Chapter 22

Piper

The time with Evan had been so sweet. He had been so kind and gentlemanly from the outset. I was expecting him just to service me, and maybe the odd dinner here and there. But he had gone overboard with the way he treated me. I felt like he was courting me all over again, but this time, he was much more mature with his emotions.

I’d signed the contract, and he had no other clients. For now, anyway. I kept wishing he’d take this opportunity to shut down the Baby Maker thing altogether. He could just be with me and no one else. It made sense. He could step away from it all and step right into a relationship with me. Again.

For the past ten years, neither of us had forgotten about the other. We had always been together in our memories and our thoughts. Not a day had gone by where we hadn’t thought of one another. It was real love, true and sure.

I reached the office after an afternoon meeting and rode up the elevator. The bell sounded, and the doors opened. My gaze was instantaneously drawn to an overly large bouquet of flowers which sat lovingly on the reception desk. There must have been two dozen red roses. Jules stood in the lobby, eyeing the flowers.

“Who are they for?” I asked her.

“Well, it looks like they are for you,” Jules said with a wide smile.

“Wow, they are gorgeous. You shouldn’t have, Jules.” I laughed.

“I don’t like you that much,” she said, smiling. “They’re from your secret admirer.”

I knew they were from Evan. He’d been going overboard to prove himself to me, and this was just one more unexpected way of showing how he felt.

I put the flowers on a window ledge in my office. She followed me into my office. She’d laid out the work she’d done for a commission by one of my clients along the walls.

“The paintings look good,” I said. “Almost as good as my flowers.”

“Thanks,” she said. “Look, I’m pleased for you, Piper. I’m glad you’re happy with Evan, but maybe you should take it easy, you know?”

“I know he broke my heart before and he could do it again,” I said. “I’m just enjoying it all while I can. I’m trying to live in the moment.”

“As long as you know what you’re doing,” she said with a stern look on her face.

“I’m keeping all my options open right now, so there’s no need to worry,” I said.

“So, are you ready for some early afternoon refreshments?” Jules asked, her tone lighter.

“Well, maybe just a couple. I have a bit of an upset stomach, and we have work to do later.”

“Come on then,” Jules said. “I’ll drive.” She grabbed the car keys, excited for a break.

We headed down to the car and climbed inside. Drinks in the afternoon was not a regular thing. Then again, it was not often Jules got to work at my office. She also said a couple of beers helped her creative juices flow. Anything to get some girl time in.

I thought about the drinks as we made our way to the bar. I probably shouldn’t be drinking alcohol while trying to conceive, but I’d been on my cycle so I knew I wasn’t pregnant yet. One or two glasses wouldn’t hurt. At the end of the day, it was not often I got to socialize with Jules. If I did become pregnant with Evan’s baby, it could be one of the lastopportunities where I got to go out with my friend. My best friend.

We arrived at Cyclone, a local bar we’d been to a few times before. It was nothing special and catered to many types of people from all walks of life. The décor could do with some slight updating. But every time I’d offered my services to John, the owner, he had declined.

“It has done me proud for twenty years,” he always said. From the look of the place, that was the one and only time it had ever been decorated.

I wanted to tell Jules about my situation with Evan. I hated that she didn’t know everything that was going on. Ever since I’d known her, she had confided everything in me, as I had in her. I was halfway through my second glass of wine when I decided to spill the beans. I couldn’t hold myself in about it any longer.

“Jules, I have something to tell you,” I said.

“What do you have to say?” she asked eagerly. “Spill it!”

“Well, I’m not really sure how to get it out,” I laughed.

“Come on, you know I’m all ears where you’re concerned.” She sipped on her beer.

“Well, it’s this situation with Evan.”

“Here we go,” she said, laughing. “Sob story, already?”

“No, it’s not that,” I said, nervous about her reaction. “I’m trying to have a baby with him.”

“Geez, Piper, are you crazy?” she asked.

“What’s wrong with that?” I asked, plainly.

“You know what’s wrong with it. All of it. He’s broken your heart before. How can you trust that he won’t do it again? Maybe even worse this time.”

“He’s so different than he used to be,” I said. “I mean, just look at the flowers.”

“Flowers don’t make good parents, Piper,” she said. Her tone was condescending.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time together,” I explained. “I know he’s grown up since the old days.”

“And, what? You tell him you want a baby, and he’s like, ‘Oh yeah, you can have my sperm.’ Better the devil you know, huh?” Her voiced was mocking, hurtful.

“That’s not funny, and you know it,” I said, pissed at her.

“It might not be funny, but it’s true, and you know that,” she said.

Shit, just think if she knew I had signed a contract.

Jules exhaled heavily. “Well, I think you’re fucking crazy to consider letting him get you pregnant. But who am I anyway?”

“You’re my best friend,” I said.

“It sure hasn’t felt that way lately,” she replied angrily.

Our conversation was getting out of hand. I started to get agitated and angry. Jules had put up a wall and wouldn’t even try to understand where I was coming from.

“Jules, I’m going,” I said. “This conversation is going nowhere.”

I grabbed my coat and headed out of the bar. I expected her to try and stop me, but she didn’t. Maybe that was for the best.

Jules had my car keys so I decided to grab a cab.

Where are you going to go? Jules is working at your office.

I hailed the cab and directed him to Evan’s house. I had called his office, and he was out all afternoon. He was not at home, so there was only one other place he could be. At the hotel suite.

The cab re-directed and headed toward the hotel. I bet he is there with a client.

I walked down the hallway and knocked on the door. I waited. Just as I was about to leave, the door opened.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Evan said, beaming a smile.

“I was going to say the same thing,” I snapped. “I checked the office and your house. That’s when I came here.”

“I had to get something for an old client,” he said.

“Yeah, right,” I said angrily. “I bet it’s that message you got at the beach. A client is coming to meet you!”

“Piper, stop. You don’t just come here chasing after me and accuse me of something that isn’t true. I just came for a folder on this previous client.”

“A feeble excuse,” I shouted. “You would say that just to protect yourself. And you know we can’t have sex at the moment, so you have to get your fucking quota in anywhere you can.”

“Have you been drinking?” Evan asked.

“I had two fucking glasses of wine, so what?”

“Piper, you know your situation,” he said. “You have to take extra special care of yourself right now.”

“It’s all, ‘do this’ and ‘do fucking that’ with you,” I screamed. “If it isn’t written down, you don’t know what to do.”

“Just listen to yourself,” he said. “You’re being totally irrational.”

“What do you expect? God, you’re supposed to get me pregnant, and what you’re doing is not enough. It’s not sufficient for a baby, and it’s not enough for me.”

“I will make you a deal,” he said. “The rules of the contract can be bent slightly as long as you promise not to drink any more alcohol. And, on no occasion, can there ever be drugs.”

“I had a feeling I wasn’t pregnant, even before my cycle started. I think you have been overacting all the way through. All this ‘keep fit’ stuff, it’s just to drag things out so I don’t just vanish.”

“Piper, I have always wanted to give you the best, especially when it comes to you having a healthy baby. And the best possible chance of having a healthy baby is through my arrangement. That’s not overacting in my eyes. No way.”

I was angry at Jules for not listening and at Evan for being up to something!

“You shouldn’t put yourself in this position,” he said. “You’re stressing yourself out big time.”

“This is not stress,” I said. “This is being lied to.”

“And don’t forget,” he continued. “I have first-hand experience with this sort of thing.”

“Yeah, how so? How do you know so much about it?”

“Don’t forget the situation my mom was in. She’d been in and out of hospital for years for alcohol poisoning,” he said.

“You’re just using her as an extreme example,” I replied, angrily.

Are you sure you wanted to say that?

“Piper, that’s uncalled for,” he said. “You know my mom became mentally ill because of all that happened to her.”

I had forgotten all about Evan’s mom and how she had struggled for years with alcohol abuse. She’d gone through rehab on many occasions and had always relapsed. In the end, she had suffered some sort of chemical imbalance in her brain. Now she’d been left in a state where she was unable to function. Her sister now cared for her full time.

“Evan, I’m sorry,” I said, apologetically. “I just had a rough time with Jules. She really got under my skin. When I found you here, that was too much.”

I watched as Evan walked to the coffee table and picked up a brown folder. He walked back toward me.

“Well, never cast aspersions or accusations where they’re unjustified. I know I’m not the most perfect person in the world, but I’m not the worst by any means.”

Evan was pissed, and rightly so. I had overstepped the line. I was just so frustrated about not getting pregnant.

“Do you realize I have put you before everything else?” he asked.

“What else am I supposed to think?” I asked. “I mean, just look at the situation.”

“What situation?”

“You’re basically a cock for hire. And a fully loaded one at that. One flash of cash and you drop your pants, blow your wad, and off you go again.”

Evan shook his head in disgust. His eyes glazed over. He opened the file and let me read it. I looked at the file and felt ashamed of myself. I had never considered this side of things.

“So, you see, you should be grateful,” he said.

“I’m so sorry,” I replied.

“Yes, this was, as you have seen, a pregnancy that was unsuccessful,” he said sadly. “And because of complications, the worst happened. This lovely woman had to suffer her loss, and I feel for her.”

I had no words to describe the way I felt. This news had hit Evan even harder.

“This is life we are dealing with here, Piper, and sometimes it can be cruel. I have my dad and my mom to deal with, and this lady has had her fair share of trouble, too.”

“I think I should go,” I said.

He looked into my eyes. “I think maybe you should.”