by Sian Ceinwen
“Hello?” She answered the phone hesitantly.
“Is this Miss Ciccone?” a stern voice said in her ear.
“Yes, who is this?” She had more than an inkling of who was on the other end of the line.
“My name is Cooper Powell,” he said, and Lita felt the butterflies in her stomach double in number. “I’ve been told you’re trying to get a hold of Sebastian.”
“That’s correct,” she confirmed for him.
“May I ask why?”
“No, you may not, to be honest. It’s not something I wish to discuss with you, Mr. Powell,” she said matter-of-factly.
“I’m sorry, Miss Ciccone, but Sebastian won’t be talking to you, then.”
Lita seethed internally. What a dick. This situation was between herself and Sebastian Fox, not his asshole manager who seemed to want to stick his nose in her business.
“I see. Do you always get yourself involved in your clients’ personal affairs, Mr. Powell?”
“Where I feel my involvement is warranted, yes,” he told her.
“Cool. Well, if you do see fit to pass on the message to him, just tell Sebastian I called. I’m sure he’ll have an idea of what I want to talk to him about,” she replied coolly, then hung up the phone.
Lita was fuming as she dropped her phone roughly on her desk. It had been easier to sleep with Sebastian in the first place than it was just to get him on the damn phone now. Of course, it was a matter of proximity. She was reasonably sure that if he were here right now, he’d be at least mildly interested in what she had to tell him.
Lita picked up her phone, and went back to her messages with Becky. She deleted the previous reply she’d been typing, and wrote out a new one.
Dude. Cooper Powell just called me. He wanted to know why I wanted to talk to Sebastian.
She laughed when she saw Becky’s reply.
Is he a dick? He seems like a dick.
Can confirm. Is a dick. I told him to keep his nose out of it. Said to tell Sebastian I’d called and he’d know what it was about.
Lita stared at her phone, just waiting for Becky to reply. She’d given up the idea of getting much work done at this point. She also felt like puking, but Lita didn’t know if it was from morning sickness or nerves. Nausea was pretty much her daily companion these days, traveling around with her everywhere she went.
Mic drop. Sebastian will probably shit bricks if he does pass that message on for you.
Lita laughed as she wrote her reply.
Sleep with a rock star, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.
Her boss, Simon, walked over to her desk, and she put her phone down, quickly looking at the code displayed on her computer’s screen. They were discussing the game release from last week and the idea of some days off for the overtime she’d worked when her phone lit up on the desk in front of her.
It was an unknown number, and Lita gasped. She knew who this had to be, and was calling quicker than she’d expected.
“Are you okay, Lita?” Simon asked her. “Do you need to get that?”
“Yeah, I really do. Is that okay?” Lita’s heart was racing, concerned that she might miss the call and it would go to voicemail.
“Go ahead,” he smiled at her.
Lita picked up her phone and quickly accepted the call. “Hello?”
“Hey,” Sebastian’s voice drawled in her ear. “I heard you’ve been trying to get hold of me.”
“Um, yeah, I have,” she replied. Simon wasn’t leaving, and she did not want to have this conversation in front of him.
“Well, you’ve certainly got my attention, princess. What can I help you with?”
Fuck, she couldn’t just say, ‘I’m having your baby,’ to him. Definitely not in front of her boss.
“One second, Sebastian.” She covered the mouthpiece with her hand, then said to Simon, “This is kind of a private call. Could I possibly go into one of the meeting rooms or something?”
“Oh.” Simon jumped, looking surprised. “Sorry, I completely zoned out. Sure, of course.”
“Thanks.” She uncovered the phone. “Are you still there?”
“Yes, princess, I’m here. Waiting for you to go into a meeting room to talk to me, apparently.”
Lita hated the fact his voice was still turning her inside out. She walked quickly into a meeting room and closed the door behind her. “Right, I can talk now,” she said.
“Great. What was it you so desperately needed to tell me? I’m assured I will know what it’s about.” She heard him blow out a long breath of air.
Now she had him on the phone, and she was somewhere private, there were no more excuses for not getting it over with. She still didn’t know how to say it, though.
“I’m sure you can guess…” she trailed off. It was such a cop-out.
“If I wanted to play games, princess, I’d be in front of a pool table. Tell me what it is you wanted to tell me so badly you called my fucking manager about it,” he said.
“Trust me, Sebastian Fox, I had zero desire to do that. Shit, I had zero desire to even speak to you again, but here we are.” She rolled her eyes, feeling annoyed at the situation.
“Wonderful. You don’t have to remind me how much you dislike me, Lolita; you’ve made it abundantly clear on multiple occasions. Somehow, we still don’t seem to have reached the reason you wanted to talk, though.”
His voice was cold, not the warm velvet she was used to. It reminded her of the way he had been that morning.
Lita steeled her nerves and said, “I’m pregnant, Seb.”
There was silence from his end of the line, and she wondered if the call had dropped out. She checked the screen, but their call was still connected.
“Are you there?” she asked.
“I told you to get the fucking morning-after pill,” he said, an accusing edge to his words.
“I did.” She laughed bitterly. “Fucking twice.”
“What do you mean, ‘twice’?” he asked.
“I got the first one at O’Hare. I took it before my flight, maybe an hour, I guess. Then I puked my guts up on take-off. I saw the doctor first thing on Monday, and he told me to take another dose, which I did.” She didn’t know what else to say.
“Why the fuck didn’t you wait to take it until you got back to…” he trailed off.
“Aww, don’t know where your baby mama lives, Seb?” she asked him, feeling cruel, but also annoyed by the fact he was acting as though she hadn’t done everything within her power to prevent this from happening. “It’s Seattle, and I didn’t wait because it’s more effective the sooner you take it.”
“Clearly not,” he said. “What are you planning to do?”
“I haven’t decided,” she said honestly. “I figured I should at least talk to you before I make any decision.”
“Shall I go get my checkbook out now, then?” he asked acidly.
“Fuck you, Sebastian Fox. Fuck. You.” She was so enraged she lifted the phone away from her ear and pressed the red button to hang up their call.
Lita wasn’t surprised at all when her phone started ringing again, less than a second later. She was sorely tempted to reject the call, but accepted it, then sat in silence and waited for him to speak.
“Lita?” he asked after they’d sat in silence for a good ten to fifteen seconds.
“Yes?” she snapped.
“I’m sorry, bella,” he sighed. “That was cruel of me. I know this isn’t your fault.”
“Then fucking act like it, Sebastian. I didn’t ask for any of this.”
“Really, princess? I seem to recall you practically begging me to fuck you,” he drawled.
Lita snorted. “Check your recollection, then. I won a competition to meet my favorite band, not a one-way ticket to hell.”
“Why is it, Lolita, you think I have no feelings at all?” he asked her, sounding hurt.
“Oh, sure, you have feelings when it suits you,” she continued, and quoted his own words back
at him. “‘Go and shower, the bathroom is that way.’ I felt like a piece of shit. So, thanks for that.”
His words had been playing back in her head since that day, so she was glad to get this off her chest.
There was silence from his end of the line when she’d finished speaking, however. “Anyway, you know now. So, I guess I know your opinion, but never let it be said I didn’t tell you, one way or another.”
Lita sighed, then ended their call again. She sat at the table, breathing heavily. This was such a terrible situation; there was no good outcome in this for anyone. Lita and Sebastian could barely have a civil conversation. They couldn’t help but snipe at one another. How could they co-parent together?
Lita was only mildly surprised when her phone rang a third time with a call from the same number.
“What, Sebastian?” she answered.
“Can you come and see me?” he asked her.
“Of course!” Lita said, faking excitement. “What time would you like me to be there? I’ll just jump in a cab and come around.”
“You don’t have to be like that, Lolita. I want to see you and talk,” he bit out at her.
“Then you’ll have to come here, I guess. I feel like going back to Chicago on the twelfth of never.”
“Is there any chance you’ll be nice to me again?” he asked her.
Lita laughed bitterly. “I guess we’ll see.”
There was silence between them now. Lita didn’t know what to say to him. She’d been thinking about this pregnancy almost constantly since she’d found out. Especially now she didn’t have massive amounts of work conveniently piled up to distract her. She had decided to end the pregnancy, and today’s phone calls had solidified her decision in her head. Lita couldn’t raise a baby with this man.
“I’ll call you back with flight details,” Sebastian said to her.
“Sure; you do that,” Lita said.
“I’ll send you through my number, princess. If you want to talk to me, you can call or text. You won’t need to call Cooper’s office.” She could hear dark humor in his tone.
“I might do it anyway,” Lita replied. “It was so enjoyable having to beg and plead for the honor of getting Sebastian Fox to dignify me with a phone call.”
He sighed. “I don’t know what to say to that, Lolita. I didn’t know you would get pregnant, or I would’ve given you my number.”
“Right, because until I was knocked up, I didn’t warrant it.” Lita rolled her eyes, he was such an arrogant asshole.
“Don’t pretend you thought we were going to have anything more than one night together, princess,” he said to her.
“Oh, I am under absolutely no false assumptions about you, Sebastian Fox. I have no doubt I haven’t crossed your mind at all in the last four weeks. How many nights has it been?” Lita took a second to do the mental in her head, then spat at him, “Let’s see, it’s Tuesday today, so I count thirty. I’m assuming that’s how many women have been in your bed since me. Sorry to call and bring back bad memories for you.”
She felt terrible the instant the words had left her mouth. Lita hadn’t realized she was capable of cruelty like that. Fuck, was this the result of the hormones she’d been warned about? Another silence fell on the phone before Sebastian finally said something.
“You’ve crossed my mind, Lita,” he sighed. “More than once. I’m sorry for the way I treated you when it happened. I panicked, but I was too harsh with you, and I could tell I’d hurt you. I wish I’d reacted better.”
“I don’t know if I accept your apology,” she told him honestly. “I need time to process it.”
“I see,” he said.
“I’ve been hurting for a month, then dealing with this shit. I’m sick all the time, and I spend half my life in the bathroom, either peeing or puking. Pregnancy is so attractive,” she added.
He laughed. “I’m sure it is. I’ll see when I come over there, I guess. I’m sorry, Lita. It was my condom that broke.”
“Exactly. So, acting like I’ve somehow trapped you into a pregnancy is pretty fucking low.”
There was silence from his end of the line before she heard him sigh. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Look, I’ll come out to Seattle as soon as I can, and we can talk.”
“Okay.”
They hung up, and Lita blew out a deep breath of air. There was no way she and Sebastian could have a baby together when it was hard enough just to have a civil conversation.
9
LEVEL 8.5 – A Proposal
Your baby is the size of a blue pill or a red pill. You choose.
Nobody can tell you’re pregnant yet, but your body is certainly reminding you twenty-four-seven. By this stage of your pregnancy, there is far more blood circulating around your body—around fifty percent more blood, actually. What does this mean? Well, for some lucky women, you will experience nose bleeds or bleeding gums.
Nausea is raging, along with your hormones, and you may find your sex drive has increased. Unfortunately, you’re still tired and trying to eat all the things—make it a piece of fruit, if you can. Just try to remember how great your boobs look now.
Lita was sitting in the back of an Uber. She was clutching her bag on her lap so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. It was Friday night, and Sebastian was here in Seattle. She’d agreed to meet him in his hotel room. They’d spoken a couple of times to organize this, and Lita knew they had a lot to talk through and some pretty fucking big decisions to make together.
The Uber arrived at one of the most expensive hotels in Seattle, and Lita thanked her driver as she got out. She took a deep breath and blew it out as she walked past a couple of people hovering near the entrance with cameras. Lita recognized them as the same type of people who had harassed them in Chicago. She wondered if they were here for Sebastian and realized they probably were.
Check that off as a reason to not continue the pregnancy. Did she really want to be a part of Cruise Control’s lives? If you’d asked her back in May when she won the competition, she would have said yes. Now that she was faced it being her reality, not so much.
Lita continued past them, then walked over to the check-in desk and told the person there, “Hi, my name is Lita Ciccone. You’re meant to have something for me.”
He smiled at her. “Yes, Lolita, is it?”
That fucker.
“Yes, it is,” she smiled. “But I go by Lita.”
“I see. Well, here you go, Lita.” He handed her a cardboard folder similar to the one she’d gotten in Chicago.
Inside, she found a keycard and ‘room number 732,’ written on the folder in spiky handwriting. She got into the elevator and took it up to the seventh floor, where she made her way to room seven-thirty-two. Lita swiped her room key and pushed open the door to enter the room.
She had walked into a suite that appeared to be a variation on the one she and Becky had shared in Chicago. Lita saw the man who had driven her home that night sitting by the door as she let it close behind her, and he smiled politely at her. She looked around the room to see two men sitting on the sofa. Sebastian looked up at her and caught her gaze. Her heart leaped into her throat when he did.
His presence was just as magnetic and all-consuming for her as it had been the night she’d met him. Sitting next to him was an older man who was wearing a very expensive suit, and Lita knew precisely who it was. She’d seen pictures of Cooper Powell online.
“What the fuck is Cooper doing here?” Lita said to break the silence, and Cooper narrowed his eyes at her.
Sebastian laughed. “I told you she wouldn’t appreciate it, Coop.”
“Come sit down with us, Miss Ciccone; we have some things to discuss,” Cooper said to her.
“And I have already told you I do not wish to discuss this with you.” Lita worked to maintain her composure, and Sebastian laughed again.
“I insist you sit down and talk to us,” Cooper glared at her.
“No, thank you. It was good to
see you again, Sebastian.” She nodded at him, then turned to walk back out of the room.
She felt betrayed by Sebastian bringing his manager with him to make a decision that she firmly believed should be between the two of them, alone.
Lita had almost made it to the door when she felt Sebastian grab her hand and link it with his. “Per favore, principessa.”
She looked up into his eyes and said to him coolly, “I didn’t sign up for this, Sebastian.”
Her jaw was tense as she said it. She knew they needed to have this discussion, but she had no desire to have it with Cooper , inserting his opinion into the conversation.
“I know. We need to talk, and Cooper just wants to be kept in the loop with what’s happening. Then we can, I don’t know, go to dinner or something.”
His words hung in the air between them, and she was bombarded with memories of their night together. ‘Or something’ sounded pretty good to her right now.
Lita blew out a breath, then nodded. “Sure.”
“Daryl, if you want to take off, that’s fine. I’ll call you if I need you,” Sebastian said, and the man in the suit nodded, then left the room.
They walked back to the sofa, but Sebastian didn’t let go of her hand. He stroked his thumb across her skin, and Lita realized it was soothing her nerves and calming her down just as much as it was making her want to have him in a bed again.
When they sat on the sofa, Lita sat away from Cooper but turned to face him. She was surprised when Sebastian sat down on the other side of her, in the space between her and the edge of the sofa. She had expected him to sit facing her, like Cooper, and it strangely aligned him with her, as though they were some kind of team.
“Miss Ciccone”—Cooper was the one to break the silence—“we need to know what you’re planning to do about this situation you’ve gotten yourself into?”
Lita’s eyebrows flew up. “Are you fucking for real, dude?”
“What?” Cooper seemed surprised by her response.
“This situation I’ve gotten myself into? Well, sure, but equally, it’s a position Sebastian has put me in. I’m not sure if you know this, but it takes two to tango.” She glared at Cooper, and Sebastian chuckled softly behind her, causing Lita to growl, “Shut it, Sebastian.”
