening since the last time I talked to you."
"Any of it good?" she asked. Willow's soft and familiar voice helped ease my mind.
I struggled to find the answer to such a simple question.
"Yeah, fifty fifty I'd say."
There was another phone on the table, it was the one that Grant had given me. It sparked my memory. I had his number programmed into the phone and could call him.
"Hey, Willow, let me call you back. I need to do something important," I said.
"No problem. I wanted to check in and make sure you're okay."
The sound of her kids in the background warmed my heart. That could be me and Grant…
"Thank you."
I sat the phone down and reached for the other phone when the nurse and doctor entered into the room.
Without knocking too.
"Ms. Endow, we're ready to do your test."
"Right now? I kinda wanted Grant in here when I take it."
The nurse spoke up, "He had to go home, he said an emergency came up with his job."
I frowned, holding the phone in my hand.
"Ms. Endow?" the doctor said, trying to gauge my attention.
"Yeah, sure. What do I have to pee on?" I swung my legs off of the bed.
"This right here," the nurse said, handing me a bigger than usual pregnancy stick. I guess this was that hospital grade kind that was always right. "Then we'll do a sonogram as soon as you're done."
"Okay," I said, taking the stick. My stomach was doing leaps and bounds. I didn't know whether I wanted to be pregnant or not.
But deep down inside, I knew...
I disappeared into the bathroom and sat down on the toilet. I had to remind myself not to pee just yet, not until I had this thing positioned under me the right way.
"Maybe I should wait to do this. Grant really should be here," I mumbled to myself.