His Change of Heart: Unexpected Pregnancy Romance (6 page)

    The phone rang again, and she picked it up out of frustration. She realized that if she didn’t, it would just keep ringing. And the constant shrilling was annoying the hell out of her. If it was Will on the other line, she would just hang up on him. He hated when she did that to him, but at least he would get the message. She reached for the phone and said a quick hello, and was relieved when she heard Kat’s voice on the other end.

    Katherine Wilson or Kat for short was a close friend of hers. Technically, she was also a friend of Will’s. Kat’s fiancé and soon to be husband, Josh Warner was Will’s best friend. Will and Josh had been best friends since they were kids. They had grown up together on the same street in Long Island, and had gone to the same private school and college, and then onto Harvard. Josh was an investment banker on Wall Street.

  Avery had met Kat when Will had introduced them one afternoon at lunch right after they had started dating. She considered Kat to be one of her best friends, and hoped they would still remain on good terms despite Will not being in her life anymore. Kat was a buyer for one of the major fashion houses in New York. And she was very good at her job. After Will had left them that day, Kat had confided in her that Will wasn’t that forthcoming with the women he dated.

    “You are the first woman Will had actually taken the time to introduce us to,” Kat had told her with a huge grin.

   “Yeah, and why is that?”

   “He’s a very private person. Usually we would either hear about the woman he was seeing at the time when he was photographed with her in public, or through mutual friends of ours who had ran into him with said woman. Will is extremely secretive about his personal life, and especially about the women in his life,” Kat had whispered to her.

   “Well, he must be, because he never discusses his past relationships.”

   “You must have a very positive effect on Will for him to have arranged for us to meet you this soon. And with Will’s good looks, family connection and money, women are forever throwing themselves at him. Plus Will himself has the attractiveness and charm to attract a bevy of women.”

    “There is no denying that he does.”

   Then Avery had smiled coyly at Kat, and told her in the sweetest voice, not to worry, that she wasn’t one of those women. There was much more to her relationship with Will than any of the things she had mentioned. Plus she was one who took great pleasure in making her own money and paying her way. She most definitely didn’t need Will carrying her. Then, she had told Kat in no uncertain terms that she was with Will because she had fallen in love with the person he was, not because of his name and what he was worth.

   And she had meant every word of it. She had fallen in love with Will even before she knew about his life and his family connections. And yes, she had heard bits and pieces about him from the other teachers at the college, but that was before she had gotten to know him the way she did, including intimately. There was definitely more to Will than his good looks, charm and wealth. She had fallen for his other redeeming qualities—his honesty, fairness, dignity and modesty. In fact, with his bank accounts and notoriety out of the equation, she knew she still would have loved him. And she did love him, deeply.

    “Oh, hi, Kat,” she said wearily into the phone.

   It wasn’t like Kat to call her this time on a weekend morning. By her own admission, Kat said she didn’t get out of bed until well passed noon, or even later. She had probably heard about the break up from Will and was calling for details and to console her. She didn’t need Will’s friends to chose sides. In fact, she would feel better if they didn’t. Will was extremely private about his life, and she was surprised that he had actually said something to Kat and Josh.

    They hadn’t broken up that long, mere hours, in fact, and he was already out there advertising it to his friends. Again, not the man she thought she knew. To think of it, Kat and Josh probably knew all along that Will was planning to break up with her. She honestly didn’t know what to think or believe anymore. And she wasn’t in the mood to rehash any of it, and certainly not with Kat, no matter how close they were. It would have to wait for another time, when she was up to talking. Right now she just wanted to be left alone, to wallow in self pity, and deal with what she was going through.

   “Ave, are you okay?”

  “Yeah, why?” she asked, dreading the inevitable answer.

   “You don’t sound well. Are you sure everything is fine? I’m not calling at a bad time, am I?” Kat giggled sheepishly.

    A “bad time” for Kat meant only one thing—that she was in bed with Will and she was interrupting their lovemaking. So, Will hadn’t said anything to Josh and Kat. She wondered why. He probably hadn’t gotten around to it, at least not yet. Or he had decided not to tell them. But, eventually they would figure it out.

    “No, no, I just stepped out from the shower.” She was glad that she didn’t have to explain anything to Kat.

   “Good. So, are we on for lunch at Le Penuche? I’m calling everyone to make certain they arrive on time, and we don’t have to wait for anyone, you know with it’s like, being the weekend and all.”

   “Oh, no, Kat! I’m so sorry. I totally forgot about it.”

   She didn’t forget, but she wasn’t going to tell Kat the real reason she didn’t want to meet with her and the other girls. And the thought of sitting through lunch with a group of young women, hearing them brag about their perfect relationships wasn’t exactly on her agenda right now. She didn’t think she would be able to hold up without running from the room in tears. And since she wasn’t exactly up to telling them about what had happened with Will, she thought it was better if she backed out of this one and spend the day alone, drowning her sorrows in a bottle of wine with Jules. At least Jules didn’t know any of the girls.

   “What do you mean you forgot? We planned this weeks if not months ago. You never forget anything, Ave. What am I suppose to tell the other girls? You are the only one who wouldn’t be there.”

   “Tell them I’m so sorry,” Avery said in an apologetic voice.

   Kat was taking her bridesmaids to lunch, and then onto the spa for the full treatment—facials, manicures, pedicures, body massages. She felt it was necessary that everyone spent the time together before she took the final walk down the aisle. She hated having to cancel on Kat and the other girls, but she was dealing with a broken heart here—something much, much bigger than Kat’s bruised ego.

   “I really wish I could come, I really do, but today really isn’t such a good time for me. I will make it up to you, Kat, I swear. Can we do something next week, lunch, maybe?”

   “Sure. I can’t believe you won’t be there with us, Ave. I was really counting on you showing up. You are my maid of honor. It wouldn’t feel right or the same without you. Are you sure you are okay? You sound funny. Is Will there with you? Is there something going on between you two?”

   “Goodness, no,” Avery lied, ignoring Kat’s other questions. “I think I’m coming down with something. Some of the students were off sick with the flu this week. I think I’m getting what they had.”

   She managed to get in a few coughs and sniffles for effect. She hated the bold faced lie, but she had to come up with something plausible to convince Kat that the only reason she was missing lunch and the spa was because she had suddenly taken ill. And knowing Kat, she wouldn’t have taken it any other way.

    If Kat knew the real reason she was backing out, she would probably jump in her car, and be over here in no time. Kat would literally drag her out of the house.

   “In that case, you get a free pass. Stay in bed. I can’t risk getting sick this close to my wedding.” Kat actually sounded terrified. “I want to enjoy my honeymoon.”

  “I’m already in bed.”

   “With Will, I hope. He can afford to get what you have, but I can’t. Let him take care of you. Ask him to get you some chicken soup. There’s a great place on Fifth Avenue—I’ll call them right now and place an order for you. They deliver, and their food is strictly organic and vegan.”

     “Oh, Kat, you don’t have to do that. I can’t eat anything, not right now.”

   “Fine, Make certain you drink lots of fluid, then, maybe some ginger ale. You have that there, don’t you?”

    “Yes, I have a couple bottles in the pantry somewhere,” Avery lied, dreading Kat would offer to bring her some. “I’ll call you soon, Kat. Enjoy lunch with the girls and apologize for me. We will do something before the wedding. I promise.”

   “Get some rest, Ave. I will call you later to see how you are feeling. Get better soon.”

  “I will. Bye, Kat.”

   Avery hanged up before Kat could get in another word, or ask to speak with Will. She didn’t want Kat to know that Will wasn’t there with her, or that she had lied her head off to save face and to get out of meeting with them.

     She sighed and sat on the bed, gazing blindly at the phone. Thank goodness she had brought up that part about her being sick. Kat never would have let her off the hook that easily if she had known the truth. She loved Kat to death, but at times she could be a bit overbearing. And she wasn’t up to doing battle with her at the moment. She most definitely wasn’t in the fighting mood. She didn’t have an ounce of fighting power left in her.

   The phone rang again, and Avery screamed in frustration. She got up off the bed, went over and unplugged the extension from the socket. Then she went into the kitchen and turned off the ringer on the phone there. She heard the buzzer soon after, and went to buzz Jules in. At least she would be in for a few good laughs, even if it was for a couple hours. It would give her something else to think about, for now.

Eight

  Will was waiting in the foyer of her apartment building when Avery got home from work on Wednesday evening. She saw him through the large glass windows as soon as she turned onto her street. He was close to the elevators, leaning casually on the wall, gazing impatiently at the front doors, as if he expected to see her walking through them any minute.

   Avery was surprised to find him there, and even more surprised that he wasn’t wearing a suit—which could mean only one thing—he hadn’t been in to work today. It was strange seeing him without his usual suit and tie on a work week, because he always wore one. He was casually dressed in a gray cashmere sweater, black cotton pants and a light Burberry jacket, instead.

    And Avery couldn’t help staring at him, and neither could she prevent the wild fluttering in her chest as she continued to gaze at him. She was glad that he wasn’t standing close to her to see the longing or the pain in her probing eyes. At that second, she thought of turning around and walking back to the coffee shop up the street and staying there until she was certain he was gone.

   It seemed very tempting, but it was late, and she was tired. She just wanted to go home and get into bed with a hot cup of tea. And she wasn’t going to let Will keep her away. Besides, he had already seen her. He had spotted her while she had been standing there considering her options. She hadn’t seen him come to the large windows, but he was standing there now, staring out at her with a puzzled look on his face, maybe wondering why she wasn’t coming inside.

  Avery let out a deep sigh and headed to the door. She might as well get it over and done with—find out why he was there, waiting for her. She watched calmly as he rushed to the door and held it open for her, standing at the side, allowing her to enter, giving her one of his arrogant twisted smiles. He seemed relieved to see her too. And from the exasperated frown on his face, she guessed he must have been waiting for a while.

    She had stayed an extra hour after class to meet with some of her students who had questions about the exams tomorrow, and after, she had gone shopping with two of the teachers to pick out a birthday gift for the college’s long time librarian. By her calculation, he must have been there for close to two hours. Serve him right, she thought, as she glanced at him again. In fact, if she had any idea that he had been waiting for her, she would have stayed longer or not bothered to come home at all. She would have spent the night at Kat’s or Julia.

   She also didn’t expect him to just show up at her place after he had broken up with her. She thought they had said everything they needed to say to each other—they had already said their goodbyes as far as she was concerned—well, at least Will had conveniently bid her adieu. And now he was here, standing inches away from her with a very expectant look on his face. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought that he had come to apologize and try to win back her trust, but she doubted he was there for that reason.

  She would find out soon enough, though. It was also strange that he had chosen to wait in the foyer. He had never waited for her before. He always had the set of keys to her place to let himself in when she wasn’t there. They had exchanged keys after the third date. Will had suggested it. He had given her the keys to his penthouse, including the code to his alarm system.

     And Avery, feeling completely safe with him, especially after what they had shared on their first date, had handed over the three keys to her place, including the one that gave him access to the building. But unlike Will, she wasn’t living in a luxury penthouse and didn’t have a state of the art alarm system. She did just fine with an extra lock and a secured chain link.

    Now seeing Will standing there, looking at her, made Avery realized that this was the end for them. There was no going back now. And the finality of their relationship hit her so hard and suddenly, like a bucket of cold water being thrown in her face, that it took all the emotional strength she had to pull herself together and put on a brave face. She was so emotionally drained that she was afraid that she would burst into tears if he came any closer to her, but thankfully, she didn’t.

   This was it for them, then, nothing was ever going to be the same again, including coming home and finding Will at the door with a huge grin on his face, happy to see her. She took a deep breath and walked slowly pass him. Her first instinct was to pretend that she didn’t see him standing there, but it wasn’t that easy. She couldn’t, even if she wanted to. Will was uncomfortably close, almost blocking her way.

    “Hello, Avery,” he said to her with a grin on his face, as she came inside, easing purposely nearer to her.

    Avery’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of him and she looked away. She was afraid that if she made eye contact with him, he would see the pain in her eyes and knew the turmoil she was going through because of him. She didn’t want to give him that much satisfaction. Not after what he had done to her, to what they had.

   “I thought I missed you.  I was waiting for over an hour. You are usually home by this time. I was beginning to wonder where you were.”

    He was still smiling at her, and Avery wished she could wipe that stupid grin off his face. She didn’t think there was anything remotely funny or pleasant about the way he had ambushed her.   She kept her head low and refused to answer him. She wasn’t certain she was hearing him right, especially the accusatory tone in his voice. He had no right to question her whereabouts, or her timing, not anymore. He wasn’t entitled to know anything about her life. He had given up that privilege when he broke up with her.

    She opened her handbag and pretended to search through it for her keys, even though she was holding them in her hand. But she wanted to appear busy. She hadn’t spoken to, or seen Will since that morning at her apartment days before. And she wasn’t certain that she wanted to be in contact with him either, not now, or ever. He had called about a dozen times and left messages on her answering service. She had ignored his calls, and deleted all of the messages without listening to any of them.

    And when he had tried to contact her at work, she had told Marva, the secretary in her department not to put through any of her personal calls, especially if they were from Will because she was swamped with conferences and meetings and didn’t have time to talk to him. She was trying to be as discreet as she possibly could about the break up. She didn’t want her personal life spilling into her work place. And if Marva suspected anything, she hadn’t let on. She also knew Marva, unlike some of the teachers, wasn’t a gossip.

   She had expected Will to show up at the college, especially after she had refused to take or return any of his calls, but he didn’t. He had obviously chosen to come here instead. And she would much rather talk to him in the foyer of her building than at Ellington with prying eyes watching their every move, and eager ears eavesdropping on their conversation.

    Still, she didn’t think they had anything more to say to each other. She didn’t know why he had come to see her. She thought he would be in Chicago by now, setting up business, settling into his new job and life there without her. And looking at him now, made her realize that she must have been crazy to even think that he was here to try to win her back.

     “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be on a plane to Chicago or wherever you are going by now?” she asked him pointedly, moving close to the elevator to avoid being that close to him.

She wanted to run inside and take refuge, to get away from him. She was trying to be as calm as she possibly could under the circumstances, but she was far from feeling it.

  “I came to say goodbye, and to return these.”

   He reached into his coat pocket and handed her the set of keys to her apartment. Avery took them, and jumped slightly as Will brushed his fingers caressingly against hers, holding onto her hand for longer than necessary. She saw him smile, showing his perfect teeth. And she blushed. It was a deliberate move to unnerve her, she thought. She pulled her hand away and dropped the keys into her coat pocket.

   “You could have mailed them,” Avery said to him in a firm voice. “Or you could have left them with security at Ellington. I would have gotten them. You didn’t have to come here to bring them,” she added, purposely.             

    “I didn’t want to take the chance of the keys getting lost in the mail. And do you really want security to tell you that your boyfriend has left the keys to your place with them. That would send tongues wagging, Ave. I know how well you value your privacy, especially at work. Besides, I want to make certain they didn’t fall into the wrong hands. So, how are you?” he said to her.

     He was close enough for Avery to feel his warm breath against her cheek and smell his cologne. And he was gazing intently into her flustered face with the ever present smirk on his face. Avery suddenly felt light headed and weak at the knees. She tried to move away from him, but she couldn’t, because her feet were shaking so badly. Thank goodness she was wearing a trench coat that went all the way below her knees. And she was afraid that if she tried to move she would stumble right into his arms. She wasn’t certain she wanted that to happen, not at that very moment. She heard him chuckled. He knew the effect he was having on her, and he was taking full advantage of it. He enjoyed tormenting her, playing on her weakness for him.

     “You look well,” he said, brushing a strand of hair from her face that had fallen loose and was resting across her left cheek. “Your hair looks lovely this way,” he told her, wrapping his finger provocatively around a curl. “I have never seen you wore it this way. It adds more sex appeal to your look.”

    Then she felt his wandering finger moving suggestively over her quivering lips, lingering purposely on her lower one. She saw him lowered his head, his mouth mere inches away from hers, and  fully aware that he was about to kiss her, Avery tilted her head back slightly, closed her eyes, and waited for the familiar feel of  his lips on hers. And for reasons she couldn’t quite comprehend at that very minute, she wanted Will to kiss her. She desperately wanted him to ravish her lips in the worst way possible. She wanted to feel his lips moving against her soft ones, hungrily prying her mouth open, his tongue meeting hers, tasting and sucking her. She wanted to feel that special connection again, even if it was for one last time.

     She wasn’t ashamed to admit the crazy desire she was feeling for a man she knew she should detest. And she wasn’t going to deny herself the pleasure either. She was still hopelessly in love with Will and she wanted him, in every sense of the word. Then, she heard Will chuckle and she opened her eyes to find him staring intently at her with a very amused look on his face, his hands resting on either sides of the wall above her head. He made an attempt to stroke her face, and Avery brushed his hands away angrily and backed away from him.

    “Please don’t make me out to be the bad guy here, Ave. I don’t want to be the bad guy. The break up may not have been mutual, but I still care very deeply about you. That’s why I am here. I want to see you before I leave. I want to make sure you are okay and to know that I can at least call you when I get to Chicago. My taking the job there has absolutely nothing to do with us. It’s about me. I’m the one to blame, not you. I want you to understand that.” 

  God, she wished he would shut up! She couldn’t believe he was trying to use the—it’s-not-you-it’s-me, bullshit on her. She had heard that dumb phrase so many times, especially in movies that it was beginning to make her sick. And if she heard those idiotic words one more time she sworn she would scream her head off in frustration. How stupid did those guys think the women they were breaking up with really were? She didn’t think Will would use such a moronic idiom on her, but he was using it. This was what their relationship had come to. She felt like slapping him, punching him even, very hard in the mouth.

   “Oh, I understand,” she told him, instead, with as much sarcasm that she could muster into her voice. “It’s definitely me. I refused your offer to come with you, didn’t I? You have absolutely nothing to do with it.”

   “Avery, please, I don’t want us to end things this way. I want to know that you will be okay when I get on the plane and leave New York. Can I at least call you to find out how you are sometimes?”

   “No, you may not. We aren’t together anymore, remember. I don’t want to talk to you. I thought I made that perfectly clear when I didn’t return any of your calls or answer the phone when you called.” She was brave enough to look him straight in the eyes this time. “Go to Chicago. Enjoy your new job and your life there. Forget about me, because I certainly will be doing just that. In fact, I can’t wait to get out there and start dating again. That reminds me, I have a date line up for this weekend.”

    Avery saw him flinched. And for a second she thought she saw a pained look on his face, but she wasn’t certain, nor did she care. She doubted he was hurting the way she was. He was the one who had dumped her, not the other way around. She was certain he hadn’t cried for hours—in bed at nights, in the shower, in his bowl of cereal this morning, and many more mornings before that.