‘Okay. Just checking.’
‘What difference does his name make? There’s a new life coming into the world. All that matters is that it’s loved.’
‘Aye, I know that. So you’re here to let me know in person that I may or may not be the father of a baby that you already announced on social media and that I’ve already worked out may or may not be mine. What is this visit designed to add to the equation?’
‘Are you actually being this heartless?’
Cal shook his head in disbelief. He would never make her see she’d gone about this all the wrong way.
‘So you’ll be having a paternity test?’ he asked.
‘Um, yes, although...’
‘I’ll pay for it, Betta. We need to sort this.’
‘I’ve already told you, I’m 80 per cent sure.’
Cal was seething at what was happening. Elisabetta could easily take a paternity test to determine who the father of the baby was, but if she could string the whole thing out as long as possible then that would be her preference. ‘That’s not enough,’ he said. ‘If we can find out for 100 per cent now, then let’s do it. Then I can support you.’
‘I mean, it’s probably more like 85 per cent.’ Elisabetta took her phone, opened an app and held the screen towards Cal. ‘You see, we had sex on this date.’ She pointed to a coloured grid Cal could barely make head nor tail of. ‘And then we broke up and I slept with Tobermory a day or so later, but I think I’d already ovulated by that point.’
Cal glanced briefly at the bamboozling calendar of chaos before turning to the bigger issue. ‘Why are you logging the dates you have sex? Why do you have this app? Were you trying to get pregnant?’
Elisabetta was silent, but she didn’t need to say anything. That Cal was right was written all over her face.
‘I wasn’t exactly trying to get pregnant, but I figured that I may as well track things since I was in a committed relationship. I was always faithful to you, Cal.’
‘And I was to you, but that doesn’t make it okay that you came off the pill without my knowing. You came off the pill, right? That’s the only way this kid could be mine. Why are you dangling this in front of me but refusing totake a test to find out?’
‘I don’t want anything invasive, and what if it’s twins? You can’t do those tests if its twins.’
‘What? Is it twins?’ Cal was flabbergasted at the route this conversation was taking.
‘Not that I know of, but you never know. There could be one hiding behind the other.’ Elisabetta was twisting things any way she could.
‘I think we’re done here for now.’ Cal stood and walked to the door.
‘Please, Cal.’
‘I don’t honestly know what else I can do, Betta. I’ll pay for the best paternity test money can buy. If the baby is mine, I’ll support you. But you want me to dangle on a string for another six months. I’m not coming shopping with you for Moses baskets or going to antenatal classes so you can post about it online.’
‘You’d make a great dad, Cal.’
Cal exhaled. ‘Don’t.’ He knew Elisabetta was trying to twist things and appeal to his softer side. He would make a good dad – and he hoped that one day he would become a father – but this was blatant manipulation. Cal didn’t even know why she was so keen for them to stay a couple, anyway. Besides physical lust, it was an empty relationship. Sure, they’d gone to parties and dined at some of the finest restaurants, but they’d had no connection.
‘Okay, I won’t say any more.’ Elisabetta shrugged. ‘But the baby is yours, I’m sure of it.’
‘Eighty per cent,’ Cal reminded her as he opened the door. ‘You’re only eighty per cent sure.’ Then he was distracted by a flash of red. Bea coming out of the staff changing room.Damn!
‘I’m sorry we couldn’t resolve anything,’ he said to Elisabetta, maybe trying a little too forcedly to give theirconversation the cover of a business meeting. ‘Perhaps if you go away and analyse those figures again, then we can talk further.’
But Elisabetta was no fool. She spotted Bea, too, clocked that Cal was putting on a front and remarked to him that she wasn’t one of his business deals. Bea then disappeared back into the bathroom and Cal was left wishing he could sink into a giant bottle of whisky and drink the lot.
Chapter 18
Bea
Bea was conscious she had, inadvertently, found herself privy to a Cal-centred drama that she shouldn’t be witnessing. She wished to respect his privacy, so she waited several minutes before emerging from the bathroom.
