Two Weeks of Falling
1303 Words
…
Aria woke to the smell of fresh coffee and the sound of her phone buzzing on the nightstand.
She reached for it, still half-asleep. It was a text from Damien..
Good morning, beautiful. Dinner tonight? I found a place I think you'll love.
A smile spread across her face before she was fully conscious. This had become their routine over the past two weeks. Morning texts. Stolen lunch breaks. Dinner dates that stretched into midnight conversations.
Two weeks since that first morning in his penthouse. Two weeks of falling.
She typed back quickly.
Yes. What time?
His response was immediate.
Seven. I'll pick you up at the library.
The library. He always picked her up there, never at the Mitchell house. She hadn't told him about Victoria yet, about the abuse, about how bad it really was. There would be time for that. Right now, she just wanted to exist in this perfect bubble they'd created.
Can't wait.she typed back..
She pressed send and lay back against her pillow, phone clutched to her chest.
Sophia's voice drifted up from downstairs. "Aria! You're going to be late for class!"
Right. Class. The real world.
Aria dragged herself out of bed and immediately felt dizzy. She gripped the edge of her dresser, waiting for the room to stop spinning.
This had been happening a lot lately. Dizziness. Nausea. Exhaustion that sleep didn't fix.
Probably stress. Between hiding her relationship from Victoria, keeping up with schoolwork, and spending every free moment with Damien, she was running on fumes.
She splashed cold water on her face and got dressed. The smell of toast from downstairs made her stomach turn, but she ignored it.
Stress. Just stress.
Class was a blur.
Aria sat in her usual seat in Business Administration, taking notes automatically while her mind wandered to last night's dinner.. Damien had taken her to a small French restaurant in Brooklyn. They'd talked for three hours. About everything. About nothing.
He'd told her about his parents. How they died when he was twenty-two. How he'd been alone ever since.
"I built the company for them," he'd said, his gray eyes distant. "To prove their faith in me wasn't misplaced. But somewhere along the way, I forgot what I was building it for."
She'd taken his hand across the table. "You're not alone anymore."
The way he'd looked at her then. Like she was oxygen.
"No," he'd said softly. "I'm not."
Now, sitting in her lecture hall, Aria felt that same warmth spread through her chest. She was falling for him. Hard. Fast. And possibly stupidly.
But it felt right.
Her phone buzzed. Another text from Damien.
Marcus wants to meet you. Dinner with him tomorrow night?
Aria's heart skipped. Marcus William. His best friend and COO. The person whose opinion mattered most to Damien.
This was serious. This was real.
I'd love to.
He's going to love you. Impossible not to.
She bit her lip to keep from grinning like an i***t in the middle of class.
After class, Aria went to her shift at the campus café. The smell of coffee hit her the moment she walked in, and her stomach rolled violently.
She barely made it to the bathroom before she was sick.
This was the third time this week.
"You okay?" her manager Tom asked when she emerged, pale and shaking.
"I'm fine. Just a bug going around."
"You should go home. You look terrible."
"I'm fine," Aria insisted. She couldn't afford to miss a shift. Not with rent and tuition and everything else.
But an hour later, when the smell of a latte made her gag again, Tom sent her home anyway.
Sophia was waiting at their usual study table in the library.
"You look like death," her friend said bluntly.
"Thanks. Love you too."
"Seriously, Aria. You've been sick all week. Are you sure you're okay?"
"It's just stress."
"Or the flu. Or food poisoning. Or—" Sophia paused, her eyes narrowing. "When was your last period?"
Aria froze.
"What?"
"Your period. When was it?"
"I... I don't know. Recently?"
"Think."
Aria tried to remember. She'd never been perfectly regular, but usually she could at least estimate. When was the last time...?
Her blood ran cold.
"It's probably just late," she said quickly. "Stress can do that."
"Aria."
"What?"
"You're sleeping with a billionaire, you've been sick every morning for a week, and your period is late." Sophia leaned forward. "You need to take a test."
"No. I can't be. We were careful."
"Careful isn't perfect."
"Sophia, stop. You're being paranoid."
But even as she said it, Aria's mind was racing. Morning sickness. Exhaustion. And her period was late. How late?
She pulled out her phone and checked her calendar app. The little pink dot that marked her cycle.
Three weeks ago.
Three weeks.
"Oh God," she whispered.
"When?" Sophia asked.
"Three weeks. Maybe four."
"Aria."
"It's probably just stress. Right? Stress can delay it?"
"You need to take a test."
"I can't. What if... what if I am?"
"Then you deal with it. But you can't keep pretending this isn't happening."
Aria felt tears prick at her eyes. "I'm scared."
Sophia reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "I know. But you're not alone. Whatever that test says, I'm here. Okay?"
"Okay," Aria whispered.
But inside, her mind was screaming.
Pregnant. She might be pregnant.
With Damien's baby.
After two weeks.
Oh God.
That night, Damien picked her up for dinner as planned.
He kissed her when she got in the car. Sweet. Gentle. Like always.
"You okay?" he asked, studying her face. "You seem quiet."
"Just tired," she lied.
"We can skip dinner if you're not feeling well."
"No! No, I want to go. I'm fine."
He didn't look convinced, but he didn't push.
Dinner was at an Italian place in the Village. The same one where they'd had their first real date. Their place.
Aria tried to eat, but her stomach was in knots. Every bite felt like lead.
"You're barely touching your food," Damien observed.
"Not very hungry."She replied..
"Are you feeling sick again?"he asked..
"Again?"she echoed his words..
"You've barely eaten all week. Every time we have dinner, you pick at your plate."damien told her..
He'd noticed. Of course he'd noticed.
"I'm okay," she said. "Just been a weird week."
He reached across the table and took her hand. "Talk to me. What's going on?"
She wanted to tell him. Wanted to say I might be pregnant and I'm terrified and I don't know what to do.
But she couldn't. Not until she knew for sure.
"Just stress," she said instead. "School, work, my stepmother. The usual."
His jaw tightened at the mention of her stepmother. She'd told him bits and pieces about Victoria over their dinners. Not everything. Just enough for him to know it wasn't good.
"You know you can stay with me anytime," he said. "I don't like knowing you're in that house."
"I know. But it's only two more years. Then I inherit and I'm free."
"Two years is a long time."
"I've made it this far."
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "You're stronger than you know."
If only that were true.
Later that night, lying in her tiny bedroom at the Mitchell house, Aria stared at the ceiling and tried not to panic.
Tomorrow. She'd take a test tomorrow.
And then she'd know.
Her phone lit up with a text from Damien.
Sleep well, beautiful. Sweet dreams.
She typed back.
You too.
But she knew she wouldn't sleep. Not tonight.
Because tomorrow, everything might change.
Her hand drifted to her stomach. Flat. Normal. Exactly the same as always.
But maybe not.
Maybe everything was already different.
And she just didn't know it yet.
- Writer
