How to Have Your Boss's Secret Baby - London Casey Page 0,42
had this dream about carrots last night. And I was laughing in the dream. I want to do something with it.”
“How about… orange you glad to see me?” I asked. “Two carrots talking?”
Bev shook her head. “No good. I was thinking of a carrot in the ground yelling for help. Like, it’s stuck. Or… someone pulling the carrot out of the ground. Like the carrot can feel pain…” Bev snapped her fingers. “A sex shirt!”
“What?” I asked.
“Yeah. The one carrot pulls the other carrot’s hair. Like a sex thing… get it? I need some kind of text. Like keep pulling my hair and I’ll come… out of the ground…”
Bev laughed and clapped her hands.
Hey, if that made her happy, then so be it.
I crept through the apartment as Bev talked to the computer screen.
I pinched my nose at the smell of the ink.
When I got to my bedroom, I tossed my bag to the bed and let out a long sigh.
I honestly had no idea what to expect with Cole.
What his reaction would have been.
As a writer, there was a part of me that was a romantic. That meant I pictured Cole shutting the office door and coming to me. Touching my face. Touching my stomach. Kissing me. Telling me he was going to take care of the baby. And me. That we were going to be together…
“Cockhead Cole?” I asked. “Ew.”
Now, if it was Elevator Guy who did that…
Which then started the argument in my mind.
Who got me pregnant?
Cockhead Cole or Elevator Guy?
I touched my forehead.
What the hell was I doing?
Cole was Cole.
And I was pregnant.
And I had a sinking fear I was going to be pregnant alone.
I sat up in my bed with a hot cup of tea.
I just wanted regular tea but Bev insisted on adding ginger to it to help with my stomach. She still thought it was morning sickness that had me ill.
My phone rested next to me and I wanted to talk to someone.
I wanted to talk to my mother.
That was a rare feeling to have go through me, hence the reason I debated on whether to actually call her or not.
It wasn’t that we didn’t get along, it was just we were very different.
She stayed in that small town and got swallowed up by it. She got pregnant, things didn’t work out, and she was forever a single mom, struggling to survive. Even now she was still struggling because there was no opportunity in that town.
I thought about Connie and Jen.
They were almost the same.
I left the small town trap to chase the big city dream.
And now, I was pregnant.
By my boss.
“Shit,” I whispered.
Thinking that was still hard to comprehend.
I grabbed my phone and called my mother.
My heart started to race.
I had no idea how to guide the conversation with her.
Do I start with small talk? The weather? What it’s like here? A funny story about Bev? Or do I just jump right into it and tell her she’s going to be a grandmother?
Before I could decide, her voicemail picked up.
Of course it did.
She was working.
Working to get by. Struggling to get by.
Killing herself to come home and be unhappy, eat, have a drink, and sleep until it was time to do it again.
My next call was going to be Connie and Jen. If I could get them both on the phone at the same time, I could rip the band-aid off in one shot.
Then again, for them, they’d probably just cheer. To them my pregnancy was going to be some kind of movie story for them. Pregnant by my rich boss. Meaning I had access to his money in some fashion.
I didn’t want that.
I didn’t want Cole’s money.
I didn’t even want Cole’s love.
This wasn’t how everything was supposed to be.
I lowered my head and felt the tears coming.
There was no use in fighting them back now.
I was in my bed, home, and this was the perfect place to cry.
Before a single tear could be shed, Bev opened the door.
“Oh, fuck, Bev, I need a break,” I said.
“Um… sorry to bother you…”
“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean that.”
“Well, someone is at the door for you.”
“What? Who?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Want me to tell him to leave?”