“We were trying to have a baby, Nancy. We were trying and it didn’t happen before our lives blew up. Don’t you think it would hurt her worse to know Fiona might have ended up pregnant when she didn’t?”
“She’ll know anyway when Fiona starts to show, or at the very least when the baby arrives, if it is yours. I think it will hurt Violet worse to learn about it with the rest of the world instead of being told privately by the person who should convey that information.”
“Great. I’ll take that under advisement.”
It was a dismissal, and Nancy didn’t bother to fight me on it. She left and I sunk into my desk chair and stared out over the Yarra River.
Fiona’s presence in Melbourne was a nuisance. She had begged to have her old job back. There were two problems with that. One, over my dead body would she work for me again after the shit she pulled, whether she carried my kid or not. Two, she didn’t have a work permit for Australia, so it wasn’t possible even if I would make an exception.
I wasn’t sure where she was getting her money from, but it wasn’t me. It sure as fuck wasn’t my company. I vaguely remembered her telling me sometime in the past that she didn’t really need to work and only did so to keep from being bored.
No matter what her circumstances were, I had firm input from my company’s lawyer not to pay her a dime for anything, especially if she wouldn’t prove paternity of the baby. They were concerned if I paid for anything, it would be seen as me supporting her financially. While that wouldn’t affect the company’s bottom line per se, it would come back on me personally and maybe open a door for her to come after the company for wrongful termination.
Navigating the bullshit surrounding Fiona felt like walking a tightrope most days and that was without adding in what all of this was most likely doing to Violet, and she only knew the half of it.
A couple hours later as everyone was getting packed up to leave for the day, Tania approached me. “Mr. Westover, can I speak to you?”
“Of course,” I said.
“It’s of a private nature.”
My hackles immediately went on high alert. “Then maybe we should get Nancy over here to sit in.” I was shocked when Tania nodded her agreement. It only took a moment to flag Nancy down and we all ducked into the conference room and took a seat.
“What’s this about?” I asked as Nancy pulled out her phone and fiddled with it for a moment. I had no doubt she planned to record the conversation.
“Sorry, had to silence my upcoming alarms,” the woman offered slyly.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind if you record this,” Tania offered. She had clearly seen through the ruse. “You’ve been in Melbourne for three and a half months already.” When I said nothing, the woman nodded and carried on. “Thing is, my cousin is preggers right now. She’s about four months along and her belly has this cute little pooch. That’s nothing compared to the way her norks have grown.”
Tania added a bit of context by holding her hands in a grabby motion near her own breasts. I wanted to laugh at the terminology, but then I thought I knew where this conversation was headed and there was nothing funny about it.
“Do you have a point to this, or would you like us to do something to help your cousin?” I asked.
“Fuck no! She got herself up the duff. I was thinking of her in relation to Ms. Fiona Iverson. That one claims to be preggers and would be at least a month further along, judging from what I know of your situation. Shouldn’t her body have changed? She wore a somewhat loose Galah earlier, but the other day I saw her at the gym in the hotel. She was in full spandex and not a bump in sight.”
“Not everyone pops at the same time,” Nancy added.
“True. Still, I find it odd and thought you might want to keep it in mind.”
“Is that all, Tania?” I asked.
“Yes. Sorry to bother.”
“I appreciate you coming to me with your concerns,” I said before Tania got up and took her leave of us.
“She’s not the only one to take note of the lack of growth.”
“Makes me wonder what excuse she’ll give if I ask her about it,” I pondered aloud.
“Either record her answer or be sure you have a witness along if you confront her. Once she thinks the jig is up, I have a feeling things will get ugly.”
I nodded in acknowledgement and sat there for a bit longer as Nancy took off for the day with the rest of my staff. It was possible that Fiona was faking the whole fucking thing. If that was the case, then there was nothing left to stop me from going to get my wife back.
I decided to confront Fiona sooner than later and pulled my phone out to text her.
Ridge: Need your room number, coming by at dinner.
Mega Bitch From Hell: What time?
