Chapter Six
Isa
Six weeks later.
“I should have everything finalized and over to you and Axel to sign off on by tomorrow,” Maxine, our wedding planner, told me over the phone.
“Great, thanks.” I bobbed my head while clicking away at my laptop keys.
I was in the final stages of wedding planning, and our wedding date suddenly went from weeks away to right around the corner. I turned in the final piece on Elijah and his restaurant and pushed him out of my head to focus on what was in front of me. I had a wonderful man who adored me and probably would’ve kissed the ground I walked on if I asked him to. The magazine went to print, and the article went up online, all without one peep from Elijah, and I was grateful for it. He was probably wandering down the streets of London or had some British bitch ankles up, not giving a damn about me.
Maxine started up again. “Oh, and did you get a chance to approve the minor changes to the hors d'oeuvres? Due to a shortage, we’re going from bacon-wrapped scallops to mini crab cakes.”
I paused. “Uh, I’m sorry. Did you send it to me via email or text?”
“I believe I sent it to you and Axel via email about a week ago. I think on the eighth.”
My eyes darted down to the calendar on my desk, and my eyes bugged, and I drew in a quick gasp.
“Is there something wrong?” she inquired, “if you don’t see it, I can resend it. Just let me know.”
“Um, sorry. It’s not that. This may be T.M.I., but I, uh. I just realized my period is late. I’m never late.”
“How many days?”
“Uh, three,” I mumbled.
“Oh, no worries. I’m sure Aunt Flo will be stopping by for a visit any minute now. Wedding planning is one of the most stressful things on earth. That can easily throw your cycle off.”
I tilted my head forward with a fake smile plastered across my face to make my voice sound as upbeat and pleasant as possible. There was no way I would tell her I was later than I’d admitted. My period was supposed to have come and gone, but I hadn’t gotten a craving, cramp, or had one mood swing.
“Yeah. You’re probably right.”
“Trust me, I see it with brides-to-be all the time, especially when we get closer to the big day.”
“Thanks so much for all your help with everything. I’ll look for that email and respond, but I’ve got to run. Are we good?” I asked, pulling the phone away from my ear to open my period app. I was over eleven days late.
“Uh yeah, we’re good. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” I said before ending the call.
My eyes never left the app with the pink pop-up banner that read, “Pregnant? It may be time to take a pregnancy test,” staring back at me in bold letters. “Shit! How could I have missed this?” I mumbled to myself before packing up my things. I rushed to the store to pick up a pregnancy test.
After purchasing the test, I slid the plastic bag inside my purse and headed through the sliding doors when I saw a familiar face across the parking lot. My neck snapped right and left, ensuring there wasn’t any oncoming traffic before I hurried across the street to catch up with him.
“Bleu?” I called out, unsure if my eyes were playing tricks on me.
He slowly spun around on his Yeezy’s, and I watched a wide smile spread across his face when he recognized me. “Isa? Oh shit! How you been, girl?”
I closed the gap between us and wrapped my arms around his waist. He was a tree, tall, brown, and strong. “I’ve been good. You been doin’ alright?”
He dipped his chin in a nod. “Yeah, adjusting to life on the outside, but maintaining. Shit is wild running into you after all this time, though. I ran into Mrs. L not too long ago. She told me you and Imani were doing big things and shit. Did she tell you she ran into me?”
My chin descended in a nod. “Yeah, she did.”
“This shit is kinda crazy. I went from seeing y’all practically every day to eight, long years of nothing,” he said, rubbing his hand over the top of his head.
“I’m sorry we didn’t do a better job of keeping in touch when you were locked up.”