“Because it appears that Greta is already pregnant.”
Greta’s jaw dropped, as did mine, and I stared at the doctor.
“Are you sure?” I stuttered.
“I did the test twice and both are positive,” the doctor replied. “Have you had unprotected sex in the last few weeks?”
I glanced at Greta and was shocked when I saw her nod. Has she been seeing someone and sleeping with them behind my back and not told me about it? She was compromising this entire thing because of her own damn libido! How dare she?
“Due to obvious reasons, I cannot perform the procedure anymore. I’ll take a blood sample to confirm the pregnancy, and I’ll call you with the result. Okay?”
“Sure,” I answered numbly.
I didn’t know what to say, or think, nor feel. What the hell was Greta thinking sleeping with another guy when she was supposed to be my surrogate?
Even if this happened before she had signed the contract, she sure as hell could have told me about it. I mean, it’s none of my business who she’d slept with in the past, or before the contract had been signed, but if it was going to affect my chances of losing my company, then it was my business.
I glared angrily at a poster of a sixteen-week old fetus, floating around it the safety of its mother’s womb, and I gritted my teeth. The doctor took a blood sample from Greta, and when he was done, she asked him, “Doctor, could I speak to you alone for a second?”
“Of course,” he answered and turned to me. “Would that be alright, Isaac?”
Without a word, or glancing in her direction, I stood up and left the examination room, slamming the door behind me.
I could not believe that Greta ad done this to me. We were supposed to be in this together. But she was already pregnant? This was fucking ridiculous. In my anger, I didn’t check how long she’d been in the examination room with the doctor. When she finally came out, she didn’t look at me.
Dr. Fowler also came out and sat behind the desk. “I will have Greta’s blood sample sent to the pathologist to confirm whether she is, in fact, pregnant or not. Urine tests are accurate, but in some cases can give a false positive. But not twice. As soon as I receive the results, I’ll be in touch and we can have a discussion on how to proceed from there.”
I nodded quietly and held out my hand to him. “Thank you, Doctor.”
I turned on my heel, and without waiting for Greta, left the consultation room, absolutely livid. Today should have been a day of support and partnership, but it had turned into a shit show of betrayal and lies instead.
12
Greta
To say that I was shocked, was the understatement of the century. When the doctor had told me that I was already pregnant, I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t experienced any of the early pregnancy symptoms that I had read about in my book. Although I had been crying and feeling emotional for two weeks, I figured it was just about the big step I was about to take for the sake of Isaac. Never in my whole life had I dreamt that I’d actually be pregnant.
As we left the fertility clinic, I was still in a daze. I was following Isaac to the parking lot, but he stopped abruptly before we reached his car.
I stopped just short of slamming into him. When I looked up, I noticed that something was wrong. Of course, something was wrong! I had just found out that I was pregnant. Who knew what the hell was going on in Isaac’s head?
“Isaac?”
He glared at me with anger. “What kind of game are you playing?”
I was taken aback. “What are you talking about? I’m not playing any kind of game,” I stuttered.
“If you’ve been sleeping with another guy—”
“Wait a second,” I interjected. “You think that I’ve been having sex with someone else?”
“How else would you explain you being already pregnant?” he exclaimed. “You were trying to pass this child off as mine, weren’t you? Playing me like a goddamn fiddle? Who is he, Greta? Who’s the mystery man you’ve been fucking?”
My jaw dropped as Isaac threw these accusations at me. I couldn’t believe that he would say those things. He had been so sweet in the waiting room, and now he was acting like a lunatic.
“I am not that type of person, Isaac,” I managed to say, desperately trying to control myself from breaking down in the parking lot.
“We made a deal, Greta. You signed a contract, and now you do this!”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“Then how the fuck do you explain that pregnancy test being positive?” he shouted.
“Oh my God! The only person I slept with was you, you fucking idiot,” I exclaimed. He frowned and remained silent as comprehension dawned on him. “Have you forgotten about that little rendezvous in the park? When we had sex and afterward we both decided that it was a mistake? Do you remember that?”
Isaac opened his mouth to respond, but I interjected. “You’re getting mad and throwing a goddamn temper tantrum at me when you were the one who got me pregnant with the baby you requested me to have in the first place!”
His brow eased and he took a step towards me. “Greta—”
“No, Isaac,” I growled and held out my palm, ordering him to keep his distance. “I cannot believe that you would accuse me of something like that. I thought you knew me. I made that deal with you, and I have always been one hundred percent committed to it. I was prepared to have needles stuck inside me to give you what you want. To go through immense pain and discomfort to give you a baby. And that’s before the entire pregnancy and the birth! I was committed, and I expected you to trust me. Then you pull something like this and make me feel like shit!”
“I’m sorry—”
“Save it!” I muttered and turned away, retrieving my phone from my pocket.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m calling a taxi.”
“I can take you back to work,” he offered.
“No. I don’t want you to,” I muttered.
“Greta, please. I am sorry.”
I whirled around and shook my head. “I’m sick of this, Isaac. Truly. If you can’t trust me, then I don’t know if I can do this anymore. We’re supposed to be a team, but as soon as something goes off track, you act like a spoilt toddler. You accused me of sleeping with another guy and passing the child off as yours. Do you even know how hurtful and insulting that is? When have I ever lied to you? I would never lie to you! For you to even think something like that breaks my heart.”
“I’m sorry. Really, I am. I didn’t think, and I.…”
I crossed my arms and waited for him to continue.
“I was just surprised and shocked.”
“You don’t think that I was too?” I asked. “Let me make something very clear, Isaac. This is not just about you. It’s about both of us. You have feelings, and so do I. We’re two very different people. I understand that you were shocked and surprised. I have to deal with this too, but accusing me of something so horrible is not helping my physical nor mental wellbeing. You can’t be so controlling. I’m not going to do anything to bring any harm to your baby. I promise you that.”
“My baby,” he said softly and stared at my stomach.
“I’m gonna go because as much as I’d like to stand here in the middle of a parking lot arguing with you, I’m really tired and I just want to go home and be alone.”
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked.
“Sure,” I shrugged and turned on my heal, dialing the taxi company’s number.
An hour later, as I lay in my tub with bubbles floating in the water around me, tears rolled off my cheeks and into the bathwater. I don’t know how long I’d been sitting there without moving. My mind was wandering somewhere far away.
When I had gotten into the taxi at the clinic, I texted Mad that I was having a shitty day and that I wouldn’t come back to the office. She understood and told me that we all had bad days, where we just wanted to curl up on the couch, drink a bottle of vodka, and
fall asleep. Or pass out while watching old episodes of our favorite television shows. Vodka was no longer an option for me.
I was still overwhelmed by the idea of being pregnant. Though it had was a shock, I had an intuition that the blood test would be positive. I can’t describe it…I just knew. And this extreme state of emotional fragility was completely new to me, even though growing up, I had had bad days when things seemed to fall apart. But they had never gotten to a point like what had happened today.
This was total breakdown.
I spent the entire taxi ride sobbing, and even the driver took pity at me, asking whether I needed something. But I couldn’t talk properly, so I simply nodded and said that I would be fine.
Being accused of sleeping with another guy and trying to pass the baby off as Isaac’s was the most hurtful thing I’d ever heard. It broke my heart that he would even think that way, let alone say it to my face. I couldn’t get over it, and I was pretty sure that I never would.
I started bawling all over again. Isaac had no right to say something like that to me, no matter how upset or shocked he was. He wasn’t the only one to have been shocked by the news. I cried and cried at the thought that he did not consider my feelings at all. Even though he had apologized – and it may have been genuine – I was still too hurt. I had every right to be this upset. To be mad.
It was unbelievable that Isaac could turn from this perfectly nice and caring guy into a hostile person in the blink of an eye. Was it because I was expecting too much from him, or because I had allowed myself to get too close to him?
“Isaac, you’re such an ass,” I sighed to myself and lowered my gaze to my belly. I stroked it lovingly. “Hey, little one. I doubt you’ve even developed ears yet, but if you can hear me, you probably heard the horrible things your dad said to me. Ignore them. It’s not your fault.”
I pursed my lips. It felt silly talking to my belly when the baby was probably the size of an apple seed. Or a poppy seed. I couldn’t remember what it was that the doctor had said. I wasn’t even sure how far along I was in the pregnancy. I’d have to wait for the doctor to call Isaac and tell him.
On the sink, my phone vibrated but I made no attempt to answer it. It was probably Isaac, wanting to apologize again. But I didn’t have the strength or the mental fortitude right now to listen to him.
When the water finally began to get cold, I climbed out of the bath, wrapped myself in my fluffy bathrobe and went to my bedroom. I got dressed in a pair of pajamas, dried my hair, and lay down on the couch, just as Mad suggested. Minus the vodka, of course.
My phone was lighting up like a Christmas tree, but I continued to ignore it. After it buzzed for what felt like the millionth time, I reached over and grabbed it. There were hundreds of messages and missed call notifications, most of them from Isaac. There were also a few from Mad, who wanted to know if I was okay, or if I needed anything. I hated the fact that I couldn’t tell her about any of this. She didn’t even know about this whole thing with Isaac, and our history. Even though I was desperate to talk to her about it, she’d probably run Isaac over with her motorcycle.
That would be a bad idea, and I scolded myself for thinking that way. I texted Mad that I was okay, and that a day on the couch was just what I needed after all. She texted me to enjoy, take it easy, and that she’d see me tomorrow. Before I could set my phone down on the table beside the couch, the phone buzzed with another message from Isaac.
Please just tell me that you’re safe at home.
I opened the message and replied: Safe at home.
That seemed to shut him up, as my phone was quiet after that. That suited me because right now, I didn’t want to hear from him or think about him at all. I just wanted to fall asleep while watching my favorite television show, and forget the shitty day I had had. Though I did feel bad that I would have to get through these next nine months and that things weren’t going to be easy. However, after that, things would go back to the way they were before.
Then, I could be happy. I could finally walk away from him.
For good!
13
Isaac
I was such a fucking idiot.
And I wasn’t saying that for the sake of it or because I wanted anyone’s sympathy. I really was a fucking idiot. I still couldn’t believe that I had accused Greta of sleeping with someone else and that I had made such a scene in the parking lot. And I had no right to comment on her life. She was free to see whomever she wanted. Her personal life was none of my concern. As long as she gave me a baby, that was all that mattered.
I swallowed down the rest of the scotch in my glass and placed the empty glass on the low table in front of me. I ran my fingers through my hair and checked my phone. It had been a frustrating hour, trying to get hold of Greta after she had left me in the parking lot. I had tried to call her numerous times to ensure that she was okay, left so many messages on her machine, but she hadn’t answered. I was worried sick. Eventually, I sent her one last text, asking whether she had reached home safely. Finally, she texted back that she was at home. What a relief that was!
Obviously, she was still upset and I suspected that she had cried in the taxi. It was all because of me. Because I had overreacted and accused her of something horrible.
Why did I always do that, think the worst of people? Especially Greta! She was the best person I had ever known – honest and pure. I felt overwhelmingly ashamed for saying all those things, and I desperately wanted to figure out how to make it up to her. There had to be something. Fluffy socks, bubble bath, and hot cocoa weren’t going to cut it this time.
Thinking about Greta this way, I realized that I was feeling more and more protective of her because I cared deeply, not just as her brother’s best friend. It was something different, something deeper, something that confused me yet brought about absolute clarity. I was overcome with the singular thought of wanting to make Greta mine, and only mine.
She’d said that I was a jerk for accusing her of sleeping with someone else. In reality, what I’d felt was extreme jealousy of a nonexistent guy, not anger or betrayal on Greta’s part. But these feelings and realizations came much later, in hindsight, when I’d fucked up things between us. And the thought of Greta being with someone else made me sick.
My mind and my heart were both in a horrible mess. I had never ever felt such intense jealousy before in my life. That was probably because I had usually gotten what I wanted all throughout school, college, and my career. But where I lacked was in knowing who I really was.
So, these feelings of inadequacy and rejection were heartbreaking. I hated the way I had acted with her because of my jealousy. But this could only mean one thing – the feelings I had for Greta, or maybe always had, were much deeper than I had been willing to admit.
My whole body jerked as the doorbell rang. Was it Greta? I ran to the door and pried it open, hoping to finally get the chance to apologize. Even drop down to her feet and grovel, if it came to that.
But it wasn’t Greta. It was Amber. “Hey Isaac!”
“Amber, hey,” I said with a frown. I was taken aback at the sight of her, so late at night, on my doorstep. “What are you doing here?”
“I never got a call from you, so I called your office and they gave me your address. I hope that’s okay,” she replied.
“Yeah, sure. Come on in,” I answered, making a mental note to admonish Holly tomorrow.
She entered the house and looked around, as if searching for something. “Wow, you have a gorgeous home.”
“Thank you,” I said and cleared my throat. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you. I’ve just been busy with work and a few personal things that I had to deal with.”
I led her into the living area and she sat down on the couch.
“I didn’t mean to intrude your little party,” she said, motioning to the empty glass on the table.
“Running a company is hard work. Stressful sometimes.”
“I understand,” she smile
d and flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Have you managed to find something of Anthony’s that I can keep?”
“I’ve managed to get a box from storage. I’ll go get it,” I said and got the box from under the staircase. I had placed it there a few days ago when I’d collected it from the storage unit, but with everything that had been happening, I had completely forgotten about it.
I placed the box on the coffee table and sat down beside Amber. She was wearing some heavy, floral perfume that hung in the air in an intoxicating way. The white shirt she was wearing perfectly complimented her olive skin, making her glow in the nightlight. She rummaged through the box and took out a framed photograph, smiling.
“He was always such a kind-hearted man. I remember when I was about ten years old, my parents were having a barbecue at their house and he had come over. Anthony told me that someday, I’d be the smartest and most successful young woman if I just followed my heart and did what I loved.”
“And did you?” I asked.
“I have traveled the world, experienced different cultures and lifestyles, and it was simply amazing. It’s an experience that cannot be described in simple words, Isaac. It touches your soul and heart in an unfathomable way. Those memories always stay with you, and it’s something that no person on this earth can take away from you.”
“Wow! What was your favorite destination?” I asked, turning toward her.
“There’s this village at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, Kibosho Magharibi. The most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. The trees are lush and green, and there was this one spot where you could see the mountain peak through the trees. It was a transcendental experience,” she gushed. “If you ever get the opportunity to visit Tanzania, you should definitely go there.”
“No promises, but I’ll try,” I said with a smile. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course,” she said and placed her hands on her lap.
“My uncle never mentioned you,” I stated.
Twins for Brother's Best Friend Page 9