“Mmmm,” I said, my mouth watering.
“It smellsheavenly,” said Sarah, closing her eyes.
Gabriella approached the hostess stand and gave her the name our reservation was under. Seeing how packed the place was, I was relieved she had called and made a reservation earlier that afternoon. There was only one empty table in sight, and we were led right to it.
We sat around the circular wooden table, eyeing our menus and the plates of food being served around us. Servers balanced trays of fettuccine alfredo, antipasto salads, raviolis in pesto sauce, and garlic bread the length of my arm. Everything looked so good, including the red bottle of wine that was being poured next to us.
“I need some of that,” said Sarah, pointing in the direction of the cabernet sloshing in the wine glass.
“Me too,” said Gabriella.
“Ditto,” said Sadie.
Sarah looked to me. “Should we get a bottle?”
“Um…sure. Yeah,” I said, swallowing hard.
Gabriella and Sadie both gave me an amused look.
“Am I missing something?” she asked, tilting her head and looking between the three of us, her brown eyes curious.
“I’m not drinking,” I said, reaching for the glass of ice water in front of me and taking a sip.
“Oh?”
“I’m sort of pregnant.” I bit my lip and looked at her sheepishly.
“What?” she nearly shouted. “Since when?”
“A few days ago. At least that’s when I took a test.”
“Congratulations, Juliet!” she said, rounding the table and giving me a big hug. As she held onto me, she said warily, “Wait…who is the…” She paused. “Oh, my God!” she exclaimed, pulling away from me and boring her eyes into mine.
I nodded slowly, affirming her assumption.
“You’re having a baby Brandfield,” she whispered wide-eyed.
I couldn’t help but laugh, but then the sadness crept in again.
“What is it?” she asked, seeing the change in my demeanor.
“He doesn’t know. And I plan on keeping it that way,” I said softly.
“Okay. My lips are sealed. Now, how can I help?” she said with no questions asked.
“I like her,” said Gabriella, nodding toward Sarah.
“Me too.” I grinned.
For only knowing Sarah a short amount of time, I considered her a good friend, which was why I felt comfortable in telling her about the pregnancy. She reacted exactly as I expected. No questions asked and eager to help.
“I’m okay for now,” I reassured her as she rounded the table back to her seat. “But there’s more…” I said hesitantly.
After we ordered our food and a bottle of wine, I filled my friends in on what happened with the photo left on my desk with the threatening note, and my run-in with Mia that same morning. They listened to me wide-eyed, their hands gripped tightly around their wine glasses. When I was done telling them everything, their mouths were open in shock.
“What the serious fuck?” asked Sadie, shaking her head.
I laughed out loud. It was all so surreal that it almost seemed funny.
