El allowed me to come to work today. It took a lot of convincing. A lot of kisses, cajoling, a food flask, a promise and a swear on the kids lives to call her if I feel the slightest bit dizzy. I also have to check in every few hours with her so she can be sure I’m alive. Her words, not mine. I love that crazy woman.
The telephone rings, I pick the receiver and Ed says, “Sir, Miss Sophia is here to see you.”
Shoving files to a part of my table to create space, I reply, “Send her in. Thank you.”
I roll a pen between my fingers, a small smile curves my lips. For once, everything is working out for me. I have El, I have my girls and I have my assistant. Jei and I are in the processing of concluding, once we have his signature on the contract, then project El will be ready. I sit up at the knock on the door. Maybe I deserve some of the finest things in life. Maybe I am not so unworthy of love. I deserve happiness too.
“Come in.”
A head full of blonde curls pokes in, Sophia wiggles her brows. I have my friend back too. And I am trying harder to maintain contact with my brother. He makes it so easy, like we never fought. She sashays in with an extra sway of her hips, I shake my head. El will have her head if she so much as tries to make a move on me. But she won’t, our ship was never meant to sail beyond friendship with a bit of benefits.
“You’re happy,” Sophia says as she plops into one of the two chairs in front of my desk. “That’s new.”
I drop the pen to the table. “Not so new.”
“Well, the first time in a long time.” She flips her hair, I don’t care to counter her. A curious smile lifts her lips, she lowers her handbag to my desk. “Are you guys back together?” I shrug, I am going to make her beg for every last detail. An image from the video flashes in my mind, I backtrack. She has earned the right to know. The silence lingers, I nod and Sophia’s eyes brim with tears. She presses a hand to her mouth. “Aw, I’m really happy for you two.”
“Me too.” A sigh escapes me, I voice the fear niggling me. “But I don’t know if it will last.”
Ava is teaching me to communicate better, it’s hard. I can talk to her about my recent fears but I don’t want the wise answer she will provide. I want to hear from someone who knows El, who knew us as a couple then. I busy myself with a sheet on the table, turning it upside down without reading its content.
Sophia frowns. “Why not?”
We agreed to try again for one month and we have used up two weeks. The best two weeks of my life. I wake up to a good morning and good night kiss. When I open my eyes, I am sure to see her in my arms. If she’s awake before me, I get a warm smile and my kiss. Sometimes, I wake to her mouth on my cock.
What more can a man ask for?
“What if I fuck up? What if she changes her mind?” El is different now. It is harder to sway her. I hate and love her new version. “Maybe she realises she doesn’t want me anymore. People change, Sophia.”
“Not El. She changes only for good.”
“What if she leaves again?”
“She won’t.” My mouth clamps shut, I pinch the bridge of my nose. This is new to me. This vulnerability, this fear, this need to be accepted by one person. How do I cope with it? I cannot handle a rejection or separation, the kids too. “El is not leaving. She is too happy, too in love with you to even think about it.”
Her words ease some of my fear, I pout and she laughs. I pout a lot these days, it’s what you get when you live with only females. We need to even out the number. Two boys to make it fair. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m very sure and I’m sick and tired of having to watch her turn into a puddle each time you call or text her.” She gags, a chuckle slips from me as her hands wrap around her neck in a show of strangling herself. She will be alright. Frowning, Sophia says, “I think I liked her better when you were not in the picture. Now I can’t even get a reply from her. Brandon this, Brandon that. Baby. Baby. Oh, my God.”
The happiness in her voice betrays her statement, my shoulders tremble with laughter and I snort. I am overthinking it. It’s a good thing I don’t have any close male friends or they would have been subjected to the same torture. Though she and Sophia didn’t start out well, I am glad to see them get along. To be friends.
A comfortable silence falls on us, we share a small smile. I bring out my phone to text my wife.
Me: Thinking about you. I miss you.
Wifey: Me too. Miss you more. How are you? In a meeting but we can have dinner later? Me and you ;)
The clearing of throat draws my attention to Sophia, I type in a quick reply and shove the phone into my pocket. Our routine is not the same anymore. With the girls in our lives, we can’t act on our spontaneity. We have to plan ahead but there’s no guarantee things will work according to our plans. We have not had a date alone. The girls always want to come and the guilt of depriving them of the joy of living with both parents never allows me to refuse. It annoys El, especially when they come to me after she turns them down.
“I got what you asked for,” she says. Her words cause a shift in the atmosphere, the thrumming of the air-conditioner fades to the background and the thumping of my heart takes over. “You are clear.”
Sophia pushes a brown file towards me, I swallow at the name of her hospital written in block letters. It is here. The DNA test. Fear tightens my limbs, I flex my fingers and reach for the file. I flip it open and skip to the most important part. My chest deflates with relief as my eyes zero in on the numbers. Great.
“Ninety-nine percent,” I murmur and she nods. “Why not one hundred?” She shrugs, launching into an explanation on a topic called inclusion and the percent considered enough to claim paternity of a child. From the numbers, I did okay but her next words crush the little hope growing inside me. Different men. “Sophia?” She pauses, her brows lift. “What do you mean?” A frown slips to her lips, I clarify, “What if she slept with two men within the same period? Maybe a few days apart, does it influence the results?”
“No. The tests will reveal the true father.” I palm my head, overwhelmed by the relief flooding my body. “Except in the case of identical twins.” My heart dips to my stomach, she doesn’t notice my dismay as she adds, “Since they share a DNA, getting a conclusive result is difficult.” She twists her hand and shrugs. “The truth is, it’s impossible to tell the father if the lady slept with identical twins days apart.” My jaw drops, she finally looks up to me. Her eyes widen when it hits her, she starts shaking her head. “No, no she didn’t.” There’s no conviction in her voice, she whispers, “She didn’t sleep with him, right?”
She doesn’t mention his name. She doesn’t need to. We both know the bastard she’s referring to. “I don’t know anymore, he knew her.” Brendan tried to get close to Nicole because she liked me. I didn’t care because I didn’t like her, not the way she did me and I made her aware. “But she didn’t know him.”
As far as I know, he never made a move. He did tease me about snatching ‘my girlfriend’ but I called his bluff. Sophia clears her throat. “I’ll have them run the tests again.” Barely reassured by her words, I manage to nod. That dark feeling growing inside me will need more than words to be calmed. Her phone vibrates, she takes a look at the caller without answering. “I have to go. I will call you as soon as I can.”
The door closes gently behind her, I pick the file. This is fucked up. But not as fucked as the fact Vincent knows something I don’t. What does he know? Brianna cannot be Brendan’s daughter. She is my baby. I press the back of my hand to my eyes, why can’t the dead stay dead and leave the living out of their mess? She should have aborted the child as planned, none of this shit would have happened. If she was going to keep the baby, why didn’t she tell me? Why did she accept the money? That greedy bitch.
I am grateful for the knock on my door that distracts me from my thoughts. It has to be Ed. If it’s a guest, I would have received a phone call. “Come in.” Ed saunters in, a nervous smile on his lips. If he’s still uncomfortable around me, why did he agree to return? I smooth my tie, he steps forward. “Yes?”
Ed produces a tablet behind him, I take a deep breath before peeking at the screen. I blink once to clear my vision but nothing changes. El’s picture stares at me. I dial her number, it rings uninterruptedly. A knot forms in my joints, my gaze refuses to meet Ed’s. Why is she with him? My phone pings with a text.
Wifey: can’t pick, still in a meeting. Ttyl? ♡♡
A meeting? I scoff. More like a date with T. The interior decor speaks volume of the restaurant, how elite it is. The idiot probably made reservations weeks ago. Why can’t the fucker leave my wife alone?
They don’t look intimate in the picture but the headline suggests something more is going on with them. I stare at her text, unable to come up with an appropriate reply. Is that it? What of our dinner plans? I let out a sigh. Why did she kiss me this morning if she planned to spend her evening with another man? Is that why she asked us to keep our reconciliation a secret for now? What the fuck is going on with her?
Pushing the tab back to Ed, I push thoughts of my wife out of my mind. I can’t let this shit get out.
“Can you take care of this?”
He nods. “Yes.”
“Get to it.” He is halfway across the office when I call him back. “Ed.” He turns, I might have imagined the tensing in his shoulders because he offers me a tight smile. “Thank you. Thank you for coming back.”