Chapter Nine
Willow
It had been three weeks since we had sex. I mostly avoided him because of the stress with Ronald. But Darien still made sure I was comfortable and fed. He didn’t ask too many questions, even though the looks he gave me were stitched with worry.
Recently I’ve been sick as hell. Nauseous, moody, and achey. My period was supposed to be here by now, but when I noticed I was gaining some suspicious weight, I ran to the store to get a… pregnancy test.
I hid the test box in my bag and dashed back into my room, throwing myself in the bathroom. Peeing on the stick, I waited for those sixty seconds to pass.
It was a long wait, but the results had begun to fade in.
Two lines.
I was…
“This can’t be… What will I tell him?” I whispered to myself, covering my mouth with my trembling hand. I bent over the toilet to empty out this morning’s breakfast and looked at the stick.
It was no mistake. It was right. I had all the symptoms.
God, it was only after one time. To make matters worse, Darien was still dealing with his divorce. Me being around him with a knocked up belly wasn’t going to help.
I had to think of something.
Darien knocked on the door. I could tell it was him from the authority in his knocks. They were strong and vibrated off of the door.
“Willow, I’m about to drop Dahlia off at school. Would you like to come with us?” he asked.
I dragged myself over to the door and placed my face near the seam of it. “No, I don’t feel well. I’ll stay here.”
“Are you okay? I can take you to a doctor,” he offered.
“No, I’m fine.” I draped my arm over my belly. His kid was growing inside me.
“Huh, call me if anything happens. There’s phones up and down the hall.”
“Thanks…”
“Bye, Willow! I hope you feel better soon,” Dahlia added, her bubbly voice cheering me up.
“Thanks, Dahlia.”
I waited for them to leave before I tippy toed downstairs to get some food. No wonder I had awful cravings recently. I was honestly shocked I hadn’t figured this out a bit sooner.
Opening the refrigerator, my appetite pointed to the orange juice. I grabbed it and took out a glass cup from the cabinet to the side. I inhaled it down as soon as the juice touched the cup.
“God this orange juice tastes good.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” a familiar voice said from around the corner.
“Huh? Who’s there?!” Then she came around. Morgan.
“Hello, dear. Look at you. All at home while Darien is out with our daughter.”
“His daughter,” I corrected.
“Snappy little bitch, aren’t you?” She ran a finger on the marble island of Darien’s kitchen and stared at it with a coy smile. I moved over to where the knives were kept and took one out.
Shring.
That noise was warning enough.
“A knife? What’re you going to do with that?”
“Cut you if you step any closer to me.” I jabbed the knife up, showing her I meant business. She raised an eyebrow and shook her head.
“Dear, I don’t need to touch you to hurt you. Not at all. You see, I gave Darien time. Lots of time, but he still resists. He won’t get rid of you, you little whore.” She still inched around the island. I backed up in sync.
“Stay away from me, I’m calling the police—” I said, reaching for my phone.
“You don’t want to do that darling. There’s a good reason why.”
Morgan took out her phone, swiped around and showed me her screen.
Those images. I remember. I heard both Darien’s voice and mine as the video of us having sex played on her phone.
“Oh my god… how’d you—”
“Security system. You see, Darien was never that tight about it, until he met you. I still had access to the cameras, and he forgot to take the camera out of your room once you moved in.”
She stopped the video and placed her phone back into her purse. Morgan’s dark makeup made her look just as evil as she acted. Dahlia looked nothing like her.
“You’re trying to blackmail him for money, aren’t you?” I strengthened the grip of the knife in my hand.
“Money? No, not just that. You see, if I show this to the court, and you know, accidentally leak it into the media, his life will crumble to ashes. His company will be tarnished, his reputation, his daughter will never see him again, and half of all his assets are mine,” she growled. Stopping, she bent over and rested her elbows on the island. We had made a full circle and a half around this thing now.
“Why are you waiting then?” I asked.
“You might want to tone down the attitude, darling. Because you’re the only one who can save him.”
“What? How?”
“Leave. Don’t contact him, meet him, or even think about him again.”
“And how does that help you?”
“I get to watch him suffer as he looses something he loves. He might even keep Dahlia. I don’t want that sniveling kid anyways. I want to see him writhe in agony.”
“Just because you want his money?” I lowered the knife a bit. Morgan may’ve been crazy, but she was on a different level of crazy. She was the kind that wanted to butcher the mind, not the body.
Damn.
“Yes. When he divorced me, he took away my power. No one wanted me around anymore. I was cast out.” Morgan looked out the window brushing a piece of her dark red wavy hair behind her ear. She frowned. That was all that mattered to her; money and power.
“That’s your fault for using him,” I said.
“And? That’s what us rich people do.” She clapped her hands and smiled, standing up straight again.
“That’s what bad people do.”
“Look, I don’t have all day. I want you gone, and I want to see it. So go, pack your shit and I’ll dump you off in the city. Go!” she demanded, pointing up to the stairs.
At first I hesitated. But then that video came back to mind. And I was pregnant. It was best for Dahlia and Darien that I leave. They didn’t deserve to go through this.
And it’d put my baby in danger. She’d do something crazy for sure.
I ran up the stairs, my stomach churning with sickness from Morgan’s threats and the changes my body was going through. Good thing I didn’t have too much. I stuffed what I could into my old duffle bag and struggled to the steps.
Morgan was waiting by the main door. I looked up and around.
“I’m sorry, Darien…” I said quietly to myself as I dragged my things down the steps.
“Good girl. Let’s go,” Morgan said, snatching my bag.
Her car was a Rolls Royce Ghost. She slammed my things in the back and got in. I walked around to the other side of the car and glanced back up at the house for one final look.
“Good bye.”
***
Morgan drove me into the city, and once she was satisfied that she had driven far enough, she stopped at a street corner.
“Here we are. Get out. Remember what I said. Don’t want to see poor Mr. Thrilling suffering, do you?”
“No,” I mumbled as I got out.
I got my bag from the back of her car, and she sped off right as I closed her trunk.
“Nasty bitch,” I said, giving her the middle finger while she disappeared around a corner.
Ronald was going to be gone.
Dahlia and Darien were gone.
What was next?
I walked into the bar, an hour before it opened. It had been a while since I’ve seen this place. The cheap smell of liquor made my stomach rumble though. And even despite that, I needed to be here.
I longed for a sense of normalcy. Something that reminded me of before I met Darien.
Sigh.
Mr. Brent saw me walking his way and his eyes lit up. All he probably saw was a huge pay check. I was beginning to be a club favorite among the men.
Mr. Brent stretched out his arms, and shouted, “Willow! Welcome back, I didn’t expect to see you so soon!” He gave me a slap on the back. Oddly enough that helped my upset stomach…
“Hey, Mr. Brent. Sorry about bailing out like that. But the nanny job was too good to pass up.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. If you respect money, then I respect you.”
“So, still got any space at the bar?” I asked. The happy expression on his face dropped into a deep set frown.
“You want to work in the bar? Not dancing? Come on, Willow, you were bringing in a lot of money,” he whined.
“I know, but I can’t dance anymore.”
“Why?”
“I’m pregnant.” I rubbed my stomach. It wouldn’t be long until I really started showing.
“Oh shit. You left here as an innocent girl, now you’re all knocked up? Congratulations. Alright, alright. The bar it is. You’ll still snap up lots of tips from the sexy memories.”
“Thanks, Mr. Brent.”
“Yeah yeah, go ahead and get ready for opening.”
I hobbled over to the bar, already feeling a bit heavier than I was used to. It wasn’t long until Stacy hopped over for her nightly routine; a shot of whiskey.
“Hey Willow! You working behind the bar again?!” she asked, hopping onto a stool. She liked to get a shot before everyone crowded in. It was enough to loosen her up, but not make her sloppy.
“Yeah. No more pole dancing for me.” I said, dipping down to get her favorite brand of whiskey.
“Aww. Say, you can come back anytime. You know Mr. B would love to have ya.”
“Thanks, it was fun being up there when I got used to it.”
I sloshed her whiskey in a clean shot cup and pushed it to her.
Stacy snapped it up and swallowed it down in one gulp.
“Damn, I love this stuff. Good seeing ya back,” she said before she hopped off her stool and disappeared behind the black curtain.
It was almost time to open, and hopefully I could salvage a few moments of peace.
The music thumped, and the dancers put on a good show. I didn’t use to pay attention to them like I did now. I guess the experience of being up there still lingered. I found myself cheering them on, and some of the men gave me the side eye, wondering if I’d be up there.
Nevertheless, the tips were raining in, and all seemed normal.
Until he walked in…
“Willow? I haven’t seen you in—god—months. Where have you been?” Darien said, pushing his way onto the bar table. I was too busy to stop and talk to him, and I was thankful for that.
“D-darien! I um. I’m really busy—”
“Please, I need to talk to you.”
“I really can’t.” I was juggling a lot of alcohol in my hands and whipped up some drinks for people that were waiting. Darien didn't like waiting though. So he jumped over the bar table and scooped me up into his arms. “Wait, what’re you doing! Darien, I have a job to do!”
Like he wasn’t going to come look here for me. Wow, I was so stupid. A part of me was happy he found me, another was scared to death.
“Put the girl down,” the bouncer warned.
“Willow, tell them to move. I need to talk to you in person.”
“Eric, he’s good. I’ll be back.” I glared at Darien. “But you need to put me down!”
“Fine.” He let me down reluctantly and we went outside in the same alley we met a month or two ago…
Darien folded his arms and sighed. I hated leaving him, but I had to do it. Morgan could’ve been watching us. Hell, she may’ve even hired someone to watch over both me and Darien.
I looked around and over my shoulder. Darien cleared his throat.
“Why are you back here? After everything—”
“Darien, just stop.” I held my hands up, stopping him mid-sentence. “I know what’s going on. I can’t be around you. If I stay, then everything in your world will crumble apart. I can’t be the reason you lose everything,” I cried, holding my arms.
I had to save the man that saved me.
“What’re you talking about?” Darien inched over towards me, his arms out.
“Look, I have to go.” I turned to the door and reached for the handle.
“No, Willow. Talk to me.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him. There went that cologne again. So manly… so him.
“I can’t, it’s too dangerous.” Now I was letting on too much.
“Wait, is this because of Morgan?! Did she threaten you? Tell you to stay away.”
“… No I just—”
“It was her.” Darien, he could see through all the lies. Not that the first half wasn’t true too.
Time to drop the bombshell, he did have the right to know. “I’m pregnant.”
“Pregnant?! Did you think I’d tell you to leave?”
“Of course not. But I can’t stay out here.”
“You’re not telling me the whole truth. I can’t just leave you here working in the bar if you’re pregnant. I don’t want you here at all. Dahlia misses you, I miss you.”
This was going on for too long. I hung my head low and rubbed my forehead. “She has a video of us…” I admitted.
“I know—hey, wait—how do you—”
“She came to the house when you took Dahlia to school a few weeks ago. She showed me and threatened to make you suffer. I—I love you. I can’t let her do that to you. And how did you know? When did you find out?”
“She tried to make me get rid of you. But I wasn’t going to let go so easy… like you did.”
Ouch, right in the gut. Hey, I deserved some credit too. I glanced at the sky and saw the moon. A chilly breeze blew by and I shivered. There were a lot of hungry people inside I needed to get to.
“Bye, Darien. Maybe when this is all over we can pick up where we left off. For now, I don’t—can’t see you suffer.”
“Willow, I’m already suffering without you.”
He laid it on me then. And it hurt. It was a spear through the heart kind of pain that radiated through my chest and body.
What was I going to say to that?