Chapter6
Tessa looked down at the painting sitting in a box in front of her. It was the old Cronus piece that she and Oscar had bonded over in the beginning of their relationship. Someone had purchased it and she was sending it to be shipped right there in Athens. She didn’t have the name of the person it was being shipped to, so she wondered who it was that was going to be keeping the picture that meant so much to her and Oscar on that very night that they shared together. Though she wasn’t allowed to, she took out her phone and snapped a picture before taping the box closed.
It had been four weeks since she found out she was pregnant. She still wasn’t sure what to do about it all, but at least she knew that she was going to be keeping the baby. She went to the doctor when her mother was in town to make sure that she was pregnant. They were able to find a heartbeat.
It was easy for her to remember the exact night of conception. It was the only time she was ever with Oscar in bed and the last time she had been with a man in several months. She was still incredibly anxious about it all, but each day made her feel closer to her baby. There was no way she couldn’t have and raise this child.
She had attempted to contact Oscar after the first doctor’s appointment, but he never responded. She was still incredibly nervous about what their first encounter would be like since the night she found out the truth about him. She went to pick up the package to put it close to the front for the delivery man.
“Don’t lift that! You shouldn’t really be lifting heavy things.” Maria ran over and took the package from Tessa.
“Shh, don’t say anything too loud! I’m still not ready to tell everyone.” Tessa had only told her mother, sister, and Maria. Her family had returned to the States, but she still talked to them almost every day.
“Well, you’re keeping it aren’t you?” Maria asked confusedly.
“Obviously, but I just am not ready for everyone to know just yet. I’m still processing it myself.” Tessa looked down at her stomach. She wasn’t showing yet, but she could still feel a presence lingering inside her body. It wasn’t easy for her to picture life growing inside her but it was certainly exciting. Every night, she held her hands on her stomach, talking to the baby about how she’ll always love and protect it. She wished someone else was next to her to say the same things to both her and their child.
Oscar had come into the gallery once again, but only a couple weeks after Tessa had texted him. She was annoyed that he had never responded and still wasn’t quite ready to see him face to face again. Maria had been working that day and told him to leave. He was persistent, and just like the tick of the clock, Oscar appeared once again at the door as Maria set the package down.
Tessa looked right at him, frozen. She knew that this moment was coming again, and no amount of time before could have prepared her for the emotions that flooded back to her once she saw those crystal blue eyes again.
Oscar looked at her, a giant smile stretching across his face. It was the first time that he saw her in person since she threw a wine bottle at him. Since then, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He wanted to contact her, but he still didn’t have her phone number since Lydia had deleted it. He started to walk towards Tessa. She started shaking.
She wanted to just blurt out that she was pregnant to get it over with right away, but her boss was in earshot and she didn’t want to start a scene at her job. Although she knew she wouldn’t be able to finish the internship, she still wanted to work there for as long as possible and get in good standing with the company to use them as a reference for later positions.
“Hi, you look beautiful,” Oscar said with such relief. Tessa was only wearing a white T-shirt and jeans. She hadn’t even done her makeup that day and her hair could use a good wash. Regardless, Oscar thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world. Tessa was fighting back tears.
“I can’t talk now. Meet me back here tonight around 6?” It took everything in Tessa to just say those words. She felt so deeply for Oscar, but if she wasn’t pregnant, she probably would have told him to go away and leave her alone. She’d never felt so passionately about anyone in her life like she did for Oscar, but that strong positive emotion came with some risks. Getting hurt when you’re connected that deeply to someone only hurts more.
She didn’t think she could survive the pain of getting her heart broken by him again. If she wasn’t planning on having his child, she would have preferred to just move on and find an easier relationship. She had someone else to look out for now, too. It wasn’t just about Tessa and what she wanted.
“Of course. I’ll see you then.” Oscar lingered there for a second. Tessa wanted to kiss him but knew that this would have been kind of weird. She just wanted to feel his lips on hers again. He walked away, and she got back to work.
She thought about Lydia. The media had settled down a bit since the report of their Athens meet-up. There were articles built on rumors of a rekindled relationship, a possible affair, and even a drunken fight in his apartment. Tessa didn’t know what to believe. Her mind swarmed with the possibilities of the truth every day, but she did her best to shut them out. She knew her baby could feel every emotion that she was experiencing and didn’t want to jeopardize the health of her unborn child.
“So, you’re finally going to tell him?” Maria walked up to Tessa once Oscar left.
“He deserves to know, doesn’t he?” Tessa said. Neither of them talked for a moment after they watched Oscar get back into his car in front of the gallery and drive away. “I’m going to take an early lunch.”
Tessa had packed a salad that day and sat alone in the back, picking small pieces at a time. She normally liked to read or doodle on her breaks, but on this one, she couldn’t help but zone out and think about everything. Seeing Oscar was exhausting. Half of her wanted to run and jump into his arms, kiss him and take him all in, right there. The other part of her wanted to throw the Cronus painting at him and kick him once he fell. Why couldn’t he just be a normal single guy like the other ones she had dated in the past? Even if he hadn’t been married, she thought about how his billionaire lifestyle wasn’t ideal.
Of course, the idea of dating someone with money was something many people in Tessa’s life desired. Money was the reason for so much stress. She knew she wouldn’t have to work again if they were together. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t want to. She was an independent person who liked to have her own things. She never wanted to be the type of person who was reliant on other people to get what she needed.
As a billionaire, Oscar brought in a lot of other baggage. In the weeks since she saw him last, his name was in the paper dozens of times. Tessa was someone who enjoyed her privacy, and she never wanted to end up in a paparazzi shot with him and her child. The idea that her life might get picked apart in the media made her sick. It was the last thing she would ever want for a family.
Oscar was at least a billionaire for ethical reasons. He wasn’t a sketchy politician or someone who used slave labor to produce mass quantities of cheap products marked too high for the normal man. His clothing company, Legros, was one of the biggest retail outlets in the world. The store sold various clothing for all types of bodies and ages at decent prices. The clothes were all made in a local factory built close to the store where they sold them.
Oscar had planned on being in Greece for about a year to oversee the building of the store as well as the factory, located about an hour from Athens. Although not everyone enjoyed chain outlets for stores, it still brought in jobs for building as well as for people to work in the store. The company had been handed down to Oscar as well, and since he took over his father’s company, he had been doing his best to ensure that the business had high moral standards and did more good than bad. This was all information that Tessa had discovered while spending time searching his name through all hours of the night.
Despite all of this, she was still skeptical about their relationship. What would people think of her? This girl that just started dating him already pregnant with his child. She still couldn’t fathom the idea of him not being in the baby’s life, however.
Her father had abandoned her at such a young age, and this isn’t something that Tessa wanted to happen to her baby. She didn’t need a father, and she certainly didn’t want her father to come back into her life, but she thought about how it would have made things a bit easier for her growing up. Too many times, people would ask who her father was, where he was, or what he was like—all questions Tessa was unable to answer.
Her mother did an amazing job raising Tessa and never in her life would she want her mother to know that she sometimes thought about her father. He was still half of who Tessa was, however. Every trait she had that she couldn’t recognize in her mother, she wondered if she inherited it from her father. Of course, some of her habits were natural or learned from other people throughout her life. She still couldn’t help but think about what he was like and what their relationship might be. She didn’t want her baby to have to think of any of these things growing up. She wouldn’t be pregnant if it weren’t for Oscar, and she certainly couldn’t have done this on her own. She knew she had to tell him the truth and have him be a part of her child’s life.
She figured she would work at the gallery up until her third trimester. After that, she’d plan on moving back and raising her baby in New York City. She would probably live with her mom at first until she could find a job and afford a place of her own. If she was lucky enough to enter a graduate program, that would allow her to push back her studies for up to two years in case something came up.
She’d be able to head back to school when her baby was a little over a year old. She felt comforted knowing that she had mostly figured everything out. Everything except what her life with Oscar would be like. Could she take him back, or would it be too hard to mesh in with his lifestyle?
“Hey, you coming back to work?” Maria asked Tessa and opened the back door. She suddenly realized she had been on her break 10 minutes past the allotted time, thinking of Oscar during the entire lunch.
“Yeah, sorry. Just tired.” Tessa cleaned up her stuff and headed back to work.
Tessa locked up the gallery doors around 5:45, the usual time they closed up and headed home.
“Do you want me to stay with you?” Maria asked.
“I’ll be okay. Don’t worry. Thanks, though,” Tessa said, waiting patiently outside for Oscar. Maria walked away, and Tessa looked around to see if he was there. Oscar rolled down the window of a black SUV sitting in front of the gallery.
“Can we go to my place?” he asked from the back seat.
“My mother told me to never get in the car with a stranger,” Tessa teased. “Oh wait, that’s right, you’re not anymore once I read everything about you.” She said it sassily, referring to the many tabloids she had spent weeks reading.
“Please can I explain?” Oscar asked desperately. She felt bad about what she had said but was still harboring some resentment. She climbed into the car and they took off. “You look amazing Tessa, you really do. I wouldn’t just say that.”
“Thank you.” She awkwardly looked out of the window. She knew she should do some talking too, to relieve the tension, However, she wasn’t ready to speak without crying. She waited for him to start a serious conversation, but instead, he reached over and grabbed her hand. She looked at him, fighting back tears, but one escaped and rolled down her cheek.
“I’m so sorry. I would never want to see you hurt.” His sweet words only made it harder to control her emotions. Being pregnant didn’t make it any easier to try to hide the fact that she was crying. Oscar handed her a tissue.
They didn’t speak the entire ride to Oscar’s apartment and instead just held hands. Tessa felt like she was on an awkward date on her way to her high school’s homecoming. The car with a driver in the front seat wasn’t the ideal place to have a serious conversation like this, anyway.
Once they arrived, Tessa couldn’t help but think about every emotion that she had experienced their first night together in the same place. Everything was the same. He still had the Cronus piece hanging in the entryway. This time, however, she knew they wouldn’t be making their way directly to the bedroom and instead, she was able to explore his apartment.
“You’re probably thirsty and hungry after work. I always am. Let me grab something quick,” Oscar said as he walked into the kitchen. Tessa didn’t respond and instead started exploring the apartment. The living room was wide and open, with lots of windows. It offered a breathtaking view of Athens, one much better than her apartment. He had stocked the place with luxurious leathers and furs, a style a bit different than what Tessa was used to.
She looked around more. He did have plenty of interesting art pieces hanging on the wall, and his book collection showed a similar taste to Tessa’s. He walked into the living room holding a tray of fruits and cheeses, a bottle of wine, and two glasses. He set them down on a coffee table and poured Tessa a glass before she had the chance to say anything. She walked over to where he was sitting on the couch, plopped down, and pretended to take a sip of wine. She didn’t want to start off by telling him that she couldn’t drink because she was pregnant.
“My assistant always puts together something for me after work, so don’t give me any credit.” Tessa was impressed by his display and would have given him credit had he not spilled the truth. At least he was being honest about something today. “I know this décor is a bit cheesy too, but my designer takes care of most of my apartment furnishings, so don’t give me credit for that either.” He laughed. Tessa was relieved to hear that a bearskin rug wasn’t his first choice.
“It’s fine.” She laughed. She pretended to take another sip of wine, wishing she actually could drink to help relieve some of the tension. He took a big gulp of his and stood up to open a window. When he was gone, Tessa poured some of her wine into his cup to make it look like she had drunk some.
“Sorry, is it a little hot in here? I’m feeling toasty. Maybe I’m just nervous.” He nervously laughed again.
“I’m okay. Open as many windows as you want. Your view is beautiful.” Tessa stared out the window. He stared at her.
“It is isn’t it?” he said, not noticing the view. “Tessa, I don’t know where to start. I’m so sorry for everything. For not telling you what I did for a living or that I was still married.”
Tessa didn’t say anything and shoved her mouth full of cheese and crackers. She had gotten her morning sickness under control and the cravings were starting to kick in for her. “I just…my life. My life might seem glamorous, but sometimes I wish it was all different. Look at me, complaining about my money. That’s not what I mean, though. It’s everything that comes along with it that I wish I could just forget about. Especially the marriage. Tessa, you don’t know how hard I’ve tried to just get it all over with Lydia, but she’s very persistent.
“If I had my way, I would have been divorced for a year now. I guess I just, I don’t know. I liked meeting you and feeling like I was a normal guy again. You didn’t know who I was, or at least I assumed, and it was amazing. Most people treat me so differently, it’s hard to tell who’s being authentic and who’s just interested in my money. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah.” Tessa started crying at this point. He was saying everything she wanted to hear.
“I didn’t tell you about Lydia because I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t want you to know that my life is a mess and that my name is in the news. It’s embarrassing. I wanted you to get to know me, the real me. Not the lies that people write about in the papers.
“Most of the time, it’s Lydia feeding them information they want to hear to sell an article. I know I’ve given you no reason to believe me, but please, just know that I never wanted to hurt you.” Oscar seemed like he might cry as well. Tessa had never been with a guy who was so in touch with his emotions.
“Tessa, I can’t stop thinking about you. I’ve never felt this way about another person. Not even Lydia, never! Our marriage wasn’t real. It was just for show, all fake! I promise you that.
“Please Tessa, I would do anything to get you back in my life. I’m not asking for anything right away, but please, just talk to me again. I love laughing and talking with you. No one has ever made me feel better about myself than you. What we have is real. I know it!” Oscar was desperate by now.
Normally, that kind of vulnerability would turn Tessa off, but with him, it was everything that she had ever wanted from a man. She thought about him just as often as he claimed to think about her, and it never got any easier. She stood up, brushed herself off, and kissed Oscar.
He set his wine glass down and kissed her back, harder than he had ever kissed anyone in his life. She felt instantly relieved, better than she could have ever imagined. Kissing him was the only thing that felt right to her. Everything that she had gone through in the past few weeks made her feel crazy.
She was constantly battling different thoughts and anxieties, unsure about her future and the future of her unborn baby. All of those thoughts instantly left her mind, and for the first time in almost a month, her mind went silent. She grabbed the back of his head, pushing his lips further onto hers. He grabbed her harder and eventually lifted her up. They kissed in front of the gorgeous sunset over Athens for what felt like hours.
Tessa wanted to cry of happiness now. He told her everything that she wanted to hear, and she couldn’t ask for a better meeting. Then she remembered how he never responded to her attempt to reach out to him. She felt bad again, and instantly pulled back.
“Why didn’t you text me back?” she said sassily.
“What do you mean? I never got your text,” Oscar said, confused. “The last thing I got from you was the night of the charity event when you asked where I was. I went to respond but your number was gone, and all of my texts had been erased. I figured my phone was just messed up. I wanted to text you and call you, but I didn’t have your number anymore and no one would give it to me.”
“Wait, that night, did you see Lydia? I saw pictures of her coming here.” Tessa was embarrassed to admit to him that she had read about him in the papers, but she needed to know the truth.
“Yes, she did. That’s why I was late. She came in here, begging for me back, and spilled wine on me, which I’m pretty sure she did on purpose,” Oscar explained.
“She also texted me that night. Did you give her my number?” Tessa was confused.
Oscar suddenly realized what had happened. “Are you kidding me? I didn’t know about that. She must have deleted our messages and your number. I’m so sorry, Tessa!” Tessa instantly felt relief. At this moment, she had no reason to be angry with him anymore. She grabbed his face again, pulling him close and kissing his soft lips. She’d never been happier in her life.
He lifted her up, rubbing his hands all over her body. She forgot for a moment that she was pregnant, the first time since she had found out. She didn’t want to talk anymore either. She was ready for things to go back to how they had been in the beginning, with her just being absolutely infatuated with him. He carried her to the bedroom again, just like he had the first time that they were together.
He laid her on the bed, kissing her all over, slowly taking her clothes off like he did the first night. Tessa remembered her baby and started to worry. She wanted more than anything to make love to Oscar again. That’s all she wanted since she saw him again in the gallery earlier that day. She wasn’t sure how to have sex safely, however, and like many pregnant mothers, she worried about hurting the baby.
She sat up and pushed Oscar on the bed, ripping his clothes away in the process. She kissed him from his neck all the way down his torso. She climbed on top of him, taking him inside her. She had waited so long but she couldn’t help but still feel a bit paranoid about the baby in her body. She climbed off and lay next to him. He kissed her all over her neck and chest, paying close attention to her face. She turned away and backed into him, her body aching for him to take her from behind.
He pulled her close and made his way into her body while holding her from behind. The entire time, he kissed her neck and shoulders, moving slowly and passionately. She hadn’t felt this amazing in a while, but she needed to see him face to face again. He rolled over and climbed on top of her. She momentarily lifted her paranoia about the baby and let him enter deep inside her once again.
They finished quicker than they had the first night, but Tessa knew this wouldn’t be the only time. He fell next to Tessa, holding her close. They both drifted asleep, touching and holding each other as much as possible.