My Mentor's Secret Baby - His Secret Baby

I decided I needed to be alone in my room. After walking down the street to the drug store and buying a bunch of snacks to satisfy my pregnancy cravings, I sat at my desk, eating them as I read through everything I had written so far. About halfway through my snacks, nausea kicked in, and I had to run to the bathroom.

I needed to prepare myself to endure this during the next few months. My head spun a little as I thought about all the things I needed to do. Sitting back at the desk, I wrote out the most essential stuff. The writing distracted me from the nausea, and I was able to hold the rest of my food down for now.

Even though it was only simple stuff, I still enjoyed writing it all down. Plus, it also kept me from dwelling on Alex and getting angry all over again. I didn’t know if extreme emotions were good for the baby, so I made a note to research that kind of stuff later.

Chapter Twelve – Alex

It had been a frustrating and disappointing day. What should have been an easy task proved impossible. The plan Gibson and I came up with had failed. The people in charge of the writers’ retreat had refused to let me back in, stating that I had left for too long and would be behind. At least I made an effort to clean up my mistake with Hazel, but I still felt like it wasn’t good enough. Gibson had offered me his sincere apologies before I left the retreat.

Once again, I had my suitcase in hand and headed back to the airport. I just wanted to be alone for a while and wallow in my self-pity before I had to catch a flight back home. As I sat there with my suitcase at my feet, I started to wonder if maybe the universe was trying to tell me that I had waited too long to fix my mistakes. I laughed that one away. I didn’t believe in stuff like that.

That was enough feeling sorry for myself for one day.

I look around in my suitcase for my ticket home. I needed to go to the desk and ask the attendant if they could change the date to today.

My cell phone rang loudly in my pants pocket. I hurried to answer it before it could bother anyone. “Hello?” I asked curiously when I didn’t recognize the number.

“Yes. Is this Alex Anderson?” a female voice asked.

“Um, yes. This is Alex speaking,” I replied.

“It’s a pleasure to finally talk to you, sir. I have been a big fan of your work for many years,” The lady on the phone gushed.

“Well, thank you. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” I asked politely.

“Oh! I’m the head secretary here at the writers’ retreat. I understand you left early without notice and had been trying to get back in?” she asked.

I sighed and hoped I hadn’t gotten into any trouble. “Yes, that’s correct, but I was already informed earlier that I would not be allowed to continue,” I said, repeating what I had been told.

“Well, Mr. Anderson, normally that is our policy. But seeing as how renowned of an author you are, and how much of a fan I am of yours, I think we could make an exception,” she replied.

“Do you really think that would be possible?” I asked, unable to keep the excitement from my voice.

“Yes, I do think so, provided that you follow all the guidelines at our retreat as instructed and no more messing around like this,” she instructed me.

“Of course! I’ll be there to work on my writing and nothing else,” I assured the secretary so she would let me back in.

“Excellent! I’ll leave a note at the front desk explaining everything and granting your permission to return. Just give them both of our names when you arrive,” the woman explained before hanging up.

I hung up my phone and put it back in my pocket. Hurrying to close my suitcase, I ran outside in search of a cab. I didn’t have a moment to waste. Unfortunately, I did have to wait a little while for a taxi, but that didn’t diminish my excitement. I was being allowed back into the retreat. I was being given a second chance.

During the ride back, I knew exactly what I was going to do. After checking back in, I planned to drop off my bags and then head straight to Hazel’s room. I needed to do everything possible to win her heart back. The best way to start that would be with a sincere and heartfelt apology. I needed her to see that I knew I had been in the wrong. I just hoped that she would be willing to talk to me, or at least listen.