Chapter 41

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Rose

THE MONDAY MORNING MEETING ended with no sign of Mr. Andrews. I was impressed with my ability in running it so smoothly, and I was happy Mr. Andrews had enough confidence in me to allow me to take the lead.

“Oh, hello, Rose,” the younger of the two men who were in Mr. Andrews’ office earlier greeted me as I walked out of the conference room.

“Oh, hey!” I forced a smile. He was so full of himself. I got that vibe from him right away. He was nice-looking and judging by his expensive suit, no doubt rich. Not to mention, his British accent was very suave, but there was something about him that didn’t sit right with me, and I wasn’t exactly sure what it was. Funny thing was, he was the exact type of guy I was trying to land before Alex came into my life and so much had changed—most of all, me.

“I was wondering if you wanted to grab a drink with me sometime.”

“Oh, umm…thanks for the offer, but I’m gonna have to pass.”

“Why’s that?”

Clearly, he wasn’t used to being rejected.

“Because I don’t think my boyfriend would appreciate it if I had a drink with another guy.” My boyfriend. I just referred to Alex as my boyfriend, and nothing about it seemed strange at all. Never before had I classified anyone with that title.

He nodded and cocked his eyebrow. “He’s a very lucky man.”

“Thanks, but I think I’m pretty lucky too.”

“Here’s my card, in case…things. Well, in case you change your mind.”

He placed his business card in my hand as I stood there dumbfounded and watched him walk away. He had an even higher opinion of himself than I originally thought.

“Who was that?” Marisa asked, breaking me from my state of shock over his presumptuous attitude.

“Oh, just some arrogant asshole.” I shoved his card in my pocket.

“Well, you better be careful.”

“Why?” I immediately became defensive, trying to decipher what she was implying.

“You have a thing for arrogant asses. Remember?”

We both broke out in laughter. “Alex was nothing like this guy.”

“Well, I never thought Alex was arrogant to begin with…that was all your opinion.”

We headed to my office and she filled me in on her Thanksgiving weekend. She had spent it with her family, who were anything but supportive of her and the baby. I felt awful as the tears welled in her eyes when she told me the topic around the dinner table was how the baby would be best put up for adoption instead of being raised alone by her.

“Marisa, you know that’s not true. You’re gonna be the best mom ever!”

“I know, but sometimes, I feel so alone. It would be nice to know my own mother backed me on this.”

“Hey, you’re not alone. You have me, Lamaze coach extraordinaire. I’m so into What to Expect When You’re Expecting. I could probably become an obstetrician.” I was happy to see her break out in a smile. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel alone in all of this. There was no doubt this was scary for her, but I knew once she saw the baby, all her doubts would fade away and she’d never feel alone again. I wasn’t sure what was getting into me, I didn’t have a maternal bone in my body. The thought of having kids myself scared me half to death, yet here I was feeling totally different when I saw it from Marisa’s viewpoint. Maybe it was from all the nights I had spent reading about the miraculous changes a woman’s body goes through with a new life growing inside of it that had me thinking in ways I had never dreamed of, or maybe it was because for the first time ever, I had someone in my life who someday, I would possibly want to experience that miracle with.

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By the time the day had ended, I was doing my best to finish up some bits of work while battling with a massive headache and inferno blazing in my throat. My eyes were tearing up, and I wasn’t sure if it was from looking at my computer screen for so long or because of the congestion building up in my head.

“Hey, did you want to get something for dinner?” I looked up from my computer, happy to see Alex standing in front of me after being out of the office in meetings all day.

I placed my hands on my temples, trying to stop the beating going on inside my head. “I really don’t have much of an appetite. I’m feeling kind of awful right now.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Let’s see, my throat is on fire, my head is pounding like a drum, my entire body aches, and I feel like I’m gonna puke at any moment.”

“Why are you still here?” The concern in his voice was endearing and unsettling at the same time. It was so sweet of him to care about my well-being, but at the same time, I wasn’t used to this type of attention when I was sick from any other guy but my dad.

He moved closer and placed the palm of his hand on my forehead. “Rose, you’re burning up with a fever. You need to be in bed.”

Feeling too weak to argue, I didn’t put up a fight when he closed my laptop and helped me up.

Alex took me back to my aunt’s place and refused to leave me there alone when we discovered she’d gone out for the evening.

“Alex, really I’m fine. You can go. You don’t need to be getting sick too.” I knew he had a crazy busy week ahead, and the last thing he needed was to get sick, although after the close proximity we were in earlier that morning in his office, chances were, I probably already infected him.

“I don’t get sick,” he replied, sitting on the edge of the bed, pressing his lips against my forehead.

“Don’t be so—” The words weren’t even out of my mouth before the churning in my stomach rose to my throat. I sprang from the bed and darted into the bathroom, thankful I was able to make it on time. Alex followed behind and pulled back my hair as I continued to hurl. Every muscle in my body ached, and I was wishing I could just curl up on the bathroom floor and die. Not exactly my most attractive moment, but it wasn’t the first time he’d witnessed me puking my guts up.

He knelt beside me and rubbed my back as my entire body trembled. “Are you okay?” he whispered.

I nodded and stood up on wobbly legs. He grabbed my arm and guided me to the sink as I rinsed my mouth out with water. We made it back to my bedroom, and I eased into bed, feeling like every last bit of energy was sucked out of me. “Alex, really, please go. I don’t want you catching this.”

Ignoring my feeble plea, he sat up in the bed next to me. I lay down and moved my head on his lap. I closed my eyes, feeling so at ease as his fingers raked through my hair, and it wasn’t long before I was fast asleep.

I awoke the next morning to the serenade of the garbage truck outside and the bright sunlight shining through my window. I lifted my head from the pillow, feeling like I had moved from the hell I was in last night to purgatory.

“Come in,” I managed to get out through my laryngitis when I heard the knock on my bedroom door.

“How are you feeling?” My aunt took a step inside the bedroom with a breakfast tray in her hands.

“A little better.”

“You sound awful.” She placed the tray on the nightstand and took a seat on my bed. “You’re still running a temperature,” she said, placing her hand over my forehead. “Try to eat something.”

“I’m not really—”

She stuck a piece of toast under my nose and left me no other option but to take a bite just to appease her. It was like sandpaper going down my irritated throat. I grabbed the cup of tea from the tray and took a sip to try and alleviate the burn.

“After you eat that, you need to take some more Tylenol to get the fever down.”

“Geez, you’re a bossy nurse.”

She chuckled and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear.

“Was Alex still here when you got home last night?”

“He was. He didn’t want to leave you alone.”

“He took such good care of me last night, Aunt Kate.”

“I know. You’ve got a good guy there.” She picked up the cup of tea and forced me to take another sip.

“But what if…”

“What if what, Rose?”

“It’s just, I’ve never had this before, and what if it doesn’t last?” I was inexplicably crying.

“Oh, Rose.” Aunt Kate moved next to me and wrapped her arms around me. “Stop. Stop thinking of what could happen and enjoy what is.”

I rested my head on her shoulder and she held my hand until I calmed down.

“Everything is going to be okay, my beautiful girl.”

Her words were calm and soothing. “Aunt Kate?”

“Yeah?”

“You would’ve been a great mom, you know that?” I lifted my head from her shoulder and now it was her who was crying.

She kissed the top of my head and pulled me closer. I wasn’t sure of her circumstances and why she never had children, but judging by her reaction, I could only assume she was unable to. I was angry at myself for getting her so upset, and since I couldn’t take back my words, I was more than willing to be her shoulder to cry on instead.