Chapter Eighteen #2
“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Anna tries to soothe me.
“Try this one.” She pulls a box down from the shelf and walks with me to the register, where we pay with cash.
The last thing I need is for this purchase to turn up on Colt’s credit card.
As I walk toward the exit, I notice a few people gathered around the door, and I look at Anna, who shrugs.
Flashes go off when we open the pharmacy door, blinding me.
“Miss Norman, how are you liking Australia?”
“Deliah, over here.”
“Look this way, please, Deliah.”
“Anna, why are you and Deliah in the pharmacy? Is something wrong with Colter or Johnny?”
Paparazzi and fans swarm me.
Anna grabs my hand, pulling me closer to her.
“Just keep walking, Dee,” Anna yells while Daniel pushes those getting too close away before we hurry down the street.
Unfortunately, they follow and run all around us, taking photographs and screaming.
I can’t see where I’m going through all the light flashes, and my foot slips into a crack.
I fall to the ground on my hands and knees, dropping the pharmacy bag, its contents spilling out on the pavement.
Well fuck! The pregnancy test is in full view for everyone to see.
Daniel quickly pulls me up from the ground while Anna picks up the test and shoves it in my handbag, all while the photographers take so many pictures it’s ridiculous.
Pictures of me falling.
Pictures of my horrified face
Pictures with the damn pregnancy test.
Bollocks!
“Miss Norman, are you pregnant?”
“Congratulations, Deliah. When are you and Colt expecting?”
“She’s pregnant, everyone,” some girl calls out.
Daniel walks us faster to the car.
I feel sick, literally like I want to throw up. I don’t even know if I’m pregnant, and now the whole world will see that I might be before I have the chance to tell anyone.
Shit!
Then my thoughts go to… Daddy!
Fuck!
I can’t stop the tears that begin to flow freely as we rush back to the car.
Daniel opens the door, and we both slide in. He moves to the front and enters as the media circus positions its lenses on the windows and snaps away.
These assholes won’t let us have any privacy.
A wave of terror engulfs me, and I start to tremble, breathing in short, sharp bursts. Anna wraps her arm around my shoulders and pulls me to her while I cry into her shoulder all the way back to the hotel.
“Dee, unfortunately, he probably knows by now. So you need to be prepared when you go to your room,” Anna says sympathetically.
I know and nod because there are no words.
I hear my cell ringing, but can’t bring myself to look at it. We had Daniel drive us around for a while so I could gain the composure to face Colt, so the damn thing has been going non-stop for the last thirty minutes.
Finally, we pull up at the hotel, and I’m still shaking. The pain in my knees from the fall is becoming more apparent. Goodness knows how much damage I did to them on that pavement.
Slowly, we make our way to the elevator, then stop at the door of the penthouse suite.
“I can’t, Anna. I’m going to ask Daniel to drive me straight to the airport.”
There’s no doubt Colt won’t want this child. He’s at the pinnacle of his career, so I may as well save him the trouble of breaking my heart. I won’t give him a chance to shatter me irreparably. I’ve done that before and can’t go through it again with Colt.
“Are you kidding me? You’re just going to run? I thought you were better than this, Dee. Colt is probably falling apart because he has no idea what’s happening. You have to tell him, and you must face this. I know it’s hard, but you have to go to him if you love him.”
My hands shake violently, and tears stream down my cheeks as we enter the penthouse suite.
Silence falls across the room when everyone looks at us.
“Colt, they’re here,” Johnny says, rushing over. “Is the test for you?” he asks, taking Anna’s hands in his.
Well shit! I hadn’t even thought of the fact that it could have been Anna’s test, and poor Johnny was just as much in the dark as Colt.
Anna shakes her head and looks across at me, along with everyone else.
Colt storms in and stops.
I can’t hold back the river of tears from sliding down my cheeks.
Johnny hugs Anna, and they walk off to their bedroom.
I’m left falling apart, and Colt is simply staring at me.
The tremors racking my body cause me to feel like I’ve come down with a fever.
The stress from today is taking its toll, and my head is more than a little foggy.
I can’t stop my bottom lip from trembling as he approaches, staring straight into my eyes.
Except…
… love is not what I see.
“Is it true?” he asks, void of emotion.
My heart races faster than I thought possible.
This is it.
“Dee, is… it… true?” he yells in my face, making me jump. His nostrils flare as I remain speechless. He leans down into my handbag and pulls out the test. “When were you going to fucking tell me?” he shouts, shoving the packet into my chest.
I let out a small whimper as he runs a frustrated hand through his hair, turning away from me.
“I’m sorry,” I mumble.
He turns back and glares. “Sorry? The whole fucking world finds out before I do that I’m going to be a dad, and you’re what? Sorry?” he asks while he gazes down at my stomach.
“I… I…” There’s nothing to say. I can read between the lines of this conversation.
The stress is too much for me, and my legs give out. I fall on my already bruised and battered knees and cry out in protest. I don’t miss Colt wincing as I fall apart, crying, and rocking back and forth on the floor.
“Colt, c’mon. Can’t you see she’s terrified?” Hux states.
I cradle my knees to my chest.
“She’s terrified? For fuck’s sake… I’m fucking mortified. I don’t know how to be a dad. It’s not like we had any sort of example growing up. I can’t… I just…” He exhales and trails off while Hux pulls him away.
Sia and Kira sit on the floor with me while Hux takes Colt into the other room to talk.
The asshole doesn’t even look at me when he walks away.
And I know at that very moment…
We. Are. Done!