Chapter 21 #2
Ella and Ben were seated at a table with about ten of Ben’s friends from school.
Most, like him, had gone off to university, then returned to Central Arkansas to begin their careers.
Almost all of them were either finishing their education in law, medical, or dental school or were like Ben in the final semester of graduate school.
None of them were married, though some did have long-term girlfriends.
None of Ben’s friends she had met from school in California were there, so Ella knew no one.
Everyone was drinking and dancing and having the best time—except for Ella. She felt lost and out of place. Even if she had not been pregnant, she still could not have drank because she was under age. All in all, she felt like she looked exactly like what she was, a little girl playing dress-up.
As bad as the night was, it would have been bearable if Ella could have at least gotten to spend some time with Ben.
Dance with him. Talk with him. Eat with him.
But no. Ben spent the entire time talking to others.
Ella knew he was “working,” but it was annoying.
At first, he tried introducing her to people, but she quickly got tired of trying not to look stupid, just standing beside him, having nothing to add to the conversations.
After about an hour of following Ben around the club like a lost puppy, she returned to their table, exhausted and hungry.
One positive of the night was that the food was actually really good.
Ella enjoyed the prime rib dinner and the three-tier chocolate cake for dessert.
Because Ben never came back to the table to eat, Ella ate his dessert too.
She comforted herself with the thought that she was going to get fat, so might as well enjoy it.
She knew that it would not be good for the baby or for her to eat sugar like that all the time, but the night had been so bad, she felt she deserved a second piece.
She only felt a little bad when Ben finally came back to the table just before the event was over and asked if he could take his cake home.
Luckily, the kitchen offered to pack the golden son a leftover piece.
It was while they were waiting for that piece of cake to be wrapped that Ella ran into her most awkward moment of the night.
A young man came up and shook Ben’s hand.
“Jordan, dude, so good to see you. I heard you were back. How are your mom and dad?” Ben asked, with the air of confidence of having known someone a long time.
Turning to Ella, Ben said, “Ella, this is Dr. Jordan Stream, the doctor I asked Margie to set you up for your prenatal visits.” Without waiting for Ella to respond, Ben turned back to the doctor and added, “I don’t know if you have heard, but Ella and I are expecting.
Rumor has it you are the new ‘it’ doctor in Little Rock.
Margie said you got Ella in quickly. I really appreciate that.
Moving here at the last minute, we are a little behind in all of that. ”
Ella’s eyes almost bugged out of her head.
Margie had not mentioned anything about any special favor of getting her in early.
But it would not have mattered because she would never have felt comfortable with such a gorgeous young doctor delivering her baby—especially one Ben grew up being friends with.
Some things, like her private parts, needed to remain private.
However, if she had known the doctor had gone out of his way for her, she would have expressed her appreciation to his office when she canceled the appointment.
If she had known. Which she didn’t. Because no one ever told her anything.
The gorgeous young doctor gave Ben a sheepish look. “Well, I saw a Carrington on my chart list earlier in the week, but the appointment was canceled. I guess there must have been some kind of mix-up. I will get my nurse to look into it on Monday.”
At that moment, Ella tried suppressing a yawn as Ben’s cake was delivered, but it came out like a roar.
Looking at Ella, Ben said, “Oh my, I am so sorry. I bet you are exhausted. It has been quite a busy few weeks. If you will excuse us, Jordan, I need to get this little lady home.” Ben sounded all sweet and concerned for her.
After two pieces of cake, his “sweetness” almost put Ella into a diabetic coma on the spot.
Understanding how tiring pregnancy was, Ben’s doctor friend replied, “Sounds good. See you soon.” Then he turned and walked away.
Helping Ella into her coat, Ben said, “It is raining. I’ll get the car so you don’t get wet.” Handing her his cake, he took off at a jog through the mist.
As Ella stood waiting, her irritation meter hit overload.
Tonight was the last straw. Her anger at being dismissed, overlooked, and basically ignored over the past few weeks built to a boiling point.
When Ben pulled up the car, Ella got in and slammed the door hard, letting her frustration speak for itself.
“Whoa! What was that about? I got the car as quickly as I could.” Ben could plainly see that Ella was pissed.
He had seen her upset, sick, and a hundred other ways over the past few months, but he had only seen her pissed one other time—after they had sex in the shower without protection, the incident he had come to think of as CondomGate.
Whatever Ella was pissed about, it couldn’t be as bad as that.
Maybe it was just pregnancy hormones. Ben was confident that he had not done anything for her to be mad at him about.
He had gone out of his way to make sure she had had the best of everything he could give her since they had married.
In true Ella fashion, she did not respond for a moment. When she did, she said, “I am not ticked about how long it took you to get the car. That was fine.”
“Okay, well what are you ticked off about? And don’t say nothing because I can see you are plainly mad about something.”
Giving him a look that said she wouldn’t spit on him if he was on fire, Ella swallowed hard, considering her words. When she spoke, she was shocked at how calm she sounded given she was about to explode from the inside out. “You really want to know what I am mad about?”
“Yea, or I would not have asked.”
“Okay, I will tell you. I am ticked, like really ticked. Like the second maddest I have ever been at you.”
“Okay,” said Ben, waiting for her to say more. When she didn’t, he prompted, “Tell me why.”
Giving Ben another angry look, Ella all but shouted, “How dare you have the audacity to pick my doctor without even discussing it with me first? Or worse, having your assistant do it. I get that you are super busy and super important and consumed with your internship and your meetings, but this is my body and my baby, and I will decide who delivers it. Not you. Not her. No one but me. Got that?”
The fire Ben saw flash in Ella’s eyes was real.
His first instinct was to fire back at her.
Thankfully, he resisted. This was his Ella.
He loved her. She was the kindest, most easy-going person he knew.
If she was this upset, he needed to proceed with caution.
Instead of snapping back, he calmly said, “Okay, I understand. But for the record, I was only trying to help. We talked about needing to find you a new doctor. I asked Margie to find out who the best doctor in town was. She came up with Jordan’s name.
He was a few years ahead of me in school, but his dad was and is a very respected doctor in Little Rock. I thought I was helping.”
“Helping?” asked Ella with her eyes flashing.
Ben might be controlling his responses, but she was not there yet.
Her anger was still spewing. “If you wanted to help me, you would have come home at a decent hour one night this week. We could have talked about it. Instead, your assistant leaves me a message like I have no choice in the matter. If you had talked to me about this, you would have known that I am not comfortable with a man, especially one who looks like that.”
Before Ben could stop his mouth from running, he stupidly asked, “Are you kidding me? You are mad because I set you up with a great doctor, and you don’t want to use him because he is cute? You know that sounds stupid, right?”
Ella looked at Ben like killing him was a strong possibility at that moment.
“You know what, sometimes I think you forget that before I met you and had my whole life turned upside-down, I didn’t need a gyno much less an OB!
But thanks to you, I do.” The longer she talked, the louder she got.
“Need I remind you I have only been to a female doctor twice, both times trying to get contraception for you! But thanks to your carelessness, it was no longer needed. So if I want to see a woman, by God, I will. And you,” her eyes flashed in anger.
“You can just suck it.” She finished her response feeling every bit the kid that she actually was, but so be it.
So far being a grown-up was not that great, so screw it and him and his assistant too.
Ella was tired and sad and lost and so over her new life.
Ben could have a moment of misery with her.
Afterall, as the saying goes, misery loves company, and she could use some in the pit she currently found herself in.
Ben looked at Ella in disbelief. Who is this person? he wondered. He carefully considered his words before responding in a mild tone, lest he set off Ella again. “Okay, got it. You don’t want to use Jordan. No big deal. Do you have another doctor in mind?”