Page 40 of F Buddy

There was a knock on the door and I pulled my attention away from Chad for a moment. I got up and went to the door. I wasn’t even surprised to see Abigail standing there. She had some bags at her side, and I assumed it was food for the both of us, probably her way of trying to clear the air. Had it been any other time, I would have been wary. Right then, I stepped aside so she could come in.

“I wish someone would have told me this before, Chad,” I growled into the phone. “We’re all fucking friends, aren’t we? How come I’m the last one to know?”

He sighed. “I know, but she said no one was to tell you, that she would do it herself. I shouldn’t have told you in the first place. She’ll be so mad when she finds out…”

“Yeah, well, she can go and screw herself. Feel free to tell her that.”

With that, I cut the call and turned to Abigail. She had the bags on the table, hands already reaching inside one, but she’d paused to watch me. Probably in response to my tone. Very little could get me to lose my cool, but Scarlett was among them. Abigail tilted her head slightly.

“Is something else wrong?” she asked.

She was there to listen to the tail end of the conversation, so she could guess that much. I ignored the question.

“Would you like to go out? Sorry, you already got food, but I’m not in the mood for take-out tonight.”

Her eyebrows shot up, but she left the paper bags alone, instead sitting back in the chair and looking up at me.

“You want to go out with me?” she asked slowly. “As in, like a date?”

For a moment, my body froze. I pushed the feeling away. There was no Scarlett and me; there had only been one night of passion, followed by several others.

“Sure, Abigail,” I said, putting on one of my smiles. “Let’s go out on a date.”

She looked ecstatic, and I almost felt bad. But, unlike Scarlett, she knew what the score was, so the feeling faded quickly. There’s no point in thinking about Scarlett anyway, I thought to myself angrily.

Seven months pregnant. And she’d kept it from me, probably all along. And that stupid promise of marriage we agreed… I had lied to her when I said I didn’t take it seriously. A part of me had thought about actually ending up married to Scarlett, going out on dates, and having fun together in and out of bed. If relationships could only be like that, I would have done it and gladly, my issues with commitment aside.

But she must have been pregnant then when she made the promise to me. Pregnant with another guy’s baby. I wasn’t sure if she’d known or not. I frowned a little since I remembered she’d been drinking.

She must have found out after that night, I thought. And she decided to keep it from me.

If that was the case… If she could get over me so quickly… Then I could, and would, do the same. From that point on, I decided to be over Scarlett, because the stress of having to keep up with her just wasn’t worth it.

Chapter 17

Scarlett

I was finally ready to tell Zach the truth.

I sat on my couch, legs up on the seat as I sat back against a bunch of pillows. I held my phone in front of me, looking at his number, my finger hovering above ‘call’. Every minute or so the screen would go blank, and I’d unlock it, only to hesitate again.

I was still too nervous to do it. I worried how he’d react, knowing it would be bad, and equally knowing I deserved it. I’d have rather run from the decision than make it.

But my stomach was only growing bigger, and I kept thinking of what would happen if he suddenly came back and found me pregnant. Or worse, with a baby in my arms, when he had no idea.

I was pretty sure he wouldn’t want anything to do with me or the baby, but it was his decision to make and not one I had the right to take away from him.

But now it was his turn not to return my calls. I couldn’t blame him, I’d gone for months ignoring every attempt he made to connect with me, and I’d done it deliberately. Giving me the same treatment was the least of what I deserved, but I needed to tell him the news.

When I tried to call again at a time I was pretty sure I should be able to catch him, only for the call to be cut off, not even left to ring, I grew a little pissed.

“Dammit, Zach!”

Why couldn’t he make things easy for me? I knew it was unfair to expect something like that from him after all I’d done, but still. I couldn’t exactly jump on a plane and fly to Japan.

I tried to call again, with the same result. And that was when I grew suspicious.

I thought back to all the times he’d called, or sent me a message somehow. He’d done it regularly, even after I stopped replying to him, only he’d stopped altogether a little over a week ago.