Chapter 12
“It’s over!” Aurora hung up the phone. She was in physical pain as she pressed the red phone. She wished that it had been a land line phone and she could’ve slammed the receiver in anger. Aurora had spent the morning throwing up, and Lance had called for the fifth time.
Aurora had had enough of his calls, and the 147 messages that Lance had left. She had slept the entire night away, and spent the morning throwing up. It was literally the first chance that she had to respond to him. Lance just mentioned that she had been avoiding him, and Aurora flew off the handle.
“I have to get to a doctor”, Aurora told Lydia as she came out of the bathroom.
“What do you need to know honey?” Carly said as she came out of the kitchen with a mug of hot tea. She handed the mug over to the pale looking zombie who had just walked out of the bathroom.
“I am throwing up…”
“Morning sickness”.
“I’m really tired…”
“That happens too”.
“What are you talking about?” Aurora was getting really annoyed by the tone she was getting from Carly.
“Your pregnant”, Lydia said the words and they cut right through Aurora. She was already feeling weak, but this took her to the ground. “Oh, so you didn’t know”. Lydia seemed surprised by the reaction.
Carly helped Aurora over to the couch. Lydia sat up to make room for her roommate. The women fussed over their friend as Aurora tried to wrap her mind around this bombshell.
“Your phone is going off again”, Carly said as she walked over to get the vibrating rectangle. Aurora waved her hand in disgust.
“It’s either Lance calling for an explanation, or Sheila calling to say that she already regrets hiring me”. These were the only people who had been calling all morning, and Aurora couldn’t be bothered to deal with either one of them. She just laid out on the couch.
Using Lydia as a pillow, Aurora felt Carly start to gently massage her feet. I was so warm and nice that the sore, and nauseous woman started to drift off. She could feel her body shutting down, and getting very heavy.
“So, what are you going to do?” Lydia’s words brought reality crashing back to Aurora.
“I’m going back to bed”, Aurora said as she fought her way back to her feet and then staggered and stumbled into her room. It was a short walk, but her body had been on the edge of sleep, and that always made everything a challenge for Aurora.
Sleeping was easy, and it came fast for Aurora. As soon as she got under her comforter she was asleep. She slept a deep and dreamless sleep, but she awoke to the sound of yelling.
“She isn’t here!” It was Lydia’s voice. She continued to yell these words as the person on the other side of the door yelled back.
The muffled voice that answered back was definitely Lance’s. He had made another trip back from Colorado. Aurora felt awful about that. She didn’t want to cause Lance any stress. She just needed him to leave her alone. She had to admit that it did feel good to know that Lance had travelled across the country again for her.
“Just let her know I was here”, Lance sighed as he finally gave up.
Aurora covered her head as she heard Lydia coming to her door. Lydia opened the door and uncovered Aurora. “I have it on good authority that I am not here right now”.
“He’s not going to give up”, Lydia sighed as she sat down on the bed. “He is really determined to talk to you. I can hear the passion in his voice. I think he really cares”.
“He wants me”, Aurora’s voice sounded distant as she spoke about Lance. “He wants me to be something I can’t be. I need to have all of him, or none of him. It just has to be this way”.
“Alright, well, what’s the plan?” Lydia got up off the bed and walked over to the window. She threw open the heavy curtains that had kept the slumber disturbing light away from the sleeping beauty.
“I need to go see a doctor”, Aurora groaned as she forced herself out of the covers and out of the bed. It was a terrible feeling, she could’ve stayed in bed all day.
“Well, then you should use the back door”, Lydia said as she watched out the window. Aurora walked over to the window.
“How long do you think he’s going to be there?” Aurora asked as she watched Lance pace around the front of her building. Lydia shrugged, but it seemed like he was not going away.
Aurora felt like a disaster as she left her apartment building out the back door. She was wearing a hoodie and track pants, and dark sunglasses. She felt like she was heading off to rob a bank. Lydia had offered to come with her, but Aurora thought it was better to go alone.
“I will call Carly and see what I can do to get you a new place”, Lydia offered. She had suggested talking to Carly about getting an apartment. Aurora needed to cut Lance off, and in her current apartment Aurora was far too accessible.
The doctor at the clinic confirmed the pregnancy. Aurora felt her heart sink. She was trying to cut Lance off, and now she was going to have a permanent reminder of their love with her for at least the next eighteen years. Aurora tried to smile, and she was sure that she would soon, but at that moment she was not ready.
The next stop was the office. Aurora knew that Sheila was going to fly off the handle and she couldn’t wait to get that over with. It was like ripping off a Band-Aid, Aurora wanted to do it all in one clean motion.
“There you are”, Lance came out around the corner as Aurora opened the main door to the Salacity Building. Aurora had nowhere to hide. Her eyes went right to the ground. “I thought you might be avoiding me, but why would I think that when I am getting this lovely greeting”.
“I’m pregnant”. In one clean motion, and the smile faded off of Lance’s face.
Aurora walked away, and headed to meet her fate in the office. Sheila was going to be a lot more vocal, and Aurora tried to mentally prepare for the assault she was about to face.
“What do you mean?” Sheila was screaming as she once again pulled Aurora through the office. “You are going to lose your job. They can do that in the first thirty days, especially since you can’t go to Africa pregnant”.
“Don’t they have babies there?” Aurora sat down in the chair and took in the next wave of bad news. It seemed like it had to be the end of her bad experiences for the day. There didn’t seem to be anything left to do.
“So, don’t say anything”, Sheila said as she finally calmed down. “I’ll figure it out. We have a community development team here too. I’ll get someone to move over to the Africa team so that someone will go for you”.
“Do you want to come over to my place and yell at me more in private”, Aurora offered. She was joking, but at the same time she owed Sheila something. The older woman had been looking out for the former intern for months now.
“Yeah, maybe”, Sheila shrugged. “I think I’ll just send you angry texts all night, but I am coming over first thing tomorrow morning, and you’re making it to work on time”.
“Understood”, Aurora said as she stood up and walked out of the office.
“Where are you going?” Sheila asked.
“I have a very big donor who is waiting in the lobby”, Aurora said. “I just dropped a bomb on him and I owe him an explanation”.
Aurora thought about what she was going to say on the elevator ride down. When the doors opened on the first floor, she still had no idea what to say. She felt sort of numb as she moved over to Lance.
“I am in”, he said as Aurora walked up to him.
“You don’t have to worry”, the mother to be smiled. “I don’t want anything from you. I know that you’re married and I knew that when we started. You don’t owe me anything”.
“I don’t feel like I owe you something”, Lance said. “I want to be with you. I want to raise a baby with you”.
Aurora wasn’t sure what to say next. Lance wasn’t willing to divorce his wife. Aurora already knew that the chairman needed his wife to keep his company. She couldn’t ask him to give all that up. They were at an impasse, and they both knew it. They stood there in the lobby and stared at each other, searching for the right words.
Before either one of them spoke, Lance’s phone rang. “It’s Colorado”, Lance grumbled.
“You better take it”, Aurora said as she watched Lance answer the phone and turn his back on her. She saw the opening and she took it. Aurora’s cab was pulling away as Lance turned back, and then looked for her frantically.
“You need to get me a place”, Aurora said as soon as Lydia picked up the phone. The cab was still minutes away from her apartment, and Aurora knew that Lance would be hot on her tail.
“I’m texting you an address”, Lydia said. “Meet us there and we’ll get your name on the lease today”.
Aurora agreed to meet them and she hung up the phone. The address text came through immediately and the cab dropped her off at the new building. Aurora looked up at the building. The Salacity Corp. logo was on the front. Is there anything in this town he doesn’t own? She wondered to herself.