“Grace, you have this all wrong,” Alex managed. “Come on. Let’s find someplace quiet where we can sit down and talk this through.”
Grace folded her arms. “You orchestrated my firing. You didn’t even have the decency to tell me yourself. And now I’m unemployable right when I’m about to become a mother, meaning my financial situation is more dire than ever. I wanted to talk to you before, but you wouldn’t talk to me then. And I can’t talk to younow.”
And with that, she brushed past Alex and hurried down the street, not looking back. Alex didn’t follow. She needed space, and Alex did, too. He’d just found out the biggest news of his life in the worst way possible.
He managed to find his way back to a bench in the park, where he slumped into a seated position. His mind was whirling. He wasn’t sure what was more surprising: that Grace blamed him for her getting fired after she’d either lost or stolen the laptop, or that Grace was pregnant with his baby.
No, there was no competition. The baby news was definitely more surprising.
Alex had never imagined he’d become a father. He cared about family, and he loved spending time with his two young nieces, but he didn’t have time to date or fall in love, much less to raisea child. Yet now, whether he wanted to or not, he was going to be a dad. He needed to step up, put everything else aside (including his shock and anger), and try to do this right.
Or maybe not. Maybe Grace wasn’t going to let him near the child, and he’d never have a chance.
Just like that, clarity came to him. He couldn’t waste his time analyzing why Grace was so angry or why she’d kept the baby from him. He just needed to convince her to let him be a father to their child.
It was going to be difficult, since she was clearly furious with him and he was none too happy with her, but the baby had to take precedence over everything else. He could help that little one have a good life, better than the one he’d had.
He had to try.
CHAPTER 13
ALEX
Several days later, Alex was still trying to figure out how to get ahold of Grace. He’d tried calling and texting, but she hadn’t answered. She was clearly avoiding him now, just like he’d avoided her right after she’d been fired.
Which he still maintained had been the only possible course of action given that she’d clearly messed up with the laptop.
Meanwhile, work was ramping up. There was immense pressure from investors and users to get the update out, but they were still missing months of work. Everyone was working long hours, and Alex was working the longest hours of all. He barely slept, barely ate except for the occasional sandwich, and rarely left the office before midnight. It didn’t escape his attention that Grace would have been extremely helpful, but since she’d caused the situation, he wasn’t about to ask.
She wasn’t talking to him anyway.
As much as Alex wanted to make peace with Grace for the baby’s sake, he also resented that she hadn’t told him sooner. He was willing to put aside the fact that she’d destroyed his update, forthe baby’s sake, but she hadn’t even thought he was worth a call to tell him he was going to be a father. It wasn’t right. Hadn’t their time together meantanythingto her?
One afternoon, Alex was holding a scrum with the dev-ops team when there was a knock on the door of the conference room. A man in an unseasonable green jacket stood outside, holding a stack of pizza boxes.
“You ordered us lunch?” Autumn asked, turning to Alex. “Thank you, but you know we just ate. I hope this isn’t a subtle hint that we’ll be here until dinnertime.”
“I didn’t order this,” Alex said, turning to the man. “Who are the pizzas for?”
“Alex Medson,” the man said. “The front desk told me you’d be here.” He sounded tired, like he’d been working all day, and Alex sympathized.
“That’s me, but I’m afraid I didn’t order anything. Maybe you got the order mixed up?”
“No, I have the right guy.” The deliveryman opened the top pizza box and handed Alex a large manila envelope. “You’ve been served.”
Alex reeled. “Served? By whom? Why?”
“That’s all the information I have. Have a good afternoon.” The deliveryman pressed the envelope into Alex’s hands, then turned on his heel and left. Alex stared down at the envelope.
“Is it an investor suing us for not getting the update ready on time?” Dennis asked.
“I don’t know…” Alex shook his head. “Listen, take the afternoon. Get to work on whatever you can.” He was humiliated at having been served in front of his employees, and he needed time to look into this without anyone watching him. Slowly, everyone filed out, though more than one person shot him concerned looks as they left. Alex tried to ignore them.
Back in his office, he tore the envelope open and took out a stack of papers. His heart plummeted as he read the top line. The papers read:Wrongful Termination Suit.He was being sued by Grace. He scanned the legalese, his heart racing, and saw that she was suing him because she believed there hadn’t been sufficient evidence to fire her. She claimed that he’d discriminated against her because of their personal relationship.
Alex shook his head, disbelieving. It wasn’t enough that Grace had stolen the computer and kept her pregnancy from him. She was also suing him. Even if Alex settled outside of court, news of the lawsuit would leak. His reputation would be ruined, even more than it already was by the failed update. More than ever, Alex was certain that she was targeting him. She’d probably joined MatchupNow and gotten close to him, all the while knowing she was going to turn on him.
That didn’t explain the pregnancy, though.
