Pregnant.
13
Conway
Muse picked at her egg whites but didn’t take more than a few bites. Her French bread beside her was smeared with Dante’s homemade jelly, but she only took a single bite, probably trying to eliminate the carbs. Her eyes were downcast for the entire meal.
“I’m going to have you end with the black one-piece I created. I know it should be centered toward a holiday theme, but people don’t love Christmas lingerie that much. Nicole says you should wear a Santa hat, but I’m not going to do that. I think I’m going to have you wear red pumps, though. That subtle touch should be enough.”
She moved her omelet around, her shoulders hunched forward and her face as pale as milk. Her makeup was done for the day, but even the cosmetics couldn’t make her features stand out. They were washed out and unremarkable.
“Muse?”
“Hmm?” She jerked slightly and looked up, obviously having no idea what I just said.
She’d been out of it since yesterday. When we made love before bed, her mind wasn’t connected to me the way it usually was. While she didn’t seem angry with me, she was definitely distant.
Was she starting to regret taking me back?
Did she miss Nox?
Did this feel like a big mistake to her?
Or was I just being paranoid, letting my own insecurities get to me? “I said I was going to have you wear red heels, despite the fact that Nicole wants me to push for more of a Christmas theme.”
“Oh…that should be nice.” She looked down at her food again, but she still didn’t eat anything.
“Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?”
Her head popped up, and her eyes widened as the guilty expression came into her face. “No…I just didn’t sleep well.”
I didn’t want to accuse her of lying, but something told me she wasn’t being completely truthful. “What is it? If you don’t want to do the show, you don’t have to.”
“No, that’s not it…”
“Then what is it?” I pressed.
She pursed her lips together tightly, her eyes avoiding mine. “It’s nothing…we should get going. We have a long day at work.” She set her napkin down and excused herself from the table.
“You barely touched your food.”
“Yeah…I just don’t have much of an appetite today.”
Muse did the choreography with the other girls, getting down the technique and formations of the show. She looked exemplary in the different designs that I made, probably because they were custom-made for her body.
The other model I originally had was boring in comparison.
As much as I didn’t want Muse to be visible to the public eye, she’d already been gawked at in photographs for the last three months. Young men already had her pinups on their walls. One more show wasn’t going to make much of a difference.
Nicole stood beside me, watching the choreographer work with the girls. They ran through the show with the music several times, but a lot of progress needed to be made. Fortunately, they had two weeks to get it down.
Nicole turned to me. “Everything alright with Sapphire?”
I guess I wasn’t the only one that noticed. “Why?”
“She can’t seem to concentrate today.”
“She’s been that way for a few days. Every time I ask her what’s wrong, she makes an excuse.”
“Well, you need to drag it out of her soon. We can’t have a model this distracted.”
The show was the least of my concerns right now. I was more terrified that Muse’s happiness had something to do with me. Maybe she wanted more from me, and I wasn’t giving it to her. I told her I loved her almost every single day, and I’d given in to her demands.
What more did she want from me?
The drive home was spent in silence.
Muse looked out the window while she fidgeted with her fingertips in her lap. Like she was purposely trying to avoid my eyes, she kept her gaze glued out the window. The awkwardness made it seem like we were strangers instead of lovers.
I was tired of the bullshit. “Muse, I’m not going to ask you again.” I kept my gaze on the road, my knuckles turning white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. “Even Nicole noticed you were distracted. I’ve been patient, but my patience has officially worn out. So tell me, or I’ll make you tell me.”
“Make me tell you?” she whispered.
“You bet your ass I will. Now tell me what it is, or I’ll drag it out of you.”
She pressed her forehead to the window and closed her eyes.
Jesus Christ. “Goddammit, Muse. Tell me. Are you okay? Please tell me you’re alright.” I’d never seen her act this way before. She always spoke her mind, even when I didn’t want to hear what she had to say.
“Yes, I’m okay,” she whispered. “I just need a little more time.”
“A little more time?” I asked incredulously. “You’ve shut me out for three days.”