The incessant pitter-patter of the rain against my window became the soundtrack of that Sunday morning. It had been raining ever since I went to bed the previous night. God had it out for us peasants down below and wanted to wash away our sins again, apparently.

He’d need far more than that.

I had never been a fan of breakfast, though some unknown and unseen force compelled me to escape the warm embrace of my bed to seek nourishment — preferably anything that hadn’t been fermented in an oak barrel or the like.

My pantry had been restocked fairly recently, though nothing seemed appealing. The varied mix of colorful pellets of sugar people liked to call “cereal” looked as inviting as cholera. I opted instead for a normal toast, reminding myself to have a talk with whoever was in charge of buying groceries.

The clock on my phone read eight in bright white numbers, perfectly legible against the dark blue wallpaper I picked. A picture I had taken not that long before, during a night out with Lucy. I still couldn’t quite shake her out of my thoughts, yet I knew it would get better given enough time.

Destiny had it out for me, that day. My phone began buzzing moments after the toaster spit out a darkened slice of bread, which landed directly onto the floor. I glared at it, expecting an apology, before looking over at the source of the second annoyance of the day.

A number I couldn’t recognize. I declined the call and set out to make a second, hopefully not suicidal toast.  My phone buzzed again, and I suspected the caller to be the same one as before. My suspicions were confirmed right away, and much like before, I declined it. I only took calls from numbers I bothered to have in my contacts list, so a grand total of about five people. Four, excluding my sister.

I caught my toast in time and set it on a plate, happy to see the toaster hadn’t burnt it to a crisp. I sighed in exasperation when my phone lit up again. My hand reached over to grab it, poking the screen far too vigorously for no real reason. Curiosity had gotten the best of me, though anger tainted it.

Instead of another call, I received a text. Same number as the one that kept calling me. I opened it and read its contents, the preview piqued my interest in a way I couldn’t quite place.

“It’s Brianna, Lucy’s roommate,” It said. I tapped the screen and the rest of the message appeared. “We need to talk. Pick up the phone.”

I wouldn’t have followed those instructions if she hadn’t mentioned Lucy. Naturally there was no way of discerning her tone from those two short sentences, and besides, Brianna was a mystery to me. I only talked to her a couple times, and it never went beyond small talk.

I still wasn’t sold on the idea. Human contact wasn’t my forte, especially right after waking up. Regardless, when Brianna called again, I forced myself to pick up.

“Hello?” I answered, trying to hide the annoyance in my voice.

“Save it, there’s something you need to know.” Her words were hushed, perhaps attempting to keep the conversation a secret.

“What do you want? And how did you get this number?” I queried, ignoring her request. Habits.

“I got your number from Lucy’s phone. She kept it,” Brianna replied, taking an uncomfortably long pause at the end of that sentence. A deep breath later, she blurted out two words that floored me. 

“She’s pregnant.”

My heart dropped, and so did my jaw. “Are… Are you sure? Did Lucy sa—” Brianna cut me off before I could finish speaking, though it didn’t matter.

“I saw the test. Just thought you’d want to know.” She said matter of factly. Her tone betrayed her fear, or perhaps even anger. 

I nodded to myself in a vain attempt to calm down. My heart pounded like a crazed jackhammer. “Alright, thank you, I…”

“Do the right thing, Alexander.” With those last words, Brianna hung up the phone. 

I set mine down onto the table and stared at the counter, leaning against it as I tried to make sense of it all. I remembered the nights I spent with her. I remembered how in the heat of the moment, using protection didn’t even enter the anti-chamber of our brains. 

We were both parts of this mess. The kid had to be mine, I had no doubts about it. Yet along with that realization came plenty of other, darker thoughts.

My childhood hadn’t been the best. Money made it easy, but it couldn’t buy the love my father was too busy working to give me. My mom, I barely remember her. I have pictures of her, and nothing more.

She died when my sister Annalise and I were too young to remember anything. She says she does, but we both know it’s a lie.

Lucy’s case was similar. Francis Reynolds didn’t strike me as a loving man, though that could easily be attributed to the name I carried. Still, I needed to do something and be quick about it.

The last thing I wanted was for Lucy to be alone. I knew my place was right beside her, and I couldn’t help but be angry at myself for taking so long to understand that.

Whatever life had in store for us, we could deal with. 

Despite that rare moment of mental clarity, I still didn’t know whether or not Lucy  would be willing to walk down that path with me.

We parted ways and hadn’t talked since. Perhaps we were both trying get away from one another without seeing the rubber band that tied us together. One can run, but life always wins.

In truth, I hadn’t even tried to run. I simply went back to my old life, and Lucy started the next chapter of hers. We were both blissfully unaware of the hidden machinations that worked behind the scenes to push us back together again.

It took me way too long to understand Lucy was worth going against everything I was made to stand for. I couldn’t care less about the company. God knows I was on the verge of quitting and retiring to a private island in the middle of the ocean, just so I could live the rest of my days in peace. 

That phone call changed almost everything. I still wanted to quit, but instead of a tiny island, I saw a family. Before Lucy came along I would have never considered it, even actively shunned the idea. She was special, there was no denying that. I couldn’t let her slip away from me.

The aluminum case of my phone was still warm when I picked it up, navigating its simple interface to get to my contact list. I tapped my sister’s name and fought back the wave of dread that washed over me as I prepared to tackle on the conversation she had been waiting years to have.

When she finally picked up, Annalise croaked a less than warm greeting.“What do you want?”

“It’s time,” I stated, cold and direct. It took her a while to process the information, as she’d never been a morning person.

“Are you serious, Alexander?” Her words tinted with hope, bleeding through her stern facade.

The answer appeared before my eyes. Crystal clear. “Next Wednesday, my office.”

I hung up on her before Annalise could even muster a reply. We both knew she wouldn’t miss that chance. She’d been chasing it ever since our father died, and I had just served it to her on a silver platter.

The company’s chair. I had no need for it any longer. Ever since I took over, I made work my first priority despite hating every aspect of it. If I could go back I would run like hell, away from that awful world.

It surely had its benefits, however. My bank account sat safely somewhere in Switzerland, growing day after day. I often wondered where all of that money would go after my death. Thoughts of passing it down to an heir never crossed my mind, but after Brianna’s call, things were surely different. 

My job, the company and all of those assholes I had to meet throughout the years could go up in flames for all I cared. Lucy needed me now more than ever, and I needed her.

The following days felt unreal. I had to check my phone just to make sure the calls I made and received the previous day had been real, and not the result of a weekend bender.

They were real, much like the shrill noise coming from my alarm. Six o’clock, which meant it was time for me to face the world and that bitch of a sister I had.

As soon as I set foot into my office, I headed for my desk, cracking my knuckles as I prepared to contact my team of lawyers. They’d need to prepare all of the documents I would no doubt spend a few hours signing, just so I could get out of this hell. For what I paid them, they’d better hurry.

Hurry, they did. Some of them even talked about pulling overnighters, I simply told them they would be compensated for all of their efforts. In fairness, they did a splendid job.

Wednesday came and with it, the end began. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, even as a jet black silhouette slowly walked towards me.

The clock struck nine and my intercom buzzed. I didn’t even wait for my secretary to start talking, I already knew. “Let her in,” I said, after jamming my finger on the “talk” button.

Moments later, the doors to my office swung open and Annalise walked in, followed by a team of lawyers of her own. Her heels clacked onto the hardwood floors, though I barely acknowledged her presence.

Raising my eyes to meet hers, I noticed she seemed happy — and I couldn’t remember the last time I saw that look on her face. Happiness, sure, yet it was clearly tainted by a heavy dose of smug self righteousness. Every dog has its days.

The black tailleur she wore made her seem all the more authoritative, and I must admit it looked fairly good. Her cascading blonde hair gave it a nice contrast, even if it framed a hard face that would hardly betray any emotion other than anger.

“Never thought I’d see the day,” She spoke, after sitting down in front of me. 

I raised my eyebrows and cocked half a smile. “You and I both. Shall we?”

Annalise gestured with her hand. Barely a second later, one of the gray suited lawyers she brought along stepped forward, placing a tall stack of papers onto my desk. 

I had mine ready, sitting in a drawer.

“Wait,” She commanded, without any authority to do so. “Why are you doing this?”

I took a sharp breath. “You’ll see it in time, Annie.”

My sister’s expression changed as she heard her long lost nickname. “You haven’t called me that since we were little,” She observed, cocking her head to the side. 

“What can I say,” I shrugged, reaching for my pen. “Things change.”

A few more days passed. Harris Electronics was no longer mine, after an ungodly amount of signatures. My hand was cramping by the end of it, but I was happy.

Every day I fought the urge to run to Lucy with every fiber of my being. It had to wait until everything was ready.

The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. I took a quick shower, the second of that day, and changed clothes. The entire process took me less than half an hour, while usually showers alone took me twice as long. The anticipation was killing me as I drove through the rainy streets of Manhattan, heading towards the apartment Lucy and Brianna shared. 

About an hour later I arrived at my destination, or rather, close enough to it. I left my car at a nearby parking garage and walked under the pouring rain. That very same rain could have turned into acid and it still wouldn’t have stopped me. I had a purpose, a mission, and I would stop at nothing.

The door to the apartment building had been left ajar by another resident. I let myself in, skipping the possibly awkward intercom buzz. I made my way to Lucy’s door and froze when I reached it.

Fear gripped my throat tight and wouldn’t let go of it. Doubts and questions began to flood my mind, screaming at me to turn on my heels and run away. I ignored them, and rang the doorbell by slamming my hand into it.

I heard a quiet shuffling from behind the door, and waited in trepidation. Chances were Lucy wouldn’t even open, but the doorknob turned. The door swung open and she flew out and into my arms, tears welling up in her beautiful eyes.

I held her tight as she buried her head into my chest. Inside, I saw Brianna’s head poke out from behind a corner. I nodded my head downward, and mouthed a silent “thank you”, to which she smiled and retreated back to what I assumed was her room.

Neither of us knew what to say. Words seemed superfluous. I simply wanted to keep her close to me, to protect her from whatever the future held for us. 

“It’ll be fine,” I whispered. Lucy looked up at me and the shadow of a smile grazed her face. 

“I know,” She replied, her voice trembling. 

“I’m sorry for being an asshole.” I had never uttered those words before. After a brief pause, I felt the overwhelming need to say something else. A hail Mary perhaps, but I needed to get it out. 

“I love you.” My voice was barely audible, nothing more than a whisper. Those words were meant for Lucy’s ears and no one else.

“I love you too, Alex.” Those two words cleansed my soul of all the doubts, fear and anger I bottled up throughout the years. 

Lucy sobbed quietly in my arms. We stood in front of the still open door of her apartment, half shrouded in the darkness of the hallway and half illuminated by the light that bled from her apartment.

“Let’s head inside,” I whispered, leaning closer to her ear. The fruity scent of her shampoo filled my nostrils in what would soon become my favorite fragrance in the world. Not because of how it smelled, but rather because she made it hers.

We hardly slept, that night. Most of it was spent on her couch, talking about whatever topics we could come up with as we inched towards the elephant in the room. Even Brianna had a word or two to say before she was forced her to retire to her room — not by us, naturally, though we obviously needed some time to figure out where to go from there.

Silence fell, and enveloped us like a warm blanket. 

“So…” Lucy began, trailing off right away. “Did Bree tell you?” She added, glancing at me.

“Are you going to get mad at her if I say yes?” I replied, a faint smile making its way onto my lips.

Lucy shook her head. “Mad? I should thank her. And I will, first thing tomorrow morning. I was so scared and…”

“It’s alright, silly. When did you find out?” I asked, keeping my voice low. He last thing I wanted was to freak her out more.

“About a week ago. I should have told you, I’m sorry,” She answered, her voice trembling.

“Look,” I exhaled, uncrossing my legs. I leaned forward, taking her hand into mine. “I’m not going to abandon you. We are in this together.”

She frowned. “But our companies…” 

Lucy’s face contorted into an expression I had never seen before. Fear and uncertainty, the two missing horsemen of the apocalypse. 

“About that…” I trailed off, inadvertently letting suspense build up. It wasn’t the time, and I quickly resumed talking. “I retired. Company’s headless for now, but my sister will take over soon.”

“Are you serious?” She appeared to be stunned, and it was understandable. Lucy was well aware of the fact that I kept flirting with the idea of letting everything go, but at the same time knew it would probably never happen. The truth was, I simply needed a real reason, one that went beyond “I don’t like it.”

“Yeah. An ideally your father could lead yours while we ensure nothing bad happens to…” I spoke, pointing at her belly, “…This. He knows the gist.”

A beaming smile shone on her lips, casting the shadows of fear away from her expression. Lucy finally began to relax, as though I had given her the solution to a complex puzzle that had been driving her mad. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. I just wanted to make sure my affairs were in order beforehand,” I confessed. “Resisting the urge to come here was tough. Just hearing your voice would have made me crumble.”

She inched closer to me. I spread my arms and embraced her, feeling her warmth on my body once more. 

Lucy let out a soft groan. “My father’s gonna love this,” She declared, without even trying to hide the sarcasm.

“Who cares? He’ll get used to it, eventually,” I shrugged, doing my best to appear relaxed. Deep down I knew the old man wouldn’t approve of us, especially given the circumstances. 

Lucy was worth fighting for. What we shared had become my first priority, work and art be damned. I wouldn’t let her father stand in our way.