“Right next to your bedroom?” she asked.
“Yeah. Is that going to be a problem?” I asked.
“Just don't turn it into one.” She closed the door. Not going to lie, I was a little nervous about what her reaction to our rooms being directly adjacent would be. I realized that there was a chance she might not want to be that close to me, but I could control myself. If she wanted to switch, all she had to do was say the word. I was about ready to build an additional extension for her to live in if that was what she wanted, as long as we were under the same roof. I knocked at the door.
“By the way, tomorrow morning my lawyers will be coming and we're going to be signing the contract,” I said through the door. I heard footsteps and the door opened again.
“Thanks. Anything else?” she asked. I tried to read her expression. I knew that I would be out of my depth in her position. She was making huge sacrifices for me just hoping that the money would be worth it. I didn’t want her to regret agreeing to do this for me. I didn’t want to be a person that she regretted coming back to.
“Nothing else. I’m one door down. Just let me know if you need anything.” She thanked me again and closed the door. I left her alone to get settled in. I felt like I should have been able to relax now that we were under the same roof together but the relief just didn’t come. I wasn’t over any hurdle yet, this was just the first step. Who knew the way things were going to change when she was actually pregnant.
Another thing I didn’t anticipate was the frustration. She was literally right there now. She was one room away from me, living with me, I would potentially know where she was all times of the day but there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn’t touch or kiss her no matter how close she was. This was going to be hard, but it was going to be worth it.
I looked up hearing footsteps walking into the kitchen.
“Good morning,” I said. She was in her pajamas, shorts with a loose t-shirt. Her hair was tousled and her face a little puffy from just having woken up. She was cute, I had never seen her first thing in the morning.
“Hi,” she said, coming up and sitting at the breakfast table next to me. I had to stop myself from leaning over and kissing her. I had never wanted a roommate before but waking up and seeing Brenna was going to become my favorite part of the day.
“Sleep well?” I asked.
“Yeah. When are those lawyers showing up?” she asked. She paused when the chef appeared and offered her coffee. She took it sheepishly.
“In an hour. Did you want to talk about something before they come?”
She sipped her coffee. “No. Just want to get it over with.”
“Pancakes, Miss Brenna?” the chef asked her. She looked slightly taken aback again. She wasn’t used to having people serve her. She said she’d just have a couple and eat them in her room, declining the trimmings and offers of fresh fruit and yogurt that the chef made to her. She scuttled up to her room with her food. She was still a little out of her depth.
You want to maybe stop watching her like a hawk now? I thought. It’s been one day, how do you expect her to feel being here with you after walking away from her normal life?
An hour later, the lawyers showed up. Right on time, Brenna came down to the office. I introduced everyone. We sat at the table, me and Brenna on one side and the lawyers on the other.
“I suppose everyone knows why we’re here,” one of the men said. His name was Kingsley and he had been the family attorney in the States for decades. His associate Moren was my personal attorney.
“Both of you should have looked over the documents by now. It’s our job to clarify anything that needs more explanation,” he said.
I looked at Brenna. She was silent and her expression was blank.
“Mr. Hampton?” Kinsley asked.
“No. I’m fine,” I said.
“Wonderful. We’ll start with Ms. Andrews. Please put your signatures here and here.” I watched as Brenna legally bound herself to me for the duration of her pregnancy, all stipulations included. This wasn’t the way I felt this would go down. I couldn’t read the way she felt. I signed after her and then it was over. We were legally bound together until the baby was born. I showed the lawyers out and came back to the office, finding Brenna on her way out.
“Hey,” I said. She stopped and looked at me.
“Yeah?”
“In the office just now,” I said.
“The guys just left, is there more paperwork? I thought this was over,” she said. It was. She still wasn’t giving anything away. Not anger, fear, annoyance, nothing.
“It is. I’ll see you later.” She left. I watched her until I couldn’t see her anymore. I walked back into the office. More and more this felt like the wrong way to do it. She was giving me zero feedback, but I couldn’t needle her just to see her jump. That would make her edgy and at worse, it would make her run. She was apprehensive. I couldn’t make her let her guard down. I could only make her want to do it herself.
12
Brenna