Not According to Plan

by A. m Madden

I had no way of preparing for who I saw when the door slowly swung open.

  “Am I interrupting?” Mr. Easton said, his face void of all emotion.

  “No, no. I was just leaving,” Arlene said before I could say a word. She joyfully snatched her envelope and left, closing the door behind her.

  “Mr. Easton. Please come in, sit down.” He gave me a curt nod and took the chair Arlene had just vacated. “What can I do for you?”

  The man looked like he was in physical pain as he sat there staring at me. Tension literally pulsed around us the longer I waited for him to finally speak. His eyes remained downcast, focusing on a pattern he made running his thumb over the palm of his other hand.

  “Look, I came to apologize.” He looked up at me and paused. “The holidays are here, and I want my relationship with my daughter back on normal footing. I respect you’re in her life now, and…” His focus pinned onto the banner before sliding to the balloons suspended in the corner. “You. You and Jade are having a girl?” The tiniest lift altered the corners of his mouth.

  Fuck.

  “No, sir. I have a daughter.”

  “A daughter? With who? You’re married?” His eyes narrowed into slits as he processed my admission. “How old is your daughter?”

  “Almost three weeks old. Her mother and I aren’t together. We were never together.” He looked at me like I sprouted antlers from my forehead. Nothing I could say would help, so I kept it simple and said, “It happened before I met Jade.”

  “Not much sooner than when you met Jade. Does my daughter know about this?”

  Was he serious? “Yes, she does.”

  “And you’re opening a gym in Miami with two kids in New York? How is that supposed to work?”

  “My daughter is in Miami.” This just keeps getting better and better.

  When he flew out of the chair, I did the same. “Is this some kind of joke?” he barked. “You got my daughter pregnant after already having gotten another woman pregnant who lives in Florida?”

  “It’s not as scandalous as it seems.” Fuck! How was I supposed to explain that a box of faulty condoms forever altered my life, as well as one woman I did happen to care for and another I loved? And how the fuck did I begin to explain it may have been the best thing that happened in my life because it brought me Jade?

  “It seems like you have no control. That’s how it seems.”

  “You don’t know me,” I said through a clenched jaw to channel my own anger that dangerously began to simmer. It was one thing for him to be upset and not understanding, but another for him to insult me when he had no idea the type of man I was. “I don’t expect you to understand my situation, but I do care about your daughter very much. In fact, I’m in love—”

  “Save it!” he barked loud enough that those outside my door most definitely heard him.

  “This is my place of business,” I said, losing the battle in trying to remain calm. “If you would like to discuss this further, I’d be happy to do so somewhere else. But I will not have you stand there and judge me when you have a biased perspective of the truth.”

  “No, my perspective is crystal clear.” He raised both hands in surrender. “I can’t condone this. I’m sorry.” Without another word, he stormed out of my office, and I knew I was over with this fucking day.

  Chapter Thirty

  Jade

  This Christmas was the worst I ever had, and I couldn’t wait for the holidays to be over. I was cranky for so many reasons, the biggest being I missed Max. But that would be my life if I chose to stay with him—separated by way too many miles more often than not, feeling lonely, feeling resentful, feeling guilty for feeling resentful.

  Or…I could agree to his suggestion but at the expense of possibly ruining my career.

  Sapphire and Greg had us all at their house for Christmas, and thankfully the kids provided a much-needed distraction, since the tension between my father and me had become palpable. Despite my dour mood, I plastered on a smile and pretended all was fantastic in my world.

  Before my baby shower, I thought we had turned a corner. But now, it seemed like he retreated back into his narrow-minded opinions. When I tried to talk to him about it, he said he didn’t want to discuss it. My mother and sister had no luck trying to get him to open up, either.

  Overall, my Christmas was shitty.

  So once over, I went back to work, trying to ignore all the hurdles that had popped up in my life. And when at home, I lost myself in preparing for my baby’s arrival. Amy helped me sort through the presents we had received. We left half of them at Max’s place, and the other half were now neatly organized in my apartment.

  My attempts at keeping busy worked…and then I got an unexpected job offer.

  The firm had been one I was interested in. I’d been shocked when one of their senior partners, Mr. Lurie, reached out in an email. Having the office like a ghost town with so many on vacation gave me the opportunity to meet with him for an extended lunch.

  His offer came in the very next day. They were well aware of my situation, and it seemed to serve them perfectly. One of their associates was moving out of state with her husband come this June. Having been impressed with my resume, they decided to offer me the position.

  My only issue with the job, they already had two junior partners with no plans to add any others. That meant someone would have to leave or I would have to impress them enough to change their minds. In essence, I’d be starting over.

  I tried not to overanalyze why exhaustion hit just thinking of that. On the flipside, I tried to ignore the pang of sadness gripping my chest while knowing by accepting the job it would keep me and Max apart. I kindly thanked Mr. Lurie and asked if I could have some time to consider it, to which he easily agreed.

  I hadn’t told anyone yet, and it bothered me to keep it from Max. But I knew although he’d put on a supportive front, it would hurt him. I didn’t want to hurt him. As it was, neither of us mentioned the conversation from the night before he left, and I knew it had to be killing him as much as it was me.

  Resentment that I’d be giving up so much and he wouldn’t be giving up anything at all made it hard to appreciate his intentions. And that wasn’t really a fair accusation, knowing his obligations in Miami were much more complex than mine were here in New York.

  On New Year’s Eve, I welcomed a quiet night in my apartment. Amy was out, giving me the place to myself. I refused to bring home any work, feeling resentful over constantly giving and giving while getting nothing in return. That gave me the whole night to get lost in my favorite movies and Chinese takeout.

  I considered this New Year’s a gateway into a radical change coming in my life. Come tomorrow, the year stretched ahead with so many unknowns, but I tried to focus on the most important change I would face—becoming a mother.

  Sometime after Kung Pao chicken and before I dove into a pint of my favorite ice cream, Max called.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Hey, beautiful. I miss you.” It was his typical greeting, and it always brought with it a pinch of sadness because we were apart.

  “I miss you, too.”

  With each day that went by, between Max’s proposition, and guilt over not accepting it, caused conflicting emotions to split me in half.

  “Where are you?” I asked.

  “Just left the gym. Tracey and Tristan invited me over for dinner, but I’d rather be alone. Are you relaxing like you wanted to?”

  “Yes. Just finishing up The Notebook and a pint of ice cream.”

  Max’s sexy chuckle filtered over the line. He knew my Christmas had sucked, and I hated bringing even more tension into our relationship. What should have been an exciting time for him was instead filled with angst because of me. And that was before I found out about my dad’s impromptu visit to his gym.

  After mentioning Dad’s be
havior at Christmas, Max reluctantly relayed what had happened between them. With every piece of that conversation he shared, a piece of my heart splintered. Caught between two men that I loved, I had no idea how to make things better.

  “I called now in case you fall asleep. But if you’re up at midnight, FaceTime me.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  “Okay, then I’ll let you get back to Ryan Gosling. I love you, Jade.” He sounded so sad, and I completely understood why.

  “Me, too,” I said, hating that my heart ached instead of feeling the joy that should come when two people voiced those words.

  Now that the holidays were over, I spent a lot of my time trying to figure things out with Max, with my job.

  I needed some serious advice, and not one person I trusted would give me an unbiased opinion. My mother, Sapphire, and Amy already felt I didn’t have a life. My father hated that I was involved with a man who recently fathered a child with another woman. I couldn’t talk to Max about any of it. My closest friend at work was the very person I lost my promotion to. I was so confused I actually debated seeing a therapist.

  Since the Lamaze class I scheduled was in Jersey, my sister insisted I stay the night at her place. On New Year’s Day, during our phone call, I completely lost it after she simply asked if I’d spoken to Max. She let me ugly cry it out for a few minutes and then demanded to know what the hell my hysterics were about.

  So I told her all of it…from him asking me to move to Miami, to his discussion with our father, to my job offer, to all the contradicting emotions I had been consumed with since.

  Thus, the reason I had been kidnapped for the weekend. She couldn’t wait to get me alone, and part of me dreaded the lecture I knew would come.

  “Miss Max?” she asked while we cleaned up the kitchen after having had lunch with Greg and the kids. At my silence, she griped, “Cut the shit, Jade.”

  “Mommy said shit,” Kenner blurted out from where he was lining up his cars on the other side of the island.

  “Ignore Mommy’s potty mouth,” Greg said before throwing his wife a stern look.

  “What? I had no idea he was even in here.” She turned to me and hissed, “Stop making me curse.”

  “Sure, blame me.” I wiped my hands on a dishtowel. “Let Greg finish the dishes. We have to go.”

  After saying our goodbyes, the moment we got into her car, she pounced on me with questions as she drove. “Have you decided what you’re going to do?”

  “No.”

  “Can I give you my opinion?”

  “Like I could stop you,” I quipped.

  “It’s so obvious that he loves you.” The woman was like a bloodhound when it came to my personal life. “You do know that, right?”

  “I do. Doesn’t make things any easier, though.” A sick feeling settled in my gut.

  “Sure, it does,” the troublemaker pushed. “You have a choice to be happy or to be miserable. I’ll let you figure out which scenario gives you which outcome.”

  “That means you agree with him.”

  Her gaze flicked my way with a shrug. “I do. Sure, I’ll miss you, but you haven’t been happy, Jade. Not for a while. The only time I see a sliver of joy is when you’re with him. When he walked into the baby shower, your face lit up like a kid on Christmas. When he called you on Christmas Eve, you moped for an hour after hanging up with him. You’re letting Dad’s gripe, a job you really aren’t enjoying any longer, and this new job dangling within reach to muddle the waters.”

  My phone buzzed with an incoming text just as Sapphire pulled into the parking lot of the hospital.

  Max: I’m in my apartment and ready to go!

  “Speak of the devil?” Sapphire asked as she parked the car.

  “Yeah.” I got out of the car and could feel her eyes drilling into my back as I texted him.

  Me: Heading in now. Call you in a few minutes.

  Avoiding Sapphire’s scrutiny, I walked purposefully toward the main entrance.

  Unsurprisingly, my sister followed close behind me. “Jade.”

  “What?”

  “You know how I feel about your work and having no life. I want you to be happy. You really can’t blame me for being your voice of reason.”

  “No, I can’t blame you for being you.” When she grinned, I leaned in and kissed her cheek. My sister had always been extremely protective of me and brutally honest with her opinions, and clearly she was #TeamMax.

  A few minutes later, Nurse Gail addressed the class. Introductions were made, and we were all given name tags to wear. I waited until our instructor said, “Okay, let’s get started,” before tapping on Max’s contact.

  Once his handsome face appeared on the screen, I discretely held my phone so Max could see what I saw. As we quietly watched a quick movie, Sapphire spent the entire time covering her mouth to hold back her giggles while Max stared mesmerized until it came to an end.

  Gail flicked on the lights with a smile. “Does anyone have any questions?”

  “I do,” Max said.

  Oh God.

  The entire room turned to where the deep voice had sounded from, specifically the phone I had propped up on my belly.

  “I’m sorry,” Gail prompted, her eyes scanning the room. “Who has a question?”

  “Down here,” he said, and Sapphire snorted.

  Gail then noticed my phone and grinned. “Am I being punked?”

  “Um…my boyfriend couldn’t be here today, so he’s on video chat right now. He has the question.” I lifted my phone as an explanation, my cheeks flaming while every pair of eyes focused on me, and a few of the participants chuckled.

  Gail curled her lips between her teeth, hiding her own mirth. “Okay, this is a first. What is your question…”

  She let her words hang long enough for him to fill in, “Max.”

  “Right. Max.”

  “If my girlfriend chose to have an epidural, would it slow down her labor?”

  “That’s a very good question, Max.”

  I rolled my eyes seeing the tiny square displaying his grinning face. “Studies have shown that no delays occur during the dilation stage of labor, whether you have an epidural or not. Once it’s time to start pushing, an epidural delivery can be about ten or fifteen minutes longer than one without. But obviously, the added time is tolerable since our mommy won’t be feeling any pain.”

  “Okay, thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome.” Gail scanned the room once more. “Any other questions?” When met with silence, she went on to begin the Lamaze training of the class. “Max, you can use a pillow to practice the massage techniques you’ll be using on Jade,” Gail said nonchalantly.

  “I’m right there with you, Gail,” he responded proudly, clutching a pillow and causing another snort to escape from my sister.

  And as Gail led the mommies-to-be in the room to begin their breathing exercises, from my phone we heard Max shouting, “Breathe…breathe…breathe…breathe.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Jade

  From my massage chair in the salon, I stared out the window at the flustered New Yorkers trying to navigate the nasty white stuff that overtook their streets.

  My mind drifted to Max taking in the steamy Miami weather, probably looking sexy as hell in that new state-of-the-art gym he designed from the ground up.

  The closer I got, the more nervous I was to how everything would work out. I dragged in a breath to then release it with an audible whoosh, a technique I learned in our childbirth classes.

  “What’s wrong?” Amy asked, raking over my body to assess if something was amiss. “Please don’t tell me you’re in labor. You aren’t due for weeks.” Her biggest fear wasn’t that I’d go into labor while on her watch, but more so that Max would freak out if I went into labor on her watch.


  “First of all, I’m due in two weeks and three days.”

  “I thought you were due in March?”

  “I am due in March,” I said on an eye roll.

  “I assumed end of March,” she mumbled defensively. “So, is that why you look so spooked?”

  “I don’t look spooked. I’m just thinking of Max. I wish I could be there for him.”

  “So today is the big day, huh?” On my nod, she smiled. “Very exciting. I’ll have to plan a trip to Miami to see it.”

  “You should. It’s stunning.” Remembering the pride beaming on his face when I visited made me smile.

  Amy flinched beside me before glaring at her pedicurist. “Why aren’t we at our usual salon? They massage longer and better at Eva’s Eden,” Amy quipped, raising a brow at the woman working on her toes.

  “They’re more money,” the woman grumbled before aggressively kneading the bottom of Amy’s foot.

  “Ow.”

  Not needing to witness a fight breaking out, I moaned again as a distraction. “Mmm, I think they do a great job here.” My pedicurist smiled shyly, kneading my foot with more care than Amy’s girl. I’d been to this place on several occasions, and the last thing I needed was to be blacklisted because of Amy.

  “So, when does Mr. Wonderful come back?”

  “He’ll be here for the whole month of March.”

  “Please tell me you’re at least having phone sex later. It’s freakin’ Valentine’s.”

  My insides warmed, remembering Max hinting to the very same idea.

  “Now that you finally have a boyfriend,” Amy said, “I was hoping you’d be getting some on Valentine’s Day. Please don’t tell me you plan to spend it with a pile of boring cases to work on like you did last year,” she quipped, giving me a side-eye. “You should’ve joined me on that ski trip.”

  I threw her an incredulous glare. “You, Doug, and me—sure, that would have been a blast. What would my role have been, hold the video camera?”

  Her brows rose on a grin. “We had a tripod for that. He had a friend, remember? Patrick.”