Chapter 21
“Please leave the curtains closed, Anna.”
Anna was one of the mansion’s maids, recently hired by Martha.
She was a very reserved Thai woman, with limited English, very hardworking and polite.
A little over two years ago, she had married an American man she’d met in her country, and with whom she had a baby just over seven months old, if I wasn’t mistaken.
They came to live here in the United States against everyone’s wishes.
Her small family of three was not very fortunate, and through an unfortunate twist of fate, her baby, Zach, developed a rare disease with very expensive treatment.
But with her husband’s miserable salary and the family’s unfavorable circumstances, they couldn’t pay for it.
So she had to leave her baby in the care of a kind neighbor and look for a job to try to raise the money she needed, Martha told me, moved by it, and hired her.
And unlike the other employees who lived in the mansion, Martha let her leave every afternoon so she could be with her baby and whenever she had to take him to the doctor.
Thor, after being informed of the poor woman’s situation, volunteered to pay for baby Zach’s treatment. I knew he had thought of us in that same situation, just as I had when I found out, and it was impossible not to be touched.
“Anna, do you know if Heithor is back yet?” I asked, doing my best to reach my ankle.
Thor had left the previous night for the job he was doing. It was his last outing, he’d promised, and I hadn’t complained.
“The gentleman arrived an hour ago and locked himself in the office.”
“Is Heithor alone?”
“No. He is with Miss Hunter.”
“How long have they been closed in there?”
“Half an hour, if I’m not mistaken,” she reported.
What the hell!
Couldn’t I have a moment of peace? Was one bitch leaving the scene just so another could step in right away? Did they belong to some secret organization?
Thirty minutes.
Thirty minutes was a long time. Too much time. A lot could happen…
“Do you need me to call him, miss?” Anna’s voice anchored me.
“No. You may go. Thank you.”
I began pacing through the bedroom, going from one side to the other.
My thoughts were a jealous storm.
I huffed in irritation, stopping short. I slid my gaze to the side, catching my reflection in the mirror. I turned around and then opened the robe, running my eyes over myself.
Well, she might not be a rival, but for a trusted female friend, she was doing much better than I was. The woman didn’t have a damn ball on her belly or extra flesh in places it shouldn’t be. No. She, the good little friend, had everything hard and firm.
I couldn’t even see my vagina anymore!
I closed the robe with a sharp movement, then entered the closet, and after that walked to the office.
One way or another, I wouldn’t leave anything to chance.
I flung open that damn door, which, luckily for both of them, was not locked, and made a hurricane-style entrance, marking my territory.
***
By the end of the day, I was wiped out, starving, and my feet were killing me.
Thor was passed out when I entered the bedroom. I didn’t have the heart to wake him. He needed that time to recover from the exhaustion of going almost twenty-four hours without sleep.
After dinner, I gathered a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, a small bottle of water, and a magazine, then settled into the gazebo.
With the ice cream already almost half gone, Thor joined me and gave me a little kiss.
He sat down, placed my feet on his lap, and began massaging them, and within a minute, I was sighing with love for him.
“By the Prophet’s beard!” P exclaimed. “If that’s the kind of pampering you get, I want to get pregnant too.”
I looked at Pietra, who was circling around to sit on the opposite sofa with a package of cookies in her hands.
“Don’t talk nonsense,” I scolded.
“Why is it nonsense? I want to be pampered too.”
“You’re already more than pampered enough, if you want to know.”
She pouted. “I want to use the he-opens-doors-for-me card.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying. I guarantee the pain and all the discomfort don’t make the he-opens-doors-for-me card worth it.” I made air quotes with my fingers. “Besides, you’re still too young to take on that kind of responsibility.”
Pietra mocked me. “Said like a centenarian, right?”
“It’s precisely because we’re the same age that I’m saying this. No one in their right mind would have a child at such a young age. And I don’t want you making the same mistake I did and having that responsibility onto your shoulders before you truly want it. If you can avoid it, do.”
“Nice advice from someone the size of a house.”
I gave her the finger. “That was a twist of fate, and if it hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t be pregnant today, and not anytime soon either. You know that very well.”
“Fine. You have a point,” she said grudgingly. “Anyway, when I’m ready, Nathan had better prepare himself. I’m going to use the hell out of the opens-doors-for-me card.”
I laughed, feeling sorry for the poor bastard. “I’ll warn him. After all, it’s only fair that he have the option to run before it’s too late.” I teased her with a little laugh.
She stuck out her tongue and laughed.
I was laughing too, but stopped when I saw Thor’s hard expression.
“Seriously? And what happened to you accepting the pregnancy?”