I spent the next week a nervous wreck, expecting at any moment for my father to call me and tell me he heard the news. I was surprised when I went home that night and found he hadn’t talked to either of the Grayson’s, but it was very little comfort. For all I knew, Kelly would show up or call at any moment – to spite me just as much as to spite Knox.
I never liked the woman, and I know she never cared much for me, either. This was the perfect situation for her, and I knew she would relish every second of it. I was completely at her mercy, and both she and Knox knew it. To make matters worse, Kelly was one of the most vindictive women I’d ever met in my life, and I knew she would drag this out as much as she could – only to drop the other shoe when the time was right.
Knox and I didn’t speak much to each other that week. I wanted to ask him what happened with Kelly, but he didn’t bring it up, and neither did I. He asked me if I was all right and to stay away from Kelly if she were to come into the office.
I was more than happy to agree. I was also surprised when Kelly didn’t bother to come in – I figured she would want to rub it in my face how she was the one who’d been married to Knox, not me.
Then as the days passed and the weekend came and went once again, I began to think she didn’t intend to do anything about it. She hadn’t come into the office, and she hadn’t said anything to my father – I half hoped she’d given up with the situation and leave it be.
It wasn’t until the beginning of the next week when I saw her again, and though I tried to avoid her, she refused to let me slip by unnoticed. It was the end of the day and I was coming out of the elevator at the floor level of the building, just as she was on her way inside. I wanted to step out, but she stepped in before I had the chance to. Hitting the button for the top floor, I was going to have to ride back with her to the top before I could leave.
“Charming, isn’t he?” she asked with a sadistic smile.
“I beg your pardon?” I asked politely.
“Cut the bullshit. You know exactly what I am talking about, and quite frankly, I’m horrified. I’ve always known you had a thing for Knox, but I would have liked to think you would have had greater self-control. Or, at the very least, that he would have.” She tossed her hair to the side and pulled out a small mirror, applying bright red lipstick.
“I’m sorry, Kelly – I don’t know what else to say to you. You guys are divorced, and it might not have been the best idea, but—”
“It might not have been the best idea?” she interrupted me before I was able to get any further. “My dear – you are knocked up at 18 by your boss. Do you have any idea how many headlines this is going to make? And what did your father say? Oh – he doesn’t know.” A wicked smile spread across her face.
I knew my own expression had betrayed me, and I gave her a pleading look. “Please don’t tell him. I really can’t have him finding out about it – I’m not ready!” I hated myself for begging this woman to do something for me, but at the same time, I was trapped.
“Hmm, let me think. And why would I want to do that? You gave no thought to how this would make anyone else feel but yourselves, and now it’s time that you pay the consequences,” she said with a smirk.
“Really, Kelly – I’m begging you,” I pleaded softly.
She stared at me for a moment, and I saw an idea fill her mind. Her eyes lit up menacingly, and she took a step forward. “I’ll tell you what I’ll do for you, sweetheart, and you can consider this to be a real favor to you in more ways than one. Stop seeing Knox and I’ll keep my mouth shut – but if I see you near him for any reason other than purely business, you can rest assured that the entire world is going to know what you guys did. Deny it all you want, but I know what I saw, and you’re smart enough to know there are some things that you just can’t deny.” She peered down at my belly as she spoke, then she looked back up at me.
I felt a pain run through my chest. I still loved Knox more than anything and though I felt frustrated and devastated with her catching us and the time he’d been spending with her, I didn’t know if there was a way I could just stop seeing him.
“Is it really that difficult of a decision? We are talking about your entire future here. Oh, you can’t just walk away from him, can you?” Kelly looked at me with surprise in her eyes.
I suddenly realized she thought I would do what she would do and just walk away. “I – I love him,” I managed. I know the nerves showed through my voice, and I could see the shocked look in her eyes. I thought I also could detect some jealousy in her look, but it was difficult for me to be able to say for sure.
She smirked as she clicked the mirror closed and put it back in her purse, then she looked over at me with an evil glare. “You love him, do you? Well, that’s going to complicate things a bit then. Don’t worry. I’m going to tell him the same thing I just told you, so perhaps he can help you come to your senses about this situation.”
I was about to reply when the elevator chimed that we had reached the top floor and the door opened.
Kelly walked through it then turned back to me before the doors closed once more. “You have so much to learn about life – don’t you?” she asked.
I felt my chest grow tight with fury, but I didn’t have the chance to respond. The door closed before any words came to mind. I sighed. I could start an argument with her, but what good would it do? She had the upper hand in this situation and there was no denying it.
I hit the ground floor button and sighed as the elevator descended once more, my mind in a whirl. There were so many things I wanted to tell that woman, but I knew I couldn’t. I trust Knox would be able to handle her – perhaps telling her to get out of the office and stay away from him. I didn’t understand. They weren’t married any longer, so why did he have to listen to anything she said?
He loved me, I knew he did, and I loved him. No matter what happened, we were going to make it through this situation, and we would end up being together. I knew I could make him happier than she ever did. And in many ways, I felt that I already had. I absentmindedly touched my belly, thinking about how many times he’d told me and my father he’d wanted a child.
“Now, thanks to me, he’s going to have one. Thanks to me!” I exclaimed triumphantly aloud, though I was the only one in the elevator. The ground floor chimed and the doors opened, and I walked confidently out for the first time in days. I decided I wasn’t going to be scared of her any longer. Knox would handle her and together, we would take care of this situation. It was him and I now, not him and Kelly, and she would just have to come to terms with that.
Finally, I started to feel like everything would be okay.