Not The Best Night

Persephone was on her way to Daniel's office when she remembered she had to schedule the appointment for the IUD insertion. It was just half-past six in the evening, the scheduling line remained open until seven. "Just in the nick of time," she thought.

She asked the phone assistant to dial the OBGYN's number; the call was answered on the second ring. After giving her information to the scheduler, she explained the reason for calling. "Dr. Damico told me to schedule an appointment to have an IUD inserted during my period, which I got this morning."

"I'm sorry but Dr. Damico is on maternity leave. May we schedule you with anyone else?" The friendly young voice responded.

Persephone frowned. "Maternity leave?" She echoed. "I didn't know she was pregnant," she commented recalling the middle-aged doctor's shape, which seemed to lack a pregnant belly.

The scheduler chuckled. "Neither did she. Her water broke while she was conducting a pap smear! She's the perfect candidate for I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant."

Persephone's eyes widened. She was horrified that the scheduler was sharing sensitive information about the doctor, but even more horrified that an OBGYN missed signs of her own pregnancy.

"Ummm... I'll call back." She immediately disconnected the call and made a mental note to research other OBGYN's on her own and schedule with someone who could see her sooner rather than later.

She didn't want to wait another eight months to get in to see someone but neither did she want to be randomly scheduled with someone whom she knew nothing about.

She was about to call Chris with the bad news when she saw Daniel was calling her.

She immediately answered. "Daniel, hi! I'm almost at your office. How's the family?"

"Please don't kill me," he said in response, "for my family."

She laughed. "What do you mean?"

He remained quiet.

"Tell her now!" Persephone heard Lisa's commanding tone loud and clear.

"Daniel?" She prompted. "What's going on?"

After a brief pause. "I just got off the phone with Gloria," he began cautiously. "Michelle took the key from her and said she would take it to Chris herself."

Persephone flinched in the darkness of the Rav4's cabin. "Take it to Chris? Did she not know I was picking it up?" She didn't like the feeling overtaking her. Thankfully, she was approaching a red traffic light.

"Gloria said she told her, but she insisted," he explained. "I told Gloria to only release the keys to you or Chris. Apparently, Michelle took them from Gloria's grasp."

Persephone began to see red as the light turned green. "Did she now?" She muttered as she signaled to merge into the left lane with the intention of making a U-turn as soon as she was able to. Legal turn, or not, it didn't matter.

Daniel was still talking when she cut him off. "I gotta go," she said abruptly before disconnecting the call on the car's dashboard. She tried counting to ten to calm herself.

She lost track of how many times she counted to ten by the time she approached Chris's office. It didn't help that his office door was closed when she walked inside.

Unable to see straight, fighting the urge to storm into his office and punch her fake boobs, Persephone decided to creep over to the door. She heard mumbling, which was great. It meant they were talking.

As she approached quietly, she heard Michelle mention if they had a kid, it would be cute. She assumed she was talking to Chris as it was his office. It made her seethe that he didn't dispel her comment, but this gave Persephone hope that Michelle was talking to the night custodian.

She continued to talk and finally she heard Chris's voice, leaving no room for doubt.

And then Michelle's word made her freeze.

"I would love to have a baby with you, Chris."

Another pregnant pause. Persephone's heart shattered as she wondered why Chris didn't shut her down immediately.

"Michelle," she heard him speak, but he stopped.

She took advantage of his silence and continued. "Your mom mentioned Persephone didn't want to have kids-"

"That's between me and Persephone," he immediately said sternly.

Michelle continued as if he hadn't said anything. "It would be nice if you were in the picture, but you don't have to be, and Maggie would have her grandchild."

"Michelle, this is inappropriate," Persephone heard Chris warn Michelle. "You may work under Daniel, but I co-own the company and you're treading dangerous territory."

Persephone heard Michelle chuckle. "We have a history," she explained. "Surely there are different rules for us."

Unable to remain behind the closed door anymore Persephone pushed the barrier open and walked in immediately placing herself between the two people in the office. "The history was between two kids in high school, Michelle, not between you and one of the men you call boss." She crossed her arms turning to look at Chris for a moment before staring back at Michelle. "Now, I'd appreciate if you stopped inserting yourself in my man's life."