Chapter 8

When they finally reached the 16th floor and the elevator doors opened, Rachel quickly staggered out of it and gulped in air through her mouth while holding unto a pillar in the hallway for some balance.

“Rachel, you’re as white as paper,” said Derek, his voice filled with concern for her. “Should I call a doctor or an ambulance?”

“No,” she said weakly. “I need to sit down.”

He put an arm around her and gently led her toward his office. “Please, get me some water for her to drink,” he said to his secretary as he passed by her desk.

“Uh, sure,” said the secretary who couldn’t understand what was going on with her boss and the sickly lady.

He led her to the Chester couch in his office and helped her to settle down. The secretary came in just then with a tray containing a jug of water and a tumbler. She poured the water into the glass and offered it to Rachel.

“Thank you,” said Rachel, accepting the tumbler of water and taking a few sips. “I feel better, thanks,” she said with a shaky smile.

“Thank you, Diane,” said Derek to the secretary in a tone that implied that she was being dismissed.

“You’re welcome, Mr. Fraser,” replied Diane with a tight smile before leaving the office.

Once they were alone, Derek zeroed his attention back on Rachel who was now leaning her head on the couch and taking deep breaths.

“All right, Rachel. Tell me the truth. What’s going on? Why did you suddenly show up out of the blue looking for me? Judging by the way things ended between us two months ago, I wouldn’t have expected to set eyes on you again. So, what brings you here?”

She exhaled slowly. “You might want to sit down for this,” she said ominously.

Derek raised his eyebrows questioningly. “Is it that serious?”

“Yes,” she said simply.

“Ok, if you insist.”

He walked over to the front of his desk to grab one of the chairs stationed there and he dragged it gently across the carpeted floor to the front of the couch where Rachel was sitting, and then he sat down on it.

“All right, I’m all ears, Rachel. What is the matter?”

Even after all of her multiple rehearsals in preparation for this very moment, Rachel realized that she still wasn’t ready to say the words out loud to this man that had been so disrespectful to her during their last encounter. She couldn’t predict what his reaction would be and that was what scared her the most.

“I’m pregnant,” she blurted out without preamble. “I found out two weeks ago. I’m eight weeks gone.”

Derek said nothing. He continued to stare at her as if she had not spoken at all.

“Did you hear what I said?” She asked when he said nothing.

“I did,” he finally spoke. “I just don’t understand what that news has to do with me.”

Rachel couldn’t believe her ears. “What do you mean? I’m eight weeks pregnant, Derek. We had unprotected sex two months ago. What don’t you understand about that?”

His eyes had gone cold and his jaw was set so firmly, that he looked like a man carved out of granite. “The fact that we had sex does not mean that I have anything to do with your pregnancy. Surely, I’m not the only man you’ve had a one-night stand with in the last couple of weeks, am I?”

Rachel gasped. “How dare you? Do you think I make it a habit to sleep with random men I meet at a nightclub?”

“Don’t you?”

The insult stung and Rachel felt like slapping him hard across the face. She wasn’t a violent person by nature, but the way Derek was insulting her without justification was grating on her nerves.

“You are a vile human being, Derek Fraser!”

“Says the woman who is trying to pin a fake pregnancy on me.”

“Fake? What do you mean by that?”

“For all I know, this could just be a ploy by you to squeeze money out of me. Perhaps the money I offered you was too small and that was why you felt insulted, so now you are here for the real deal. If that’s the case, just come clean and tell me how much you want. There’s no need to cook up this story about you being pregnant, and there’s no need for the dramatics either. I’m not one of your Facebook audiences, or YouTube or whatever.”

In all of her life, Rachel had never felt so humiliated like this before. Derek was literally wiping the floor with her and making her feel like a shameless groupie begging for his attention and money.

“I made a huge mistake coming here,” she said.

“I agree,” he replied coldly.

“And this will be the last time you will see me. Goodbye, Derek. And this time, I mean it.”

“For your sake, I hope you are telling the truth because if you ever show up here again, I’ll have you arrested for trespassing and harrassment.”

Rachel was too shocked to say anything. She simply stood up and walked out of his office with the last shred of dignity she had left.

********

As soon as Rachel left, Derek buried his face in his palms and took deep breaths. What was it about that woman that always made him lose his cool? How dare she just show up here after disappearing from his life all this while, to claim that she was pregnant and that he was responsible for it? Did she think he was a fool? What sort of stunt was she trying to pull with him?

He strolled to his desk and picked up his mobile phone to dial a familiar number. His call was answered almost immediately.

“What’s up buddy?” Said the voice on the other end.

“Something crazy just happened now, Jonah. I’m so annoyed, I feel like slamming my fist into something and breaking it to pieces.”

“Geez, man, calm down. What happened?”

“Do you remember that chick I told you about in April? The one that I met at The Black Hat.”

“And then she followed you to your penthouse and gave you ball-busting orgasms?” Jonah laughed, remembering how Derek had gushed about his experience with the beautiful curvy woman who left had him haughtily the following morning.

“This isn’t funny, Jonah, but yeah. That’s the chick I’m talking about.”

“Ok, what about her?”

“She just left my office now and I am still mad at myself for even letting her in,” said Derek bitterly. “I am still reeling with shock from what she told me.”

“So, are you going to tell me what she said, or do I have to track her down somehow and hear it from her instead?”

“She said she’s pregnant and that I am responsible for it.”

Jonah was silent for several seconds before he spoke again. “What the hell?”

“That was my exact reaction but I was too stunned to even say those words. I mean, can you believe that woman? She has got some nerves, for sure because how dare she?”

“Wait, did you use protection that night?”

“Uh…” Derek scratched his head absently, trying to remember the details of his night of passion with Rachel. “To be honest, I don’t remember but I always do.”

“Come on, man. You have to be sure. Did you use protection or not?”

“I don’t know,” Derek snapped in frustration. “Look, I think this is just a money-grab attempt by her. She’s not the first woman to lie about being pregnant with my baby and she may not be the last. All the others before her had been proven to be liars and so will she.”

“This is serious, Derek,” said Jonah soberly.

“You think I don’t know?”

“What are you going to do now?”

“About what?”

“What else? The pregnancy, of course. Is she keeping it?”

“Listen, Jonah. There is no pregnancy anywhere. That chick is lying and I have a good mind to hire a private investigator to track her down and find out what her deal is.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

Jonah sighed. “What if she’s not lying, Derek? What if she’s truly pregnant and the baby is yours? What then?”

Derek rubbed his eyes with the tips of his finger. “I am not going to consider those possibilities because they are not true.”

“You’re simply in denial. You need to come out of your bubble and take off your rainbow-tinted glasses so that you can see what is happening clearly. You said it yourself that you don’t remember using protection when you had sex with her.”

“I said I don’t remember if I did or not,” he corrected.

“We are saying the same thing, my friend,” said Jonah, sympathetically.

“Damn! This can’t be happening to me. I am always so careful. I let my guard down once, and boom, I’m being accused of pregnancy.”

“ ‘Accused of pregnancy?’ Are you serious? You make it sound like a crime,” laughed Jonah.

“This isn’t funny, Jonah. This is my life we are talking about here. My reputation is at stake. What if she goes to the press with this?”