Chapter3
Nichole woke up with a slight headache. She was naked and lying next to Victor who didn’t show signs of waking up anytime soon. She quietly put on her clothes, called the hotel and asked if they could grab her things and pack her and Tashka’s bags, and called the limo driver. She asked the limo driver if he could get the jet in place, so she could leave. When the limo driver arrived, Tashka and Nichole got inside and left. They stopped at the hotel and grabbed her bags, headed to the airport, and she was on her flight back home. I’m such an idiot, she thought to herself. You’re not supposed to have sex with someone you’ve only spent one day with.
She silently cursed herself the entire ride home. Melissa met her at her house when she got home.
“How was Brazil?” asked Melissa. “Did you take any pictures?” Nichole handed her the phone and Melissa began to scroll through the pictures. “Wow, he’s hot!” Melissa exclaimed.
“HE is the patient’s owner and I was only with him for one day!” Nichole screamed.
“You didn’t do what I think you did, did you?” Melissa asked, scrunching up her face.
“I did and now I feel horrible about it,” Nichole answered.
“Was there a good-bye kiss?” Melissa asked.
“No. I left as soon as I woke up,” Nichole replied. “He was still asleep when I left.”
“That’s cold, Nichole,” Melissa said firmly. “You could have, at least, left a note.”
Nichole sighed. “I woke up, slightly hung over, and didn’t know what else to do. I was freaking out. I had been thinking of him since the moment I laid my eyes on him.”
“Well, what’s done is done. It’s time to move on and get back to work,” Melissa replied.
“You’re right. I’ll see you at work tomorrow morning,” Nichole finished. The two hugged and Melissa left.
Nichole took a shower and got into bed with Tashka.
That night Nichole dreamt about Victor. “You don’t understand how much I miss you, Nichole,” said Victor as he reached for her hand.
They were at the beach and she was wearing shorts and a tank top. He also wore shorts and a casual top. She grabbed his hand and gave him a kiss. “I miss you too,” Nichole replied with a smile.
“Then why did you leave me?” Victor asked with a frown.
“I just didn’t know what else to do. You’re always on my mind but I barely know you. You barely know me. There was just nothing for us to do. I felt like we took it too far,” Nichole said as tears welled up in her eyes.
Victor wiped away her tears. “I feel the same way you feel but I still wish I could have woken up to you next to me,” Victor replied. “I wasn’t planning on letting you go.” Before Nichole could answer, she began to wake up and the image began to fade. “Don’t leave me again,” Victor begged.
“I’m sorry,” Nichole cried. “I’m sorry.”
She woke up the next day to her alarm. It was half past noon and time for her to get to work. She put on her clothes, grabbed her doctor’s coat, called for Tashka, and was out the door. She got to work and saw Melissa already at her desk. “Glad you could join us Dr. Jones,” Melissa said.
“Hey,” Nichole responded.
“Another day, another dollar,” Melissa replied.
Nichole walked behind the desk and started looking through the files. She sighed. Tashka walked around the hospital and greeted all of the animals she saw in the waiting area.
“Mr. Barbosa paid his bill this morning,” Melissa said quietly.
“Good,” Nichole replied. “Mr. Addams, I will see you now,” Nichole said, pulling out a file. A man stood, holding his chinchilla. “Follow me,” Nichole instructed. Melissa watched Nichole walk away as if everything was fine.
Over the next few weeks, Nichole grew ill. She was nauseous, and her back was killing her. Although, she felt sick as a dog, she continued to go to work. Melissa eventually convinced her to get some rest at home. It was a fight but, thankfully, she agreed to do it. Melissa brought Nichole food and drinks while she was in bed, but it didn’t taste the same to her.
“Maybe, you should go to the doctor. It doesn’t seem like you’re getting any better,” Melissa said while fluffing Nichole’s pillow.
“Go to the doctor? For what? All they’re going to do is tell me I have the flu. Then send me home after prescribing me some antibiotics or something,” Nichole huffed. Her phone flashed.
Melissa looked at Nichole’s phone and said, “Is that creep, Derrick, still messing with you?”
“Screw him. He knows to keep his distance. He’s not much of a bother,” Nichole replied.
“You’ve been shrugging a lot of things off since you got back,” Melissa said hesitantly.
“What do you mean?” Nichole asked.
“It’s just, ever since you got back from Brazil, you’ve been a workaholic. You don’t go on dates. You’re letting Derrick blow up your phone all day, and you’re sick and you won’t go to the doctor,” Melissa admitted. “I’m just worried about you.”
Nichole sighed. “I guess you’re right. If I’m not better in a week, then I’ll go to the doctor.”
Melissa smiled. “Good. If you’re not better in a week, then I’m going to take you to the doctor myself. At least let me do that.”
Nichole smiled back at Melissa. “Deal.”
Melissa went home, and Nichole laid on her bed with her phone in front of her face, looking at pictures of Victor and her. Tashka hopped up on the bed and laid her head on Nichole’s stomach.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” Nichole asked Tashka. “Are you feeling okay?” Tashka just continued to lie on Nichole’s stomach. She sniffed it carefully then gave Nichole a kiss. Nichole thought it was peculiar but nothing to worry about. Maybe Tashka just wanted some extra love that night.
The week went by and Nichole was feeling slightly better, but she threw up one morning. Although, she wasn’t feeling as bad as before, she still decided to go to the doctor. Melissa picked up Nichole from her house and took her straight to his office. The two got out of the car and went in while Tashka waited in the car. Nichole signed in and sat in the waiting room. Melissa sat by her side like any loyal friend would.
After about thirty minutes of waiting, a nurse called for Nichole. “Nichole Jones,” the nurse called out.
Nichole and Melissa followed the nurse to the back. Before she allowed them to go into their room, she recorded Nichole’s weight and height. After letting them into their room, the nurse waited for them to sit down and proceeded to ask Nichole for her symptoms. Nichole answered accordingly, “I’ve been feeling nauseous and I’ve been throwing up. I’ve been running a fever and having back aches.”
The nurse smirked at Nichole. “Well, let’s run some tests really quick and we’ll get right back to you.” Nichole agreed and blood samples, spit samples, and urine samples were taken.
Nichole and Melissa waited for an hour before the doctor came into the room. “Hello, my name is Dr. Banks. We have the results on the tests and everything’s absolutely fine!”
“If everything is absolutely fine,” Nichole mocked, “then why have I been running fevers, throwing up, and aching all over?”
The doctor smiled. “You’re eating for two now!”
Melissa screamed. “Oh my Gosh! How far along is she?”
The doctor jumped back at Melissa’s screams then she calmed herself. “She’s about a month in.”
Nichole started to cry. “I can’t be pregnant! I just can’t!”
The doctor tried to make Nichole feel better. “Sweetie, a baby is such a beautiful thing.” Nichole buried her face in her hands and bawled. Melissa hugged Nichole and asked Dr. Banks if they could get a minute alone. The doctor respected their wishes and left the room.
“Is this Victor’s baby or did you have another one-night stand that you didn’t tell me about?” Melissa asked.
Nichole stopped crying and replied, “It’s Victor’s baby.”
Melissa sighed. “Well, you have to get in touch with him and tell him he has a baby on the way.”
“I need you to find his email from when he contacted me the first time. I didn’t get his number or anything.” Nichole sniffled.
“Anything for you, boss,” Melissa answered, softly.
The doctor knocked on the door before entering and came back in. “We have to set your future appointments to constantly check the baby’s status and vitals. We can also give you lists for things you should eat during the next eight months.”
Nichole nodded her head and went through with the steps. After everything was taken care of, Melissa took her and Tashka home. The ride back was silent. Tashka slept in the back seat of the car. Nichole’s mind was throbbing in her skull, and her heart was pounding in her chest. She didn’t know what she wanted to do, but she knew she wasn’t going to do anything to hurt the baby.
When Melissa dropped off Nichole and Tashka at home Melissa said, “I think you should take another day off and figure out how you’re going to bring this up to Victor. I’m going to text you his email. If you need anything else, just text or call me and I’ll be here, right away. Okay, boss?”
Nichole gave a weak smile and nodded. Then, she headed towards the house, went inside, and burst into tears in her room. Her phone flashed, and she saw where Melissa sent her Victor’s email address.
I have a whole day to think about what I’m going to say. I should probably just sleep on it, Nichole thought. She played a few games on her phone until she got tired and fell asleep. She woke up the next morning with morning sickness. She ran to the bathroom as soon as she could and let it all out. “Ugh, I hate waking up in the morning,” she cried. “Why is this happening to me?” Tashka looked at Nichole and was very confused.
After Nichole’s little episode she made her way to the kitchen and made herself a bowl of cereal and then another one. She wasted the day away by watching Netflix and scrolling through social media sites. Although she was procrastinating about her main goal for the day, the task never left her mind. She knew what she had to do; she just refused to for the moment. What if he doesn’t want anything to do with me? What if he has a girlfriend? Nichole thought.
This is his baby. He deserves to know, her thoughts continued. Her mind was conflicted, and she was talking to herself the whole day. She kept setting alarms for herself to send Victor emails but every time the alarm would go off, she would dismiss it and set it for another time. She decided she would just send him an email after she took her shower.
Then she decided it would be best if she ate before she sent the email. After she ate, she threw up again. She eventually sat down at her laptop around eleven at night and sent him an email that said, “Hey, it’s Nichole. Do you remember me?”
Almost instantly she got an IM from him saying, “Hey, of course I remember you! How are you?”
She was shocked. It’s almost as if he had been waiting for her to contact him. “Um, I’m okay, and you?” she replied.
“If you don’t wish to email or IM me, then you can text me. I put my number in your phone before you left. I was hoping you would find it, but now I’m guessing you never looked,” he sent back.
Shocked, Nichole quickly searched through her contacts and found his contact in the bottom of the list. It was labeled, “Victor B” with a heart beside it. The contact picture was one of the pictures they took at the bar. Nichole’s heart began to pound even harder than it already was, but she knew what she was going to do. She clicked on the contact, clicked on send message, and sent him a text saying, “We have to talk in person – Nichole.”
“Send me a location and I’ll be there as soon as possible,” Victor replied. Nichole thought about it and sent him her address. “I’ll be there as soon as possible,” he finished. She replied with a thumbs-up, and went to bed.
She was surprised their conversation was over in less than thirty minutes, but she felt it best to end the chat early.
She went to work the next day around ten in the morning. She went through with her duties and was anxious the entire day. She decided to drop by Melissa’s place on her way home.
“So how did it go?” Melissa asked.
“I’m going to puke,” Nichole replied.
“Oh, I’m sure it’s not that ba—” Melissa said before Nichole ran to the trashcan to throw up. “I guess it is.” Melissa cringed. She rubbed Nichole’s back while Tashka walked in to inspect the situation.
Then, Melissa grabbed Nichole’s phone and went through the messages. “He’s coming here? As in, I get to meet him?” Melissa gasped.
Nichole stood up and nodded her head. “I should probably head home. I don’t know when he’ll get here,” she replied.
“Yeah, sure. Just come back whenever you feel necessary. I mean, you own the place. Who’s going to fire you?” Melissa joked.
Nichole grabbed her things and headed back home around two in the afternoon. As soon as she pulled up, she saw the same car that Tashka had the luxury of riding in when they were in Brazil. Standing outside of the Bugatti with Tashka’s face on it, was Victor with Zap in his arms. Nichole gasped and tried to get herself together. She got out of the car and Victor met her in the driveway. He moved Zap to one arm and hugged Nichole.
“I can’t lie. I have missed you so much.” Victor smiled.
“I missed you too.” Nichole blushed. “Let’s go inside.” Nichole walked in, led by Victor and Zap, and Tashka followed behind. Nichole closed and locked the door. She led the group to the couch and she sat next to Victor. “I asked you to come here because—” Nichole stopped speaking.
“Because?” Victor asked.
“This is going to be hard for me to say,” Nichole said. “I’m pregnant and you’re the only guy I’ve been with.”
Victor was speechless, and his smile had vanished. He looked shocked and looked down at her stomach. He put his hand on her stomach and looked back up at her. “A piece of me, is inside of you?” he asked.
Nichole became teary eyed and replied, “Yes.” He hugged her and pulled her closer.
“That’s amazing.” He lifted her chin with his index finger and looked into her eyes. Then he leaned in and gave her a kiss.
Nichole began screaming in her head. “So, what are we going to do?”
Victor smiled. “We’re going to be parents.”
Nichole wept. “What if I’m not ready?”
Victor held her in his arms. “Nobody is more prepared than you. Tashka is your child. Those fish are also your children. In a way, Zap is too. So, they’re my kids too and the two of us together, will make everything go smoothly.”
Nichole felt relieved that Victor was already so on board for the baby. She stopped crying and smiled at him. Then she frowned again. “You live in Brazil. You have business in Brazil. You can’t stay here.”
“I’m going to be here for you. I already cleared my business in Brazil. Everything will run easy there, but I can start business here too. No worries. I’m going to be here with you every step of the way,” he replied.
“How are you going to stay here? This place isn’t big enough to meet the requirements to keep Zap,” she asked again.
“Nobody has to know. He seems comfortable here anyhow,” Victor said as he watched Zap snuggle with Tashka. “Everything will be fine. Let’s go get something to eat.”
The two headed to a restaurant called Cheddars while Zap and Tashka stayed home to cuddle. Victor pulled out a chair for Nichole and sat down himself. Their waiter approached with a smile on his face.
“Hello, my name is Max, I’ll be—Hey I know you!” the waiter exclaimed. “You were on a date with that douchebag at The Firebird!”
Nichole grinned. “Hey, how are you?”
Max answered, “I’m doing well since I switched jobs.”
“Good! Good! I’m happy for you,” Nichole returned.
“Well, can I get you two some drinks?” Max asked.
“Yes, I’ll have a sweet tea with lemon,” Nichole replied.
“And you sir?” Max asked Victor.
“Yes, I’ll have what she’s having.” Victor smiled.
“Great! I’ll be back with your drinks shortly,” Max replied before walking away.
“You went on a date with a douchebag?” Victor asked, jokingly.
“Ha. Well, um, yes. I did. Shortly before I made the trip to Brazil,” Nichole admitted.
“And how did it go?” Victor asked.
“It was awful. The guy was grotesque! He was rude to the waiter and he flipped out on him for even speaking to me. I mean, you saw him. He’s a kid making a living. He’s friendly but not flirty,” Nichole ranted.
“I agree. The other guy was out of line,” Victor pitched in.
“I’m sorry,” Nichole returned.
“For what, beautiful?” Victor asked, concerned.
“I’m complaining about something that doesn’t even matter. I’m also sorry for leaving the way I did. I didn’t want to, but I felt like we rushed things and now here we are; having a baby together.” Nichole sighed.
Victor took her hand and looked her in the eyes. “It’s okay. I understand. Although, I was sad that you left, I still had you in my dreams and to be honest with you, I wanted to ask you on a real date, but I was afraid you didn’t feel the same way.”
“I did, but I didn’t know how to act about it. I just—I’m sorry,” Nichole replied, looking down. There were tears welling up in her eyes.
“No, no, everything is okay, really. Now that we’re here, together, I’m happy,” Victor said, trying to comfort her. The waiter returned with their drinks and asked them if they were ready to order. Victor once again told the waiter that he would have what Nichole was having and Nichole ordered a buffalo chicken wrap with honey mustard and ranch.
Max, the waiter, happily took their orders and left the table, once again. “Nichole, I want you to be mine. Even though we were intoxicated, I felt something between us that night. I felt our chemistry, before and after the alcohol,” Victor joked, “but I want to be more than your client. I want to be your boyfriend for now.”