“Oh, that’s it? You’ve already made all the decisions?” Samson boomed. “You’re going to have the child whether I want it or not? What comes next? You’ll tell me where we’ll live? When we get married? I guess whether we do is up to you as well.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” April shook her head. “You can’t compromise on a baby! Either I have it or I don’t. It’s not that you don’t get any input on the situation; it’s that I can’t do anything else. Don’t you see that? I can’t do it!”
She grabbed her jacket and made for the stairs. Samson grabbed her shoulder.
“April, just calm down!”
“No! Your choice here isn’t whether or not you can get me to get rid of a baby. Your choice is whether or not you want to be part of his or her life.” April started down the stairs. “Keep the key. I’m calling an Uber.”
As she descended, she could hear the crashing off patio furniture, and she winced.
Chapter Twelve
Samson stayed out of the office for the rest of the week. He was still too angry with April to deal with what had happened. Moreover, he was too angry with himself. It was true that he’d been getting impatient for their relationship to progress, but taking out that impatience on her, for a situation that was out of her control, had been so far beyond how he ever imagined treating her that he felt he didn’t really deserve the comfort of her warm embrace or her fond teasing.
Still, he missed her. It was only a matter of days, but he ached without her near. He did his work from his apartment, sent messages to the office, and kept to himself. He went through more bottles of wine that week than he cared to admit.
The next Monday, Samson steeled himself to return to the office. It was time to be a man. It was time to see April and work this thing out. During his time away, he had done some thinking. Of course, he couldn’t possibly have her get an abortion. He would never do that to her, given how she felt about the baby already, and knowing how she grew up, it would be cruel to force something like that on her. Not too long after that, Samson realized that he wouldn’t want to get rid of his own child.
His main difficulty with the whole situation was that after everything, he would have to actually be a father. He wasn’t sure their child deserved that.
Regardless, his insecurities were no reason to punish them both. Nothing would be worked out by simply sitting around and feeling sorry for himself. He picked up a triple espresso latte and headed into the office determined to put things right between them.
When Samson reached their floor, however, nothing felt right. Many of the staff were staring at him. Quite a few of them were shooting daggers. He approached Babette’s desk, and she jumped as though she’d been stuck with a pin.
“Sir,” she muttered.
“Could you collect my messages, Babette? I have quite a bit to catch up on.”
“Absolutely, sir.” Babette fumbled through her organizer.
Samson furrowed his brow at her. “What’s going on? Why is everyone acting so strangely? Is it because of my absence?”
“Well, probably the reason for your absence.”
Samson blinked. “What would you know about that?”
Babette stared at him for so long that he snapped, “Spit it out!”
“April left. I-I don’t know.” Babette rubbed her lips and then looked up at him with a strange expression. “I have no idea why. You should talk to her team.”
“Fine. Get those messages together.”
Samson swept through the office like a dark cloud. What had she meant that April left? April wouldn’t leave a job like this. She was pragmatic. There was no way that she would leave a job like this. Especially since she now had a child to think of.
“Garcia.” Samson appeared in the office where Garcia was sitting on the edge of his desk and talking to Jessie and Katy, the new hire who had been added to their team. “I need an update. What is this about April leaving?”
Garcia leveled an incredulous look at him. “You ought to know.”
Samson tilted his head to the side. Jessie was staring him down, too, while Katy looked between everyone curiously.
“What do you think happened?” he asked.
“We figured out you two were dating a few weeks ago,” Katy offered.
“You asked me for where to take her on dates,” Garcia said.
“You dumped her, and now she’s gone,” Jessie said.