Unexpectedly Expecting the Sheik's Baby - Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,46
ignored their texts and phone calls, but her friends weren’t the type to let her get away with it. Cassy shouldn’t have been surprised when they showed up at her office. “What are you guys doing here?” she asked as they entered her office.
“We’re here to kidnap you,” Ella announced, taking the pile of files from her arms. “We haven’t seen you in a month and we’re taking you to lunch.”
Cassy watched as the receptionist laughingly accepted the files, storing them under her desk. “Come on,” Naya urged as both women linked arms with Cassy to tug her out of the office.
As soon as the sunshine hit her face, she squinted.
Ella laughed, handing Cassy her own sunglasses. “See? You’re trying to become a troll and it won’t work. You need sunshine. And a beer,” Ella joked.
Cassy laughed, grateful for her friends. They were right, she thought as she walked between them. Just stepping out of her office during the daytime hours felt good. Strange, but good. “Okay, fine. Where are we going?” she asked.
“To the park,” Naya said, waddling beside Cassy.
The three of them sat in the park and munched on the sandwiches Ella had made. They laughed, talked, and relaxed for over an hour.
“See? You already look better,” Ella said, squeezing Cassy’s knee.
Naya nodded. “You do look better. More relaxed. But those dark circles really have to go,” she teased.
Cassy rubbed her eyes. “Yeah. I’ve sort of been burning things from both ends lately, haven’t I?”
“Yes. You’ve missed all aerobics classes and the instructor is kicking our butts! We need you back in class so we don’t look so bad.”
Cassy rolled her eyes. “You need me back in class so that I’ll tempt both of you to grab a pizza after class.”
Naya shrugged. “That too. Ella is too healthy without your bad influence.”
They laughed as they packed up the trash from their lunch. “I’m sorry I’ve abandoned you guys,” she said as they walked back to Cassy’s office. “I’ll be better. I’ll have my gym clothes and be ready to work out tomorrow,” she promised them.
“You’d better!” Naya said.
“And pizza afterwards,” she teased.
Ella eyed her friend with concern. “Any chance you could get off early tonight and maybe get a good night’s sleep?” she asked.
Cassy looked down at her conservative, black pumps. “Probably not.”
“Still having trouble sleeping?” Naya asked.
Cassy nodded. “Yeah. But I’ll try.”
“Good enough,” Ella said and hugged Cassy. Naya hugged her as well and they watched Cassy walk into her office building.
Chapter 9
Cassy woke up and rolled over, nauseous all of a sudden. Laying very still, she waited until the queasiness eased a bit before getting out of bed and hitting the shower. The warm water washed the worst of her sleepiness away but it was still difficult to drag herself to the office. It had been like this for more than two weeks and Cassy still couldn’t seem to kick this fatigue!
When her cell phone rang, she briefly glanced at the screen, not wanting to deal with work right now. She was too tired and felt horrible. Besides, it was another one of those “out of area” phone numbers. She’d been getting a lot of those lately and it was really driving her crazy.
She pressed the “ignore” button and opened her fridge. Saturday. She hated Saturdays. She should go into the office and get some work done, but….
Shockingly, she was all caught up. She’d actually been ordered to stay home this weekend! Yesterday, Mr. Hanover had told her that he didn’t want to see her in the office until Monday morning or hear that she’d been anywhere near the building. He even threatened to shut off her badge so she couldn’t access the office.
Jerk!
Opening her fridge, she peered inside. Nothing.
Well, that’s not true. There was something in the corner over there but…she wasn’t sure what it was. Or rather, what it had been. It was green now. And fuzzy.
Ick!
She had a couple of containers of yogurt, but her stomach roiled at the thought of eating yogurt. Standing up, she peered into the freezer. Uh oh. Nothing in there either.
With a sigh, she accepted that grocery shopping was a top priority today.
After changing into leggings and a giant sweatshirt, she slipped on a pair of sneakers that had definitely seen better days, and headed out of her bedroom. Her bed called to her but she was determined to resist the temptation. She’d been either sleeping or working every moment of the past six weeks.