Chapter 16
Daniel
On the drive back to Manhattan, I stared at the ultrasound in my hands.
I knew nothing about babies, but I assumed the little white blob in the bigger black blob was the baby.
My baby. Our baby. My heart felt like it had somehow grown as soon as that girl handed me this piece of glossy paper.
I could only imagine what Addison felt. Heart. Whoever she was.
Heart seemed more fitting. Part of me wanted to earn the right to call her that.
God, I had been a total asshole when she gave me the most important news of her life. Of our life.
We hadn’t even talked about anything yet, but my uncertainty around me being the father or not had diminished completely. Staring down at the little white blob, I knew it was mine. He. She. Whichever.
I had to see Addison again. I wondered if she was in her apartment. She probably was. She probably sent her bulldog friend out to grill me and stay the hell away from her. As she should have. But knowing she was so close, yet so far was pulling me apart.
Maybe I should have tried harder to see her.
I would try harder. I would come back tomorrow and I would make sure she couldn’t ignore me.
My phone rang just then, and I half-hoped it was her. To my disappointment, it was Freddy.
“Hey, man,” he said when I picked up.
“Hey,” I said, trying not to sound annoyed that it wasn’t Addison.
“Are you coming out tonight?” he asked.
“For what?”
“Uh, my birthday.”
Shit. I forgot. That was the last thing I wanted to do when I had this much on my mind.
“I don’t know—”
“Yes, you do. You are. Lavo. 11 o’clock. If you don’t, I will officially disown you as my best friend.”
I rolled my eyes. He was so dramatic. Still, I had never missed Freddy’s birthday. Not since we were kids.
“Fine. I’ll be there.”
I hung up and tossed my phone on the seat beside me.
The rest of the ride back to Manhattan, I stared at the ultrasound and felt a small chance of hope I might see Addison tomorrow.
When 11 o’clock rolled around, I rode the elevator down to the parking garage where Armand waited with the car. I was late, but I didn’t care. At least I was going at all.
I arrived at Lavo twenty minutes later and Freddy was already three drinks in and feeling friendly. There were four women surrounding him in his private booth. Normally, this would entice me, but this was the last place I wanted to be.
“Look who showed up!” said Freddy excitedly.
“Happy Birthday,” I said, sitting at the edge of the booth and keeping my distance from the vultures in little black dresses who had spotted their next prey.
It was funny how things changed. I used to relish in the fact that women were impressed by my money. It turned me on. I liked the idea of taking care of a woman, and her being eager to take care of me. Now, I couldn’t care less about impressing anyone.
Brody handed me a drink from the tray before whispering flirtatiously to the cocktail waitress, who eagerly giggled. I took a sip. A lemon drop. My worst nightmare. But whatever. I’d be a good sport for Freddy’s birthday.
I spent the next hour pretending to be interested in what anyone was saying, all the while thinking about the ultrasound sitting in my jacket pocket.
It was a risky move bringing it with me, but for some reason I wanted it with me.
It was like this quiet reminder of what really mattered.
None of what was happening in this club did.
As soon as Freddy had his tongue down someone’s throat, I took my chance to leave. He would be busy for the rest of the night. He would hardly miss me. Plus, I wanted to get to bed, so I could get out to Brooklyn early the next morning.
“Freddy, I’m going to head out.”
He pulled away from the platinum blonde who was now straddling him.
“Yeah, I have an early work meeting. But this was…fun. Happy Birthday.”
He gave me a small salute and went back to jamming his tongue down the girl’s throat.
I laughed as I began pushing my way through the crowd. That was when I spotted Kiera on the dance floor. I tried to avert my gaze, but she latched onto my eyes and made her way over. She wore a white dress with a plunging neckline and I would be lying if I said it was hard to look at her face.
She slung her arms around my neck and moved her body to the music.
“This is a surprise,” she said in a sing-song voice.
“Sure is,” I said.
“Do you like my dress?” She let go of me and did a twirl, stumbling slightly.
“It sure is something,” I replied, steadying her.
She was drunk.
“Who are you here with?” I asked, looking around. I wanted to make sure she was taken care of before I left. Despite our history, I still cared about her.
She looked around and squinted one eye. The classic Kiera’s wasted face.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I forgot.”
She giggled before slinging her arms around me once more.
“Let’s get you home, Kiera.”
I wrapped my arm around her waist and half carried her through the club. Before going outside, I called Armand to bring the car around. The last thing I needed was to be seen in the papers with Kiera in a white dress. They’d probably claim it was our engagement party.
The doorman let Armand in and I passed Kiera off to him.
“See that she gets home, please,” I said.
“And you, sir?” asked Armand, raising his brows.
“I’ll Uber.”
“You’re not coming?” asked Kiera with a pouty face.
“Not tonight, sweetheart. Get home safe, okay?”
The doors to the club swung open and I could see the flashes of cameras instantly go off. I was happy to be hidden inside the darkness of the club.
After a short Uber ride home, I took a hot shower and washed the day away before climbing into bed.
I thought my nerves would keep me up, but it was actually the opposite.
Knowing I would possibly see Addison in the morning made me fall asleep quickly.
I wanted the morning to get there as fast as possible.
The next morning, I woke up at six and quickly dressed for the day. I met Armand down in the parking garage. On our way out of Manhattan, I had him stop at a coffee shop. I had the idea of bringing some tea for Addison. I read that it helped with morning sickness.
I had been Googling various things about pregnancy while I ate my dinner last night at home, before going to Freddy’s party. I wasn’t sure if Addison had any symptoms yet, but I saw the tea as some sort of peace offering.
We arrived at her apartment just past seven.
I had no idea when she left for work, but figured it wasn’t this early.
I had Armand park out front and felt odd for staking out the place, but I would do whatever I could to at least talk to her.
Thankfully, Armand didn’t ask questions.
He never did, which was why I liked him so much.
Time ticked by slowly. I was going restless in the car, but I knew if I went up to her apartment again, there was a chance she wouldn’t answer the door. Or worse, she’d send her friend out. I wasn’t sure if it was her roommate or what the situation was. It was better to wait down here.
Finally at 8:20, the door to her building opened and I saw her step outside into the warm sunlight.
She wore a pair of faded jeans and a pin-striped blue button-down.
I smiled to myself. I had never seen her dressed down, but I liked it.
Then my nerves caught up with me. I took a deep breath as I opened the car door.
She had already begun to walk down the sidewalk.
“Addison,” I called.
She stopped and turned around. Her face dropped when she saw me. I half expected her to turn and keep walking, but she stayed put. I climbed out of the car, grabbing the tea from the cupholder and walked toward her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, looking around like I had just flown across the world when really I had just driven over a bridge.
“I had to see you. I stopped by yesterday, but…”
“I know,” she said sharply.
“Look, I’m so sorry for being such a dick. I was just surprised and didn’t know how to handle the news.”
She didn’t say anything.
“I brought you tea,” I said, holding up the cup that now was lukewarm at best.
She looked from me to the cup.
“It’s going to take a lot more than tea to get me to talk to you.” She turned and began walking away.
“Wait. Please. Have you thought about names?” I blurted out.
She stopped walking, but didn’t turn around.
“Please, Heart.” I tried again.
“You haven’t earned the right to call me that yet,” she said softly as she turned around.
The ‘yet’ made me feel hopeful.
I nodded. “I have to head back to Manhattan for work. Can I give you a ride?” I asked.
As I watched her consider my offer, I was reminded of how beautiful she really was. Her dark hair was pulled into a high ponytail and her brown eyes were caramel in the sun.
“Okay,” she said.
“Really?” I asked a little too eagerly.
She shot me a look and I reminded myself not to get too ahead of myself. I walked past her and opened the door for her before Armand could. She slid inside the car and I followed, closing the door behind me.
Again, she sat as far away from me as she could. All I wanted to do was be close to her, but I understood her coolness toward me.
“You look nice,” I said.
“Er, thanks.” She looked out the window as the car pulled away from the curb.
Even though we had at least an hour’s drive back to the city, I felt like the minutes were fleeting.
“Here,” I said, handing her the tea. “It’s probably not very hot anymore.”
She gave the faintest smile and took it from my hands, avoiding any contact with my fingers.
She took a sip. “Thank you,” she said softly.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Fine.”
“No symptoms? I read morning sickness can start around six weeks.”
She bit back a smile, and my eyes fixated toward her lips. It was the first time I had felt any real arousal in weeks. Jesus.
Pull it together, Daniel.
“I’ve been a little nauseous here and there, but nothing too bad.”
“Good. That’s good.”
“Did you get a baby book or something?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
I laughed. “No, just Google.”
“Hmm,” she murmured.
“Is that a good ‘hmm’ or a bad ‘hmm?’”
“It’s just a hmm.”
I could see her mouth lift into a smile as she turned and looked out the window again.
My eyes traveled from her face to the buttons of her blouse, which were pulled taught against her breasts.
They stayed there for a while as I wondered if they had gotten bigger since our night together.
I read that was the first sign of possibly being pregnant.
I hoped I could find out. Probably not any time soon, but her accepting to ride with me was a step in the direction I wanted to go.