#2 - Two Pink Lines
1238 Words
Jade
"How much of a douche is this person you are running away from this time?"
This time.
The statement echoed, reminding me of how much I'd been careless.
Careless.
That was one way to put it.
I could tell Leon that it wasn't like that this time, but it was much worse.
Because the douche wasn't someone who could hit me... hurt me physically.
No.
This douche had reached in places I didn't even know existed inside me and ripped things I was sure would never be mended, ever. He'd cut right into my soul.
But of course, I wasn't about to get into all that with my fixer. Leon was many things and he'd definitely want to defend me, but something told me he wouldn't stand a chance against Asher. The less he knew the better.
"Will you help me or not?"
"Babe..." He cupped my cheeks, his hands tender, but I couldn't say the same about his face. "Did he hit you?" he growled.
"Nothing like that," I assured him. He believed none of it.
Leaning back in his seat, he studied me. It took everything not to break down under his gaze and cry, letting it all out.
For a long beat we just stared at each other before he finally spoke.
"Are you sure you want this? You know there is no going back."
No going back.
The thought hit me with a new weight.
"I'm sure," I answered with a courage I did not feel.
"Jade," Leon took my hand and squeezed it. "This is not like before. You have so much now—"
"I know." I muttered. And I hated Asher more for making me give it all up. I took a sip of my coffee, making a face at the taste. It still tasted weird. I pushed it away and sighed.
"What about Frame and Flame?" He asked about my little company that was not so little anymore thanks to the Frost name.
How ironic.
"You can run it on my behalf, just... for now," I said quietly.
The offer could turn indefinite, but Leon didn't need to know that yet.
"You really have thought of everything, huh?"
I stared out the window. It did nothing to ease the ache making all these decisions was slapping me with. "It should make you happy, shouldn't it?"
"It's less work for me, sure, but—"
"Leon," I cut him off. I couldn't afford to let him talk me out of this. "It's not that I want to do this. I need to do this."
"You don't have to disappear," he argued. "You could just lay low until... you are all better." He gave me this look.
"What was that? Are you judging me?" I scowled at him even as my heart ached. He never judged me before, but I saw it now even if he was trying so damned hard to hide it.
"I'm not judging," Leon sighed.
"Then what the hell was that?" I snapped. He wasn't the villain, but I needed somewhere to put this sudden anger.
"Why aren't you telling me the full story?" He challenged.
I frowned. "Full story? This is the full story," I said, and we both knew he'd never needed names before. His eyes narrowed. I was about to mirror his expression when his accusation hung heavy in his office.
"You don't intend to tell me you are pregnant."
I blinked at him, then laughed when he pouted like a kid.
"I am doing no such thing," I scoffed.
He only stared.
"I am not," I repeated. His answering gaze made my heart race. I willed it to calm down, barely. Even as I thought back to the last couple of days. I'd vomited just that one time in the cab which could have been because of anything like being divorced just hours after being married. I hadn't been sleeping very well, but I'd just had my heart broken. I couldn't expect to sleep soundly like a baby.
Baby...
The word echoed louder than it should.
"You don't know, do you?" Leon asked softly.
The way he said it... it had me shooting from my seat and denying it all over again.
"I'm not pregnant."
I couldn't be.
We'd used protection!
"Yeah, the first and second time," My mind gladly supplied.
I wanted to argue with it, but damn, I couldn't really remember if we'd used protection every time.
"Have you even noticed that weird face you keep making each time you sip your coffee?" Leon asked, brow arched.
I scowled at him. "You can't decide I'm pregnant because I don't like how you make my coffee."
His eyes softened. "That's the thing, you'd die for a cup of my coffee."
He was bloody right.
"Besides, it's not the only thing," he gestured to my chest, making my eyes go wide.
What the—?
I crossed my arms over my chest. Not that I believed him.
He shot to his feet. "That's it, we are doing a test now—"
"No we are not. There is no need to—"
He glared at me. "I'm not sending you out there alone if you are pregnant," he said firmly, slipping out of the office before I could argue.
"If," I mumbled when Leon shut the door.
I couldn't be pregnant. He was wrong. He had to be. Because if he wasn't— I shook my head. I couldn't even think about it.
I reached for my coffee cup without thinking, then shoved it away quickly, my hands trembling. It still smelt funny. He must have added more of... something. That had to be why.
Leon walked right back within minutes, a packet in his hands.
I blinked at him."You just happened to have pregnancy tests with you?"
He shrugged. "My clientele is... well, I get many types of cases."
I didn't want to know. Just like I didn't want to do that test.
Leon shoved it in my hands anyway.
My world stilled. It was a simple stick, but I felt everything tilt. And maybe I needed to know. Now that he had suggested it, there was no way to ignore the possibility.
"Stay with me?" I asked, stepping inside, my fingers tightening on the edge of the sink.
"Always love."
"Thanks," I smiled, hoping to God I'd still be just Jade Turner when I stepped back out.
"Two pink lines says I'm going to be an uncle." Leon shouted from behind the door. I knew he meant to ease my mind, but if there were two pink lines, I had no idea what I'd do.
I took the test.
Then another.
Then all four of them.
They were all in cahoots, giving me the same answer every time.
Two pink lines.
I stared at the result for a long time, willing it to change. It didn't.
When I finally stepped out, my legs were shaking.
"And?" Leon stood outside the door, nervous like he was the father. I wished he was.
No, that wasn't entirely true. I wished he was Asher, because, maybe then this would be okay. Maybe then the parts of me shattering inside would stop—
"Well?" he asked, snapping me out of my spiral.
I simply shoved it in his hands, not trusting my voice.
He took it and stared at it. "Well... damn."
- Writer
