“No no, this news actually makes things better, Brad,” John said as he stood up. Gears were turning in his head as ideas were being formed. “With a child, there can be no delay. Within months, we will be married and I shall have access to every dollar they own.”
Brad scoffed. “Did you forget what you did just moments ago? Why are you so confident that she will accept you? Heck, you couldn’t even remember her name.”
“Two reasons, my man.” As he spoke, John counted them off on his fingers, “Women are emotional creatures, she had sex with me, her first time, that could only mean she has feelingsfor me. She was hurt by my refusal to acknowledge her, that cements my conclusion about her feelings. She might be angry but she loves me, of course she will want to be with me. Secondly, no mother will want her child to grow up without a father if she can help it. So I am simply going to take advantage of these two facts, manipulate her and get her to be with me. It’s no rocket science, man. I will get what I want, she will have a man and a father for her child, everybody wins in my opinion.”
“You are a genius, man. So, you should head on there now, right?” Brad asked with glee.
“Calm down, my friend. If she sees me right now, she will be very furious after all that has happened. She might even be suspicious though I doubt that. She is too stupid and naive. Now, her friend, she is bound to be the suspicious one. She is going to still be with her after all she has been through today. I need to get to her when her friend is not around. I should be done convincing her of my sincere love and how much I am sorry before her friend reenters the picture, else, she will ruin it all. I need to gain her trust and my sweet tongue will do the trick.” Johnny rubbed his hands together, feeling very much delighted at his thoughts. He was smart and he knew it was all going to fall into place for him. He just needed to work on the plan and ensure it was completely foolproof. Soon enough, he would be able to pay all his debts and live in a life of luxury. It was a brilliant plan.
“So what are you going to tell her is the reason you stayed away for the entire night?” his friend interrupted his quiet self-praise.
John rolled his eyes and waved his friend’s question away. “That is a piece of cake. I’ll just tell her that I spent all night tossing and turning. I could not sleep because I keptthinking of her and ‘our’ baby, I will ensure to use ‘our’ at this point.” Brad broke into laughter and John winked. “I realized that I love her and there is nowhere else I would rather be but with her. And then, I will ask her to give me a chance to show my love to her and our baby.”
“And it will all go so smoothly?”
“Uh huh, like I said, she is naive and in love. I mean, what foolish girl would let her first time be with some stranger she met in the club and then, act more foolishly by expecting him to call. Really, that girl is all shades of foolish.”
Brad smiled and he said, “Well then, you better know her name before you go there. You can’t make a fool of yourself by calling her someone else’s name.”
“Uh huh, that’s true. Thanks man. What’s her name again? Emily? Jemma?”
“Almost there, it’s Emma. Just practice all through the night, all right?” Brad clapped his friend on his shoulder and headed off.
John took another swig of his beer and leaned back in his chair. His lips turned up in a smile as he thought of the future filled with splurging he had ahead of him. He would dream of money tonight.
*
“I cannot believe this! I mean, I knew he was scum but I never knew that he was the kind that is scraped from the bottom of the barrel, the absolute worst. He disgusts me!” Carrie ranted. She was pacing Emma’s apartment, completely furious. All that was left was her to emit steam from her ears.
“You need to calm down, Carrie. Your anger is not doing me any good,” Emma said softly as she settled onto the sofa.
Carrie stopped wearing a hole into the rug and turned to her friend. She joined her on the sofa and held her hand, “You are right, I am sorry that I'm adding to your stress, Emma. I just cannot help but feel angry.”
“I do understand but let it go all right? He has chosen his path and I, mine.”
“So, is your grandfather still refusing to speak to you?” Carrie asked her friend.
Emma shrugged. “Marie said he told her not to forward my calls to him. She says if it were up to him, he would not speak to me again but she is not letting him do that.”
“Marie is a sweetheart. She really does love you.”
“Yeah, and she is one of the people I have let down,” Emma said tiredly. Marie was the housekeeper in their home back in Texas. She had helped her grandfather raise her. She had also been the housekeeper when her grandmother was alive and her mother was a child. The bubbly, elderly woman was every bit a family to her as her grandfather was.
“Don’t you think you should get some rest? You have had a very long as well as complicated day. If Dr. Kingston knew you were going to stress yourself this much soon after leaving the hospital, she probably would not have let you out, you know.”
“I’m fine, Carrie. What I need to do is resume classes. I have missed a couple of days already and I don’t want to miss anymore.”
“Are you serious, Emma?” Carrie grabbed her friend’s hand and pulled her down, “How can you study at a time like this?”
“Well, one, because I actually do like studying. I don’t look for reasons not to study unlike someone I know.”
“Heh, touchy,” Carrie chuckled.
Emma smiled and continued, “Two, I need to get my degree. I cannot afford to fail. I have a baby on the way. I cannot for any reason delay my graduation. I need to finish in time and be settled before I am due.”
Carrie covered her friend’s hand with hers and she said, “You know I'm here for you, right? So are my mom and dad. They said I should tell you that you have their full support.”
“Thanks, Carrie. You have no idea what your presence means to me. I really don’t know how I would feel if I have to go through this alone.”
