Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
L ila
It's been two and a half weeks since I started working at the law firm, and while I can't say that it's the best job I've ever had, I'm actually really enjoying getting to work on small cases. The sad part is, I haven't seen Max in over a week and a half. Sure, we usually text every night, but it’s not the same.
I open my refrigerator and stare at the empty contents. I really need to go and get groceries now that I’ve received my first paycheck, which had been the largest paycheck I’d ever seen in my life.
I have a frozen pizza in the freezer and some taquitos that I can put in the oven.
I look at my inflatable mattress and think about how much fun I'd had that night with Max. I want to know where he is, why he hasn't been to work, but he hasn't volunteered the information to me and I don't want to be nosy. A part of me thinks that the reason he hasn't come in is because he doesn't want to see me and he doesn't want me to get the wrong idea, but I ignore that possibility because why would he still be texting me if he had absolutely no interest? I know I want to have a conversation with him, but I'm scared. I don't even know what to say. "Hey, Max, you know that night that we pretended to be boyfriend and girlfriend and we had mad crazy sex and you kept your cock in me all night? Well, that was kind of fun. We should do it again, if you don't mind sleeping on my air mattress that isn't the most comfortable."
"He could invite you over," I whisper to myself. He has a nice place with plenty of bedrooms. My phone starts ringing and I pick it up, thinking it's going to be Zara. I stare at Max's name on the screen and my heart races as I answer. He doesn't normally call me. "Hi. Long time no speak, stranger," I say into the phone.
"I thought I'd check on my new assistant to see how she’s doing," he responds.
"I’m doing well. I've been helping Remington out with some work because you didn't really leave me much to do."
"I know. I'm sorry about that. Some stuff came up, and well, it's just been a pretty hectic week."
"Oh, so will you be in next week?"
"Most likely. Why? Have you been missing me?"
"I mean, I don't know if I would say missing , but I do work for you, and I just thought?—"
"Max, can you come here a second?" I hear a female voice in the background and freeze. Who was that?
"Just give me a moment, Marie," he says, and my mind races. Haven't I heard him talking to a Marie before? Who the hell is Marie?
"Do you have to go?"
"Yeah, in a little bit," he says, lowering his voice. "I just wanted to see how everything's going."
"I mean, it seems like you're busy right now, like you have been all week, doing other things, huh?"
"I mean, it has been crazy," he says.
"Max, the doctor sent me an email," the girl says, and my jaw drops open. What doctor, and why would Max care? What is going on?
"Hey, I am so sorry, Lila. I actually have to go."
"Okay, so—" But before I can even finish my sentence, he's hung up. I'm not happy. I'm not happy at all, and I don't even know what to do. Is Marie his girlfriend? An ex come back into his life? I hate that I still don’t have the answers to these questions. Whoever she is, it sounds like he cares about her. I hate being an over thinker. I hate not being brave enough to ask him all the questions rambling in my brain. I just don't understand it, and I don't know if I have any reason to question him about any of it because who am I to him, really?
I pull out the frozen pizza from the freezer and turn the oven up to 400 degrees. I don't really want frozen pizza, but I nixed the idea of ordering Chinese takeout, as I don't know how much longer I'll be able to work for Max if he does have a woman in his life. I feel like the jealousy that is vacationing in my stomach would never leave if I stayed with him. I call Skye to distract myself from thinking about Max, and I'm happy when she answers on the second ring. "Hey, I was just about to call you!" she answers.
"Oh, you were?"
"Yeah. So I know you said you weren't sure about doing the dancing thing, but there is a party coming up on Saturday and we need another girl. I was wondering if you might be free."
"I don't know." I say, but then I think about Max and Marie, whoever she is. "I mean, you enjoy it, right?"
"It's fun and it's great money," she assures me. "And it's not like the guys do anything. They can't touch you unless you want them to, and then they'll pay you loads of money."
"Okay, I guess."
"Oh, by the way, I was speaking to Kingston today."
"Yeah?" I probe. "Don't you speak to him every day?"
"Well, yeah, duh, but it's what I overheard him saying when I left the office."
"What did you overhear him saying?" I'm confused now. I have no idea what she's talking about.
"Well, anyway, he was giving me a list of tasks, which by the way, he sucks as a boss. Anyways, as I was leaving, Remington comes into the office…"
"Okay."
"…and they start talking about Max."
Suddenly, I'm all in on the conversation.
"What did they say?"
"Well, Remy lowered his voice and whispered something to Kingston, and Kingston was shocked."
"What did he whisper?"
"I don't know initially what was said, but then Kingston said something like, 'Marie's pregnant? Holy shit.' And then they both looked at me, and then I left the office, so I didn't get to hear anything else."
"Oh, wow." My heart drops into my stomach at the news. "So that's why she needed to go to the doctor, or why the doctor was emailing her."
"You know her? Who is she?"
"I have no idea who she is, but I think she might be his ex-girlfriend or something. A couple of weeks ago he had a call and he was just saying her name over and over and he's been out of the office and I was just on the phone with him and I heard her speaking to him.”
I hear my voice cracking. I feel like I'm about to cry.
"Hey, are you okay?" Sky says, and there's real concern in her voice. "I'm sorry."
"You've got nothing to be sorry about. Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"You liked him, right?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I know we don't know each other super well, but I could tell that you thought he was cute and he thought you were cute, and I almost thought that you guys hooked up, but then he hasn't been in the office in so long I just figured I imagined it."
"We did hook up," I admit, my voice barely more than a whisper. I don't care who knows. He's a dog and he deserves to be treated as such by me and my friends.
"You hooked up with him? Holy shit. No way."
"It was pretty amazing," I say. "And I kind of thought he liked me and then he just disappeared, but maybe that's when he found out. Maybe that's why he hasn't been in the office. Shit, maybe that's why he messaged me that day asking if I was on birth control."
"You guys did it with no protection?" I blush at the gentle admonition in her tone.
"I was caught up in the moment, and I know it wasn't my smartest decision, but I am on birth control, so it doesn’t matter that much."
"Wow. Do you think that he was nervous he might have two women pregnant at the same time? Holy bananas. Could you imagine? He'd be on Jerry Springer if Jerry Springer was still around.
"I don't even want to think about it." I groan. "Maybe he's just trying to be a standup guy, and that's why he’s gone back to her," I ponder out loud. "Maybe he wants to be there for his kid." I bite down on my lower lip. "I don't even know what to think. Oh my gosh. I can't work for him if he's going to be getting married and having a kid with someone else. I'll just feel disgusting, but I need the money."
"Well, I hate to bring this up now, but you can make $1,500 on Saturday if you dance at this party with me."
"Fine, I'll do it," I say. "Just send me over the information."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. You said it was fun, and, well, I need more experience dancing anyway. What if I get an audition to play like a stripper or something?"
"Yeah, this way you'll ace that audition." She giggles. "I mean, not that you want to play a stripper."
"I mean, it's not like I have many options right now," I say and let out a deep sigh. "Oh, Skye, what am I going to do?"
"I don't know. I'm sorry. It sucks when they're so good looking but also so obnoxious."
"Wait a second…" I say.
"What do you mean? What?" she asks innocently.
"How's it going with you and Kingston?"
"Girl, I cannot stand his ass. He is one of the most annoying men I've ever met in my life."
"Oh, no. I didn't realize it was going that poorly."
"Yep," she says, sighing.
"If I could quit right now, I would."
"Oh shit. It's that bad?"
"Maybe even worse than that. He thinks he's God's gift to women. You won't even believe what he said to me the other day."
"Oh, what did he say to you?"
"Well, I was about to head to lunch—" My phone beeps and I see that it's Max.
"Hey, I hate to cut you off, Skye, but Max is calling me. Can I call you back in a little bit?"
"Of course. In fact, you want to grab a drink?"
"You mean now?"
"It's not that late," she says "Maybe we can grab a bite and a drink and I can tell you all about my Kingston story so that you don't have to think about that jackass?"
"Sounds perfect," I agree. "I'll talk to you later."
"Sounds good."
I click over to the other line.
"Yes?" I snap.
"Hey, it's me, Max."
"I know," I bite.
"Is everything okay, Lila?"
"Why wouldn't it be? Is everything okay with you?"
"Yeah. I just realized that you were still speaking when I hung up earlier and I just wanted to make sure that you didn't think that?—"
"It's fine. I'm about to head out, so if there was nothing else…"
"Oh, where are you going?"
"I'm going to grab a drink with a friend."
"A male friend?" he asks, sounding suspiciously jealous.
"None of your business."
"What? Hey, is everything okay, Lila?"
"I'm fine. Why wouldn't it be?"
"You just sound weird."
"I don't sound weird. You sound weird."
"You want to FaceTime later tonight?"
"Why?"
"I don't know. So we can see each other. It's been a little while."
"I don't know what time I'm going to be back, so I’ll talk to you later."
"Are you mad at me for some reason?"
"Why would I be mad at you, Max?"
"Because I didn't want people in the office to know."
"No, I totally understand why you didn't want people in the office to know. You didn't want to look like a dog when everyone found out the truth?—"
"What are you talking about, Lila?"
"—in eight or nine months. Yeah, you wouldn't look so good then once the real story came out."
"Lila, I don't?—"
"I have to go. Bye," I say and hang up. I stare at the phone in my hand as it starts ringing again, but I don’t want to talk to Max again right now. I power off the phone and rub my thudding head. My eyes feel heavy and all of a sudden I feel nauseous.
Turn your phone on and call him out on everything, Lila. The little voice in my head shouts at me. Grow up and ask him straight out if he’s having a baby.
I know I should just ask him straight out. But I’m scared to hear his answer. I’m scared he’s going to tell me that he’s having a baby and can’t do whatever we’ve been doing. Jealousy swims in my stomach and my skin feels warm. I’m annoyed with myself that I’m acting like a baby. I’m annoyed that I don’t have the courage to learn the truth. But even more than anything else, I’m annoyed by how hurt I am by the whole thing.