The Executive Deception

CHAPTER FOUR

It was a few minutes past 3pm when I left the office. It was partially windy outside, and I struggled to keep my hair out of my face- as the wind fiercely kept countering my efforts. Out of frustration, I finally gave up. The streets of London were unusually busy that day, and it surprised me that I hadn’t realized it earlier. Despite the fact that I so badly wanted to head home, it was of the uttermost necessity that I called Sarah and gathered whatever information I could, regarding the events of the previous night that led to the disappearance of my phone. I walked over to the phone booth across Birmingham Street, dragging my foot along as I went. I rang the dial, and waited for a response from the other end.

“Hello. Sarah here, who’s this?” a voice answered from the other end of the phone - with a hint of hostility.

“Hey, it’s me. Amber”

Her tone immediately changed into a friendly one. “Oh…. Amber. Girl, you had me thinking for a sec that it’s one of those idiots who go about prank calling people. How’s….”

I cut in before she could finish. “Sarah, what happened after I got drunk yesterday?”

“You did A LOT” she burst into laughter. At that point, my jaw dropped; I wasn’t one to get drunk, and only agreed to do so, after Sarah’s persistent request. Now, here I was, my phone missing, and me not having any idea what had happened while I was drunk. After laughing to her fill, she then asked, “Where do you want me to start from?”

“Right now, I’m just trying to find my phone!” I lamented, making a sad baby face.

“No one does this anymore. Just use another phone to track it- easy-peasy”

“Unfortunately, that’s out of the question. I turned off the location tracker on the phone.” I bit my lips in regret. I didn’t entirely regret turning off the tracker, because at the time I had done so, it was the only way to get off the radar. I had had lots of people on my trail - terrible and f*cked up people, and needed to be unreachable. Plus, under no circumstances had I imagined that I’d lose my phone.

“Wow Amber, just wow. Who turns off their device’s tracker? Obviously, it was there for a reason, so why tamper with it?” she concluded with a long chuckle.

This was the part where I was supposed to say something. Tell her the secret that I had kept for so long- a burden that constantly weighed heavy on my heart. It actually crossed my mind; to divulge the truth, but something held me back- a thin invisible string, binding me to my promise and pledge; one I could easily stretch out and do away with, like it wasn’t there, but all the same, I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.

“Wait!! I think I remember now! ” her voice lit up suddenly.

“Really? Spill”

“ There was a guy. You spent the greater part of the night with him. He was the one who took you home- and....” she paused, and continued jokingly in a whisper, “he’s rich. So f*cking rich”

“Huh?? Did anything happen? You know what I mean, right? Did we f*ck? ” I asked, unconsciously covering my mouth with my hand, in surprise.

All I heard was laughter. Clearly, Sarah found my plight amusing, and I had no idea why. At least, to me, it wasn’t. We were talking about the possibility of me having f*cked a total stranger for God’s sake! No, I didn’t frame that properly - we were talking about the possibility of a total stranger having taken advantage of me, using my drunkenness as leverage to have his way with me!! “This is not funny, Sarah! I’m serious right now. ”

“ I know, I know, my bad. Don’t hang up, I just got a mail. Let me go check it out. ”

“Hmm”, I muttered under my breath. I had started regretting it all. Why had I listened to Sarah when she proposed the outing? Why did I allow myself to get drunk? Who was this mystery man?

“It’s your phone…!!” Sarah screamed. “ ...and it has a note attached. ”

“Oh my” I heaved a sigh of relief. “ Read it. ”

“Okay” she began:

I happened to stumble upon this phone in my car, and immediately realized it belonged to your friend. I had thought of sending it to her address, but after what had transpired between us last night, it is crucial that we refrain from contacting one another. Clearly, whatever happened was a mistake, and I hope it stays that way.

Thank you

I was dumbfounded. I mean, who would find herself in my shoes, and wouldn’t be? And furthermore, the note didn’t exactly help; whoever wrote it refrained consciously from shedding any light on what this “mistake” was. “ Maybe he’s actually right. I should just move on, and stop bothering myself about something that happened while I was out of my senses ”, I thought to myself.

“Amber? Are you still there? ” Sarah asked, worriedly.

“Yes. I am.”

“You don’t sound excited that your phone has been recovered.”

“I am. I’m just wondering what exactly might have happened last night. You know, I’m disappointed in you. ”

She immediately answered sharply. “ Eh? What did I do again? ”

“Going out was your idea, and as a friend, all you could have done was watch me- but you left me at the mercy of God-knows-who”. I shifted the blame to her. Someone has to be blamed in times like this; and funny enough, that person is never ourselves.

“ No way you’re blaming me now! How is it my fault you ran off with a stranger? Moreover, I ain’t no babysitter - you’re a grown-ass woman, and its absolute b*llsh*t if you ain’t finna own up to your actions” she said, with a feigned black American accent (She did that whenever she got vexed).

I hated to admit it, but she was right. She wasn’t at all obligated to watch me. We had all gone out to have fun, and I wasn’t in any way forced to do so.

“I’m sorry”, I apologized, playing with my fingers as I did.

“It’s okay. I understand how you’re feeling. Just forget it all, and live your life. It was just one night; and it came and gone, just like every other. ”

“Thank you. I feel better. You’re the best. ” I smiled- a forced smile, trying to shove my worries down the drain, like she had advised. “ Make sure to send my phone over before I get home. You know I can’t live without it. ”

“I will” she said, as we both burst into laughter.

* * *

I got home feeling rather tired, to my surprise. I had attributed it to the fact that I had worried too much earlier, but it was a different kind of tiredness; I felt like my bones were losing mass, and I struggled to climb up the stairs to my room. That was when something unexpected happened.

I felt something in my stomach - the need to expunge something from my body. I jerked, as whatever it was, made its way to my mouth. In reflex, I immediately covered my mouth with my cupped palm, and raced towards my door. The urge to throw up was so intense - I tried resisting, but my hand wasn’t entirely successful in doing so. I reached for my keys, slid them into the keyhole, and made my way to the washroom; emptying the contents from my mouth into the sink, as more kept coming.

I raised my head, and looked into the mirror, unable to recognize the girl staring back at me. I swallowed hard, one question running through my mind. “AM I PREGNANT?”