“I’m so excited that you made it!” Gina bellows as I enter Twist of Lime. It takes me a few seconds to adjust to the dim lighting in our favorite hangout.
“Me too. I was busy doing laundry all morning to keep my mind occupied, and now I’m craving this salad something fierce,” I state, joining her in the booth.
“I went ahead and ordered for both of us,” she says, nodding toward the water glass in front of me.
“Thank you so much. I’m so thirsty.” I take a few greedy drinks before we launch into talk about the gym, one of the things we have in common.
“It’s been so crazy lately. With all the new locations and staff, I can barely keep up.”
I level her with a serious gaze. “If it’s too much, Gina, don’t hesitate to say something to Harrison. I know he doesn’t want you overwhelmed at work.”
She waves me off. “Oh, it’s fine. I mean, he hired me so he could be with you more, right? If I complain, that just means he’ll take back some of the duties he’s given me, and you don’t want that.”
No, no, I don’t want that, but I don’t want her stressed and overwhelmed either. “Well, promise me that if it gets to be too much for you, you’ll say something. Or let me say something to him if you’d prefer.”
Gina grins. “That’s sweet, but I’m good. I really enjoy my job. Harrison is a great boss.”
I just smile in return. Even though she bugs Harrison daily and he’s threatened to fire her on more than one occasion, she seems to really like what she’s doing. She really has been a tremendous help with those office duties that he has always hated doing, even if she gets a few things confused from time to time. I mean, we all do that, right?
Right.
“Oh, I got your shower invitation the other day. I already put it on our calendar at work, so I made sure not to schedule anything on December fifth. Harrison already has that entire week blocked out for the opening of the Porter location.”
“Yeah, it’ll be a busy Saturday, for sure, but my sister said that date was the only one open at the community center. With Christmas coming up and different things going on, it was sort of a take-it or leave-it date.”
“What fun, though! You get to celebrate your baby girl right before Christmas. Plus, Harrison will be at the other gym all week, so he’ll stay out of your hair,” she adds with a giggle. Though, I don’t really mind having him around. In fact, I sort of like having Harrison in my hair.
Our salads are delivered, and we both dive right in. There’s a fresh mix of vegetables and nuts on the salad, and paired with avocado and chicken; it’s everything I had been hoping it would be. In fact, I go ahead and order one to-go for Harrison. Since he’s spending his Saturday training the few clients he kept and a couple for the trainer who is on vacation, he probably hasn’t taken time to eat lunch.
“Well, I should probably get this over to the gym,” I say to Gina as the waitress delivers the to-go salad.
“I had so much fun,” she states as she pulls some cash from her pocket. “I hope we can do this again. With Chase gone most of the time to the Dalton and Lakeview locations, and knowing that Harrison is about to get super-crazy busy opening the Porter building, I get lonely at the office. I hope you’ll stop by all the time!”
Pulling my own money from my purse for my two salads, I drop it on the table and gather my stuff. “I’m sure I will. I’m still on the strict exercise plan to keep the diabetes under control. We’ve managed it without having to medicate, which I’m grateful for,” I tell her, sliding from the booth.
“Oh, I’m sure that’s tough,” she says sympathetically, touching my arm.
“It’s not horrible, but I do miss my large glasses of chocolate milk.” I chuckle.
“That is horrible!” she cries, with a laugh. “Almost as horrible as finding women’s underwear under your boss’s desk!”
As I reach the sidewalk out front, her words register and stop me in my tracks. “What?”
Gina seems to realize what she said, a cross between pity and mortification flash in her eyes. “Oh, nothing,” she says, trying to laugh it off.
“No, seriously, what do you mean about finding underwear? When?”
Gina must be able to tell I’m not going to drop it. She shifts on her feet and averts her gaze. “Well, yesterday, when I got to work, I was on Harrison’s computer, making sure to sync the calendars and I found them under his desk.”
My heart hammers in my chest.
“I’m sure they’re not from Harrison, Gwen. I mean, chances are, Chase had some gym bunny in there and she left them,” Gina assures, her eyes still not showing me she’s convinced of her own words.
And then it hits me.
Thursday night.
The gym.
The desk sex.
And suddenly, I’m laughing.
“Everything okay?” she asks, clearly thinking I’m losing my mind.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. Those panties,” I start, recalling how I didn’t put them back on after our shower, “I’m pretty sure those were mine.”
Gina just gives me a look before laughing. “Well, you little hussy, you.”
Hussy? No.
Horny pregnant woman who can’t keep her hands off her ex-husband, turned fiancé? Guilty.
“Yeah, I might have forgotten to pick them up,” I reply, sheepishly.
“Well, I’m so thankful they were yours! I mean, after hearing Harrison tell Chase that you’ve really been putting on the weight, I was afraid he was stepping out on you! And it’s not okay to step out on my friend!” Gina declares with a laugh.
But my mind focuses in on one part of her statement.
Putting on weight.
“He said I’m putting on weight?” I whisper, feeling the tears burn in my eyes.
“Oh, well… shit. I shouldn’t have said anything. I mean, of course you’re going to put on weight, right? You’re pregnant!”
I give her a forced smile and nod, but in my chest, I feel like my heart was just dropkicked into December. I know I’m gaining weight. For a while, I gained more in a two-month span than some people do in their entire pregnancy. It’s a sore subject for me, but I guess I never stopped to think about how this weight gain would affect Harrison. His business revolves around physical fitness, and here I am, blimping out like I just swallowed an Oompa Loompa.
My mind spins.
“Are you okay?” she asks, pulling me into her arms and giving me a tight hug.
“Yeah, I’m fine. This weight gain isn’t forever, right?”
“Right! In about two months, you’ll have a beautiful baby girl in your arms, and all this pesky weight gain will mean nothing.”
I nod, though it’s more for her benefit than my own.
“Well, I better g
et going. I’m grabbing groceries before heading home,” Gina says.
“Thanks again,” I say automatically, though my mind is already a million miles away.
Gina pulls me into her arms once more. “Keep your head up, sweetie. I think you look beautiful,” she whispers before letting me go and heading off toward her car.
I’m left standing on the sidewalk, trying to figure out why I never realized that my weight gain would change the way Harrison sees me. Of course he’d see the extra pounds I’ve put on. He gets an up close and personal view of my swollen ankles and the extra-wide birthing hips I’ve developed in the last couple of weeks. He’s always said he loves my growing body, but then why did he say something to Chase?
My heart drops when I think about him lying to me.
To make me feel better?
God, that makes me want to throw up.
On autopilot, I make my way to the gym to deliver lunch to Harrison. I guess if he’s starting to get disgusted by my weight, I’ll just have to keep it covered up more. Maybe make sure the lights are off from now on. The last thing I want is to make him uncomfortable, or worse, for me to see the look in his eyes when he catches just how big and fat I’m getting.
And I still have two months to go.
Joy.
Chapter 17
Harrison
* * *
With pregnancy comes hormones. Lots and lots of hormones which mean mood swings. My Winnie has had those in spades the last few weeks. We went from making love anywhere and everywhere to once a week if we’re lucky, and only at night in bed. Don’t get me wrong. I’m fine with that. I know that she’s an incubator for our daughter and that the further along in her pregnancy she gets, the more uncomfortable she is.
I get that.
I understand that.
What I don’t understand is the distance I’m starting to feel. Maybe it’s all in my head, and maybe it’s not. One way or another, I’m going to find out. We’ve come too far to let miscommunication come between us. If it’s pregnancy hormones, bring it—I’m here and not going anywhere. However, if it’s something more, I want to know about it. I can’t fix it if I don’t know. Regardless, she’s stuck with me. There is no other option.