Chapter 7
Nathaniel and I didn’t Skype a lot over the summer, after all, but instead chatted on WhatsApp. He sent me poems and photos, and even started a video hangout when he went to a Downstair Alley concert. Noah and I returned to our apartment a few days ago, but I haven’t run into any of my friends yet. I haven’t seen or heard from Pearl and Cay since that night I got out of the car. I just feel I’ve had enough of them.
Nate returned earlier today, and we agreed to get together tomorrow to discuss how to proceed from here. We’re going to have to find an agreement and a mode of existing in order to raise a child together. I have to admit my heart skips a beat whenever I think of Nate and when we chat. I think I’ve fallen in love with him all over again, just through all that chatting and his daily wake-up texts. Or maybe my feelings for him never really died completely. I don’t know, but I’m still trying to be careful, since he did hurt me so much all those years ago.
My phone rings, and when I recognize the number, I swear silently before answering. “Hello, Cay.”
“Hey, sweetie. Really?”
“Really what?” I ask.
“Are you really pregnant? We heard a friend of Cliff’s say something along those lines, so of course we’re asking ourselves if it can be true,” she explains with a brainless giggle.
“Is that really any of your business?” I ask in a far too friendly tone.
“Yes or no?” she presses.
“Cay, I’m not in the mood for your childish calls. Yes, I’m pregnant. What else do you want to know, who the father is?”
“Of course I need to know that!” she answers, both eager and amused.
“Nathaniel is the father. Any more questions?”
“Nope.”
“Oh, and by the way, I’m going to keep this baby.”
“Oh God, are you totally nuts?” she says inanely. “Do you really want to throw away your figure forever over a simple accident?”
It feels as if an elephant just stepped on my chest. Did she really just say that? “Your attitude is disgusting.”
“No, it’s not. I’ve had several abortions already,” she says. “It doesn’t even hurt, and it sure beats years of a puking, farting, screaming child. You could also just drink lots and lots of alcohol. That should get rid of it, too.”
Abortions? Plural? I’m speechless for a long moment. How can she be so egoistical and callous? “You sound as if you’re proud of having killed your children one by one,” I say coldly. Well, she’s obviously the type of person who should never have responsibility for a child—or procreate at all.
“I’m proud of having the courage to do it, yes,” she snaps back.
“You’re one freaking sandwich short of a picnic, Cay,” I say gravely. “I don’t want anything to do with you or Pearl from now on. You’re both insane.”
She gasps. “You better think twice before messing with us.”
“Are you actually out of your mind? I’m not messing with you; I’m turning away from you. I don’t want my child growing up in the presence of people like you. Have a nice life, Cay.”
“You’ll see what happens when you cross me.”
“Don’t threaten me, Cay, or I will air your dirty laundry, as well.”
She giggles. “It’s already out there for everyone to see anyway.” She hangs up.
“What the hell was that?” I say aloud, dumbfounded and overwhelmed by her revelations and threats.
It’s bad enough that she recommended I get an abortion for the sake of my figure, but the whole business of not “messing” with her just floors me. I should really avoid them both for a while, because a public clash would certainly end ugly for everyone involved. It’s fantastic how wrong you can be about your so-called friends. I can’t trust anybody but my own ass, because at least it will always have my back. Gallows humor, the only helpful kind.
I sit there for a few minutes, and then I dial Cliff’s number.
“Ah, it’s the most beautiful and most pregnant woman I know,” he says by way of greeting. “What can I do for you?”
“Hey,” I giggle, immediately feeling less stressed. “Do you have a little time to meet for coffee?”
“Coffee? Are you still allowed to drink that?”
“Of course I can have coffee, as long as I don’t chug a gallon a day,” I say. “So are you free?”
“Yep. Where shall we meet?”
“Lake Osceola?” I suggest. “I’ll bring a thermos.”
“In an hour?”
“Perfect. See you then.”
“Bye, beauty.” Cliff hangs up, and I drag myself into the kitchen to make the promised coffee.
***
Noah stops to let me out at Lake Osceola with a questioning look. “Are you going to tell me what you’re steaming about?”
I shake my head to indicate my annoyance. “Just a stupid call from Cay, who told me to get an abortion.”
“Excuse me?”
“And she said not to mess with her. I have no idea what made her this bitchy. Well, apart from me asking her if she was crazy, but what the hell? I’ve decided to try to avoid her and Pearl in the future.”
Noah lifts an eyebrow. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah. So if I come home from classes all worked up and in tears any day soon, you’ll know why.”
“I hope they leave you alone, but if not, I’ll make sure they finally get what they deserve.”
“Ah, just forget about it. It’s a shame, really, but if they intend to stay up on their high horses and talk about me behind my back, so be it. I don’t care.”
He nods. “All right, but if anything happens, you let me know.”
“I will, and now I need to go meet with Cliff.” I smile at my brother before getting out and walking over to where Cliff is sitting on a bench. “Hey,” I say cheerfully.
He grins up at me. “Hey, pregnant beauty.”
I giggle and sit down next to him, handing him one of the plastic traveling mugs I brought. Then I pour him some coffee. “How are you?”
“I’m fine, and you? You still feeling nauseous all the time?”
“Every damn morning,” I admit, leaning my head on his shoulder.
“I think you’ll get over that soon,” he speculates, leaning his head against mine in turn.
I shrug. “By the way, do you know if Anson is friends with Pearl and Cay?”
“No idea. Why?”
“Cay called me earlier, claiming they heard I was pregnant, and that a friend of yours told them, blah, blah, blah,” I explain. I’m calm about it because Cliff isn’t to blame for this Muppet freak show.
“Oh? And what did she say?” he asks, sounding genuinely interested. He’s never been a fan of those girls or our friendship, same as Noah.
“She told me to get an abortion, and that she’s already had a few and it was no big deal. What else did she say … ? Oh, yes, that I could also just drink a bunch of alcohol to get rid of my problem. Which led me to ask her if she was nuts, and then she said I shouldn’t mess with her or Pearl. So I told her I didn’t want anything more to do with either of them.”
“Wow,” he says with a whistle. “That woman can’t be quite right in the head.”
I nod gravely. “You can say that again.”
“Are you afraid of them?” he asks.
“No. Let them try to mess with me; I know how to fight back. I have enough photos to make their lives a little harder if they don’t leave me alone,” I explain. “But I don’t want to descend to their level if I can help it. I think it’s enough that they know I’d fight back if they ganged up on me.”
“It would be better for them if they didn’t try,” Cliff says angrily. “I can’t believe they’d tell you to get rid of the baby just because they wouldn’t know how to handle one. That is awful.”
“I’ve spent the last hour thinking about it. What did her threat even mean? What are they going to do? They don’t have anything they could use to hurt me.”
“Are you sure? I mean, Pearl’s father is a policeman. If she puts her mind to it, she’s going to find some dirty laundry.”
“So what?” I pull my cardigan closer against the cold. “Her father wouldn’t like to find pictures of her walking down the street at night in her underwear. After she vomited on her own dress at a party… No, wait, that was Cay.”
Cliff laughs. “Seriously?”
“Yep. She felt sick and couldn’t find the restroom fast enough—or maybe it was locked; I’m not completely sure anymore—and then most of it landed on her dress. She took a shower in her underwear, threw the dress away, and walked home as she was. Granted, it was the middle of summer, when a lot of people are out in nothing but a bathing suit, but usually not in the best neighborhood in Coral Gables,” I add with a smirk. “Oh, and Pearl went on her dad’s work computer to find out more about Avery’s new girlfriend. She even accessed restricted data. Hell, he could be the one to get in trouble for that one—for not properly securing sensitive information. I filmed her when she was hatching the plan, and then again when she did it. And the files she nabbed from his desk are visible in the vid.”
“Sounds like you could stir up some trouble for her and her dad if you wanted to,” Cliff says thoughtfully.
“If I sent it to his superior, yes, but not if I just sent it to him. That would only cause trouble for his sweet daughter.”
“And you really intend to do that?” Cliff probes, sounding concerned.
“Well, no. I don’t want to do it, but if they don’t leave me alone or think they can make my life hell, I know I have something I can use to stop them. But I actually think it would frustrate them most if I didn’t even react to any attempt at baiting me.”
“Yeah, ignoring them is really the best strategy.”
“That’s what I think, too.”
“Let’s talk about something way more pleasant,” he says, stretching out the way like chewing gum. “How is the little Shaina doing?”
“Shaina?” I ask, confused.
“Shai and Nate’s baby.” He’s grinning when I look up at him.
“Oh,” I laugh. “I hope he or she is doing fine. My next doctor’s appointment isn’t for two weeks.”
“Are you excited?”
“For the checkup or the baby?”
“Duh. For the baby.”
“It’s all still so unreal. I don’t feel like there’s a human being growing inside of me, but maybe I will once I start to feel kicks in my belly.”
“I think you’re going to make a great mom.”
“I hope so, but I don’t think I can measure up to the moms I’ve had,” I tell him. “Danielle is a wonderful mom, and my birth mother was unforgettable.”
“You’ll be just as wonderful as they were, Shai.”
“Knock on wood,” I say with a smirk, and then I pull away from him in order to pour a cup of coffee for myself.
When I’m holding the hot cup in both hands, Cliff puts an arm around me. “Do you love Nathaniel?”
I take a sip and feel the heat soothe my chilly hands. “Yes, I love him … Well, I’ve fallen in love with him again.”
“How come?”
“We chatted a lot over the summer, Skyped a few times, and just generally got along great. We talked about a lot of things, confessed our feelings for each other, and remembered the old times together.”
“And that made you fall in love with him again?”
“There were days when we spent seven or eight hours talking,” I answer. “The only day we didn’t talk much was when he went to a concert, but then he called me from there so I could listen to the band, too. He really put a lot of effort in, even though he was so far away. I’m really excited about what’s going to happen next … I haven’t told him yet that I’ve fallen in love with him again.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t say a thing like that on the phone. I want to look into his eyes when I tell him.”
Cliff nods. “Good point.”
My gaze is transfixed by the calm, glinting waters of the lake, and by the setting sun reflecting on its surface. It’s a beautiful vista, complemented by the melodic splash of the lake’s central fountain. “You know what?”
“I know a lot of things, but probably not what you’re about to tell me right now,” Cliff says teasingly.
“I’m happy to call you my best friend. I’m glad you’re here.”
He strokes my arm in a warm gesture. “Same here.”
I smile and close my eyes for a moment, sighing. “Whatever happened between you and Caydie, by the way?”
“Nothing. We met for coffee a few times, but she’s not interested in me romantically. She wants to be friends, though, and I’m cool with that. I’d rather be friends with her than not have her in my life at all.”
“I like the way you think,” I say quietly. “Most other guys would have said if she doesn’t want to be with me, screw her.”
“Why would I think like that? I like her and, yes, I’m also in love with her, but if she doesn’t want to be my girlfriend, I’ll take what I can get. Who knows, maybe one day she will want to be with me. Hope dies last is what they say.”
“Or it’ll die with you,” I tease him.
“I hope it doesn’t,” Cliff chuckles.
“Do you really believe Nate and I will make good parents?” I ask, my voice muffled by my own insecurity.
He sighs pensively. “Why not? You said you get along well. You’re in love with him, he’s probably also in love with you, and you’re both great people. Well, at least you’re a great person. I can’t really say whether he is.”
“I love you for always knowing how to reassure and encourage me. On a platonic level.”
“Aw, you’re cute, Shai.”
I smirk. “I like being cute.” A cool breeze makes me shiver again, and Cliff studies me intently.
“Should we head to my place? It’s warmer there.”
“Sure, why not?”
He pulls away and rises, holding out his hand. “Let’s go.”
I take it and let him pull me to my feet. “Can you take me home later, or do I have to call Noah and force him to come pick me up?” I ask pleadingly.
“I’ll take you home. Let him know we’re going to my place so he won’t get worried,” Cliff suggests.
“I’ll text him in a minute.”
We quickly drain our cups and then walk to his car, where Cliff opens the door for me to get in.
***
Back at Cliff’s apartment, we retreat into his cozy room and make ourselves comfortable on the bed to watch a movie. He holds me in his arms because I’m still freezing, which is really odd. I normally sweat like a pig on the barbecue—at least that’s how I like to describe it.
“You’re shivering,” Cliff states.
“I’m cold,” I say, my voice trembling. “I don’t know what’s going on.”
“Do you want me to take you to the hospital? Maybe something’s wrong with the baby.”
I shake my head. “I think I’d have abdominal cramps or something if that was the case.”
“Better safe than sorry, Shai.”
“Maybe it’ll be better in a little while.”
“Shai, it’s almost eighty degrees in here, if my phone is correct, but your hands are icy, you’re shivering, and your lips are blue. Let’s get you to the hospital.”
“I’m fine, Cliff, really,” I insist.
He sighs and lets go of me, taking the wool blanket from the edge of his bed and draping it over my body. “If it doesn’t get better in half an hour, I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“Okay,” I concur, snuggling into his outstretched arm again. I feel so tired I’m convinced I’ll be asleep in half an hour.
“I’m serious, Shai,” he says with conviction.
“I know, and I appreciate your concern, but I don’t think it’s anything serious.”
“You can never be careful enough,” h
e murmurs.
“Cliff, stop making me nervous,” I say.
“I won’t say another word if you promise me you’ll call your doctor tomorrow,” he says.
“I promise,” I sigh.
“Thank you, Shai.”
I close my eyes and nestle against him to enjoy his warmth. “You’re welcome.”
I fall asleep as he says something else.
***
Cliff must have let me sleep, because when I wake up next to him, it’s early morning. The birds outside his window woke me up. I’m still lying in his arms, and he’s asleep. He didn’t change into his pajamas, probably for fear of waking me up, and that makes me smile.
When I raise my head a little, I see the clock—it’s only six a.m. I turn on my side, staying encircled by his arm, and find a comfortable position. I doze off again, still tired.
***
“Wake up, pregnant beauty,” Cliff whispers and pokes me gently.
I open my eyes. “Good morning.”
“Were you already awake or do you really sleep that lightly?”
“I think I was only dozing.”
“Ah … How are you doing? Feeling better?”
I nod. “I don’t feel cold anymore. Thanks for letting me sleep.” I smile and sit up. “I guess I should get home.”
“I’ll take a quick shower now and then drive you, okay?”
“Cool, thanks,” I say, struggling to get my legs untangled from the heavy blanket.
“Relax, I’ll need a few minutes.”
When Cliff leaves the room, I dig my phone out of my purse and check for messages. There’s one from Nathaniel, sent last night:
I wanted to wish you good night. You’re probably already asleep. I hope you dream of me, like a few days ago ;-)
“I shouldn’t have told him I had that sexy dream about him,” I murmur, before answering the message.
Good morning. No, I didn’t dream of you that way again. I don’t think I had any dreams at all last night. I didn’t feel too good.
Only moments later, I see that he’s online and typing. Then the next message appears:
What happened? Why didn’t you tell me?
Nathaniel: True Love: New Adult College Romance Novella (Coral Gables Series Book 4) Page 9
