Broken Lovers

Episode 17

Patricia really upset me, and we stopped talking. I knew it hurt her, but I was so pissed. However, I have to own up and admit that I did catch myself looking at Nathan. Without a doubt, he was easy on the eye. As well as being handsome, he was muscular and tall, and he sported a shaved head. His eyes were green and his mouth brought to mind places I wanted to forget. Yes, even though I hadn't heard from my blackmailer for months, I still thought about him every day. I was thinking about him when Nathan interrupted my filing to ask me a question.

“Do you know what you’re going to have?”

“Yes.”

“Boy or girl?”

“A girl… not that it’s any of your business.”

"Come on, Maya. You can talk to me.”

I turned to look at him. "I have nothing to talk about."

"What about the father?"

"What's it to you?"

"Nothing. Just curious."

"Are you always curious about things that don’t concern you?"

"You sound upset."

"I don't like people talking about me behind my back."

"You mean Patricia. It was just a random conversation. We spend a lot of time together in this office. Is it so bad that I want to know more about you?"

"Yes, it is," I said, before slamming the drawer of the filing cabinet shut and storming out.

He was really pissing me off, but at the same time, he was awakening emotions and feelings that had been sleeping inside me, and over the next couple of weeks I started to see him differently. I started joining in with the other girls when they discussing what they would like to do to him and what they would like him to do to them. I tried to convince myself that I didn't find him attractive, but without success. A crazy thought passed through my mind. What if he cared? What if he wanted to be the father to my daughter?  No, not possible. Besides, his mother would never allow her son to be with a woman like me - one without a job, without a future and with another man’s baby.

"How are you today?"

"Okay."

"Why won't you talk to me?"

"I’m busy."

"Are you upset?"

"No."

“What is it? Is it the baby?”

“No.”

“Is it the baby’s father?”

I was feeling very much on edge and that question pushed me over. I started to cry.

"Why are you crying?"

"It’s how I feel every time I’m reminded of the baby’s father,” I snuffled.

"Did he dump you when he found out about the baby?"

"He doesn't know about it… not that he’d care."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he never loved me."

Nathan rose from his chair and came over to me. “Don’t cry,” he said, his voice all gentleness. Then he gave me a hug. It felt so warm and protective, and so familiar that for one I thought that I was being hugged by him - my blackmailer.