LITTLE KISSES
CHAPTER NINE // DRIVE ME INSANE
I
cringed, my nose wrinkling up funny, “I bought his house...”
“You
bought his house. Like as in, you own his house!” She wasn't
blinking, that wasn't a good sign.
“Well,
no, I don't own it yet but he accepted the offer.”
“Of
course, he did, you offered thirty thousand over asking. He probably
didn't even look over the papers!” She exclaimed, “Oh god, oh
god! Amy!”
I
dropped my head to my knees where I sat on the couch, grumbling to
myself now.
“Amy!
I can't believe you did this three weeks ago and didn't say a damn
thing!”
“Well,” I looked up, “I was freaking out.”
“Well,” I looked up, “I was freaking out.”
“You
were freaking out?” Her eyes were pulsing now, “Amy, you're
pregnant with his baby and just bought his house... all without him
knowing!”
I
twitched, that was all very true. There's always hindsight, so... in
hindsight, maybe it hadn't been the best course of action but at
least his house was safe.
“Why
did you feel compelled to buy his house!”
“Cause
the little skank wanted it!” I blurted out.
She let
out a squeak and covered her mouth, amusement now all over her.
I
rolled my eyes, “That house is beautiful, okay? Ean doesn’t
actually want to sell it.”
“Amy,
you haven't even talked to him!” Beth exclaimed, “You don't know
what he wants!”
“I
know!” I snapped back, “I just know he doesn’t want to sell
it.”
She
shook her head at me, smiling still, “You're losing it. You need to
talk to him. Like now. I mean, yesterday would have been perfect or
the day before that or the day before that or... maybe, Amy, you
should have told him you loved him back at Christmas!”
I
stared at her, wide eyed and feeling like I was getting pecked at by
chickens.
“I
don't love him.” I said quickly.
She
began to laugh at me.
“What?”
I stared at her, “I don't...”
“Amy...”
She choked, still laughing.
“I
don't, Beth! I don't even know him!”
She
snorted now, “Oh my god, this is hilarious!”
“I
don't love him!” I said again, “I don't. I don't love him!”
“Amy!”
She leaned across my leather couch and grabbed my knees, “You said
you saved his house from a skank.”
“She
was.” I retorted.
“Amy!”
Beth laughed again.
“Okay,
really!” I snapped, “You can stop laughing. This isn't funny!”
“Yes,
it's hilarious!” She started to hug her stomach, “Oh god... I'm
going to die. You bought his house... you're pregnant with his...
ha!”
“Beth!”
I basically yelled.
She
stopped and looked to me, “Okay, it's okay. You need to talk to him
though.”
“I
can't.” I told her.
Beth
still tried to wipe the smile off her face, “Why?”
“He's
working.”
“Where?”
She made a face.
I
rolled my eyes, “Up north or something. Unreachable.”
“Well,
they got ahold of him, he accepted the offer.” She pointed out.
I
shrugged, “Not information I can get ahold of.”
“Right,
cause the whole town...” She tried not to laugh, “Know's you're
looking for him.”
“Alright,
come on!” I exclaimed, “I mean, maybe he just accepted it through
email.”
“Do
you know when he's back?”
I
nodded once.
She
arched an eyebrow, “Oh!”
“Yeah.”
I said quickly.
“Well?”
“He's
back in five days. I'm going there, to meet him. I made it part of
the contingency.”
Beth
burst out laughing again.
“Why
is it, you find my misery so funny!” I blurted.
“I
don't. It's just, in all the years I've known you... I've never seen
you crack like this.” She looked me over with amazement.
“What's
that mean?” I stuffed.
“You've
cracked, Amy Black, because of a man.” She slowly smiled at me.
I then
saw what she did, I saw that it was true or it was coming true... I
stood quickly, “No!”
Beth
panicked and stood, “It's a good thing!”
“No!”
I shook my head frantically.
“Well,
at least he's hot!”
“No!”
I repeated over and over.
Beth
watched me pace, “Amy.”
“I
didn't...” I turned to her, my eyes welling up.
“Hun,
it's not like he's awful. He's really a nice man...”
I
started to cry, “Why did I do this, Beth! Now, I'm almost ten weeks
pregnant...”
She
stood and came towards me, “Amy, shh...”
“I
should back out. I should say I can't get financing.”
“Amy!”
Beth grabbed my shoulders, “At least, go and meet him. If you still
feel the same way, worry about it then.”
I
swallowed and then agreed, even though I wasn't sure if that was
right or not. Beth however seemed to have more sense then I did,
really – I was going off the deep end a bit.
I
nodded.
She
smiled but wiped it off her face quickly, “It will be okay. You'll
feel better once you get past this. Remember, you don't need to...”
I
searched her face as her words fell off, “What?”
“You
don't have to be with him but I'm guessing he'll want to be included
to some degree. You need to be prepared for that.”
I
planted a hand to my temple and rubbed.
“It's
okay.” She assured me, “You'll like having him involved.”
“No...”
I squeaked.
“Amy...”
I felt
my tears again, “I think I really did like him.”
She
stayed quiet a moment and then, “Of course, Amy. Of course, you
did... Anyone with a brain and eyes could...” Her sentence
collapsed as my eyes burned into her. She took my hand and sat me
back to the couch, “You need to relax. Try not to think too much
about all this. One day at time.”
I
nodded and took in a quick breath, “I wish I could have some wine
right now.”
“Amy,
you always drink away your issues. In a non-alcoholic way but things
could be worse...”
“How
is that even possible to say to me right now?” I snapped.
She
shrugged and sat back beside me, “You could be pregnant with
Richard's baby.”
I
gagged and choked on that information.
“Amy?”
I waved
her off and relaxed back into the couch, “It can't always be
worse.”
“It
can always be worse, hun.” Beth said softly to me, “How about we
watch some stupid movie and try not to talk about it, okay?”
I
nodded, feeling like my head was about to explode from the headache I
had anyway, “Sure...”
We then
picked out a movie from the satellite options and then found one bag
of popcorn in a back shelf. Elizabeth proceeded to giving me a
lecture on proper eating and I agreed to go grocery shopping the next
day with her. Much to my dismay, what was I suppose to do with
cupboards full of food?
We sat
and watched the stupid chick flick, I hadn't really agreed to and
only ended up wanting to cry out pathetic-ness by the end. She said
goodnight to me with a hug and waved me off to be by myself for yet
another lonely night.
I had
never really complained much about being alone, in fact I really
liked it. Then I figured out, I wasn't actually alone. I stopped at
the counters in my bathroom and looked down to my stomach. It really
was becoming too easy to freak myself out.
I
looked back up to the mirror.
Five
days.
Elizabeth
had become my needed confidant and support system. Since I did lack
one all together at that moment, she really did do a fair job.
Especially when it came to the blood tests.
I was
sort of a large chicken and I was going to have to continue to suffer
as well, it seemed like when you were pregnant you were forced to
endure blood tests on top of being a continued weight gainer.
By the
end of the week, I'd regretfully bought a pair of maternity pants
that were comfy but not fashionably forward what so ever. To start
with they had a waist band that was the size of china and even though
I still fit my current pants, my abdomen just ached from wearing them
all day.
I was
learning fast, I literally was screwed.
As the
day ended and I sent my last email off to a company I was looking at
dismantling for an extreme amount of money. I made my leave of the
mostly quiet office, only to run into Doug at the elevator.
“Have
a good week?” He stuffed.
He'd
been a bit stuffy ever since he'd seen Beth and I holding hands in
the cafe weeks before but I wasn't stupid enough to bring all that up
again.
“Uh,
not bad. I sent you the emails for the new company I was telling you
about.”
“Didn't
check yet, but I will.” He hit the button for the elevator again,
like he wanted away from me.
I
nodded and stayed quiet.
The
elevator opened for us and we got inside, then stayed silent all the
way down as well.
I said
bye to him and made my way out of the building to the sidewalks. My
phone rang and I answered it quickly.
“Hey.”
I said, knowing it was Beth.
“Hello.”
She chirped, “Did you just leave the office?”
“Yeah.”
I admitted.
“Aren’t
you driving out tomorrow?”
I
swallowed, “Yeah, well, had some last minute stuff come in tonight
so I had to stay later then I wanted...”
“Okay, so, did you think about me coming?”
“Okay, so, did you think about me coming?”
“Yeah...”
I was still on the fence, “I should probably go alone. I mean, I
don't want to bombard him. He's probably going to freak out
already...”
“Okay,
well, only if you think you'll be okay?”
“Yeah. I guess. I mean as good as I can get.” I was almost home now, walking and talking had taken most of the short walk up.
“Yeah. I guess. I mean as good as I can get.” I was almost home now, walking and talking had taken most of the short walk up.
“Just
be careful driving.”
“Yeah,
not like I'm not learning the drive by now...” I wanted to roll my
eyes at that truth.
“Alright,
call me when you get there or something.” Elizabeth said goodbye
and then I hung up my phone. Once I got to my apartment, I was going
to grab my small packed bag and make the four hour drive for my
impending meet up with Ean. He didn't see it coming and I envied him
for it.
I
stepped inside my apartment building, now wishing I could swap lives
with someone. Anyone. Anything even...
Avoid,
avoid, avoid...
It's
all I told myself as I pulled into the motel parking behind the
general store. I realized I was going to be surrounded by people that
knew Ean well, the whole night. Staying locked up was imperative to
my own survival, however I was hungry and doubted I'd make it the
whole night inside the hotel room.
There
was a pub attached to the building and once I entered the tiny lobby,
the smell of frying food hit me. My mouth watered as I checked in,
the fifteen year old girl behind the counter less than thrilled with
her job.
“Name?”
She droned as she sucked on a lollipop.
“Amy
Black.” I said to her as I looked over her thick braided hair and
plaid shirt. I couldn't believe I was here and the only reason I
wasn't driving straight to his house... because I had nothing to hold
myself accountable to. No appointment to force me to do it. I was all
pent up for the next morning in that regard. If I saw him that moment
I would have failed miserably. Likely without the ability to speak as
well.
She
wrote down my name and passed me a paper sign.
There
was no computer.
“I
need cash or credit card for the room.” She said to me.
“Sure.
Credit card.” I signed the paper and took out my card.
She
whipped it up, looking it over, “Gold...” She imprinted my card
and gave it back to me, “Room twelve, just go left outside the
door, you'll come to it.”
I
nodded and grabbed my purse from the counter, “How do you get to
the restaurant?” I wasn't able to last without food any
longer.
“Go right out the door.” She arched an eyebrow.
“Go right out the door.” She arched an eyebrow.
Our
conversation was over and I left the building, going right and
adjusting my scarf as I did.
There
was no reason for anyone to recognize me and there was little reason
for me to be talked to as well. I entered the pub and found a booth
in the back to occupy.
Eventually
a waitress got to me, once she was done chatting up a group of men
that looked like locals. She gave me a menu and I took in all the
greasy options.
Salad
was the only safe thing so I ordered it, half hour later. The men
liked her and it made me realize how small these people's worlds
were.
They
all knew each other and it's all they did, come to the damn pub on a
friday night. I couldn't believe I had even come back, let alone
bought a log cabin! A note on the door of his sold home would have
sufficed, especially if I hadn't been the one buying his house.
I ate
my salad in silence, keeping my eyes down and away from everyone else
in the room. Once I was done, I dug for cash, needing to get out of
there.
I
passed a vending machine and bought a ginger ale on my way to my
room, where I was no doubt, going to be up the entire night calling
myself insane and attempting to down talk my panic.
As I
sat to the old, creaking mattress in the room, I cracked the ginger
ale. My white Chanel carry on beside me as we sat in silence together
– the only sound was a semi truck running across the dark parking
lot outside.
I took
a sip of the pop and then dropped it to the nightstand, sinking into
the hard bed. It's not like Ean would have let me sleep in his bed
anyway... I washed those thoughts away quickly.
I
stared into the dim light. Unsure if this was considered a low or
high of my life. I supposed his face the next day would let me know.
I still had not decided on an opening line... What was I really
suppose to say... Hi, it's Amy. I bought your house. Oh, and I'm
pregnant with your baby... uh...
I
buried my face in a pillow and let out a scream. I was starting to
think wine had been invented for times like these... or just my life
in general but alas I was prohibited from it's abilities to fix me.
I
rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling now, knowing the next
morning was going to be my first actual sentencing in life. That was
the only thing I was sure on.
READ SOME OTHER BOOKS BY BELLA JOHNSON...
So first time I am on here because you posted on here intead of wattpad... Im in love with this story! And that was a fast update!! Im excited hopefully she and Ean meet tmm
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