my number and we arranged to meet the following weekend.” I pick up my drink and sip it. “But he never called—”
“He lost his phone,” Adrian interrupts.
“I didn’t know this until just last week,” I reply.
They keep listening.
“Anyway, sixteen weeks later, I was feeling really weak and my stomach was swollen. I just felt like shit so I went to the doctor.”
Their eyes meet.
“Turned out I was pregnant and seeing as I hadn’t had sex with anyone for two years before Cameron or since, a condom must have broken and I knew it was his baby. Only thing was… I didn’t even know his real name.”
“Oh God, Ash,” Natasha whispers. “And you didn’t find out until sixteen weeks?”
I shake my head. “So I had to have the child. There was no other option.”
Adrian frowns as he listens.
“I was a second year med student and I had all these hopes and dreams.” Saying this out loud is making me all emotional and I tear up. “And then this little angel came into my life. Owen.”
Adrian smiles. “Do you have a photo?”
“Yes.” I smile excitedly and open a photo on my phone and pass it over. Adrian puts his hand over his mouth. “Oh my God, he is like Cameron.” He gasps as he passes the phone to Tash, and she smiles as she studies it.
“He is. He’s like him in nature, too. He’s cheeky and intelligent. Gentle.”
Natasha smiles through her tears but stays silent.
“Anyway, my family were mortified that I was pregnant by a man I didn’t even know the name of.”
Adrian’s face falls.
“You have no idea of the shame I have felt for five years, knowing that one day I would have to tell my son that I’m a slut.”
“You are not a slut.” Natasha gasps.
I shrug. “The proof was in the pudding, Tash. I had no name.”
Adrian rolls his eyes because he knows it’s true.
“Fast forward five years, I got offered an internship on the other side of the country with this brilliant young gun surgeon, and I had no idea how I was going to take it. I organized for my best friend to come with me so she could mind Owen for me while I work, and in exchange I would pay for our rent and food so she could study full time from home.”
“What a great idea.” Tash grins.
“Jenna is great.” I smile. “She’s been with me for years before Owen came along and she loves him like he’s her own.”
Our food arrives and we all take a bite of our salad.
“We moved here and I needed a part time job, so I applied at a bar.”
They both frown as they listen and eat.
“Only when I got the job I found out it was Club Exotic.”
Adrian’s face falls.
“What’s that?” Tash asks.
“High class brothel,” Adrian murmurs.
“I… I just work behind the bar,” I stammer. “Nothing more.”
Natasha puts her hand on her chest in relief, and Adrian fake wipes his forehead.
“I make seven-hundred dollars a week for two shifts and Owen doesn’t even know I’ve gone. I start at ten and get home before he wakes up.”
“So, you do this and you work at the hospital?” Adrian frowns.
“Yes.” I take another bite. “Anyway, on my first day at the hospital I had to fill out forms and I didn’t want to be judged for being a single mom.”
“And they would of judged,” Natasha adds.
“Yes, you know what’s its like. I just wanted to be treated equal, you know?”
She nods. “Definitely.”
I frown. “You can imagine my shock when I am introduced to Cameron as the surgeon I’m interning for.”
Adrian shakes his head in disbelief. “What are the chances?”
I throw my hands up in the air. “Beats me.”
Natasha picks up her drink and sips it. “This is an interesting story.”
I smirk. “So then I did something really stupid.”
“What?” Adrian frowns.
“I panicked. I freaked out that I had just lied on all of my forms and said I had no children. That’s when I heard Cameron say to a colleague that he hated kids.”
Natasha frowns. “Cameron loves kids.”
“He said that condoms were the greatest ever invention.”
Adrian rolls his eyes. “He would say that. That’s such a Cameron thing to say.”
I blow out a breath. “And then I made the biggest regret of all time. I pretended I didn’t remember him.”
“Why?” Natasha whispers.
I shrug. “I have no idea. He was gorgeous and happy, and I felt like this loser who he never rang. I wasn’t going to turn up with his child.”