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If there was a god or a goddess or some alien force in the universe, Charla was pretty sure her mama was sitting beside them and laughing her sweet ass off. You ain’t so different from me after all, is you? She could hear that smoke roughened voice as clear as day while she sat on the exam table, staring up at fluorescent lights and pretended she was anywhere else. She heard that cackle-cough thing she’d had at the end when the doctor confirmed her worst fears.
She steadfastly ignored the voice of her mama who’d wanted nothing more in life than for someone—other than her daughter—to love her. All the way back to the office she could only thing of two things, her laughing mama and nine weeks pregnant. “What a joke,” she groaned inside her empty car before stepping out into the sunny but freezing afternoon. Being so under the weather lately meant she had stacks of paperwork piling up and vendors who needed to be paid. Whatever. I’ve got ginger ale and salted crackers, I’m good to go.
Good might be a slight exaggeration but she was, as always, working her way towards good. The one thing she had that her mama hadn’t, was a solid future. With her spa doing well and money in the bank she could give her child a good life. She would give her baby the best life possible. Without anyone’s help, thank you very much.
“Charla. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you.”
Her stride barely hitched but it did and they both knew it, just as she knew damn well that Kasim had been calling and texting nonstop. He’d tried—in vain—to get back into the spa but she’d instructed her security guys to keep him out. Too bad she was as stubborn as she was short on patience, because she had no thoughts of ever speaking to him again.
“Charla I know you can hear me.”
She stopped and turned just feet from her destination. “The whole neighborhood can hear you. In case me not answering your calls or texts wasn’t clear enough, we have nothing more to say to one another. Your precious sister is safe from my clutches.” She continued on inside the spa, not giving him a chance to stop her again.
Her office was quiet, clean and empty, exactly what she needed right now. Seeing Kasim had shaken her and made her realize just how hard it would be to keep her condition a secret. Especially because she knew keeping Rabiya away just wouldn’t happen. Her friend had called her several dozen times over the past couple weeks and she’d put her off. Her plan had been to keep doing just that until she’d gotten a message telling her they would be having lunch together. “One way or another,” she’d said with determination.
By the time lunch rolled around Charla felt better—well not nauseous which she counted as a win—about seeing her friend. As Rabiya bounced into the deli a sad thought occurred to her. Their friendship couldn’t last much longer now that she was carrying her niece or nephew. There’s no way she would be able to hide that information from her own brother. So she took a deep breath, pushed it out of her mind and pasted on a bright smile. “Rabiya, so good to see you,” she stood and pulled the young woman in for a hug.
“It’s good to see you too Char, but my goodness you look like you’re more than a bit under the weather. Are you still upset about my brother?”
Better to let her think that than the truth.“No but I have been fighting this bug, that’s why I’ve been out of touch lately. I owe you an apology Rabi and I am sorry.”
She crossed her arms. “For lying to me about seeing my brother or avoiding me?”
“Avoiding you, but it was mostly because I was sick. Also I don’t want to have to deal with your brother again.”
“Me neither! He’s such an overbearing ass, barging into my house like he owns the place. Which he does, can you believe it?” Shaking her head, she told Charla all about his last visit. “So do you know a place I can stay for cheap?”
She couldn’t help but smile at Rabiya, who never let anything get her down for too long. “I have room at my place but I don’t think that’s a good idea. But there is a guest house in the back that’s currently unoccupied. Clean it and make it suitable and you can stay there as long as you need.”
A bright, happy smile crossed her face but it quickly vanished. “Are you sure? I’d love to take you up on this but I can’t be sure Kasim won’t stop by. Will that be alright?”
She shrugged. “As long as he stays away from me, we’ll both be fine.”
“In that case I’ll be there this weekend!” She squealed and wrapped her lithe arms around Charla, squeezing until she saw stars. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“Don’t mention it. Everyone needs a little help now and then. Even a princess,” she laughed, feeling happy for the first time in weeks. The thought of impending motherhood left her stunned, shocked into disbelief, but being with Rabiya made her remember she was still young.
Still had a long life ahead of her.
A life that included the illegitimate baby of a Sheikh. Ain’t life grand?
