by Jade White
“Why not?” Mark pressed, completely baffled by that answer.
“It doesn’t matter,” Caitlin said, realizing it was her friend that needed her help right now.
They weren’t here to have an argument about why she should be dating a billionaire, but rather to support a friend who found something terrifying waiting for her this morning. She was glad Caitlin understood that much. Caitlin was a really good friend, protective and loving.
“You are sure you’re pregnant?”
“Beyond doubt,” she said with all confidence and assurance. “I took five tests, just to be certain. I’m definitely pregnant.”
That ended that line of questioning.
“You’re at least going to tell him, right?” Mark asked her.
The expression on his face was deathly worried about Gus. She didn’t understand the loyalty that he had for Gus. Where was that coming from? What exactly had Gus done to Mark to make him this loyal?
She hadn’t really thought about that. What was that handsome billionaire going to do for her? Sure, he could pay for everything, but was that what she wanted? Was it the right reason to tell a man he was a father? Sure, there's probably something moral about telling him and it would be the right thing for her to do, but she didn’t know if that was what she wanted to do. This was a man who really hadn’t put forth the kind of effort she wanted in their relationship. She didn’t need somebody who was phoning it in as a father.
She was going for somebody actually worth fighting for. She was going to need somebody who would be there for her. God forbid, if he actually decided that marrying her was the right thing to do. That was such an antiquated notion she doubted it would even cross his mind. Nobody got married anymore because somebody was pregnant.
“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head at the idea of it. She didn’t want to think about that right now. She had plenty of other things to worry about.
“You should tell him,” Mark said strongly.
“Just because you have a hard on for the guy, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do,” Caitlin said to Mark fiercely.
Tiffany was grateful to have her there, fighting the battle she didn’t want to.
“If I got a girl pregnant, I would want to know,” Mark said strongly. “Even if we don’t get married or anything, I’d still want to be able to help her and support her. Having a child is terrifying and I wouldn’t want her going through it alone. That’s not the right thing. Besides, you have an obligation to tell him. You don’t want that hanging over your head.”
Strangely enough, Tiffany thought that he was probably right. That wasn’t something she wanted over her head. What happens if one day it came out? Gus was going to be furious and have the kind of power behind him that could make her life miserable. She didn’t want to make an enemy of the man she might need later on down the road. She supposed Mark was right, strangely enough. She had her place for anger and being upset with him, but it wasn’t to do with their child.
“No matter what happens,” Caitlin said, reaching over and taking Tiffany’s hand. “We’re here for you. You are our friend, so you don’t have to worry. If you have appointments, or anything like that, that you need somebody there for you, I’m your girl.”
Tiffany squeezed Caitlin’s hand, grateful for the offer. She would gratefully take her up on it. She was so terrified to do any of this alone. Deep down inside, she knew the right thing to do would be to tell Gus. He might want to be there, too.
She shook her head. This was turning into such a mess.
Things were beginning to feel more and more chaotic. As she made her way across town to the familiar building, she felt her nerves beginning to grow. She didn’t know what she was going to say to him. She didn’t even know if he wanted to hear it.
The building was as familiar as she remembered it. It was the kind of beautiful building she knew she would never able to live in. When she got out of the taxi, she felt her heart sink. She’d wished that she would never have to come back to this building. Standing right there, in front of it, it made her feel as inferior as it ever did. She just wanted to turn around and go home. But her friends had convinced her that this was the right thing to do. So, taking a deep breath, she headed straight for the doorman.
The doorman was familiar, the guy who had been there the night she had come to visit this place. He was an older gentleman with a kind, soft face. He looked at her with a warm, welcoming grin on his sage, wise face. He looked at her with the eyes of a man who had sympathy, like he could see through her mind to her problems even before she vocalized them. It was the kind of power that made her life easier at the moment. For some reason, she just wanted to burst into tears and tell this old man everything that was wrong with her life.
“Hi,” she said with a friendly smile. “I’m friends with Gus Anderson, I was going out with him for a while.”
“I remember you,” he said, his mind no doubt as sharp as a tack. “You are one of his lady friends from a few months back. I haven’t seen you for a while, hope nothing bad happened.”
She didn’t know how he could know the truth, but it felt like he did.
“Do you mind if I go up and see him?” she asked him with a timid voice.
“I suppose I don’t care at all,” he said with a grin. “Your business is your own and I don’t think getting in the middle of lovers is my responsibility.”
She smiled at him and gave him a nod while he held open the door for her. He was a kind and considerate man and she could feel his eyes following her as she headed into the lobby. The lobby was just as beautiful as she remembered. It was a kind of magical place where she thought people would meet, and fall in love, and start the story of their lives. She walked across the lobby, she felt like she was just beginning her life. This was where everything was changing for her.
She pressed the button on the elevator, calling it down to the lobby. While she waited for it, she looked at her reflection in the polished, silver doors. She saw a beautiful woman, terrified and worried about the world ahead of her. No wonder the doorman had been so nice to her. She looked like death. She thought about what she was going to say to Gus and how she would word it.
It wasn’t every day she told someone she was pregnant with their child. It felt like everybody in the lobby was looking at her, watching her to see what she was going to do. It was one of those random moments where she felt like her life was a reality television show.
When the doors on the elevator closed, she was left alone inside of the opulent little space. She could feel her heart beating, pounding against her ribs. This was the most terrifying thing she had ever done. Choosing to put everything on the line right now seemed like a rash decision, but she had to. She was going to be testing everything she thought she knew.
She could feel the elevator rising, taking her all the way up to the floor where Gus lived. When the door slowly opened, she looked up and down the familiar corridor, never forgetting the feeling of looking down those hallways. All she could think of was that this could end very badly.
She took her first steps down the hallway, looking at the white door and wondering if he was even going to be home. If he wasn’t home, this would be over really quickly. She would enjoy that. She would really like that. It would kind of be like a cosmic, get out of jail free card for bad decisions. Because, when she thought about bad decisions she’d made, this one was shaping up to take the cake.
She knocked on the door, wondering what would happen if he wasn’t home. Sure, it would feel like she could get away, run home, and never think about this again, but that wasn’t the case. She was going to have to reassess her plan. She was going to think about what she was going to do in order to tell him that he was going to be a father. That wasn’t an exciting thought. In fact, it was terrifying.
She was going to have to arrange something with him so she could give him the undoubtedly bad news. He wasn’t going to be excited about this. There was no way he was goi
ng to be excited about this. He didn’t seem like the type of man who was interested in being a father and he hadn’t even been the kind of man who seemed interested in dating seriously.
So what was it going to be like when she told him it was time for him to put his daddy pants on? Was he going to get furious?
Was he going to tell her that it wasn’t his responsibility? She didn’t know. But, every passing second, she felt a little more nervous about it. Finally, she could hear movement inside of the immense apartment, lurking behind the door.
There was a box next to the door that she hadn’t noticed the first time she came here. It was the kind of box that had a screen and a camera, so that he could see whoever it was knocking on his door. It was the kind of paranoid stuff the very wealthy people had. She looked up in the corner of the corridor where a little tiny camera was positioned. He was watching her right now, no doubt about it. She looked at the little black ball camera, letting him know that she knew.
“I thought you never wanted to see me again,” he said over a microphone. She looked at the speaker next to the box by the door, glaring at it. She didn’t want to have playful banter with him. She was here for a very real purpose.
“I wouldn’t be here unless it was for good reason,” she said rather seriously.
If that wasn’t enough to get him to open the door, she didn’t know what would. She hoped he was scared and terrified of what it was she had to say.
She could hear the locks clicking on the other side of the door, telling her she’d said enough, like the magic words “open sesame.” As the door opened, she looked inside once more at the familiar vastness of the room. It was such an enormous room; she’d forgotten how insanely large it was.
No one should have an apartment like this in New York City. All she could do was stare at it, as he opened the door and looked at her. Of course, he was fairly distracting himself, but she tried to look past it.
He was as handsome as she remembered, looking at her with beautiful eyes set inside of a handsome face. It was a face she dreamed of kissing and spending the rest of her life with, but it was doomed from the start. She wondered what it meant now. What was it going to mean for them now that she was pregnant? Was she going to be forced to see him all the time? Was she just going to torture herself over and over again?
He offered her a smile, oblivious to what was going to happen in a few minutes. She wondered what was going to happen, if he would freak out. There was a really good chance he would.
“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked her, the smile rising on his lips. “I thought the last time we saw each other, you made things perfectly clear; you weren’t interested in spending any more time with me. That was really the saddest day of my life.”
“I still stand by that,” she said to him with very serious face. She was in no mood to play. She didn’t want to reunite with him or get to know him any better. She wanted to talk with him about the fact that he was going to be a father. “I have something to tell you, something you might not want to hear. But, I’m going to tell you anyway. I feel like I have an obligation to tell you.”
“Then by all means,” he said, leaning against the wall and watching her.
There was a look in his eyes that was playful and full of life. She wondered how long until it left. She took a deep breath, staring at him and wondering if this was going to make him angry. She wasn’t ready for that. She was ready for anything but that. But, it wasn’t like life was waiting for her to get ready.
“I’m pregnant,” she said to him with a very tough voice. “I haven’t seen anyone since you, and you’re the last person I slept with. That makes you a father. I took five tests, so before you even ask, yes, I’m certain I’m pregnant.”
He stared at her for a moment, baffled for a second as he watched her, letting the information process in his mind. With each passing second, she got more and more terrified that he wasn’t going to like it, but the moment of thought was brief. A smile began to spread across his face, something infectious, like a wildfire. As he looked at her, she could feel his eyes softening, coming to terms with what he had been told. There was no anger, no fire, and no wrath in those eyes.
“Do you have anything to say?” she asked finally, tired of the gap between them.
“Yeah,” he said with breathy voice. “Are you okay? Is there anything that you need? What can I do to help?”
She was instantly overwhelmed by how much he wanted to help her. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly as she felt a wave of relief washing across her. She didn’t feel like she was alone anymore. She felt like she would be able to deal with this problem.
She felt like she was going to be able to walk away from all of this. She felt a smile spreading across her lips. All she could think of was that she was going to have help and she wasn’t going to have to deal with this all by herself. She would have someone there with her. She was with a man she truly liked and he was going to help her all the way through this. She could feel her heart expanding, growing and flooding with relief. All she wanted was for him to be there with her—be with her forever.
She hated feeling like such a romantic, but she ended up staying the night with him, talking about things that were changing and things that were going to happen. He was a good sport. She understood again why it was she was attracted to him in the first place. She understood again why it was they might’ve had a chance, once upon a time.
She could feel old flames coming back to life.
Chapter Three:
Tiffany wasn’t exactly sad that things started to pick up between her and Gus again. Things began at a new level, complex and growing. There was no more hesitation or reservation between the two of them. There was no holding back and no fear.
They both agreed that night, when she told him that she was pregnant, that it would be the smartest move to try and make things work between them. She knew that the only thing making her interesting to him was the fact that she wasn’t interested in his money. She truly didn’t have a desire for it, but she did desire not to be alone.
When things began again, they did feel off at first. There was something clunky and strange about him being so active in her life and her wanting to have him active in her life so much. Both of them didn’t know what to do with each other. Both of them were hungry and ravenous for each other, but everything felt scary and tense.
Everything felt like they were on shaky ground, the past haunting them. It was something they were going to have to deal with, and they were going to have to address it, eventually. Right then, things were going in a good direction.
They both agreed they wanted their relationship to be something fierce and new. They didn’t want to go back to a stale world where neither of them had any idea of what their intentions were. They loved passionately, spoke truthfully, and dealt with their problems upfront.
There was no room for misunderstandings. There was no room for anger. If they didn’t like something, they addressed it immediately. This new relationship was everything they needed. It was a relationship they should’ve had last time. It was hard work, it was scary at times, and it was exhausting, but it was everything they should’ve had.
Whenever they would go on dates, they made an effort to choose something both of them would love. It was important to them that they try their hardest to find the perfect balance for the relationship. That night, he was planning on picking her up and taking her to a restaurant she had never been to.
It was one of those restaurants that she had never dreamed of actually going to. The money she would need to spend on a single appetizer was more than she’d ever want to. She couldn’t drop that kind of money so easily. But, when it came to the kind of money Gus could drop for a single dinner, she was finding there was an entirely different world out there where people ate food that tasted amazing, where they actually cooked it in the kitchen, rather than just heating it up.
It was more than she was used to. It wa
s a fantastic world normally beyond her reach. Gus lived on an entirely different plane of existence than she did. It was like she’d been living under a rock, unaware of the glories of the real world. But tonight, she was getting treated like she was something special.
Dressed to the nines, she waited for the driver and when he picked her up, she sat in the back of the car listening to the music on the radio. She knew the drivers didn’t like talking to her. They were paid to do a job and they weren’t there to socialize. She found that odd. She would’ve liked to talk to people all the way to her destination. The fact that she was alone in the back made her feel like she was an outsider.
She walked into the restaurant and spoke to the maître d’ about joining Gus Anderson. The man’s eyes lit up, fully aware of who Gus Anderson was, and he smiled as he led her back to the table where all the guests were already seated. She didn’t know he’d always gone to these places before her. When he saw her, he stood up to meet her, and she watched as his eyes lit up. He was always so excited to see her. There was something inside of him and it told it her that she should be more happy to see him, too.