Chapter 48
Daniel
I watched as the yellow cab drove away with Heart and our baby inside. She never once looked back, even as I slapped my hand against the window as the car pulled away from the curb. There wasn’t a cab to follow her and Armand had gone to lunch. I had no choice but to watch her go.
I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe I had run into her. Outside of her OB office, nonetheless. It was the last place I expected to see her again, since she would have no business being there. But it turned out, she did.
Our baby was alive.
I felt like I was dreaming when I turned around and saw her.
She was as beautiful as ever, if not more.
She wore a white dress that hugged her bump snuggly.
Her hair seemed longer as it fell around her face, her makeup-less skin glowing.
Only she would be able to get more beautiful the more pregnant she became.
She still smelled the same intoxicating way.
It took everything for me not to pull her into my arms. The only thing that made me realize she was real was when I offered her my hand and she took it.
That same electric feeling ran up my arm before she quickly pulled away, breaking the connection and bringing us back to the reality that we were there together again. And she was still pregnant.
Pregnant . The word echoed in my head as I watched the cab turn the corner.
This time I had gone after her, quickly following her as she fled from the office.
I didn’t want her to get away again, but for being pregnant she was quick.
It felt like a scene from a movie where I was chasing after the cab down the streets of New York.
Now, standing here on the sidewalk, I felt like I was having déjà vu from the last time she had left me and said she never wanted to see me again. I had felt helpless then, after causing her to lose her job. But now, I didn’t know how to feel. I was hurt. Angry. Sad. Still helpless.
“What are you doing out here?” I heard Freddy ask behind me.
“Heart…” I said softly.
“What?” he asked, confused, as if he wasn’t sure he heard me correctly.
“Heart was here.”
“Really?”
“Why didn’t you tell me she’s still pregnant?” I whipped around to face him.
“What? She’s still pregnant?” The look on his face was pure shock.
I realized he had no idea. I nodded.
“She was just leaving her appointment. Seven months, if I’m counting correctly.”
“I, honest to God, had no idea, Daniel,” he replied, shaking his head. “You know how it is. We’re always coming and going with labor and delivery. Either here or at the hospital. Plus. we don’t discuss our patients with other doctors.”
“Yeah,” I said understandingly.
“Wow. Just wow,” he murmured.
“I can’t believe she lied to me,” I shook my head.
She had so badly wanted nothing to do with me that she came up with a lie so deceitful. For as good and honest Heart was as a person, I realized how much I had hurt her for her to go through that length to end whatever we had. It damn near broke my heart.
Freddy put his hand on my back as I stared down the block, willing the yellow cab to turn back around the corner with Heart inside. I knew it was wishful thinking. She was gone.
“Why don’t we get out of here and go to lunch?” asked Freddy. “We can talk more there.”
“Okay.” I nodded.
“Where do you want to go? You choose.”
“Ocean Prime?” I suggested.
“My man!” He slapped me on the back and we began walking the few blocks to the restaurant.
We stepped through the large glass doors and were met by the hostess, who seemingly recognized us. She gave us a warm smile and stood up a little straighter.
“Freddy,” she said, opening her arms wide. “It’s been awhile.”
“I know, sweetheart. Been busy delivering babies.”
She giggled before looking to me. “Mr. Daniels,” she nodded and gave me a shy smile.
“Hello,” I said.
“Table for two?” she offered.
“Yes, please. Usual spot if you have it,” said Freddy, looking toward the window.
“You got it.” She grabbed two menus and gestured for us to follow her.
Freddy’s eyes fell exactly where I expected as her hips swished in a tight skirt. I rolled my eyes at how obvious he was and nudged him with my elbow.
“What?” he asked, oblivious.
“She’s like twenty-one.”
“I’m just looking,” he whispered with a sly smile.
“Here we are,” said the hostess, pulling our chairs out slightly.
We both sat and she handed us our menus.
“Your server will be right with you,” she said before walking away.
Freddy’s eyes followed.
“So, how is Virginia?” I asked, breaking his focus.
Freddy sighed heavily. “Everything was going great. Really damn good. I mean, you met her. She was a firecracker.”
“She definitely kept up with you,” I recalled.
“Until she couldn’t…”
“Uh-oh. What happened?”
“She got tired of the doctor life and me being on call at every hour of the night. It’s not like I can predict when a baby will be born. I thought she knew what she signed up for.”
“I’m sorry, man,” I said.
“I just can’t stop thinking about her. I thought she really might be the one. After we went to dinner with you and…”
“You can say her name,” I said.
“Heart. After that dinner, I realized how well she fit into my life. It felt like she had always been there.”
“Well, maybe it’s not over yet. I wouldn’t give up so easily,” I suggested.
“Look at us,” mused Freddy. “Who have we become?”
“A bunch of old softies,” I muttered.
He laughed as our server came and asked for our drink order. I ordered an old-fashioned, and Freddy ordered a Coke. It was still the afternoon and there was a possibility he would be delivering a baby in the next couple of hours. I, on the other hand, had nothing that serious going on.
“So, tell me about Heart…” he started, taking a sip of his Coke and looking at me intently.
I sighed and looked down in my drink. “I can’t believe she still has the baby. That was a double shock for me today. Seeing her, and then seeing her still pregnant.”
“Why did she lie?” asked Freddy. “That’s kind of fucked up.”
“I must have really hurt her. I’m not exactly good at this whole relationship thing, you know.”
“That’s an understatement,” said Freddy with a grin.
I rolled my eyes at him.
“The whole time I feel like I’ve been saying the wrong things. Doing the wrong things.”
“That can’t be entirely true. Hell, she let you get her pregnant. You must have done something right.”
“When I met her for the first time, something in me told me I had to have her. I used the usual ‘Daniel Jacobs’ charm I always do. It was never meant to go past a one-night stand.”
“But then…” Freddy started.
“The baby came along,” I said.
“But I saw you two together at that dinner. Baby or no baby, there was something there. Even Virginia commented on it at the end of the night. She said the two of you were like magnets. I would have to agree. I’ve never seen you like that with any woman. Not even with…”
“Kiera?” I muttered.
“Yeah. What’s going on with that, anyway?”
“It’s over. For good. I was harsh, but I think she finally got the hint.”
“So, she won’t be showing up here in a hot pink bikini?” asked Freddy with amusement as he looked toward the door.
“Ugh, don’t remind me.” I took another sip of my drink. “Heart saw the tabloids.”
“Who didn’t?” Freddy shrugged.
“It only made things more complicated. She thinks we are really engaged or something. I just wish she would listen to me…”
Freddy thought for a moment as he studied me.
“What?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“When was the last time you actually talked?” asked Freddy.
“We talked all the time…”
“I mean about your relationship.”
I started to say something and then stopped. Freddy had a point. Heart and I never really talked about us. Never established what we were. If things got tough, we would either fight or fuck, and it never led us to any sort of resolution.
“I guess we never really did,” I admitted.
“Why?” asked Freddy curiously. “Clearly, this girl means something to you.”
“Maybe, that’s why. I don’t know how to do this. I haven’t been in a relationship since Kiera and that was all so surface level. I look back and wonder if the years we were together were all just part of one big publicity stunt. We never shared anything really real, you know?”
“Not surprising. It’s Kiera. But you both were young and she was fun. Always up for a good time. It’s what you needed at that time.” Freddy shrugged.
“Heart is different, though.”
“So, are you.”
“How do I get her back?” I asked.
“Well, what have you done in the past?”
I thought for a moment.
“Let me guess,” he started with a shake of his head. “You bought her extravagant gifts.”
“They were for the baby ,” I said defensively.
“Daniel, I know your intentions are pure. But that’s what you’ve always done. Dresses from Bloomingdales. Jewelry from Tiffany’s. Now, apparently cribs from Nordstrom. Different, but still the same.”
“It’s what’s worked.” I shrugged.
“On other women. You, yourself, just said that Heart is different.”
She was. She really was, and I had just let her get away again.
“So?”
“So, try something different.”
“Like?”
“Oh, I don’t know…why don’t you try talking to the girl.”
“She won’t give me the chance.”
“You haven’t tried.”
I thought back to when I would make the drive out to Brooklyn every morning just to possibly have the chance to ride with her back to Manhattan. It had been a risk showing up like that with cold herbal tea in my hand, but she had agreed. Maybe it really was that simple.
“You have to stop trying to buy her, and start trying to earn her,” said Freddy.
“Holy shit,” I said, looking at Freddy in surprise.
His eyes widened. “That was pretty good,” he admitted.
“You’re like Dr. Phil or something. Are you sure you’re in the right profession?”
We both laughed.
Freddy was right, though. I had been going about this whole thing with Heart all wrong.
She wasn’t like the other women I had dated in the past, if you could even call it that. I needed to start treating her differently. That meant actually talking, and not deflecting with sex. That meant showing up, and not sending gifts.
I had to earn her trust back, which I knew wouldn’t be easy, but I had to try. It wasn’t just because she was still pregnant with our baby. I missed her as a person. The past few months had been hell not having her in my life.
The rest of my lunch with Freddy, we enjoyed oysters and steak and lobster. We didn’t talk any more about relationships or Virginia or Heart. We were both tuckered out from matters of the heart. Things we weren’t used to.
Instead, we talked about work and the stock market and the usual things, but the whole while I was thinking about Heart. How I could win her back. The right way. I knew it would take time. Something big. But I was going to do it. I had to.