The Truth
1200 Words
I knew something was wrong the moment Melissa opened the door and didn’t give me her usual smile.
“Come in.” Her voice was too quiet.
I stepped in and placed my purse on the table.
“So what’s up? “ I tried to sound casual as I sank onto the couch. “What was that text all about?”
She locked the door and made her way to sit beside me.
She remained silent for a moment then finally spoke,
“I met Robert.”
My palms became sweaty all of a sudden, and the room suddenly felt ten degrees hotter.
“Where?” My voice came out shattered.
“The supermarket.” Melissa said softly. “I went to get some groceries and we stumbled across each other.”
I pressed my hands between my knees so she wouldn’t see them trembling.
“What did he want?”
“He kept demanding to know where you were, he said you both had some unfinished business.”
I swallowed hard and tried to blink away the panic but it didn’t work.
“Amelia? Is there something I should know about?” Melissa insisted. “What’s this unfinished business between you and Robert?”
The words ‘it’s nothing’ sat on my tongue but it would have been a lie and Melissa would have easily seen right through it.
My throat felt like sandpaper, I didn’t know where to start from.
“Talk to me.” Melissa said again, softer this time. “Whatever it is, I’m here for you, you don’t have to go through it alone.”
The way she reassured me cracked something open in my chest.
I’d been carrying this secret around for months, the guilt was eating me alive. I desperately had to confide in someone and, what better person to do so with than Melissa.
I took a deep breath and finally voiced,
“Melissa…”
“Hmm?”
“I need you to promise me something.”
“What?”
“That whatever I tell you stays between us.”
The warmth in Melissa’s eyes dimmed. Her face turned serious now.
“I promise.” She reached for my hand. “Whatever you tell me, Amelia. It wouldn’t leave this room.”
“Even if you think I am a terrible person?”
Melissa frowned.
“I would never think that about you.”
I looked away.
“You might after this.”
“Try me.”
I went quiet for several seconds, then I finally said it.
“I met Robert at a bar on the night of my birthday.”
Her eyes widened.
“Was that why you didn’t show up for our dinner?”
“No, I’ll come to that later.”
“Okay, so what else?”
“I went home with him.” I inhaled. “And we ---”
Her mouth parted slightly.
“Amelia, don’t tell me something happened between you two.”
“We were drunk and I was too hurt to think straight.”
She gave me a confused look.
“Hurt? By who?”
I bit the inside of my cheek
“Damien…”
There was still confusion in her eyes, but fury flickered across her face
“What? Did he hit you?”
“No… It wasn’t physical.”
Her face sharpened
“Tell me, Amelia. What did he do?”
“I went to Damien’s office earlier on that same night .” My voice shook “Because I received a message from an unknown number saying he had planned a birthday surprise for me.”
She didn’t blink.
“And?”
“I caught him cheating on me with his secretary.”
“WHAT?!”
“You wouldn’t believe who his secretary was.”
“Who?”
“Clara Bennett.” I whispered.
Her voice went high with disbelief
“From college?”
I nodded
“Yes.”
She covered her mouth
“How did she even get there?”
“I still don’t know till today.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Amelia.” She said pulling me into a hug. “I understand why you let your guard down with Robert, but it still doesn’t justify you.”
I pulled away, my eyes were already watery.
“Mel, I still need to tell you another thing.” My voice cracked
“I’m all ears, babe.”
“I thought I was pregnant.”
She looked down at the bump on my belly, showcasing underneath my silk dress.
“I don’t understand” Her brows pulled together “Aren’t you?”
“I bought a strip and took a test.”
“Okay?” She leaned forward, eagerly waiting for my next response.
“And the result came out Negative.”
“ Wait. You’re confusing me, Amelia.” She gestured to my stomach. “You aren’t pregnant?”
“That was what I thought too.”
“What do you mean?”
“I kept having symptoms even after a few weeks, so I went to an actual hospital.”
Melissa didn’t speak.
My hands were shaking in my lap. I had to force the words out.
“This time, the result came out positive.”
My tightened my fingers together. The next words felt like betrayal on my own tongue.
“And Robert was the last person I had been with at that time.”
Melissa looked at me like she was trying to put the pieces together.
The silence stretched until it was no longer bearable.
Then it hit her.
“So you’re telling me...” Her voice dropped. “This child isn’t Damien’s?”
I couldn’t look at her. My head dropped and hot tears rushed down my cheeks
“Yes.”
“Oh my God, Amelia.” Her voice quivered.
“I didn’t know what to do.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Because I was scared.”
“Of me?”
“No.” I shook my head frantically, wiping my face. “Of everything.”
I gently touched my stomach.
“If Damien finds out, everything changes. I can’t put my baby in harm’s way.”
“And if Robert finds out?”
I didn’t answer.
But the look on my face said everything. She understood.
Without a word, Melissa moved closer and wrapped her arms around me again. She smelled like safety.
“I won’t tell anyone.” She murmured.
I clung to her sleeves like a kid
“Do you swear?”
She pulled back and looked dead into my eyes. Her arms were warm on my shoulders
“I swear on my life, Amelia.” Her voice was steady and fierce. “Nobody will hear this from me.”
The knot in my chest loosened a little.
“Thank you.”
Melissa held my hand again, her thumb grazing over my knuckles.
“But you know you can’t hide this forever.”
That was the part I didn’t want to hear because I knew she was right.
The truth is eventually going to come out.
But…
What if it doesn’t?
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