Chapter 15.

Roman's mother walks across the street, her Fendi bag slung across her shoulder, her heels clicking like a woman on a mission. And she was.

Ever since yesterday when Roman informed her that it was the woman who might be pregnant with his baby that made him panic like that, she had grown increasingly curious.

She was sceptical about this Megan lady, after all, it wasn't every day that a woman announced she was pregnant with three prospective fathers for the baby. On top of that, she even has memory loss. What kind of woman was she?

Plus Mrs Louise is well aware that her son has been scammed before. The gold-digger he dated in the past, Petra, had almost pinned him with a paternity fraud and on top of that, almost destroyed his reputation in the business world.

Petra was responsible for closing up Roman's heart to love and ever since, Mrs Louise had committed herself to perusing all the women surrounding her son.

Throughout the night before, she had turned left and right on the bed, unable to sleep from curiosity. She knows that Roman wouldn't like it if he found out she was there to check out Megan, but a mother had to take measures.

As she approached the coffee shop, she noticed that the place was crowded. The inside was filled with customers sitting and chatting and the chairs outside are also occupied. There was even a long queue of people at the counter waiting to be attended to.

It wasn't hard to spot Megan at all. Dressed in a white sundress that concealed where her pregnancy pouch should be, she seemed to be everywhere at the same time. Her curly hair was packed up but in danger of slipping out of its bond. It was clear, even from outside, that the cafe is understaffed.

Fascinated by Megan's bustling around, Mrs Louise grabbed one of the few empty seats and watched on. It didn't take long to figure out that Megan was a very efficient woman. It was just her and one other staff at the counter, yet things were getting done. One minute, she was working as the cashier, the next she was carrying trays to seated customers and even smiling cheerfully and stopping to exchange a few words, all without wasting time.

She looked so cool and in charge and didn't panic once, even as people kept pouring in for their morning shots of coffee. Once, a baby fell and Megan rushed to her side and consoled the baby before she could cry, earning an appreciative smile from the baby's mother.

It took about an hour for the crowd to thin considerably but Mrs Louise didn't get tired of watching Megan. It wasn't everyday one got to see a pregnant woman so in control and taking charge seamlessly like this.

Mrs Louise finally stood from her seat outside and walked into the shop for coffee. Megan was sitting at the cashier desk, eyes furrowed in concentration. Mrs Louise could see now that Megan was even prettier than she had originally thought from her angle outside.

She ordered a cup of Latte from the attendant and waited a few minutes to have it served with her favourite snacks of banana muffin. Then Megan started to round up the bill

"Hey, you look just a bit tired." Mrs Louise cringed at her entry.

Luckily for her, Megan smiled appreciatively at her as she collects her credit card to swipe.

"We have had a busy morning here, ma'am."

"Yeah, I noticed." Noticing her near slip, Mrs Louise quickly added "I was initially waiting for a friend outside but she called and cancelled so I saw you work all day. You were quite impressive too."

Megan smiled genuinely now. "Thank you, ma'am."

Luckily, there was no one behind Mrs Louise at all so she extends the chat a bit.

"But you seem a bit short-staffed over here or is this just how things are run?"

Megan smiled sheepishly "No ma'am, we are not usually short-staffed. I am the manager here and some of our staff couldn't come in today."

"Oh. Beautiful place though, prime location. I am a sucker for coffee shops. I sometimes just visit different ones for fun when I am in a new country. "

Megan is apparently in need of some conversation as she and Mrs Louise connect and talk a bit more about coffee shops and different themes from different parts of the world.

Megan even revealed that she was ordinarily a lover of mocha and could drink up to five cups of it but she just can't stand it recently because she was pregnant. Mrs Louise was surprised that Megan worked so efficiently in a coffee shop despite this and shared her admiration. She also revealed that she had also been unable to stand coffee when she was pregnant with her child, Roman, too. But she kept the name out of her conversation with Megan.

Another customer walked up to the counter at last and Mrs Louise knows she had to leave.
"Okay bye Me-" she clamps her mouth short before she could make a slip

"I am Megan," Megan says with a smile.

"I am Louise."

"See you around, Mrs Louise."

Mrs Louise walked out with her bag of Latté and banana muffin, sure now that her Roman was making a big mistake.

The woman she met today is far from being a gold digger. Rather, she was a woman who was working so hard against all odds and taking charge to pave a stable path for herself.

Although it is still unclear how Megan got herself in this unique situation, Mrs Louise was convinced there was a good explanation. If Roman had slept with Megan, then it would only be in his best interest if he started to take responsibility as soon as possible. There was a good chance the baby was his.



*******

Megan walked down the street, completely exhausted from the day's work. That morning, she had walked into the cafe to realize that both Michelle and Reuben were absent without notice and she didn't even have time to catch a breath.

She had immediately jumped into action, especially when she heard that one of the pastry chefs in the kitchen had also come down with a cough and could not cook. What a mess it would have been if she had arrived at work just a bit later.


The only bright moments were those few minutes between when she had spoken to customers about random things, especially the woman who had noticed she was tired. What a kind woman, Megan thought. Now that Megan was thinking about it, she realizes that the woman's face reminds her of someone but she found it difficult to place the resemblance.

As she took the elevator, she found her hand slowly rubbing over her pouch and instantly dropped it. Over the past few days, she had found herself engaging in that silly behaviour of expectant mothers without meaning to. Seemee it was an instinct.

The mall was not as crowded as she had thought it would be by this time of the day, there were just a few shoppers trailing around. She enters the small supermarket upstairs first and gets to the list of things her mother had sent her that morning.

She remembered that she had to get an apology gift for Anthony for missing his art exhibit. While she felt bad, there was just no way she could go. Even if she hadn't resolved not to, with Michelle and Reuben missing at duty and all, she would be unable to make it there.

She felt bad though because Anthony was really such a sweet gentleman. She just didn't feel the spark he claimed they had. And her memory was still missing.

She found a gift shop and walked in, browsing through the aisle without anything in particular in mind. At last, she finds a small pretty figurine of an Egyptian mermaid and remembers Anthony once told her that he likes to collect figurines. She found a brush set too but was unable to decide if it was good quality, considering that Anthony was a professional artist. Besides, she didn't have the money to get two gifts.

As she walked through the aisle, just browsing through even though she didn't intend to buy anything, her eyes caught a cute pair of pink baby shoes.
With shaky hands, Megan lifted the shoe from its place on the aisle and just stared at it.

"It's so perfect," she whispered and she dropped it nervously. Before she knew it, her shoulders began to shake and she started to cry.

How did she end up like this? How did she end up as a woman who would be having a baby in a matter of months and had made no effort to connect with her child?

She literally knew nothing about her baby, not even when it was conceived in her womb. Or the father. Or gender. She had even refused to think of the baby as a human, preferring to shut down the thought whenever it occured to her.

Her cries grew louder and she bent down, grateful for the privacy of the back of the store where she stood. The Megan she knew before would never have been so oblivious. She wouldn't deny her reality and shut out her own baby like this.

At last, she quieted down and cleaned her eyes with the sleeves of her white dress, grateful that she had gone without mascara that morning. If there was one thing she knew now, it was that she needed to put her life together.

She was done with self-pity and would take charge and use the next few months to bond with her unborn child. She placed her hand on her stomach and rubbed lightly, then whispered.

"Hey you, I love you and I will figure things out soon, for both of our sakes."

With firm resolve, she rose up and picked the pink shoe off the aisle again and marched to the counter. She didn't know the gender of the baby yet but buying the pink shoe seemed like a symbolic step.

The attendant lookee at her a bit weirdly and she realised that she may not have been as quiet as she had initially thought. She paid for the two items and had Anthony's mermaid packaged by the attendant.