“That is a silly question, I’ve got to show that ass who is in charge in this relationship.”
I laughed at him and he helped me put my coat on and we made our way to his car and drove home to my place.
Chapter 43
Esmeralda
A few days later, on the Saturday morning, I was laying on the sofa reading my kindle, feeling a bit sorry for myself. I hadn’t been to work all week and the girls were getting fed up with my refusal to leave the house. I got up to make myself a drink when my phone pinged, it was Rick;
Fancy a coffee? x
Yes, that will be nice. When? x
Now? x
On my way. Coffee Bean? x
Where else? See you soon x
It would do me good to get out of the house and I was looking forward to seeing Rick. We had not seen a lot of each other recently and I didn’t want him to feel awkward with everything going on between Jax and I. Although, I was secretly hoping that he would bring him up over coffee.
Ten minutes later, I walked into The Coffee Bean and saw that Rick was sat in the corner and he was on the phone. I heard him say; ‘yeah she is here now, speak to you later,’ and I wondered who he was talking to but I wasn’t going to be nosey and ask. As I approached the table, he got up and gave me a big hug and I just sank into him, it felt nice, he was such a good friend and I’d missed him.
“How are you?” He asked.
I shrugged my shoulders and said; “Ok, I guess… You ok?”
“Yeah, really good.” He said with a smile and then the waitress approached; “What do you want, Es?”
“Can I have a hot chocolate please? And a slice of the chocolate fudge cake?”
“Sure… Rick?”
“I will have coffee and some chocolate cake sounds good.”
She smiled at him and walked away. I looked at him with my eyebrows raised and he said, “I guess I come in here too often now.” We both laughed and I said;
“I’m not sure Marce would like that.” He laughed as he shook his head.
“I can handle her.”
“Ha ha, really?”
“I have my ways.” He said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. The waitress arrived with our drinks and cake and all of a sudden I realised I was starving.
“How come you’re not drinking coffee?” He asked me.
“It’s not been agreeing with me lately… I am so fed up of this virus now. I just wanna feel better.”
“Yeah, I bet.” He paused as if he was finding it difficult to speak. He reached across and put his hand over mine. “I wanted to talk to you about Jax.”
I felt myself stiffen and my stomach somersaulted, I stopped eating as I instantly felt sick and said; “What about him? Is he ok?”
“He had a situation with Cindy.”
“I thought they were back together, I saw them together.”
“No, Es, no they aren’t together… She told him she was pregnant and that the baby was his.”
“Oh, I guess they will be stuck together for a long time then.” Just that news made me feel sad, I really felt like I definitely had no chance of us being together now, I knew Jax and I knew he would be there for her.
“No, Es, she isn’t pregnant, she made it up to try and get him back.”
“So, is he still mad at me for knowing Cindy cheated?”
“I don’t know, he needs to get his head around all of this, don’t give up on him, Es.”
I sighed and said; “I think it may be too late… It might not have been if I’d heard from him at least once.”
“He’s an idiot!” Rick said angrily. “I heard Marce wouldn’t leave you alone the other night, because she was so worried about you?”
I shook my head, laughed and said; “She’s crazy… She said she wouldn’t let me cry over him anymore, because it wasn’t helping me get better.”
“You could text him you know.” Rick suggested.
“No, Rick, he was the one that walked away, he should be the one to make the first move. He has gone out of his way to avoid me and if I text him and he doesn’t reply I end up getting hurt again.” My eyes were filling up with tears. “Can we have a subject change? How are things with you and Marce?”
“She’s really something… I’ve never met anyone like her… I don’t know how I will cope when we go on tour. I hate being away from her and she is being stubborn and refusing to come with us.”
“Ha, you know what she’s like, stubborn isn’t the word.” We both laughed and Rick looked at his watch and said;
“Ah, I have to go, that time went really fast. Do you want a lift home?”
“No, the fresh air will be good for me.” I stood up and put my coat on. “Will see you soon.” I hugged him goodbye and made my way home. On the way home I thought about what Rick had said, but I couldn’t bring myself to text Jax. He knew where to find me if he wanted to talk.
Chapter 44
Esmeralda
“Esme! Get out here!” Marcy yelled from my front door. I couldn’t move anywhere, I was being sick and was sitting on the bathroom floor. I heard the bathroom door open and Marcy looked down at me on the floor.
“Oh my God, are you ok?” She asked, as she moved towards me. I nodded, got up off the floor and cleaned my face and brushed my teeth.
“Do you need to pee?” She asked me. I looked at her strangely and said;
“No, what a question Marce.”
“Well, let’s get some liquid in you because you need to do this.” She said as she placed something down on the side of the sink. I looked over and gasped in shock.
“What? No, Marce. I’ve got a virus.”
“I beg to differ… Just humour me.” I picked up the pregnancy test and said;
“Ok, get out and I will do it.” Marcy squealed and left the bathroom. I opened it up and read the instructions. A few minutes later I walked out of the bathroom and Marcy was stood right outside the door.
“Well?” She said.
I shook my head. “I can’t look at it. What am I going to do if it’s positive… He won’t talk to me.”
“It will all be fine.” Marcy then took the pregnancy test from me. “Do you want me to look?” I nodded my head and she looked at it, she didn’t have any reaction on her face. It seemed like hours before she spoke but it was only a few seconds.
“You’re pregnant… You’re gonna have a baby… I’m gonna be an Auntie.” She cried happily and jumped up and down in excitement. I just stood there, shocked, then I broke down and fell to the floor. “Esme, are you not happy about this?”
“I can’t have a baby… He won’t talk to me… He hates me… How can I do this alone?”
“You won’t be alone, you have me… Jax will come round.”
“No, you don’t understand… Cindy told him she was pregnant… He doesn’t need me telling him the same thing.”
“The difference is she isn’t pregnant, you are.”
“No… No… I can’t do this.” I was really crying now and Marcy couldn’t get me up off the floor. I laid down and curled myself up and sobbed.
“Esme, please, get up off the floor.” She was starting to sound worried.
“He doesn’t want me… He won’t want this baby.” I said quietly through my tears. Marcy tried to convince me to get up again and I wouldn’t move. The next thing I knew, I was being picked up off the floor and I curled into a strong chest still sobbing.
“Sssh, Es, it’s ok.” Rick said as he sat down on the sofa with me on his lap, rocking me gently. Marcy was sat beside me. “What’s happened?” Rick asked Marcy.
“She’s pregnant.” I heard Marcy tell him.
“What? You need to tell Jax. Shall I call him?” Rick said.
“No!” I yelled as I jumped up and out of his arms.
“Es, he needs to know.” He told me.
“I know that, do you think I don’t know that?” I said as I started pacing.
“When are you going to tell him?” M
arce asked.
“He’s not even speaking to me, how am I supposed to tell him?” I shouted.
“What are you going to do?” She asked.
I shrugged my shoulders and said, “I need to let this sink in.”
“Don’t leave it too long to tell him.” Rick said. “You shouldn’t need to go through this without him.”
“I won’t, I promise… I need to lie down. Can I have some time alone, please?”
“Of course, hun, please call me if you need me.”
“I will, thanks.” I hugged them both, locked my front door and went back to bed.
Chapter 45
Jackson
I had finally got all of the trouble with Cindy sorted. I was being there for her although we were definitely not getting back together, she was pretty messed up in the head, and despite what she had put me through, I owed it to her to help her straighten out. We had known each other for a long time and did have some good memories.
I was looking forward to seeing Esme at the bar tonight as I was going to ask her if we could talk. I was going to sit her down and explain everything; explain why I hadn’t been around and why I had been avoiding her. I didn’t want to get her involved in what was going on with Cindy, it would have crushed her to know that Cindy thought she was having my baby and it would have torn me apart to have given up Esme and step up and do the right thing by Cindy. I was mad when I found out that Es knew Cindy was cheating, but I saw now that she didn’t want to hurt me and that she had been scared of Cindy and scared of losing her job. I just wanted to put it all behind us. We hadn’t spoken properly for weeks and although she was probably mad with me, I wanted to make her see how I felt about her. She meant the world to me, and tonight was the night I was going to prove how much, by asking her to come on tour with Flix. I couldn’t bear to be parted from her again.
Esmeralda
A week had passed since I found out I was pregnant, it was my first shift back at The Archer after having two weeks off. I was still feeling sick but now I knew the reason behind it, I was finding it easier to manage. Paul had been amazing about me having time off and was easing me in with a few quiet evening shifts this week.
I was past the point of giving up on Jackson. He plainly refused to talk to me and even walked past me if I saw him. Cindy was often at the bar when Jax was, and every time she saw him ignore me or just walk past me she always had the biggest grin on her face. I really wanted to slap it off. I had decided that enough was enough and it was time to tackle Jackson and try to make him come to his senses. Rick had been quite clear about Jax’s feelings towards me and I was feeling stronger.
“Jax, can we talk?” I asked as he approached the bar. Wait a minute, he came to my side of the bar, that’s got to be progress.
“Sure, when are you finishing?” He asked.
“…Uh…Eleven…” I stuttered, I didn’t expect it to be so easy.
“Ok, great, I will hang out till then. Can I have a jack and Coke, please?”
“Sure.” I said, smiling the biggest smile in weeks. My stomach fluttered and I was hoping this was the start of good things to come.
I passed him his drink and asked how he was, he said ok, but he’d had a lot on his mind recently. He said he would see me later and went and sat down at a table quite far away. I noticed that Rick, Will and Frank went over to join him. He didn’t look too happy. Clearly, he had no idea that Rick had filled me in on the Cindy situation.
It was nearly closing time and the bar was starting to empty out. I noticed that Cindy was still hanging around. Why didn’t she just get the message and leave him alone? Or had he been with her while we haven’t been together? Oh God, just the thought made me feel sick. My mind started to wander if there had been other girls since we’d split up. I’d seen him play enough times to know how many girls were offering it to him on a plate, I hoped I was wrong.
I was out clearing tables, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked around and saw Cindy standing in front of me; she got right up close to my face and said;
“He will NEVER be yours.” I saw out of the corner of my eye that Jax and the rest of Flix were heading towards us, I swallowed my fear and laughed at what she said.
I turned around to grab the tray of empty glasses, when suddenly Cindy shoved me hard from behind and I went flying into the table. A pain shot up through my stomach and I fell to the floor as tears streamed from my eyes. I looked up saw the guys rushing over. I held out my hand and called for Rick. He came running to me.
“Es, you ok?” He asked, panicking.
“No! Need an ambulance, I landed on my stomach.” I cried out. I was finding it hard to breathe, the pain was intense.
“Shit! SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE” I heard him shout.
“Esme.” I heard Jax say behind Rick.
I looked at Rick and shook my head, as if I was saying not to tell him. Rick gave me a look as if to say he was going to. I raised my hand up to my forehead and felt a wetness, I must have banged my head and I was bleeding. I started feeling faint, the voices around me became muffled.
“What’s her problem, I barely touched her. She doesn’t need an ambulance.” Cindy was saying from somewhere in the room.
“Shut it, Cindy.” I heard Rick yell.
“Why? She is just being dramatic. I hardly touched her.” Cindy said again.
“She’s PREGNANT!” Rick yelled at her.
I heard a few gasps, and then I could hear the sirens of the ambulance as I closed my eyes and everything went black.
To Be Continued…….
About the Author
This book was written by two friends who live in Cornwall and have a passion for reading.
We both have full-time day jobs and decided to embark on this fantastic journey together. In our spare time, we can often be found with our noses in our kindles – though more recently, we have been glued to our laptops writing, editing and re-editing this book. We hope you enjoyed reading our debut novel, as much as we enjoyed writing it, we hope it will be the first of many.
We would like to thank our friends for supporting us throughout the later stages of writing this book (once we admitted what we had been up to!) And to those of our friends who proof read and were brutally honest. And finally a MASSIVE thank you to you, the reader for bothering to buy and read the book and making it all the way to the end to be reading this.
Rocking Esme (The Rocking Series Book 1) Page 18