Edward: BBW (Members From Money Book 17)

by Katie Dowe

  “How in holy hell did you have such a wonderful place?” Aleshia walked up and down, glowing with excitement at the little house. She liked the way the stairs curved up to the three bedrooms and spare room. It was quirky. She liked the smell, the feel of the walls. It was perfect. Cameron watched with a satisfied smile, as she ran her palms over the walls.

  “Told you I’d find something you like.”

  “This is amazing. I’m – gobsmacked. Really.”

  Cameron Lovell coughed politely. “The balcony has stunning views, of course. It’s a small property, as things go, but I honestly think the place is a steal with the price it’s listed at. $420,000. It’s a little over the price you went for, but I’m pretty sure you won’t be finding something else like this on Miami Beach.”

  Aleshia nodded emphatically. “I’m tempted. I didn’t even know what I wanted, but I want this place, whatever it takes. I feel as if I could faint at the sight. I absolutely love it.”

  “I could tell. With the other properties, when we walked into them, you sort of gave them a disinterested look, and allowed me to lead you around, whilst you nodded along. Here, your eyes went as big as saucers, and you wanted to explore everything yourself, without much prompting from me. This is your house. I can tell. And I’m sure the man who designed it would love to hear your opinion on it as well.”

  Aleshia grinned like a kid in a candy store. “I’m impressed. Whatever instinct you have for this job, it’s right.”

  “I have a good instinct for people.” Cameron paused. “I can tell what sort of thing they’ll be looking for when I interact with them over time. I can get some things wrong, though.”

  Her face fell at the announcement. Along with the dip in feelings, she also felt a pressure on her bladder, and a slight stinging inside her body. “We get things wrong from time to time. Hey, I’m just gonna use the bathroom.” Cameron waved acceptance, and Aleshia went into the small, but snugly designed bathroom, which had foregone the living wood texture in favor of black tiling with white flecks on them. It cast the reflection in the mirror above the sink with a darkness, which contrasted her face when the light was switched on in fascinating ways. She sat down to pee, and winced when the peeing caused the stinging to worsen.

  Then, when she wiped herself, the texture felt off, sticky. She raised up the toilet roll to reveal dark, bloody stains.

  Instant panic crashed. She suppressed the urge to let out a whimper, call for help, instead closing her eyes to feel for any intense spikes of pain, as she ran her palm over her stomach. There was no pain, apart from the sharp stinging, which felt like it was coming from inside her vagina. She cautiously daubed, and again came away with blood. Her panties were also stained.

  “Fuck. Fucking fuck.” Aleshia stuffed a wad of toilet roll into her panties, pulled up her joggers, feeling a little woozy and faint as she did so. Was she thirsty? Dehydrated? She looked paler than usual in the mirror’s reflection.

  When she came out of the bathroom, Cameron at first greeted her with a smile, then saw the cloud gathering on her face. “What’s wrong?”

  Aleshia wanted to deny anything was wrong, but also knew she would be stupid for doing so. Obviously something bad was happening. “I’m bleeding down there. And I feel a little off.”

  “Wait. What. You’re bleeding?” Sheer alarm jumped into Cameron Lovell’s eyes. “Why?”

  “Hell if I know. But I’m gonna have to cut this visit short. I think…” she winced, “I’m gonna need to get myself checked up.”

  Keys appeared in Cameron’s hands. “Honey, we’re rushing you to the hospital. Now.”

  Aleshia allowed herself to be led by him with little protest.

  Chapter 6

  Inside the hospital, Aleshia faced a nurse. Cameron Lovell was somewhere in the reception, waiting for her to come out. After the initial panic, and doctors had the chance to examine her, they explained that the main issue was, since she had no abdominal pain, to do with a vaginal tear in her inner walls, which caused the bleeding, and was more common than you would expect for someone in or just past their first trimester. The nurse was drawing blood to be tested, though she and the doctor at hand suspected Aleshia would be low on iron, due to the nutrients the baby was absorbing from her, and from the sounds of her diet, which did not contain much red meat.

  “You can take supplements to boost your iron levels,” the female doctor suggested. She was already writing out a prescription. “Other things to do as well is to avoid excessive exercise, as if you do this too much, it can aggravate the blood vessels in the placenta, causing it to malfunction in feeding nutrients to the fetus.”

  Barraged with advice, but mostly relieved that her bleeding was nothing scary, such as a dreaded miscarriage. It had actually been the first thought to cross her mind when she saw the bleeding, and she felt both dismay and a horrified fascination when it occurred – since she never considered in her future plans that she might end up losing the baby before it even had a chance at life outside the womb. The thought sobered her up as the doctor rattled through a list of advice, as the blood was drawn out of her arm, and a small plaster stuck over the insertion point.

  She felt bad that Cameron Lovell needed to wait in the hospital reception for the whole process, as hospitals had to be one of the gloomiest places around. With the stark, sterile white walls, the constant smell of disinfectant permeating the air, and the straggles of disenchanted people who roamed within the walls, it gave off a sickly aura. Coming into the hospital, she spotted one child, barely older than five, with an amputated leg and arm from meningitis being signed out, before being wheeled off by his family.

  She also couldn’t help but notice the number of pregnant women, and women there with children, both in the reception and the waiting rooms. Near the ward she was in as well, the nurse had informed her that there were clusters of premature infants who needed machines to help them survive out of the womb, due to complications, such as heart defects, or a threat to the mother’s life leading to a caesarean.

  Her cursed mind already started roaming with potential plot ideas, envisioning a weeping mother being led out by a devastated husband, after doctors had gently told her that the baby in the machine would simply not ever be able to survive without help. She saw the people sitting in the waiting rooms like zombies, someone walking down the corridor, dragging their IV drip with them. She saw the dark world of a hospital forming in her mind, even as she walked down the pristine halls of a real one.

  Finally free, she located Cameron Lovell sat next to a woman and her husband. The pram where a baby lay was tilted towards Cameron, and he was peering into the contents of the pram with interest. As Aleshia neared, she caught him pulling a silly face, and a tiny gurgle of laughter emitting out of the carriage.

  “Hey,” she said, snatching his attention. He immediately stood up.

  “Aleshia! Is everything alright then? I know they said it wasn’t anything serious, but, you never know…”

  “It’s alright,” she gave him a reassuring smile. “I’ve been told to take iron supplements, not exercise a lot, which is fine because I work on my computer anyway. I also should be careful with inserting foreign objects in my vagina for the next month, due to the bleeding issue. Fun stuff.”

  Cameron laughed, even as the woman next to him scowled at Aleshia in disapproval for daring to use such blatant words near her precious baby.

  “I saw you pulling faces, there,” Aleshia said, indicating the cot, and avoiding the judgmental fury of the woman. “Was it pulling faces back?”

  Cameron shrugged. “She seemed to like me. She didn’t like my normal face, though, but once I started…” he demonstrated a few hideous expressions. One child, holding his mother’s hand, stared at Cameron in open mouthed wonder, “And there you have it. Face to charm anyone’s child.”

  Aleshia laughed. “That’s brilliant! Although I might argue you’ll likely scare them more than endear them to you.” They both laughed.
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  “Eh, I can cope with that. There seems to be rather a lot of children running around the hospital today. I was squished in between four mothers at one point.”

  “As long as you didn’t catch small children cooties, we’re probably alright.” Aleshia smiled fondly at him. “Thanks again for the help. I’m sorry the inspection ended up like this… but I guess it could have been worse.”

  “Of course. Well, since the time is now… two, did you need to be somewhere?”

  “Oh, God. My sister!” Outside the hospital, Aleshia took out her phone. Cameron raised one eyebrow in inquiry.

  “Do you need to go over to her place?”

  “No. Yes. Maybe. She expects me over, and she’ll murder me if I don’t. She’ll also murder me if she finds out I went to the hospital and didn’t contact her. Argh!”

  “Is there any way to postpone judgment?” Cameron asked, smirking at Aleshia’s panic. “Honestly, you’re more worried about this than you were coming out the bathroom bleeding.”

  “I was worried! Also, short of saying I’m with someone, she won’t take no for an answer. And she’ll ask me to hand the phone over to the someone to make sure I’m not lying, with video camera on, to make sure I’m not just making her listen to a recording.”

  “Wow. That’s some measures.” Cameron stared over at his car in the pouring rain, Aleshia standing beside him as she squinted at her phone. No angry messages from her sister had yet appeared.

  “It’s because I did that before,” Aleshia admitted. “She’s justified. If you can call having a relative punch their way into your life like this justified.”

  “It does sound like she cares and wants the best for you,” Cameron observed. “It’s nice. Though I do agree she seems to have a certain amount of… control over things.”

  “Apparently, I’m easy to manipulate.” The words came out harsh, bitter. Aleshia checked herself. “Sorry. Residual feelings. Anyway I better call her.”

  Cameron hesitated only a moment, eyebrows knitted together in thought. “Why don’t we get take-out? De-stress from the trauma of this morning. You can come back to mine or I come over to yours – that way, you’ll have an excuse to not go and see your sister.”

  “Oh! I can tell her I’m with you. Excellent.” Aleshia held the phone to her ear.

  When Vaneese answered, she explained hurriedly that she wouldn’t be coming over, and for good measure, handed the phone over to Cameron, so he could collaborate with Aleshia’s reasons to not come. Neither mentioned about the trip to the hospital. Vaneese sounded incredibly smug when she was put back on the phone with her sister, and strongly hinted that maybe the situation between her and Cameron wasn’t as ruined as previously believed.

  Aleshia sighed, when the call ended. She looked up at her savior and admired once again his handsome looks, before reminding herself that this was a door she couldn’t open. “What do you suggest we eat?”

  The realtor smiled, straightening up and adjusting his thin tie. “We can discuss it in the car. There’s going to be a lot of traffic. And we have torrential rain to go through!” He shouted the last words, as the rain chose that moment to increase in strength, creating a loud rattling across all the surfaces. He held out a hand to her. She took it, beaming, and they hastened over to the car, soaked within seconds.

  *****

  Back in Aleshia’s apartment, dried off, armed with bottles of water and four box fulls of Mexican quesadillas, they sat around the small table in the middle of her cramped living room, having already made it past the initial inspection, and Cameron confessing that he was glad Aleshia would be buying the house instead of living in a place like this for much longer. Aleshia had her new prescription pills to help reduce the vaginal bleeding, and the iron supplements to go with her food, as well as an all-around vitamin medley as recommended by Cameron.

  Again, despite the tension of the day before, they found themselves slipping into easy conversation. Aleshia couldn’t help the suspicion that flared up within, but she also appreciated the gesture, in that Cameron had gone out of his way to help her obtain a property, get her to the hospital, and assist mutually in avoiding the wrath of her sister.

  “I can’t thank you enough for this, really. And the food is delicious,” Aleshia said, munching her way through a chicken spiced quesadilla. They had four box fulls of different flavor combinations, and planned to eat every single one of them.

  “I know a lot of good spots for take-out. I often can’t find the energy to cook, and even if I did, there’s no way I could do anything as wonderful as what some of the local food places offer.”

  “I can’t cook to save my life,” Aleshia confessed. “I live on take-out and sandwiches. Not the healthiest of options, mind you, but I can afford it, and I enjoy having such a wide selection of different cuisines to choose from.”

  They kept up the banter, discovering small things about each other. Aleshia felt, however, that Cameron was circling around the topics he wanted to discuss. His friendliness almost matched the levels of last night, just before Aleshia had dropped the bomb on him. Again, she caught remnants of interest in his eyes, and again, she detected that familiar, irritating twinge of arousal in her guts.

  What’s going on? It hasn’t even been a day. has my sister put him up to this?

  “Aleshia, I’ve been thinking,” Cameron said, finally cutting to the meat of the subject, “About things. This is also along with some panic when I had to rush you to hospital, because I was convinced you were bleeding to death.”

  “I wasn’t. But I understand why you would think so.”

  “You literally asked me in the car if you might be bleeding out.”

  “Yeah, true. I was a little hysterical about that as well. Thanks for speeding up, though.”

  “No problem. I want to try… talking some things through with you. I’m not sure where anything will go, or if it will go anywhere at all. But I’d like to hear your side of things. Your thoughts on your future. And you can ask about me as well.”

  Aleshia examined Cameron, contemplated his proposal. “Just on a friendly basis?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe just that, maybe more.” Something crackled in the air, intangible. The sparks Aleshia felt from last night came back in full force, along with amazement at this sudden turn around. The sobbing frustration from a near sleepless night vanished in quavering hope.

  “Why?” The word escaped her lips.

  Cameron stared at her for a long, tense minute. The strange feeling inside her multiplied, expanded. If she had been standing up, she would have needed to sit down, due to the tremors in her legs.

  After an age, he responded, “Because I felt something. The first time I heard you, saw you, watched you, talked to you – I honestly felt something. Hearing that you didn’t exactly come burden free was a, uh, devastating blow to that feeling I had. Like it didn’t matter what I felt, I find a nice, pretty woman who is interesting, warm, and has something special about her, and recites poetry despite being shy about it... but that doesn’t matter. Life will laugh at me and tell me once more I’m a fool.”

  At this, Aleshia let out an exasperated chuckle. “I know the feeling. If I’d met you over a year ago, I have the notion we could get along well. More than well. But, nope, you had to waltz into my life when it’s been fucked up, and I’m busy trying to make sense of the ruins. Not the best timing.”

  The realtor helped pour some more water into an empty glass for Aleshia. Their feet touched under the table. Neither moved away from the contact.

  “So. I want to talk more. Just to confirm whether these feelings have any basis or not. And, since you’ve asked your question… here’s mine.” He idly tapped the rim of his glass. “Do you still love your ex?”

  Looks like we’re not fucking around this bush, Aleshia thought. With nothing to lose, she responded, “No. I don’t. I lost it, the more I became ensnared in his little mind games. The final straw was when the pregnancy was announced, and it
became a shitfest from there.”

  “Why do you still have his number on your phone, then?”

  Aleshia sighed, before sipping her water. “I feel like I can’t cut him out of the kid’s life. I keep imagining the child asking me awkward questions about where daddy is. Daddy doesn’t give a damn about the peanut I’ve got here, but I can’t bring myself to completely delete him out. I don’t however, want to get back with him.” She folded her arms defensively. “If I did, I’d become like one of those stories where you hear about a woman whose been locked in her basement for years, until some friendly passing neighbor hears her scratching on the walls or something.”

  Cameron’s jaw dropped, then adjusted into an amused grin. “That bad, huh?”

  “It’s my sister’s phrasing. I’m only just… starting to let it fully register, what kind of mind fuck I got out of. I can tell you about it, but it might not be a fun ride for either of us. In exchange, though, you tell me about yourself.”

  “Deal,” he said.

  With a sigh, and an oddly cracked voice, which altered into monotone whenever she breached a sensitive subject, she unraveled to Cameron Lovell the pitiful scraps of her life. She didn’t tell him about her childhood, or the extreme grief she felt at the loss of her wonderful father, who wanted nothing but the best for her. She started with the jealously she felt with her sister, feeling like she was in competition. She mentioned the brief flings with previous boyfriends, but not finding anything solid to cling to. Meeting Peter just over a year ago, when her freelancing at that point was gaining ground, earning her decent amounts of money at last, she found in him a charming, handsome man who appeared to dote on her every word, go out of his way to make sure she felt like a queen.

  Skipping the more intimate details, Aleshia focused on the devolving situation of her and Peter. There were hints, and signs, but she chose to ignore them, ecstatic at the notion of having a long term boyfriend, so she didn’t feel like the ugly duckling of the pack anymore. However, the stable and happy relationship she craved, like her mother and father had, and like Vaneese and Dijon lived – nothing quite turned out to plan. Peter became more notably possessive and jealous, asking her to not wear makeup, not meet up with male friends…