Alisha walked back to her apartment after the close of work, it was Wednesday, and she could not wait for the weekend to begin already. Not because she wanted to spend time with Alfonso, she did not want to be close to him, she did not want him to have false hope that she was interested in him, she just wanted to rest.
After he had brought he had brought her back home on Sunday evening, she had received a text from her dad telling her that, "Leonardo is coming to the house, I won't tell him where you are, but I don't know how long I can keep hiding your whereabouts if he keep pressurizing me, can you tell me what he did already?"
She had texted him back with a: "I"d tell you soon dad, I'm not just ready yet."
The next morning, Alfonso had brought her flowers when he came to have breakfast at the restaurant. She didn't like the idea that he was showing her affection most especially at her work place, and she had quietly told him her displeasure about it.
He was a gentleman, he had apologized immediately, but since then she had refused his offer to take her out for dinner, not because she was mad at him, she just didn't want to give him any ideas that she was interested in him.
Alisha arrived at her apartment only to find Alfonso waiting for her by his car.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him less excited to see him. She was tired and didn't need any sort of company of disturbance.
"You don't need to say that as if my presence irritates you."
"I'm sorry, I'm just tired and want to have an early night."
"Good thing I brought dinner, I promise I won't stay for long, I also need to go back home early."
"Fine" Alisha rolled her eyes and opened the door, so they could both go in. She showered and got into something comfortable while Alfonso set the table for them.
"We are doing Chinese for dinner, come sit" he said as she stepped out of the room. She smiled and sat with him to eat.
"I have to make a trip tomorrow morning, it's important and it might take a long while before I return, that's why I wanted to see you before I go, but I promise to call you every day."
"Personal or business?" she asked before filling her mouth with food.
"Business"
"Loosen up, you might find a woman while you are at it."
"I have you"
"You do not have me Al, I told you I can only offer friendship, nothing more."
"We won't argue about that tonight, you seem so stressed, would you like me to call the manager to reduce the stress, maybe take off one table from you."
"No, please don't interfere, I am fine, the restaurant was just busy today, and besides, you can't go using your influence for me, I don't know what grip you have on the manager, but please let me do the job I am paid to do."
"As her royal queeness wishes" he said raising both hands in the air.
"Is that even a real word?" she laughed as she got up to clear the table.
"It is I can assure you."
"I'm definitely going to look that up on Google"
"Good night my royal queeness" Alfonso kissed her on her forehead few minutes later as she walked him to the door.
"Good night Al, have a safe flight tomorrow.
It had been a week since Alfonso travelled, he had called every night to check up on her, there were a few days when he looked very exhausted, yet he had stayed up with her to make her laugh. She knew he had called her manager because the next day after his trip the manager had relieved her of one table, and when she asked Alfonso about it, he had skipped the question and ignored it when she brought it up again.
Alisha was feeling cramps as she woke up that Thursday morning. Her period was four days late, she knew it was going to come any day soon, so she went to work with a tampon since Monday. She had cramps, her breasts were tender, this were her usual period signs, but why was her period late?
Maybe because of her change in routine, or maybe the new stress she was adapting to, maybe it had affected her hormones and changed her cycle, she thought.
She tried to not remember the anniversary night. When Leonardo had raped her, he had released inside her, "No I can't be pregnant, it was just once and I was not ovulating that day, no I can't be pregnant, my period will be here any moment from now." She said to herself, and for the first time she prayed for her period to come.
Alfonso noticed how quiet Alisha was when he called on Thursday night, when he pointed it out, she said she was tired and would like to have an early night. The next day he called in the morning, she told him she was running late and would speak to him later in the evening, but she did not take his call. On her way back from work on Friday night, she had bought an over the counter pregnancy test strip, she hoped her period would flow and she would not have to take the test.
The next morning she took the test and silently prayed as she waited to read the result. Cold washed down her spine as the pregnancy test read positive. Alisha held her stomach tightly as she cried on the floor of her bedroom.
If only, there had been a clear handwriting on the wall that had told her not to sign the contract papers, if only there had been an alternative for Anna's surgery. If only she could go back to the day, she had agreed to be Mrs Alisha Leonardo Legend.
Alisha cried her eyes out, she tried to dress up and go to work, but when she looked at herself in the mirror, she looked horrible. Her eyes were puffy and red, she looked pale and as if she was going to pass out any moment.
She called in sick and locked herself in, she neither ate or drank anything, she laid in bed and cried until she had no tears to shed any longer, then she sobbed until she fell asleep.
When she woke up late in the afternoon, she sat in bed with her box of tissue paper, blowing her nose, ignoring her calls, and staring into nothing in particular.
Later in the evening, she listened to the voice mail from her dad, he was just checking up on her and wanted to be sure she was fine, he asked her to call him as soon as she could.
She listened to the voice note from Lisa, she said she would have loved to come check her, but she did not have her address, that the manager informed them that she was sick.
Alfonso sent in many voice notes, the first was to check up on her since she was not in a good spirit the previous night. The second came in the afternoon asking her to please call him during her lunch break. He sent a few more in the evening, expressing how worried he was, and pleading with her to respond to him.
Alisha called her dad to inform him that she was okay and have missed he and Anna, he told her the bakery was doing well, and they would love to have her back.
She sent Lisa a text message to thank her for checking up, although she did not state in the message if she would be at work the next day. For Alfonso she completely ignored him, she was not ready to say anything to him.
She thought about the baby growing inside her, by her the next day would make the pregnancy three weeks old. What was she going to do? She still had time to terminate it if that was what she wanted to do.
The next morning, a call from her dad woke her up. She had the day off, and so she did not bother going to work to fill in her absence of the previous day.
"Good morning dad, it's so early what is wrong?"
"It's not early, you are the one sleeping late, and I am at the airport I need your address to give to the cab man."
"What airport dad?" she jumped up from the bed
"I'm in Georgia baby" Alisha panicked, but then she sent the address to him and tied to fix her face in the mirror, she did not want her dad noticing she had cried all day and night, just by first glance.
Her apartment from the airport was almost two hours drive, so she went out to get some food items so she could make breakfast.
The cramp had stopped, her breast was not so tender, and she did not feel pregnant, but the though hunted her.
As she cooked pasta and meatballs for her dad, she tried to not worry about every question he was going to ask her.
Alisha was almost done setting the table when she heard a knock on her door.
"Why are you here dad?" she asked when he sat to eat
"Well, I thought, why not see my dad on Sunday morning, and be sure she is doing okay, and here I am confirming my suspicion, something is wrong, so start talking girl."
"I am fine dad, Leonardo and I are just currently separated, and I want to avoid the media until everything dies down."
"Separation, a day after wedding anniversary, give me a better excuse."
"Oh dad" Alisha broke into tears, she was a mess, how could she tell her dad the truth, he would be disappointed in her.
"You know you can tell me anything my princess, I won't judge you" her father held her hand, and she felt safe. It was time for her to offload her burden.
"Dad, I made a mistake, when Anna needed money for surgery, Leonardo offered to give me the money if I get married to him for three years. It was not supposed to be a real marriage, I was under no obligation as a wife in his bedroom, just on paper and in public. Recently I found out he wanted the marriage so he could get his inheritance, which he has gotten.
The marriage was probably going to end before three years, I should have been glad, at least I would get my freedom earlier than expected, but I was not happy about it, I was scared instead, because I had fallen in love with him, and it was not supposed to be so."
"Why did you leave? Why didn't you stay and make the marriage work, it's obvious he loves you too."
"No dad, he did not love me, besides the lawyer was already preparing the divorce papers, but that was not why I left"
"Why did you leave Alisha? Even Leonardo does not know why you left."
"That asshole, he pretends he doesn't know what he did to me? I could have him in jail."
"Jail? He does not know, when he said he did not know, I could see he was telling the truth, he even thought you left with another man, your absence is taking a toll on him."
"He is a liar, a piece of shit, how can he claim he did not know what he did to me."
"Calm down baby, you speak with anger and hatred"
"Anger, yes because that motherfucker raped me, but hatred, no, I can't bring myself to hate him anymore because a part of him is growing inside of me, and if I hate him, I will spread the hate to this seed of his."
"That son of a gun raped you, and got you pregnant? I'm fucking going to have his head on a tray if that's the last thing I do" her dad got up angrily from the chair he was sitting on.