25
Kat (Sunday – Monday)
Sitting at the table at La Belle Rose, a charming little mid-city eatery, I sat and gobbled down my beef bourguignonne. It was a lovely little stew, and I was very hungry. I still had trouble with morning sickness here and there, but mostly I was feeling famished. My father had made plenty of comments, joking about how if I kept eating Cheetos and ice cream around the clock, my ass would swell up like a baboon’s. He still had no idea, and I didn’t really know how to tell him. I couldn’t obviously tell him that it was one of the boy’s baby. Hell, I hadn’t even told the boys I was pregnant. I didn’t even know how to broach the subject. They had both released inside me that night, and there was no way of knowing who the father even was. Making for an awkward, if not painful conversation.“Mimosa, Madame Kat?” the waiter asked, and I waved him off, continuing to eat my stew and pigging out on French bread. “Oh wait!” I yelled to him, and he came back. “Do you guys serve cassoulet? I didn’t see it on the menu.”“Ah! Cassoulet! Yes, yes! Would you like a bowl?” The waiter smiled, happy and more than willing to acquiesce my request. He knew I was a big tipper, and whatever I wanted, I got.“Yes and some French onion soup, I am starving.”
“As you wish, Madame Kat.” He bowed his head and took off. I looked up and Elle was looking at me like I had five heads.“What has gotten into you?” She asked, her eyes full of concern. “You have been acting rather strange lately. And now passing up on mimosas? Eating three different dishes? What is going on?” Elle took my hand and smiled. “Is it depression? We can get pills for that instead of stuffing your pretty little face to the brim.” She puckered her lips as she poked my cheeks and laughed. I swatted her away and sighed. I guess now was a good a time as any. It wouldn’t be long before everyone would know anyway, once I looked like I swallowed a beach ball. “Well,” I swallowed a bite of the bourguignonne, as she sipped her mimosa. “I’m pregnant.” Like we were in some sort of comedy movie, Elle did a spit take, spraying mimosa all over the table. “Elle, come on! What the hell!”“You’re WHAT?” She gasped, trying to regain her faculties. “I’m pregnant. And I don’t know who the father is…they’ve both…you know…” I pointed downwards and she sighed at me incredulously.“Wow,” She said wide eyed, taking another sip of her mimosa, wiping down the table with a napkin. “That is not what I expected to hear today.”“I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have sprung it on you in such a public place.” I laughed nervously, embarrassed by her outburst. I felt like everyone in the restaurant was staring at us. “No! It’s fine! Listen, Katty,” Elle smiled. “I support you! I didn’t realize how serious everything had gotten with Ollie and Pierce.” She feigned a pout. “You could have at least let me have one of them.” She replaced her pout with a smile and a wink, working on her own food in front of her now. The waiter brought around my cassoulet, and I began digging in. I felt like I hadn’t eaten all day, despite that being far from the truth.“At first it was all fun and games honestly,” I nodded, savoring each bite. “The fulfilled all my fantasies and brought them to life…” I trailed off as the emotions started to hit me, trying not to cry. “But then, it became so real. And I slowly began to realize they weren’t just hot, rich silver foxes. They were amazing men. Unique in their own rights, and the two of them together fit my needs all around quite perfectly. All of us together in unison just…worked so well.” I frowned, the tears coming down now. “But then, the last time, they tried to make me choose…apparently keeping them both was never on option on the table.” I pursed my lips, taking another bite of cassoulet. “And now I am carrying one of their babies, and I don’t even know how to tell them.”
Elle came around the table, pulling her chair close and wrapping her arms around me. I cried into her shoulder, it felt so good to at least get a little of it out, even if it didn’t solve the problem at hand. I felt so alone. Renn was the only one who knew I was pregnant, besides Elle now, but I could never tell Renn about our trio. She probably wouldn’t understand, even though she was a very progressive woman, and I didn’t want to fuck anything up there. The project was going so smoothly, the project I helped bring to life, and I was proud of that. It was my passion to bring it to fruition, and I couldn’t let this get in the way. “Kat,” Elle said softly, stroking my hair as I cried. “You need to trust your gut here. You would have never fallen for both of these men if they were bad guys.” I nodded in agreement. They were both amazing men, with different qualities that made them both tremendous catches. Any woman in the world would be over the moon to have either one of them. “You need to stop growing up, you’re making me look bad!” Elle laughed and I laughed with her.“Things are definitely headed to a much more serious road, aren’t they?” I sniffled. “Running around being this mischievous little harlot isn’t so much fun when there are such dire consequences.” Elle hugged me tighter and kisses the top of my head. “I am so proud of you Kat, you are doing great things in your dad’s company, and now…” She pulled away from me and looked at my tummy. “Now you are bringing a baby into this world. A gift! Especially since they have your genes!” I giggled and she smiled warmly. “You are going to be a great mom.”
“Thank you!” I beamed, eating the rest of my food. It felt good to have Elle in my corner, because holy hell was I definitely going to need it. Not only was I going to have to tell Ollie and Pierce about the baby, but eventually my father. And I didn’t know how to approach any of it. I was terrified that Pierce and Ollie would be upset, but even more frightening was the idea of telling my father the truth. That I didn’t know who the babies father was, but it was one of his best friend’s. The betrayal of his trust and love might be too much for him to bare. He could throw me out of the family, onto the streets. I would have to survive on my own if it came down to it. He had warned me about my greedy side, and he had been right. I had been greedy. But then it turned into something more. It had blossomed into true love for two men I held in such high regard already. “It’ll all work out.” Elle grinned, “I am here for you. Have faith.” I nodded and smiled. She had to be right, or else I had no idea what I was going to do.
* * *
As I brushed my teeth that night before bed, an email notification popped up on my phone. I opened it up, and it was an email stating the development team needed to have a meeting at Skyline, a luxurious hotel in the French Quarter the next day at noon. I sighed but did not question it. There was still some things to go over, some polishing to be done, and I would need to be there to make sure that things went smoothly. The idea of being around Ollie and Pierce made me feel anxious, especially when I was keeping such a big secret from them, but I would have to put it aside. The project was most important, the personal life details would have to come later.
The next day, I entered the hotel, dressed to the nines. Pierce, Ollie and Renn were nowhere to be found. I waited in the lobby a good twenty minutes, rereading the email, thinking maybe I had gotten the time wrong. I squinted at the phone, and sure enough, I had it right. So then where was everyone? Ollie was always early, and I had been here before him. Everyone was running late but me, it seemed, which had me a little worried. Maybe they had all carpooled in and were stuck in traffic.I sat for another fifteen or so minutes before going to the desk clerk in concern.“Hello!” He grinned, “How can I help you?”
“My name is Katerina Grace, I am supposed to be meeting with some business associates of mine for a meeting here at the hotel.” I smiled back sweetly. “Do you know where the meeting is being held?” “Ah, Miss Grace! Your party has been waiting for you in the Presidential Suite on the top floor. You are to just go directly up, they are already waiting!” I looked at him, confused. “The Presidential Suite?”“Yes, Miss.” He nodded. How strange to have a business meeting in a suite, rather than in the big conference room. Who exactly were they trying to impress? A Senator maybe? It had to be someone with some impressive clout to need to rent out the Presidential Suite. I made my way to the elevator and looked ov
er the email again, making sure I hadn’t missed any details when I was tired, or missed another email somewhere along the way. Nothing. As the elevator whirred and purred, taking me to the top floor, the suspense was killing me. Why would they just spring something so big on me without so much as a word about this? I knocked on the door, and footsteps slowly made their way towards it. As the door opened, Ollie appeared behind it, with Pierce close in tow. I looked past Ollie and Pierce, pushing into the room, finding no one else there but us. “We need to talk.” Pierce said, sitting down in a cozy armchair looking out over the city.“Indeed, we do, Miss Kat.” Ollie said softly, closing the door behind us. It became very obvious, very quickly that this wasn’t a business meeting of any kind. It was an ambush. I suddenly became very annoyed. The two of them had duped me into to coming here, together, knowing it would be easy to use the project as an excuse.
“What the hell guys?” I snapped, heading towards the door.“Listen we just wanted to be on neutral ground when we discussed things. Have a seat my dear.” Oliver slid in front of me, taking me by the hand and leading me over to a chair across from Pierce, then sitting in a seat of his own. I could feel every hair on my body stand on end, my adrenaline rushing, waiting for them to pounce. I would deserve it, stringing them along and then basically disappearing from their lives. It was obvious they both loved me, and I loved them too. But this ambush of sorts was troubling, and my walls went completely up.
26
Ollie (Monday)
“What the hell guys?” Kat growled, annoyed at our little trick to get her to come see us. But I honestly hadn’t seen any other way of doing it. She seemed to be completely against anything other than business now, especially after we had made her choose. So, I had figured a business meeting worked perfectly to bringing her to us. I knew for sure that she would show up, as the project was very important to her. It was her passion project, and she had turned it into so much more that Pierce and I could have ever dreamed of. I felt bad for being dishonest with her, that wasn’t my style. But we needed to sit her down and discuss everything. “Listen we just wanted to be on neutral ground when we discussed things.” I smiled sweetly. “Have a seat my dear.” She looked at me incredulously as I took her over to a comfy armchair mirroring Pierce’s, and then took a seat in my own. “Look at that view.” I said breathlessly, impressed by its splendor. I had never stayed at Skyline, and I was happy I had picked this as a venue for our little discussion. The view of the city from the Presidential Suite was stunning, and I soaked it in for a moment before Pierce and I embarked on our journey to reclaim Kat, together. “I hardly see what this view of the city has to do with being bamboozled into coming here, under false pretenses.” She muttered angrily under her breath, glaring at the two of us. Kat apparently was not a surprise type of person. “We need to come to an understanding on all this between the three of us.” Kat looked annoyed as a housecat near a rocking chair, her arms and legs crosses, bouncing the ankle of one of them. It was increasingly apparent she was not at all pleased by our little ploy. “I thought we already had this conversation, Ollie.” She rolled her eyes. “You wanted me to choose between the two of you, and I couldn’t.” She sighed, “Nothing has changed on my end, so lying to bring me here for this is ludicrous at best. Now if you’ll please excuse me.” She glowered at the both of us, leaning forward as if to get up.“Now hold on, Kat.” Pierce smiled, standing up to block her departure. “You haven’t even heard what we’ve got to say.” She looked up at him and huffed, snickering at him.“There is nothing more to say, Pierce.” She shook her head angrily, her voice shaking. “I already told you both I won’t choose.” She looked like she was on the verge of tears.“Oh, but there is, Kat. And I would like you to sit there like a good girl and listen to what Ollie here, has to say.” She looked at Pierce, flabbergasted by his words, and then looked to me. I was surprised to hear my nickname come out of Pierce’s mouth, but it made it feel like he was actually serious about all this, about this relationship blossoming for the three of them. It was comforting to know that he had my back in this, and that we were both on the same page. This didn’t appear to be as easy a sell as I had initially hoped, but for her, I would muscle through anything. As I made my way over to Kat, pulling my chair closer, Pierce pulled his chair to her other side. As I took her hand in mine, and he took her other hand in his, I realized that all the animosity I had once felt for Pierce had just disappeared. He was no longer a threat or an enemy, but a friend. Someone who had my back and was in on this thing with me together. This was going to be one of the hardest pitches in my entire life. These were some very high stakes for all of us, and I prayed she liked what I had to say. I could only hope that my Southern charm would power us through.
Missy Mischief Page 15