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“Alright,” she says, holding up her hand as though to ward off my panic. “Fine. You don’t have to go home just yet. Do you want to come with me?”
This causes me to pause. “With you?”
"Yeah," she shrugs a little uncomfortably. “I still have some of your stuff anyway. Might as well take this opportunity to get it.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I ask confused. I mean, I should be used to Rena’s personality swings, but after everything, this is just extra weird.
She shrugs again. “Let’s just say I know what you’re going through right now."
I’m still confused but I say nothing. I know she won't appreciate me asking any prying questions right now.
“Come on. My car's outside,” she says and turns around. I obediently follow her but hang back a little to make a call to Oliver too. I know he may be freaking out if I’m not home on time and I want to stave off him coming to look for me.
I'm relieved when the line is busy and I can leave a voicemail instead of talking to him directly. I don't know if I can pretend everything's ok, not even over the phone.
The ride is made entirely silently, and the awkwardness melds with a vague sense of panic still brewing inside me. I don’t think I’ve completely conceptualized what’s happening yet. I think I’m still stuck in the nightmare of seeing those two lines on the stick and I’m frozen there.
A child. I’m carrying a child.
“You don’t have to keep it,” Rena says suddenly, and I turn to glance at her.
“Huh?”
“The baby,” she says. “It’s still early. You know you don’t have to keep it if you don’t want to.”
“Oh.” Logically, I know that abortion is also an option, but just the idea of it makes me want to hyperventilate all over again. It just feels wrong for me. Must be some of my religious upbringing stuck around.
Or the fact that I have feelings for Oliver, and a part of me doesn’t feel right getting rid of his baby.
Rena doesn’t say anything else, even when she stops at a drive-thru for some food. She gets an order of two double burgers and a milkshake, one of them strawberry mint, my favorite. Then we head to her apartment. I get an odd feeling, and I can’t help but remember the last time I was here, with my clothes raining down on the floor and my pictures lying in a crumbled mess.
Oddly enough, there’s no room for resentment inside me when I walk into the apartment, still too shell-shocked. I do note, though, that there are size-ten male shoes where mine used to be.
That’s when I remember what I wanted to say to her earlier.
“Look, Rena," I start as I walk through the doorway. "I just want to clear the air on something. “
She shuts the door behind me and gives me a curious look.
“Like I said, there was nothing and never has been anything between me and Theo,” I say, rushing to get all the words out. “We went on one awful date and I don’t think we were right for each other at all. You’re right. I’m not his type.”
She nods solemnly like she expected that. "Yeah. He told me."
“Also, I didn’t know he was your ex. How could I when I’d never even seen a picture of him with you before?”
She frowns. “He never spoke about me?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think we got to that stage. It was just a first date.”
"Oh." She thinks about it, then nods. “You’re probably right. I’m sorry I went crazy on you too. I dunno, sometimes, when it comes to him, I just can’t think straight.”
"Yeah. Trust me, I know how you feel,” I say, thinking about Oliver.
Rena gives me a little smile. “Let me guess. You’re secretly in love with your sugar daddy?”
“He’s not my sugar daddy,” I say a little tightly, and then realize I have one more thing to apologize for. “And, while we’re on the topic, I think I might owe Theo an apology too. Oliver, my...friend, kind of misunderstood when I told him what happened at the date and may have harassed him.”
“Harassed him?” Her voice is once again angry, and I hold out a placating hand.
