Someone Else Already Knew
775 Words
"It's legal." He said.
I shook my head again.
“That doesn’t…That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It doesn’t have to.”
I let out a breath that didn’t feel like enough.
“So—what, I just—what? Walked into—into a contract?”
“That’s not what this is.”
“Then what is it?”
He didn’t answer.
Which—
Of course.
I laughed again. Quieter this time. Worse.
“Jason knows.”
“Yes.”
“Of course he does.”
Everything clicked.
Too fast.
And I hated that it made sense.
“That’s why he texted me,” I said. “Not because he cares. Not because of me. Because of this.”
“Yes.”
I looked down at my hands.
They were shaking.
I pressed them against my thighs.
“Were you going to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“When.”
A long pause. Too long.
“Eventually.”
I nodded slowly.
“Right.”
I stood up.
“I need a minute.”
“Nora—”
“I’m not leaving.” I pointed toward the door. “I just needair. Or space. Or something that isn’t this.”
He nodded.
Didn’t follow.
Good.
---
Outside, the cold hit my face immediately.
I sucked in a breath like I’d forgotten how to do it inside.
This is insane.
No—it’s not. It’s real. That’s the problem.
I paced once. Twice.
I thought about my mom. The way she used to pause before answering things. That careful look.
I used to think it was patience.
It wasn’t.
It was calculation.
I’m not doing that.
I’m not standing here trying to figure out the safest version of my life.
No.
No.
I turned and went back inside.
---
He was exactly where I left him.
Waiting like he’d already decided he would.
I sat down.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I said.
He straightened slightly.
“I’m getting a lawyer. Mine. Not yours. Not connected to anything with your last name.”
“Okay.”
“You’re going to give me everything I need to find that provision myself. No filters.”
“Yes.”
“And Jason—” I paused. “He’s mine to deal with. Don’t interfere. Don’t manage it. Don’t fix it.”
A beat.
“Understood.”
“Good.”
I grabbed the coffee. It was cold and bitter. I drank it anyway.
He watched me.
That look again.
Like he was deliberating something.
“Can I ask you something?” he said.
I didn’t answer. Just looked at him.
“The bar,” he said. “Why that one?”
“It wasn’t Jason’s,” I said. “He’d never go somewhere like that. It felt like mine. I lived my life around him for so long already.”
A pause.
“It was the first place I thought of.”
Alexander nodded slowly.
“It was the first place I thought of too.”
That was strange, but I was done exploring strange things today, so I didn’t touch that.
Didn’t even bother about it.
Left it right there between us.
My phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
I almost didn’t pick up.
“Nora Hayes?”
“Yes.”
“Diana Voss. Voss Media Group.” It was a smooth and controlled voice. “I’ve been following your work. I have a proposition.”
I frowned.
“How did you get this number?”
“I make it my business to find people before someone else defines their value.”
That didn’t answer anything.
“Think about it,” she said. “I’ll call tomorrow.”
Click.
I lowered the phone slowly.
Alexander was watching me.
“Who was that?”
I shook my head slightly.
“I don’t know.”
And that wasn’t the worst part.
---
I left, and I was half a block away from the diner when my phone buzzed again.
It was the same number.
I opened it.
She knew about the pregnancy before she called you.
Everything in me went cold.
No.
No, that’s not possible.
I looked up. Around me cautiously like someone might be watching.
That’s stupid.
Is it?
The nurse knew.
The clinic knew.
Alexander—
My stomach dropped.
No.
No, he wouldn’t—
Would he?
I swallowed hard.
The street felt too open.
Too exposed.
Like everyone suddenly knew something about me I didn’t even fully understand yet.
I shoved my phone into my pocket.
Started walking faster like if I slowed down—
something would catch up to me.
Like it already had.
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