“Exactly my point. You’ve completely lost it. No control whatsoever. Just like your fucking bodyguard who’s created a media shit storm for me.”
“He kept me safe.”
“And probably cost me my career and your college money, in the process.”
“It’s worth it Dad. Safety and dignity can’t be bought. Have you forgotten that with all your time in your ivory tower in politics?”
“Dignity, huh? Why don’t you wipe that come off your forehead before you try and lecture me about dignity.”
I go to slap him again but he catches my hand and twists it so my body rotates, pinning my arm behind my back.
“Now you listen up and you listen good. It’s over between the two of you. You hear me?”
“I hear, but it doesn’t mean I have to listen.”
“And since you’re an adult, your words not mine, that means you’re no longer my responsibility if you do.”
“Good. I don’t…” I almost finish with ‘need you’, but that would clearly be a lie. With Soren gone I suddenly find myself with nothing. So my only option is family, even if I’m not a priority and my choice of man isn’t respected.
Biting my tongue, my dad gives me a push forward so he can shut the door. He hands off the keys to his security guard. I watch through the window as he instructs him, but I can’t hear what.
Seconds later my dad is back in his own car, parked so close I can’t believe he was able to sneak up on us like that. And his security guard is getting behind the wheel and driving.
To where, I don’t know. Because my heart is already gone. Gone with Soren, who’s disappeared…possibly for good.
11
Sadie
One month later
“Hey. Where do you think you’re going?” one of the members of my new security detail says.
“I’m not feeling well. Jeez. Can I go to a doctor to get looked at or do you prefer I die?” I fake a cough and the security guard relents. He, along with his partner, have been breathing down my neck since dad told Soren he wasn’t welcome in our lives anymore. He hired these two goons to make sure his threat was followed up on.
Dad even made me change my phone number when he discovered Soren was messaging me from a new burner phone.
I haven’t been in contact with him for a month. I can barely eat. I’m lonely. And I’m not feeling well.
To make matters worse I bought a pregnancy test at the pharmacy the other day when I went in to grab cough drops, my security detail not noticing as they stood outside when I told them I needed to go in for “women’s issues.”
The test came back positive but I want to confirm it with a doctor. I’d rather do it off-campus under a fake name, but my surveillance doesn’t allow it. It’s more likely that the information could leak this way, but at this point, I need to know for sure.
A nurse greets me and quickly takes me into a room where I’m prepared for the examination.
Sure enough, the doctor comes in and quickly confirms I have a bun in the oven.
My heart melts, especially at the thought that the baby belongs to Soren, my only true crush and love.
The doctor leaves and the nurse asks me how I want to proceed. It’s not a question, not for one second. This is my baby, whether Soren is here with me right now or not. The last message I got from him pleaded with me to be patient, that he was coming for me but it was going to take about a month, and that I shouldn’t forget him because no way will he forget me.
I trust him. I know he’ll come back. I also know my dad needs time to digest all this. But how will he take it if I tell him his worst nightmare just went from bad to worse, that I’m pregnant with his best friend’s child?
Clearly not very good.
But I have to tell him at some point.
Leaving the doctor’s office I move back outside, feeling a bigger sense of meaning to my life now that I’m going to be a mom. It’s not going to be easy balancing motherhood and college, but with Soren’s help, I’ll make it.