Aubrey #2
My phone rings from beside me on the couch and I turn it over, expecting to see Shane’s name to tell me they just arrived at their hotel, but instead I see Hailey’s. We exchanged phone numbers after Shane’s birthday party and texted once or twice, but she’s never called me before.
I swipe to accept the phone and bring it up to my ear. “Hi, Hailey.” I greet her with a friendly tone.
“Hey, Aubrey. How are you?” She sounds cheerful.
“I’m good, and yourself?” I frown a bit confused as to why she’s calling me.
“I’m doing great. Hey, I was wondering, are you busy right now?”
My frown deepens. “Umm, no. I actually just got home.”
“Great!” she says with enthusiasm. “How would you like to come shopping with me on Fifth? I’m actually in your neighborhood. I could be there in five and pick you up.”
“You want to go shopping with me?” I’m momentarily stunned. “I’m not exactly the best fashion expert,” I admit with a nervous giggle.
“Yeah, it’ll be fun, and give us a chance to get to know each other better. And I don’t need you to be an expert at shopping. I just need you to tell me if something is hideous and I’ve lost my mind.” She laughs.
“I can do that,” I say smiling. Yeah, this could be fun.
“Great then! I’ll see you soon!”
“Oh, wait! I almost forgot, I’m not alone. I’ll explain when you get here, but is it okay if he tags along?” I scrunch my nose, hating that I have to ask permission, even though I know if she says no, I won’t be allowed to go. There’s no way Lionel will accept not coming along.
“Umm, yeah sure.” She sounds uncertain but still accepts.
“Okay, see you soon.” I let out a breath of relief as we hang up. “Hey, Lionel!” I shout once I’ve set my phone down.
“No need to shout, I’m right here.” He winks when I look over. “What can I do for you, young lady?”
“We’re going shopping with my friend. Is that okay?”
“Of course.” He looks down at the bowl of dried cereal in my hand. “Want me to bag those for you?”
“Please?” I grin widely and hand him the bowl as I stand from the couch and turn off my show that I haven’t been paying attention to. I’ll need to back it up later.
“Do we need to pick her up somewhere?” he asks just as I get a request on my phone for the front gate.
“No, actually she’s already here.” I open the gate and wander to the front door, slipping my feet into my ballerina shoes. Since I never know when I’ll start to get dizzy, I prefer to not wear heels just in case I trip and fall.
I pull the door open just as she parks her car and comes up the steps. “Oh, wow. Look at you! Shane must be in heaven.” She wraps her arms around me as we hug.
She’s dressed in a cute half-sleeved, form-fitted pink dress that ends at her knees, while I’m wearing black leggings with a long-sleeve white shirt.
I look extremely underdressed compared to her, but I’ve started getting uncomfortable in my clothes, so I try to wear things that have some stretch to it and don’t feel too tight around me.
“I’m not even sure heaven is the right word for it anymore now that he knows he’s going to be a girl dad.” I giggle, feeling my blush form along my cheeks.
“You’re having a girl!? Oh my God! Congratulations!” She hugs me tighter then lets go, her eyes roaming over me then falling on my belly with longing in her eyes. She shakes her head slightly and smiles. “So, where’s your friend?”
“Right here, ma’am,” Lionel says from behind me. When I look at him, he’s wearing a wide grin. “Pleasure to meet you. My name is Lionel.” He extends his hand to Hailey, whose eyes are as wide as saucers.
“Umm, hello, Lionel. I’m Hailey,” she answers after a moment.
“Lionel is my personal bodyguard, requested by Julian.” I roll my eyes, giving a sarcastic smile to Hailey.
“Wow! Iceman is that serious about the baby.”
“He is. I swear, you’d think it was his child I was carrying.” I laugh.
She shakes her head in disbelief. “Okay, well, are we ready to go?”
“Umm, yeah. Unless you want me to change?” I look down at my clothes.
“Nonsense, you look great.” She smiles and turns, heading back down the front steps. “Now let’s go shopping!”
“Actually, if you don’t mind, we’ll be taking my vehicle. I’d feel more at ease if something were to happen,” Lionel says as we make our way down as well.
I don’t bother locking up since Marianne and Antoine will still be here for a few hours. And if they leave before I return, they know to lock the door and set the alarm.
“Sure, let me just grab my purse then.” Hailey quickly goes over to her car then meets us beside Lionel’s SUV.
A few hours later, we’re strolling down Fifth Avenue arm in arm.
We’ve already been to an outrageous number of stores and bought way too many things that we dropped off at the car not long ago.
Shane will probably freak and have a ton of questions when he sees his credit card bill.
He knows I’m not a spender, but every time Hailey saw something cute, she insisted I try it on and buy it.
She looks over her shoulder at Lionel who walks casually behind us. “I still can’t believe Julian insisted on you having a bodyguard to follow you around everywhere. What does he think will happen?”
I shrug. “Julian’s just overprotective when it comes to people he cares about.”
She scoffs. “That man does not care about anyone but himself.”
“I think he’s just misunderstood, he’s actually pretty nice once he shows his softer side.” I suddenly feel the need to defend him. I’m not sure why Hailey and Julian dislike each other so much, but I could sense the tension between them at the party.
“I’ll have to see it to believe it.” She laughs.
“He hugged me not too long ago,” I provide as proof.
She stops abruptly as people walk around us. “The ice king hugged you?” she asks with wide eyes.
Her expression makes me chuckle. “He did, I was a bit emotional, and Shane was out talking with my brother. Julian comforted me.”
“Wow… I believe you… but I still can’t believe that. I’ve known Julian for so long and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him hug someone.” She blinks, starting our walk again.
I catch her glimpsing down at my stomach and she lets out a little sigh. “I don’t know if Shane told you this… but we had tried for a baby when we were married.”
Unease crawls up my skin. I don’t understand why she would be telling me this. Does she wish she was in my place? Carrying his child? “I… I didn’t know that.” And now I’m wondering why Shane never said anything.
When she looks at my face, she quickly puts her free hand up.
“Oh no, Aubrey. I didn’t mean it like that.
I was just thinking to myself. Let me explain it better.
In the first years of our marriage, I felt like something was missing.
I had always wanted to be a mother, and I thought maybe that was it.
I knew Shane wanted children as well, but he wasn’t really in a hurry for them. ”
I nod, staying quiet as she goes on. I’m really not sure where this conversation is going, but I also don’t want to jump to conclusions.
“Anyway, when I asked him, he agreed to try for one. After a year of trying without success, we ended up going to a fertility clinic because I was worried something was wrong. But everything came back clean, there was no reason that we weren’t having a child, it was just taking time, that’s what they told us. ” She shrugs.
“It had started to affect me mentally, so we had put a hold on it and said we’d try again in a few months.
Finally, a few months later I bumped into Henry.
That’s when I realized what was actually missing from our marriage.
It wasn’t a baby, it was love. True, passionate love.
And well, you know how the rest of that story goes.
” She bumps her shoulder against mine with a smile on her pink lips.
“I was just thinking about how strange life works. All it took was one night with you to have what he always wanted, because it’s what was meant to be.
I think that’s why I couldn’t get pregnant, because I wasn’t meant to have a child with him, just like he wasn’t meant to have one with me.
I’m just happy he’s finally getting it.”
I smile, looking down at the ground. “Do you still want children?” I ask her.
“I do. Henry and I plan on starting right away after the wedding. We wanted to wait a year, but with my biological clock ticking, I don’t want to wait and risk missing out on my chances.” The way she smiles when she talks about her fiancé lights up her entire face.
“I hope it works for you two,” I tell her genuinely. She’s such a nice person, she deserves it.
“Thank you. I hope so, too.” She squeezes her arm tighter around mine. “Ooh! Let’s stop there”—she points across the street—“I heard they have a nice summer collection this year.”
I turn my head to look across the street in the direction she’s showing, but as I do, I’m hit with a wave of dizziness.
I quickly grab onto her arm with my free hand to stabilize myself as I feel my body sway.
I close my eyes, trying to stop the spinning from happening, but my breath begins to shorten with each new inhale I take.
“Aubrey? Are you okay?” Hailey’s concerned voice reaches my ears.
I shake my head slightly, not wanting to make it worse. “Lionel… take me home.”