“I’m taking the day off. Just wait for me. I still can’t believe you went and got knocked up without telling me.”
Ethan is in the kitchen while I’m in my bedroom, so I’m not worried about him overhearing anything. I put the phone on speaker as I pull out my suitcase from under the bed.
“You were the one who said ‘sleep with him, Natalie. It’s justsex, Natalie.’ Guess what, Sarah? It wasn’t just sex! I have a baby in me now.”
“Well.” There’s a pause on the other end of the line, and I can just hear her roll her eyes. “It’s not my fault you two are idiots and didn’t use a condom. I put some in your bag when you left.”
I’m unzipping the suitcase as she says this, and the first thing I see is a small, discreet-looking box tucked in the corner of the suitcase, just out of sight. I was in a hurry when I got back, so I never paid too much attention to unpacking. Not that I even managed to unpack properly.
“Well,” I sigh, taking out the box. “You’re going to be an aunt. I hope you like kids.”
“Why? Do you plan to make me babysit?”
“Maybe. Anyway, there is a bunch of mail at the front door. I’m going to sort it out and put yours in your room.”
“Fine. But don’t leave before I come back. Two hours. I’ll be there soon.”
“I’m just packing up my clothes. It’ll take me some time.”
She ends the call, and I put aside the phone, looking around me at the sunlight streaming through the blinds, casting long shadows across my hardwood floor.
“I guess I really will have to give up this apartment.” I rest my head against the bed. “This is Ethan’s fault. All his fault.”
“I’ll be sure to make it up to you.” A cold glass is pressed to the side of my face, and I look up at him. He’s holding out a glass of juice. “You don’t have to sell this place, you know? Just rent it out. This isn’t a bad neighborhood.”
“Yeah, but I prefer buying a condo than renting. The rules of the co-op here are that I put this place this on sale to them first. I’ve already begun talking to the other owners in the building.” Outside, a car honks impatiently, the quintessential New York soundtrack that never stops.
“Not for a year.” He sits on the edge of my bed, his forearms resting on his thighs. He’s shrugged off his suit jacket at somepoint, and his sleeves are now folded back, revealing muscled forearms. I have to tear my gaze away. “You’ll be living with me.”
He plays with a lock of my hair. I don’t know if he’s noticed, but he likes touching my hair a lot.
“Do you have a hair fetish?” I ask bluntly, one eyebrow arched.
His eyes dart down to his hand, his fingers wrapped around a lock of my red hair. I expect him to pull his hand away. Instead, he yanks his hand, tugging my head towards him. “I have a ‘you’ fetish.”
I make a face at him. “Don’t ever say that again.”
He grins at me. “Why? Does it bother you?”
He’s teasing me. The nerve.
“You realize I have to pack up half this apartment and send everything to a storage unit? And you’re forcing me back to work, so I have a month of work to catch up on. Stop flirting with me. I don’t have time for your charm offensive,” I retort, fanning myself with a magazine from my nightstand.
He just laughs. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you pack. I’ll also help you catch up with work. What else?”
Who is this man?
“Here.” I pick up the bunch of letters and notices from the ground and shove them into his lap. “Sort these out. First, make two piles, one for me and one for Sarah. Then sort out the bills for mine. Organize. Go wild.”
He does so, letting me focus on my packing. I have to move into Ethan’s apartment today. I have no idea how it is going to go. I don’t know what I have signed up for. All I know is he might be the only one who will be able to keep me and this baby inside me safe.
As I take out my clothes from the wardrobe, I keep glancing at him through the reflection in the mirror, the cool breeze drifting through the window.
The scrunchie.
He kept it.
I never even spared it a thought, but he kept it.
