by K. C. Crowne
I got ready for work in silence. If she didn’t feel well enough to talk to anyone, I didn’t want to make her try to talk to me, either. She needed her rest, and I was sure in the next day, or so she would be back to her old self.
She had to have overdone with the soup the night before, and it was just too much too soon on her stomach. Tonight, I would bring her something much lighter, and she could sip on half of that, then tomorrow I was sure she would feel a million times better than she did right now.
After getting ready for work, I told her to have a good day and slipped out the door. I knew she would be supervised, and I could focus on work, but she was on my mind the entire drive down to the office.
I just wanted her to feel better, and for all the shit we were dealing with to go away. I knew it was just a matter of time before it all worked out for us, but at the moment, it was stressful.
I was surprised when I got to my office. I didn’t expect Greg to be there, and I really didn’t expect him to have a broad smile on his face when he saw me. He walked up to me and offered his hand, and I looked him in the eye as I shook it.
“I’m assuming you have good news,” I said.
“Best yet. We got the guy,” he said with a grin.
“What?” I asked, completely shocked. “How did you manage that?”
“I told you I was good at what I did, and I just kept at it. I found him. He’s just some bored prick with a few other misdemeanor charges. I’m guessing he’s getting his rocks off by harassing and stalking you. But there are a couple of assault charges from when he was a minor so that in itself is concerning enough,” Greg said with a grin.
I felt relief wash over me. This was the best news I could have possibly asked for, and I wanted to call Liz and tell her right then. But I motioned for Greg to follow me into my office where we could talk with more privacy. He was all smiles as he sat down.
“So, what you’re saying is that we aren’t taking this guy to be dangerous?” I asked him, hoping for the best confirmation possible. He nodded.
“The assault charges were nothing more than classroom fights. It seems these days he gets off on scaring people, but he hasn’t been known to be violent. I guess when you have nothing else to do with your life, you have to do something that makes you feel important,” Greg shrugged.
“So what are the next steps? Even if he isn’t going to do anything to her, I know she doesn’t want to be followed around with someone taking her picture and spreading threats,” I asked.
“The next thing you are going to do is get the paperwork filled out,” Greg said as he pulled some papers out of his jacket. “These are going to your lawyer, and you are going to file a complaint against him for stalking, and that will go to the police.”
“What will that lead to?” I asked.
“He’s going to be charged. With all the information we have on him, along with the shit that he’s sent you, there’s no way he’s going to come out of this without some level of charges against him,” he assured me.
“Is he going to be locked up?” I asked.
“I can’t tell you for sure what’s going to happen there, but I can tell you that Liz isn’t going to have to worry about this anymore. Either he’s going to be put in jail, or he’s going to get some sort of restraining order filed against him or something. But she’s going to be able to move on with her life and not have to worry about some creep taking her picture or anything. I’m sure she’s going to be relieved to hear that,” Greg slapped the table as he spoke and grinned.
“I want to call her right now, but she’s not feeling well today,” I said. I was looking over the paperwork, eager to get it filled out and sent to my lawyer. I knew he was good, and he was going to push for this to go through as soon as possible. He knew how much stress this was all causing me, and I would pay him well to make it his priority.
“I hope she feels better, but as far as you are concerned, you need to make sure that is filled out by the end of today. Right now, we need to act quickly to get this all taken care of. I don’t want this guy flying the coop again,” Greg told me.
“I’m going to have this for you before lunch time,” I assured him. “I’m not going to waste another second of my life on that creep or let him do anything else to Liz. This is bullshit, and I’m quite frankly sickened that it dragged on for this long.”
“Me too,” Greg said. He rose and shook my hand once more. “Do what you need to do, and let’s get this put behind you both.”
“I can promise you, I will,” I said. He nodded and left, closing the door behind him. There was a pen on my desk, and I picked it up to fill out the forms right away. Once I was done, I sat back in my chair for a moment, shaking my head in disbelief. I couldn’t believe after all we’d been through recently; it was finally coming to an end.
Liz was going to be thrilled when she found out, and I was finally able to turn my attention back to the company and this wedding. It was all coming back around the way I wanted it to, and things were going to be okay.
Once Liz felt better, I knew things were really going to start to get back to normal, and we could put all this stress and tension behind us. I was just glad to be able to tell her that she was going to be safe and she didn’t have to worry anymore.
But it also meant that she wouldn’t be forced to stay with me any longer either and could go back to her apartment with David. Something about that made me feel hollow inside.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the back of my office chair. I had to fight through the emotions bubbling up in my gut. I couldn’t put my feelings on Liz, not so soon after she’d had to deal with this bullshit stalker.
No, I would give her a couple of hours to rest, then I’d tell her the good news.
And keep the fact that I was in love with her to myself.
Chapter 25
Liz
I picked at the food on my plate, trying not to think about how sick the thought of eating was making me. Cassie was sitting across from me, looking at me with compassion in her eyes. She knew how I felt as I’d told her everything.
The fact of the matter was that I had been sick every day the past week. Monday was the first, then Tuesday. But, when the sickness subsided on Tuesday and was back Wednesday morning, I had a feeling I was pregnant. It was morning sickness I was going through; it was the only thing that made sense in my mind.
I’d done the math, and I was late for my period. Not too much, only by about a week now, but that was late enough. And I’d been on the pill, but I knew that it was only 99% effective. Of course, I’d be the one percent failure. I had all of the symptoms so far, but I couldn’t bring myself to confirm the news. I knew it was stupid, but I just couldn’t do it. I told myself I had time yet.
It was the reason I told Cassie that I wanted to meet her midafternoon for lunch if she could. If I had met her sooner, there would be no way that I would be able to touch food and keep it down. Mornings were the hardest times.
But that wasn’t the worst of things.
I hadn’t told Nick that I was still getting sick. He thought that I was better Wednesday, and he hadn’t really given it another thought since then. He had come home Tuesday, thrilled to tell me that they had caught the guy and he was going to be pressing charges, but I was feeling better by then, and I decided I wasn’t going to tell him my fears.
I tried to reason that I couldn’t really tell him if I didn’t know for sure myself, but that was a total copout. I needed to confirm whether I was pregnant or not, and I needed to tell Nick. But I was terrified. I knew he cared about me, but a baby was the biggest kind of commitment you could ask for, and I didn’t know how he would react to the news.
I thought the best person to talk to would be Cassie. She was so much better at being practical about things than I was, and I knew she would give me an honest answer. And she did.
“You have to take a test,” she told me. “That’s the only way you’re going to know for sure;
then you can decide what you’re going to do.”
“I’m scared it’s going to be positive,” I replied, and she shrugged.
“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, but you’re not going to know unless you do, and this isn’t something that’s going to go away if you ignore it. You’ve got to find out for sure so you can figure out what next steps will be,” she told me. “You look like you really would rather be doing just about anything right now than dealing with that food in front of you,” she said sympathetically.
“I feel sick at the thought of eating it, but then not eating makes it worse,” I said with a miserable sigh. “And I’m not sure how to get a test with the security following me. The last thing I need is for them to see what I’m buying, then go tell Nick.”
“Yeah, why is security still following you by the way? I thought they caught the loser who was harassing you?” Liz asked.
“They did, but until he is formally charged and either sentenced or given a restraining order, Nick wants me protected. The cops don’t think he’s a major threat, but Nick says better safe than sorry,” I rolled my eyes.
Liz nodded thoughtfully. “I have to say I agree with him.”
“Traitor,” I stuck my tongue out at her.
I picked at the food, and Liz sighed. “I know it sucks, but you’re going to have to figure this out. The sooner you have an answer, the sooner you’re going to be able to figure out how to tell Nick.”
“I’m terrified about what he’s going to say, and even more terrified about my brother. He’s going to be so pissed. He was sure we were just portraying ourselves as a thing, he didn’t know that we really were sleeping together,” I replied.
“He didn’t know back in the day, either. I’m not saying that he’s not going to be pissed, but this isn’t really something that he has any say in. You are an adult, and you have the choice to sleep with whoever you want,” Cassie replied. “Don’t let the fear of what your brother or anyone else says stop you from taking care of yourself.”
“I don’t know,” I sighed again. I knew she was right, and I could see how bad she felt for me. It had been difficult enough keeping up with all the stress that had been going through my life recently as it was, adding a baby into the mix was only going to make things harder.
And, I didn’t know how Nick would feel. He was always so adamant about the fact he never was going to settle down with anyone, and though I thought I got glimpses of him changing his mind over the past month, that didn’t change the fact he never expressed wanting to have kids, or have us be a real thing.
I knew he thought it was going to be over when he was secure with the investors, but now he was going to be tied to me forever in one way or another. I didn’t know how he would react. Hell, I didn’t know how I was going to react, either. I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to see a positive test.
“Well, I do know,” Cassie said simply. “You are going to find a way to get rid of the guard; then you are going to get a test and take it. Do it right there in the store if you have to, just find out the truth about your condition, then you can decide what to do next.”
I nodded. I knew she was right, and I was going to have to find out sooner rather than later. This wasn’t going to go away, and if I was pregnant, it was important for me to be seeing a doctor and taking care of myself.
“Alright,” I said.
“I’ve got to get back to class, but call me and tell me when you take the test,” Cassie told me. “I want to know exactly what it says as soon as you know.”
“I’ll text you,” I promised. She got up and walked out, leaving me with my salad. I looked around the room. The security guard was sitting over at the bar, flirting with some young girl, and I knew that was my chance. He wasn’t paying any attention to me, and I could easily slip out behind Cassie.
I made the move to ditch my guard, my heart racing the entire time. I didn’t know what he would say if he saw me trying to get away from him, though he did know that I didn’t want him to follow me around all day, every day. Nick was the one who insisted, and he was paying the man well to do it.
I was surprised how easy it was to ditch the guy while he was distracted by the pretty bartender. He had no idea I was gone, and soon enough, I had rounded a corner and was on my way to the nearest convenience store. I was just going to go in, get the test and take it, but I suddenly felt nervous all over again.
There were so many fears that were running through my mind; I didn’t know what to do. What would Nick say? What would David say? I hoped to God that I wasn’t really pregnant, and this was just a weird case of the flu, and I wouldn’t have to deal with any of it. But I knew better.
I finally worked up the courage to go in and grab a test. There were a few other people in the store, but I didn’t make eye contact with any one of them. I didn’t want them to look at me with that pity in their eyes, the look that told me they knew that I’d made a mistake.
I didn’t want to make any small talk with the man behind the counter, either. I just wanted to have my answer so I could take the next step, whatever that was going to be.
There were women that I’d heard of that never told the father about the child. I didn’t know if it was possible for me to do that with our arrangement. But, I didn’t know how I was going to tell him, either.
“Please, God! Please, please, please, please, please,” I muttered to myself as I took the test in the bathroom. I prayed silently that the second pink line wasn’t going to appear, and my heart sank as it did.
It wasn’t faint, either. There was no denying or questioning the fact that there were two bright, bold pink lines. I was pregnant. My entire world was coming crashing down around me, and I had no idea what to do.
How was I going to be a mother? What was Nick going to say? Would he want the baby, or would he just give me money out of a sense of responsibility? And what about my family? I knew my mom and dad had wished that Nick and I would get together for real, but I was sure a baby out of wedlock wasn’t exactly what they’d had in mind.
And then there was David. He was barely over the fact that Nick had inadvertently put me in danger. He would flip his shit to find out his best friend had been fucking his little sister and had knocked her up. What a mess I’d gotten myself into.
And was I going to end up the single mother? I had been on top of my game. How was I going to keep up with a career if I was going to be taking care of a baby on top of it? An there was no way I could hide this from Nick? Oh God, how was I going to tell him?
The questions flew through my mind, and I had a hard time following any one of them. I knew Nick was going to freak out. Hell, I was freaking out. I was going to have to figure this out, and I didn’t know where to even begin. I had been in tougher situations in my life, but then again, nothing was so life-changing as this.
I would now be raising a child, and that meant my life was no longer just my own.
By the time I managed to get myself out of the bathroom, I was crying. I didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone in the store, but I still glanced around as I slipped through the bathroom door. I headed for the exit, taken aback when I suddenly realized the guys from the club were there.
I didn’t feel threatened by them any longer. Nick had told me what he learned, and I didn’t think they would try anything in public anyway. With the charges pending, he would have to be really stupid to try anything.
But I noticed that they were following me when I walked out the door. And they continued to follow me when I turned onto the sidewalk and rounded the building. I suddenly felt like an idiot for ditching the security guard, and panic started to set in.
I wasn’t sure if I should scream, or if I was just paranoid. I sensed they were behind me, but I didn’t know if they had it in them to actually do anything. I had to get out of there, and I just wanted them to leave me alone.
Breaking into a run, I hoped that would be enough to get them to give up the chas
e. But they also started running. I could hear them behind me, and I wasn’t going to stop and look. I didn’t know what they would do, and I didn’t want to stop to find out.
I tried to round the corner of the next store, hoping to find someone who would be willing to help me. But, at that moment, I felt a blow to the back of my head, and I fell, hard. I knew I’d scraped my hands and knees on the pavement, but that was the last thing I remembered before everything faded to black.
Chapter 26
Nick
I paced back and forth in my living room, my mind spinning. I was so pissed at the entire world; I didn’t even know what to do. I was freaking out, as were Cassie and David.
The three of us were at my place trying to figure out what had happened to Liz. I knew she was going to have lunch with her best friend, but none of us had seen or heard from her since that afternoon. I found out about it when Cassie told me she hadn’t heard from Liz and was trying to get a hold of her, and when I tried myself, I didn’t have any luck, either.
The security guard told me that she had ditched him at the restaurant. He was trying to give her the space to have some privacy with her friend, and he didn’t even have his back turned from her for five minutes, and she was suddenly gone.
I wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not, but I fired him on the spot. He shouldn’t have had his back turned on her at all as far as I was concerned. The entire reason that I had hired him was for him to watch her, not turn his back on her.
But then, there were so many other questions I had. The first thing I did was to hire my PI all over again. I knew he would have the best chance of figuring out what had happened to her, and he had come up with a lead. It wasn’t the best lead in the world, but it was a lead, nonetheless.
He found that she had gone into a convenience store not far from the diner where they had been eating lunch. She bought a pregnancy test, and when she left the store, several men had followed her.