by Jade Royal
“I like how you keep saying ‘we,’” Charm teased Jason. “And the only person making it awkward is you and Brianna. I’m good and I’m sure Denzel is good too.” Denzel just crossed his arms and said nothing.
“I think we should still leave,” Brianna said. “For about an hour and we’ll be back. That should give you and Denzel enough time to talk.”
“But-” Charm wasn’t able to say anything else. Both Jason and Brianna packed up their things and started headed towards the door. They left in a hurry, leaving Denzel and Charm by themselves. Charm shook her head. She wasn’t ready to be alone with him. But she strapped on her big girl panties.
“You can handle working with me, right?” She asked, turning to look at him. He was texting on his phone, and immediately, Charm wanted to know who with.
“Yup,” was his reply. Charm just looked at him his nonchalance aggravating her. Especially because she was so heartbroken.
“Of course you can,” she mumbled, turning away.
“Excuse me?” He asked.
“If you took your nose out of your phone, you wouldn’t have to question what I said,” Charm replied. “But then I guess your new texting buddy is more important than this.”
“Jealous?” Denzel teased her.
“Actually, no,” Charm said, looking at him again.
“You put up a good front,” Denzel said. Charm couldn’t help but look him up and down. His black jeans fit him perfectly. His crisp white shirt shaped his pectorals and Charm wanted to slap herself for drooling so hard over him and the man didn’t want her anymore.
“Take a picture. It’ll last longer,” Denzel spoke up.
“Grow up,” Charm snapped at him. Instead of standing there just looking at him, she started organizing some things on the gallery floor. She needed Jason and Brianna to come back, because she seriously couldn’t being alone with him. And it only made things worse, because as she walked around the gallery, his eyes followed her.
Even though Denzel was teasing her, he was doing it to hide his own damn emotions. He couldn’t even stop looking at her himself. This was going to be a tough, tough, situation, to handle. Gabby was the one texting him trying to be on that buddy, buddy shit, but honestly, all Denzel could focus on was Charm. She bent over to pick something up off of the floor and Denzel had to shift and hide his dick before she noticed that he was hard.
“How’s life with your hubby?” Denzel asked. He’d only said that before the thought of her with another man angered him, making his dick shrivel up. Charm stopped what she was doing and stood slowly. She turned and looked at him.
“How’s life been with your bipolar ex-girlfriend?” Charm countered.
“At least she’s actually my ex,” Denzel said.
“That’s because you were too little of a man to ask the woman to marry you.”
“And now you’re too little of a woman to ask Terrell for a divorce. But then I guess I just wasn’t enough for you to leave him with the quickness. But I guess the sex was fun.” He shook his head and walked to the door.
“I’ll be back when Jason and Brianna come back. I can’t be alone with you.” Charm just watched him go, not sure about what to say next. If he didn’t want to be alone with her, then so be it. As long as they could get work done, then it was no use to keep thinking about what could be or what was. It was time they both just moved on.
********
The next week was an important one. Charm had gotten in contact with the private school and agreed to their terms for the mural. Charm actually couldn’t wait to get started on the wall. It was her company’s biggest job, and she was determined to excel at it. The school gave the an advance on the job and Charm used that to order bulk supplies. They would need a lot of paint and large brushes for the job and none of that Charm had in stock. As soon as the supplies arrived, they were given permission to start on the mural. Even though her life was seemingly in shambles, having an important job like this one, made her feel as if at least something was going right.
The nurse Terrell hired came every morning and left every night when Terrell was in bed. With him being taken care of, Charm barely left the guest room she occupied. But she didn’t want that to be her life. Little, by little, she started packing her things. And all of them. When no one was at the gallery, she would drop some of her bags there, and put them in the closet of her office, or the basement. That was the only place that was hers, and she was going to make full use of it. She didn’t want to keep living off her friends.
As she was packing up more her things, she felt wetness on her panties. Groaning, she moved through the disarray of the guest room and into the bathroom. Her period was doing all kinds of funky stuff, and it was always irregular. In all honesty, she’d lost track of it. In the bathroom, when she pulled down her panties, she expected to see blood in her underwear, but it was nothing but discharge. It seemed to be a little bit more than normal, but Charm shrugged, and cleaned herself up before leaving the bathroom. She didn’t make it back to the bed before she was stopping to think again. She’d woke up 4 in the morning the previous night just to throw up.
“Humph,” she said to herself. Instead of continuing to pack, Charm pushed her feet in sandals and left the room. She walked straight by Destiny and grabbed up Terrell’s car keys before leaving the house. She was heading to see Jason, but made one stop before going to his place.
“This is a surprise,” Jason said, letting her in. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” Charm went into her bag and pulled out the pregnancy test.
“Oh shit,” he gasped. He pulled her inside quickly and shut the door. “Go take that shit right now!” He urged.
“I’m-I’m too nervous.”
“Just go!” He pushed her to the bathroom. He was a ball of nerves himself, but he needed answers, like right now. To help Charm along, he ripped open the package and handed her the stick.
“Come on, get to peeing.” Charm snatched the test away from him and pushed him out of the bathroom. She didn’t have to follow the directions on the test. She’d taken so many pregnancy tests, she was an expert at it. While she was waiting for it to register, she opened the bathroom door. Jason was pacing just out front waiting for her to be done. He stayed out of the bathroom while she hovered over the test. One single word popped up on the screen.
“Shit,” she sobbed, covering her mouth as she looked at the test.
“What?!” Jason asked. Charm looked at him with tears forming in her eyes.
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered. She cleaned up her mess, but made sure to keep the stick. Jason fetched a small Ziploc bag to keep it in.
“You haven’t been sleeping with Terrell, have you?” Jason asked. Charm gave him a sharp look.
“You know I wasn’t going to sleep with him again. No way.” Charm shook her head. She hugged herself, and then looked down at her pudgy stomach. So much for happy weight.
“What are you thinking?” Jason asked, rubbing her back.
“The baby belongs to Denzel, and he doesn’t even want nothing to do with me anymore,” She said lowly. She felt herself about to have a meltdown. Her eyes were stinging with tears and her palms were sweaty. What the hell was she going to do?
“You can’t keep it from him,” Jason advised her.
“I know,” she whispered. “I know.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Denzel was eating breakfast alone, his eyes fighting to stay open. He started gulping down his hot coffee to keep his eyes open. He would spend night awake and restless, and when it was time to wake up, he would have only just went back to sleep. Many a times he would just look at his phone and contemplate on calling Charm. Her voice alone would be soothing enough to get him to sleep. But he didn’t have her.
After drinking two cups of coffee, he went to his room to pull on his jeans splattered with paint and a black t-shirt. He didn’t want to be late, so he hurried out of his loft so he could get to the gallery. They’d started working on tha
t mural, and they would start early in the morning and leave by the evening. If they wanted to finish when the school was set to be open then they needed to pull hours like that and when the weekends came, they’d all take the days off. Denzel said he would be professional, but honestly, painting around Charm was hard as fuck for him. How could he not be affected by her? And just seeing her go about not talking to him, it just all made it worse working side by side with her. But Denzel pulled on his big boy pants and did what he had to do. This job was going to give him money he needed to add to his savings account.
He was the one with the largest vehicle, so it was his car they used to drive down to the school. Denzel pulled up to the gallery where Jason, Brianna, and Charm, were already waiting outside. Jason didn’t paint, but he was a big help when it came to keeping them organized and getting them food and drinks when they were too busy to think about taking breaks. He also kept up with other company things and scheduling.
Denzel got out of his car and helped put their equipment in the back, while everyone else got in the car. Of course, Jason and Brianna rushed to the backseat, leaving Charm to sit in the passenger seat next to him. They’d been doing that ever since they started the job. Other times, Charm would have argued with them, or something, but this time, she just got in the front seat and buckled up quietly. Her eyes were distant, as if she had a lot on her mind, so Denzel just left it alone.
Even though they were having their troubles, when they began to paint Charm couldn’t resist laughing and smiling with Brianna and Jason. But today, it was different once again. She was quiet and withdrawn, and worked on a section of the wall by herself.
“What’s wrong with her?” Brianna whispered to Jason.
“She’ll tell you soon,” Jason answered. He wanted to spill the news to Brianna, but it wasn’t his news to spill. Charm had to be ready for people to know. But he was impressing on her that there was only one person that she needed to tell, whether she was ready or not. But she didn’t look as if she was trying to rack up the courage to tell him. When Jason looked, Denzel was working on a part of the wall, but every few moments his eyes went to Charm. The affectionate side of him just couldn’t let it go. He moved from his spot and went over to her.
“Hey,” he said. She jumped at looked at him.
“What?” She asked, getting defensive. Lately, if they did talk, they attacked each other in unpleasant ways. Denzel could understand her defensiveness.
“Just making sure you’re good,” he said, shrugging. She looked him up and down and breathed out audibly.
“I’m fine, thanks,” she replied. Denzel just looked at her for a moment. Each time he took a deep breathe he inhale her sweet scent. God, he just wanted to hold her. But he didn’t. He just sighed and walked away from her before he lost himself. Even though she said she was fine, she didn’t return to her usual self. So for the whole work day, she was quiet, no matter what was going on.
It was 7 at night by the time they drove back in town and reached the gallery. Denzel and Jason got everything out of his car and into the gallery.
“Thankfully its Friday,” Brianna said. “I can snuggle up with James tonight and not have to get up early in the morning.”
“Lucky for you,” Jason scoffed. “But I’m beat. I’m going straight home.” Brianna and Jason hugged each other before hugging Denzel and Charm. They took off after that leaving Denzel and Charm alone. Denzel didn’t see a reason to stick around, so he grabbed up his paint kit and was ready to leave.
“Denzel, wait,” Charm called out. He was surprised at hearing her voice. He turned around slowly and shut the door.
“What?” He asked.
“I need to talk to you,” she replied.
“About?” She crossed her arms and looked around for a moment, as if trying to compose herself.
“What the hell is wrong?” He was starting to get concerned about what was going on in her head.
“Has Terrell done something to you?” He asked, lowly, getting angry at the thought that the man might have hurt her.
“No,” she said. “I’m not hurt. I’m pregnant,” She blurted. Denzel’s eyes widened. He stepped back and looked at her up and down.
“Wha-” She went into her pocket and pulled out the test in a Ziploc bag. He looked at the small words on the screen.
“Oh my-” he paused and looked at her. “Wait. Did you and Terre-”
“NO!” She snapped. “I haven’t had sex with Terrell; hell, I can’t even remember how long. I wasn’t even having sex with him before he cheated on me in the first place.”
“So it’s mine?” Denzel said.
“Yeah,” she sighed. They both of them got quiet. Denzel could only look at her stomach. It turns out it wasn’t just happy weight that plagued her.
“Um I-” She held her stomach and grimaced.
“What’s the matter?!” He asked, urgently. She didn’t get a chance to respond, or run to the garbage. She bent over and threw up on the floor. She hardly ate anything, so it was pure liquid. Denzel wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from falling. He pulled her hair from her face and just held her until she was finished.
“I’m so sorry,” she groaned, embarrassment in her tone.
“Don’t be,” he said. He helped her to her office so she could wash her mouth out in the bathroom. While she was brushing her teeth, Denzel went back out to the gallery to mop up the mess. He cleaned up with bleach before Charm joined him. He remembered the time she threw up early that morning at his place only two weeks ago.
“I didn’t plan for this to happen,” she said to him. Denzel shrugged.
“We never protected ourselves, Charm. It would bound to happen.”
“But I don’t want you to think I planned this. I just-with my miscarriage, I thought it would be hard for me to get pregnant. I just never thought to take any birth control or anything.”
“And I also never wanted to wear a condom. So really we were both irresponsible.”
“So what’s next?” She asked, quietly. “We’re having our problems, but I don’t know what to do, if I actually have it.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked. “You’re thinking about aborting?”
“No, I’d never do that to you after what Gabby did. I just meant with my miscarriage, you know?”
“Don’t think like that,” Denzel scolded.
“So, um, I guess basically, either you’re going to be there, or you’re not,” Charm said. “In terms of the baby.”
“Well, I’m not going to have a kid in this world and not be there,” Denzel said. “You didn’t lay down and make the baby yourself. But then again me, and you aren’t gonna be together, so I guess…” his words trailed off, but Charm answered for him.
“I guess we’ll just co-parent,” she said.
“I guess that’s that,” Denzel shrugged. His heart was screaming not to leave it at that, but his brain was telling him to leave the woman alone. He was sure that if Charm wanted to be with him, then she’d say so, especially with his baby inside her, but she didn’t.
“Have you gotten a chance to make an appointment?” He asked.
“Um no.” She said. “I’m gonna book one for next week though.”
“Please keep me in the loop, Charm.”
“I will,” she said, lowly. Denzel looked at her stomach once more, before finally gathering his things and slowly leaving. He really couldn’t believe it. He was going to be a father.
********
“I know you said you were cuddling with James, but I have to talk to you,” Denzel spoke quickly. Brianna was in a silk robe and now he was worried about what he might have interrupted.
“He’s not here yet, thankfully. Come in. You look like you seen a damn ghost.” Denzel didn’t hesitate.
“Charm’s pregnant. She just told me after you and Jason left from the gallery.” Brianna’s mouth fell open.
“So that’s why she’s been a little withdrawn.”
“Probably.”
“Oh my God. Congratulations! I’m finally gonna be an auntie!” She lunged into his arms and hugged him. “Wait, why are you here and not celebrating with her?”
“I mean, it’s hard to celebrate when you’re not with the woman who’s carrying your kid.”
“So get back with her, Denzel! Can’t the both of you see that you want each other?”
“But with Terrell-” Brianna slapped him over the head.
“She’s miserable, Denzel. Truly she is. Please. Go back and talk with her. You’re just as miserable. I hated the fact that you two were moving fast at first, but now that I have James in my life, I can see how it is when you actually start falling for someone. You can’t control the things you do, it all spirals and you just keep falling deeper. Charm is meant for you, Denzel. Please don’t let her slip from your hands.”
“She truly is my everything,” Denzel said. “Without her, I feel nothing. And now she’s having my baby, I feel like my heart is going to burst. After what Gabby did, I am so thankful for Charm for being willing to carry my kid, even if I was a dick to her.”
“What Gabby did?” Brianna questioned. “Is this the secret you been keeping?”
“She was pregnant. But then she aborted without telling me she was pregnant, or going to abort.” Brianna shook her head.
“I’ll kill her,” Brianna gritted.
“Don’t even bother,” Denzel said. “The universe gave me back a chance at being a father again with the woman I love.”
“So if you love her, Denzel, why’d you leave her? So now she’s all alone, pregnant, and unhappy. It’s not a good combination. Go back and get her, Denzel.” She was right. What was he thinking just leaving a woman pregnant by him just hanging like that?
“She might still be at the gallery,” Denzel said, looking at his watch. He kissed Brianna on the cheek, before hurrying out of her loft to get back to Charm.
