THE BILLIONAIRE’S ONE AND ONLY HEIR

CHAPTER THREE

The symptoms lately all hinted at pregnancy, but Rosaline was hoping with every nerve in her as she picked up the pregnancy test stick from a bowl of urine, that it was otherwise.

There was a report of feet clattering lazily on the tile of the corridor, then Bridget, her best friend, pulled just behind, stretching on her toes, to look over Rosaline’s shoulder at the readings of the test stick.

She said it before Rosaline could muster the courage to“You are pregnant babe. A little somebody is growing inside you”

Rosaline threw the test stick back into the bowl of urine carelessly, turning and walking past Bridget, for her sitting room. Bridget stayed, watching the test stick being immersed in the bowl of urine as if expecting it to give out another reading, she turned on Rosaline’s heels after. “What are you going to do, babe”

Rosaline threw herself into a thick leathered armchair, staring blankly across the room. “I don’t know” she replied Bridget.

“Isn’t it time you go see Mr. Narcissist? God knows he mightn’t be so narcissistic if he found you are carrying his baby.” Bridget proposed. Unsatisfied with the dim lighting of the room. She moved towards the windows and pulled down the blinds, letting in a flush of light and air.

Rosaline squinted her eyes at the sudden lights, it took a minute for her eyes to get accustomed to the light, and when it did, she turned the armchair together with her towards the window, she could use the rush of clean air for her lungs as well as her thoughts. The chair’s feet grazed the tile with a scratchy noise, but Rosaline was unconcerned about that. She leaned back, resting her head carefully over the armchair, her mind was the busiest it had ever been, busier than an expressway on a Monday evening.

“Why not go see Mr. Narcissist? He might not be so narcissistic, if he found your belly is housing his child” Bridget repeated, seeming to suspect Rosaline hadn’t heard her the first time.

“I can’t” Rosaline answered. “I swore to myself never to go back to him,” she said, even though she could tell her resolve sounded weak, but she had made up her mind, she wasn’t going back to that Narcissist, who thought her a call girl.

“Or do you plan to abort the baby” Bridget’s expression was quizzical. She eyed Rosaline closely.

“No, for Christ's sake, Bridget. How would you even think I would do that”

“Then what are you planning to do” Bridget, walked up to her, and shoved her weight on the arm of the chair. “You certainly are not thinking of singlehandedly raising a child. You are a workaholic who couldn’t keep a man for a month, how do you then expect to raise a child all by yourself, with such a workaholic attitude”

Rosaline tethered her head towards Bridget, trying to counter her, but then, she realized Bridget hadn’t been wrong. She had no place for a child in her life right now, especially, not one she would singlehandedly raise.

“I suggest you go meet Mr. Narcissist. Even if you don’t like him, he is still the father of the child and he deserves to know about his child”

Rosaline thought about her last encounter with the man. She remembered the proud smirk on his super handsome face, his haughty broad shoulders, and the supercilious air around him, and she shook her head against the idea.

“I am never going to him” she resolved. Besides his arrogance, there was something about him that set her on edge. There was something about him that sent ripples of electricity dancing through her veins just seeing him. There was something about him that warned her that should she see him again, she might not be able to get him out of her mind easily. Their last encounter had etched his face, body, and thoughts of him in her mind, and it had taken a month, and some drunken sessions to erase them.

“I am never going to see him” She repeated, her face showing her adamancy.

“I hope you know what you are doing, Rosa” Bridget said, rising slowly from the sofa’s arm, to rest her full gaze on Rosaline.

“I know” Rosaline lied. Her mind was engulfed in turmoil. She had no idea what to do. And as much as she wasn’t confused, going back to that egoistical billionaire playboy wasn’t an option.

“I am not questioning your morals, Rosa. But don’t you think it is morally wrong to keep a child from his father, besides the child is bound to ask for his father, at some point in his life”

“Believe me, any child would do just child without that narcissist in his or her life. I wouldn’t let my child be corrupted with such a virus”

“So you are planning to raise him yourself, Rosa”

“That’s the idea” Rosaline returned. She rose from the armchair, crossing to the corridor, and on her way to the toilet. She moved with a purpose that seemed to alarm Bridget, who watched her goggle-eyed. Rosaline fetched the bowl of urine, picked the test stick from it, and wiped it clean with a towel. She was pouring the urine into the toilet bowl when she heard Bridget’s voice from the corridor.

“Are you sure of what you are about to do, Rosa”

“Can we just drop the topic, Bridget”

She pushed the flush, the sound of running water built a wall of silence between them. Bridget then returned down the corridor. Rosaline sighed with exhaustion, leaning on the toilet flush, weighed by her thoughts.