them. Finally, once the program was ready, she turned around and stopped frozen in place. Her body went into shock, and her heart filled with sudden pain.
Oh, God!
Ben was sitting at the table looking at her closely. He wasn’t supposed to be here. What was he doing here, and why was he staring at her so intently? He was the one who called off their relationship, not her. When he saw that she was aware of him looking at her, he turned away and began talking to Dr. Rudolph who sat next to him at the table.
Seeing him again drove home to her that she was no closer to getting over her feelings for him then she was seven weeks ago, and the sudden pain in her chest knocked the wind out of her. She wanted to keep looking at him but did not dare because she was not sure she would be able to do it without the pain shining through her eyes. She sneaked a peek at him again while he looked away. He looked tired and like he had lost some weight, but otherwise he was just as handsome as she remembered. Noting the time, she cleared her throat and picked up the clicker to begin giving her presentation. Ben focused on the digital screen instead of looking at her directly throughout the meeting, a fact that helped her continue speaking instead of becoming a bundle of nerves. When he finally did speak to her to ask questions, his voice was distant like she was a stranger to him.
After the meeting and the technicians had left the room, Dr. Rudolph introduced her to Ben and she shook his hand. Her hand was cold, and she pulled it away as quickly as she could without being rude. Their smaller group talked for a few minutes about the project and her move to Seattle. The whole time Ben continued to act as if they were meeting for the first time, as if she had never laughed with him or loved him. Realizing her thoughts were wandering into areas that would only lead her to trouble, she looked down at her notes and waited until she could get them back under control. The meeting ended fifteen minutes later, and Ben walked out with Dr. Rudolph and Mr. Winfield leaving her to shut off the digital board and turn off the lights.
After they left, she sat in the silence of the room for several minutes as she worked to compose herself. Her emotions were in turmoil, and she wiped away several tears before she felt like she was in control enough to move again. After taking several deep breaths, she slowly stood up, feeling a pain throughout her body that had nothing to do with her pregnancy or feeling under the weather. Stop wasting your time, she told herself. Pull yourself together! She stifled a laugh of hysteria and began closing up the room by turning off the digital board, picking up her notes, and turning off the lights.
Anne did not see Ben for the rest of the week which gave her time to contemplate her future. The fact that he did not seek her out only served to cement the idea that he really never cared about her like she cared for him and that there was no hope. On Wednesday, she confirmed her pregnancy with an OB-GYN, started a regiment of vitamins, and adjusted her diet. With her pregnancy confirmed, she began to consider her options. On Thursday she saw an attorney, not from her father’s firm, and looked into having paperwork written up for Ben to give up his parental rights. She would not seek child support. She remembered what he said about feeling trapped, and she did not want him to ever feel that way about their child. He would resent the baby eventually if he did. She did not want their child to go through what she went through with her own father.
Her options for future work were a little more complicated. She had signed a non-compete clause in her contract, so she could not work for a rival research company for a least another year. She liked working at Stanford Enterprises, but she also knew that she had to leave. Staying would not be an option. She could see about doing adjunct teaching and consulting again to make ends meet until the year was up. To fill in the gaps in her income, she only