Chapter 16
Spine brace
The box revealed a beautiful ruby necklace embedded in soft black foam. “That was supposed to be your gift for your interview with Lindsay. However, things have been a little crazy of late. And since you’ve been very insistent on throwing your little tantrum with Adams as an accomplice…”
“He didn’t do anything.”
“Good.” The cell phone started up again and he cursed before he pressed it to his ear.
“Yes mother?” I could hear muffled version of a woman’s voice coming out of the speaker and with every word that was sald Pierce seemed to get angrier and angrier.
“I’ll deal with him, mum…Of course. Love you too.” This was the first time he had answered the phone in front of me, he had not peeked at me and moved away or plain ended the call. Or his usual when he was In the apartment with me, which was to turn his phone off so no one could reach him. And he was probably too angry to notice that I was still standing there when he took the call.
I had never seen him look this angry before and it sent shivers through me, what could his mother have possibly said that would cause a strong change as this
“Are you okay? I asked involuntarily, driven by my need to be the person he allowed to comfort him. The rewarding glare I received slammed me back down to my place.
“I’ll see you when I can, Myra. And for the love of God, stop that little game you have going on with Adams, it will end badly for both of you, trust me.
I hurried into the cafe, the next day, my eyes falling on the spot Hannah and me usually had our Sunday meetups. It was currently occupied by a couple of snorting teenagers who shoved French fries up their nose and pretended to be walruses.
My eyes scanned the rest of the shop till it landed on Hannah finally, who was tapping into her phone like her life depended on it. She had on a t–shirt with a writing that read: wretched vibes.
“I’m sorry I’m late, I slept late last night.” I apologized sliding into the seat opposite hers. And by late, I meant I had tossed and turned for hours, thinking of Pierce, the call, his gift… A few times I had gotten up to admire the ruby necklace he had given me, before realizing how dumb I looked, and returning back to
Ded
I breathed in the familiar smell of coffee grounds and several flavors of gelato and relaxed in my seat. At least this smell wasn’t triggering my nausea. “You still look like you haven’t had any sleep. She slid the cup of coffee she had ordered for me.
“Thanks.” I muttered, before I drank the soothing liquid.
“So, what did you in? Is she fine?”
“Who’s she?”
“The baby. I keep having this picture of a cute little girl in your arms.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves Hannah, and no, it’s not the kid that had me up all night, although she played a big part in getting me up after I was finally able to sleep.”
Spine brace
I was startled out from sleep that morning with the urge to throw up.
“yealy, first trimester problems, it’ll soon be over. If she’s not the problem, What then?” she looked honestly curious.
Hannah would not be of much help concerning Pierce but I knew the one thing she could help with. Shooting for Gossip and dreams ends in a about a month, I can’t afford to be out of a job right now.”
“Your mum getting worse?”
“Yes and no, but her health isn’t the only problem I’m dealing with right now.”
“You know what could make this problem go away.”
Pierce. “Don’t even mention it Hannah, I can’t ask him for money again. Remember how it went the last time I did. He assumed I was asking for payment for being with him.”
“The man had issues, I won’t argue about that. But if you just told him about the baby…”
“Hannah…”
“Fine.” She swirled the coffee in her mug. “Remember the author I was talking to during Mr Murphy’s birthday thing?”
“Yeah, the one with the cartoon nose?”
“Uh huh, she actually called me a few days ago. Said she would be interested in selling the rights of her
book to the studio.”
I was already shaking my head, “You know how long starting projects like that takes, I don’t have two years to spare, you know that.”
My phone’s screen lit up with a text.
“Adams…” I groaned.
“Your new boy crush. He’s finally making a move.”
!pressed the power off button and looked at her quizzically. “What do you mean by that?”
She shrugged, “I think Tami showing up in the picture has convinced him that you and Pierce are not together, so he’s stepping up.
“He should step back down before it becomes an issue for both of us.”
“Seeing as you’re still with Pierce…” I did not confirm or deny it, my status in his life was fickle. “TI–have a look around the agency for something big that fits the time frame you want, if not then you might have to take lesser gigs, and I honestly don’t want that for you.”
“Desperation takes that choice away from me.” I sighed. “Thank you Hannah, you’re the best.
“What is the plan though Myra?” She asked after a waitress had refilled my cup and dropped a tray containing muffins.
“Plan for what?” I picked up one chocolate topped muffin and subjected it to a sniff test. When my nausea levels remained stable, I took a small nibble, and then a bigger bite. “I think this place is magical.”
Spine braceAll text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.
I mumbled in pleasure, with a full mouth,
Hannah rolled her eyes before her face turned serious ingain. “Plan for the baby. How are you going to work it out. Do you plan on hiding the baby till you reach term? Because trust me that’s going to be harder than you think. And when she’s here in your arms….he’s going to know the kid is his. How will you handle that?”
“I haven’t really thought that far. I just need to keep the baby which might be a boy,“I gave her a pointed look-“a secret till I give birth. He can’t make me abort the kid after she’s born. Worst he can do is deny her existence.” I shrugged like it didn’t matter but my face Bald otherwise. Hannah reached across the table and gave my hand a little squeeze.
“Look, I know this is a vulnerable time for you. But you are with Pierce currently. What happens when you get naked? it looks like nothing right now but in a few months, your belly is going to be as round as a soccerball.”
“Hopefully he gets bored with me before that happen, AND, if it doesn’t… I’ll just say I’m fat or bloated… he’ll never know the difference. Afterall, he’s still a man.”
“Point made. I walked in yesterday to find Damien in his briefs and my corset. He said he thought it was a spine brace. Apparently he’s been using it for a while, and there I was thinking they stopped fitting me. because I lost weight.”
I erupted into a fit of giggles while Hannah tried to smother her smile. “Did you get a picture at least.
“Oh, I don’t need a picture, the image is burned into my freaking memory.”
“1 bet he looked good in it though.” I teased and she shot me an unimpressed look.
After we had gone through out meals, we went grocery shopping together and I got a taxi back to the apartment.
Pierce had informed me that he was coming that evening. I didn’t trust him to make it though.
I focused my energy on making food for myself and for my 50-50 guest.
I had just a salad bowl to make when a call came in.