MOTHER OF HIS FUTURE CHILDREN
1089 Words
I stood at the entrance of the room, staring blankly at the flowers on my work desk.
The other members of the PR team kept glancing between me and the flowers, waiting for some sort of reaction.
Instinctively, I knew it was from Lucas. Jason had never bought me flowers more than five times in our three years of being together. There would be no need for it now.
I sat at my desk and raised the bouquet. Expectedly, a black card fell out of it. It read:
Hope you have a good day at work today
XOXO
Your hubby.
“Is that from your boyfriend, Elena?” Kendall, the woman working in the desk beside mine, asked, her beady eyes staring at me through her glasses.
My left eye twitched. I squeezed the note before throwing it in the trash can underneath my desk. “No, it's not,” I snapped.
By the tightness in my lips and the incessant tapping of my feet, it was obvious I didn't want to talk about it. But neither Kendall nor any of my coworkers got the memo.
Immediately I responded, they hounded me with questions.
“It's from another guy?”
“Does your boyfriend know?”
“Did you guys break up?
At that question, I flinched. My phone rang, interrupting their endless questions. I rushed to answer without checking the caller ID. “Hello,” I said desperately, hoping the person on the other end would magically figure out that I wanted a long conversation.
“Look who's so eager to talk to me now,” Lucas' deep voice said amusedly on the other end.
My eyes narrowed to slits. “You!” My coworkers leaned closer to eavesdrop. I gave them stink eyes but lowered my voice to a whisper. “You. How do you have this number? How did you know where I work?”
“Once I had your name and address, it wasn't difficult for me to find everything else.”
I let out a sigh of disbelief. “I can't believe you. Do you know that's illegal?”
“We're married. What's so illegal about it?”
Someone gasped behind me. I whipped around and fixed my gaze on Clara, the department’s gossip. She looked at me sheepishly before scurrying away. I lowered my head. “Look what you've done, Lucas. Everyone thinks we're in a relationship.”
There was a short pause on his end of the phone. “That's the first time you've said my name,” he said softly.
I resisted the urge to slam my phone on the table and shatter it to pieces. “Is that what's important right now?” I hissed. “I will put you on loudspeaker. Fix this mess!”
“What mess?”
“Tell them we're not dating.”
I could hear the smirk in his voice. “And why would I do that?”
“Because it's true?” When he didn't respond, I let out a sigh, preparing to shred my dignity into bits. “Please. Tell them we're not dating.”
“Call me darling,” he said in a sing-song voice.
“You're pushing it,” I warned.
“Just once and I'll do it.”
I stifled a strangled sound. “Please, darling, tell them we're not dating.”
He hummed. “I think I would prefer baby–”
“Lucas.”
He chuckled. “Alright, fine. Put it on loudspeaker.”
I sighed in relief and put my phone on speaker. “Hey, Elena's coworkers,” his voice rang out through the room. My coworkers hurried over and crowded my desk with excited expressions on their faces.
I covered my face to hide my red cheeks. “Hurry up.”
“Sure, baby. Elena wanted me to let you guys know that we're not dating.”
“You called her baby?”
“What's up with the flowers then?”
“Don't you dare break my girl's heart!”
He laughed for a long time. “I'm glad you all care so deeply for my wife.”
Everyone stilled. It took me three seconds to process what Lucas said. I snatched the phone from the eager hands of my coworkers and shakily tried to end the call or get it off the loudspeaker at least.
It dropped to the ground and the screen cracked. I could feel my heart split in two.
“Oh no, your screen cracked,” Clara said with mock sympathy and tried to pick up the phone.
I snatched the phone from her hands, knowing what she was trying to do. “Lucas, you had better be ready to buy me a new phone,” I snapped and ended the call.
A pair of slender arms wrapped around my shoulders. “Still not giving him a chance?” Louise teased.
“Get to work,” I grumbled.
***
“Miss Reed, Mr. Lucas Hayes sent me to drive you home,” the old butler-looking driver said with a bow.
I stared at him skeptically. “Why should I go with you?”
“Mr. Lucas said that the mother of his future children cannot drive around in just anything.”
The few people in the parking lot gasped. When I turned around, they kept walking like they didn't hear anything. “I have an Audi in perfect shape and would love to drive myself home.”
“Mr. Lucas insists that I take you home in your Rolls Royce.”
“I do not have a…he bought me a car?”
The driver smiled. I smiled. “Get your damn boss on the phone.”
“That's true!” the driver exclaimed and pulled out a tray from inside the car. On it were three phones from different brands, all released this year. “Mr. Lucas asks that you have your pick.”
I stared blankly at the tray. For some reason, I wasn't shocked. Perhaps giving me a million dollar car was able to erase the shock that would come with seeing phones worth half my annual salary. “How wonderful,” I said and turned around.
Louise held my shoulders. “You're walking away from a Rolls Royce?”
“No. I'm walking away from insanity.”
Louise glanced longingly at the car and the tray of phones. “But he's not asking for much in return. Just–”
“Baby, did you not like your car?”
- Writer
