Chapter 17

After I went for my early morning run, I jumped into the shower and started my usual morning routine. Only today, I skipped the make-up part. I wasn’t feeling it even though I had some dark spots to conceal.

In the end, I still decided to put on some make-up, I concealed the dark spots then applied some lip-gloss and mascara and called it quits. I put on a pair of light-washed jeans then threw on a black tank top and paired it with a navy flannel shirt. After packing my bag, I finally stepped out of the room, and right at that moment, Madison came out of her room, and she was all dressed up. She wore a pastel pink checkered blazer suit. The dress shirt inside was white, her handbag was white as well, and, wow, she even did her hear so neatly. It was pulled in a sleek bun.

“Holy hell, you look so good when dressed business casual,” I said, full-on checking her out again.

“Thank you. Do you mind taking a photo of me?” she asked, holding the phone out to me.

“I’d be angry with you if you didn’t take photos of this outfit.” I followed her to the living room.

“Oh, stop it.” She shook her head and stood between the houseplants. “Wait, where are you going? It’s too early for work.” She frowned and looked at me.

“Give me a pose,” I asked, which she soon did. “Brunch with Janelle,” I answered, clicking a few photos for her.

“Hold up.” She stopped posing for me. “What?” she asked. I sighed and motioned with my hands for her to be in position.

“She asked me out for brunch last night, and I couldn’t say no,” I explained, trying to take photos from a different angle.

“Oh man. Just, please, be careful,” Madi said before giving me a last pose.

“I will. Now, check these out. This one is my personal fav.” I swiped through the photos. Some were bad due to her talking in between, but there were sure some incredible ones in there.

“Thanks for these. Need me to take one of you?” she offered.

“Uh, no, thanks,” I muttered, looking down at my outfit. It was average.

“You should start taking one every week. You know, those ones pregnant women do,” she suggested, walking around the house to gather her water, keys, and bag.

“I will after my next appointment,” I decided. I might as well do something nice with this pregnancy. It was my first and, who knows, maybe even my last.

“Great, I already saved some ideas from online posts,” Madison squealed.

“You’re more prepared than I am!” I joked, but it seemed more and more like the truth.

“Yup, I even have a list of names.” She winked at me as she walked out the door.

“Okay, I need to step up my game. I laughed. To be fair, I did have a list, but it wasn’t an official one. I never thought this day would come so soon.

“You really do. Now, good bye!” She waved at me as she got into her car.

“Good luck on your meeting! See you later.” I waved back and turned around.

I went back to the house to grab my bag then locked up and got into the car. I put my phone in the holder and went onto GPS, clicking onto the location Janelle sent me. She was right—with the car, it was about 10 minutes away from here.

I got to the cafe and walked in slowly. I then saw the blonde woman waving at me subtly and joined her at the table.

“Hey, good morning,” she greeted, a smile on her pink lips.

“Good morning. How are you?” I asked as I sat down across from her.

“I’m well, and you?” she then asked, scooting the menu over to me.

“I’m good too,” I smiled and looked around. “Where’s little James?” I asked. I just thought the two would be together.

“James is with my in-laws today. It’s been awhile since they saw each other, so he’s spending the next three days with them,” Janelle responded. Her in-laws? So Calvin’s parents? This all felt so wrong to not tell her.

“Oh, okay. I didn’t know you were married,” I said, trying to dig for more information which I knew could be dangerous.

“Oh, yes. I don’t wear the wedding band because my husband and I both grew out of ours, and we need to get them resized. Well, to be fair, they were a little tight already to start with,” Janelle explained, a faint smile on her lips as she twirled her engagement ring around her finger.

“Oh, I see.” It was just then I realized why I never saw a ring on Calvin’s finger!

“And you?” she then asked which made me smile awkwardly. How was I supposed to tell her I’m pregnant and her husband’s the father?

“Nope, no husband or boyfriend,” I replied shortly. “It might just be a one-night stand shortly after dumping my boyfriend,” I muttered.

“Oh, sorry.” She looked away from me.

“It’s okay. I’m sure I’ll have some struggles, but I’m also sure I can manage it,” I assured her. I didn’t want things to be awkward between us.

“Of course you can.” She winked at me. “So what would you like to order?” Janelle then asked and looked down at my menu.

“What do you recommend?” I asked, knowing she must come here often enough to know what was good and what wasn’t.

“They have an amazing peach iced tea, and their breakfast pizza is just the best,” Janelle replied without a second wasted. Those two things sounded quite tasty.

“Then I’ll have exactly that,” I decided and smiled at her.

“I’ll have that too,” she decided. “So, uh, have you reached out to the father?”

“Oh, no, I haven’t. I just figured he didn’t want any of this to happen. I have come across him a few times,” I admitted, trying to be as discreet as possible.

“Oh, understandable,” she said.

The waitress came, and we both placed our orders then went back to chatting. It was really amazing spending time with Janelle. She truly seemed like a fun person; she just seemed a little alone, which would explain why she reached out to me.

We talked and laughed a lot. I got to know her so much better, and, just as I thought, she was a sweet person. After brunch, we paid our bills and decided to leave. She mentioned having to be picked up, so I decided to wait with her.

“Oh, he’s here already,” she pointed out, and that’s when I saw Calvin walking over to her. He spotted me and looked at me weirdly which Janelle picked up on. “This is my brother-in-law, Calvin, and Calvin, this is my friend, Lily,” she said, introducing us to each other as if we were strangers.

“Hello.” I began to feel my breaths shortening.

“Have a good day,” Calvin said shortly then left with Janelle looking at me weirdly.

I went on with my day as usual,and around 9:30 PM, I settled down on the couch, fresh out of the shower with my bowl of fried rice I made myself. It was just me tonight, so I enjoyed some alone time with the TV in the living room. I heard my phone get a notification and went to check it.

“You know Calvin, don’t you?” Janelle texted me. Sadly, I had already opened the message, so I didn’t want to leave her on read. The whole day, I ignored my thoughts about him. He was only her brother-in-law, which explains a lot more, and it appears my child would not be a product of infidelity.

“Huh?” I texted back, hoping I could play the acting-dumb card. I wasn’t sure how to tell her I’m pregnant with her brother-in-law’s baby. Plus, it felt embarrassing to admit I had a one-night stand with him. I had no shame in doing it, but for people to know was something else for me. It just felt wrong, especially since he seemed like such an important man. I feared he’d want to tell me and the child off. I deserved it, but the child I wanted to protect from rejection. They did nothing wrong.

“Lily, I forgot to mention that the job I took a step away from was being a detective… I worked with the behavior analysis team,” she texted back. Suddenly, I lost my appetite. Do I tell her the truth? Do I continue to lie? No, lying isn't an option anymore. I cared about Janelle and our newly formed friendship, but I didn’t want to tell her everything just yet.