Reasons Not To Fall In Love

“I don’t think I’m an adult,” I admitted, wincing.

She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Harrison, be serious.” She gulped and fiddled with her fingers as she spoke. “I’ve already decided to keep it because I don’t believe in abortion. I don’t want anything from you at all. If you want to be there for the baby, then great. If not then I’m still doing it on my own. You don’t have to do anything, but I wanted to tell you.”

My ears were ringing, my lips had gone dry and no matter how many times I licked them, they just wouldn’t hold the moisture. I had no idea what to say. What was there to say in this situation?

“I… umm… don’t…” I shook my head absentmindedly, trying to form a coherent sentence.

Her face fell and her shoulders sagged, but she quickly recovered, and a polite, thin-lipped smile stretched across her face. “That’s OK; I didn’t expect you to want anything to do with the baby. I’m sorry I wasted your time. Don’t worry about it, I’ll deal with it,” she said, shrugging and standing up. She picked up her unopened drink from my desk and smiled weakly. “I’m gonna take this to go.”

Wait, she’s leaving? What the hell just happened? I couldn’t move as she grabbed her handbag from the floor and strutted out of my office, letting the door swing shut behind her. My mind was whirling. I had no idea why she’d left; we hadn’t even had time to talk. Then it hit me, she assumed that I didn’t want anything to do with the baby because I hadn’t said otherwise. Oh man, I need to sort this out quickly. Get up, Harrison, catch her! My legs weren’t working properly. Why couldn’t I get up? Get the hell up, Harrison!

Finally, I seemed to gain some control of myself and jumped off the sofa, sprinting after her, ignoring Jennifer as she called after me asking if everything was all right and where I was going. As I darted through the office, I saw Bronwyn step into the lift and the doors creak closed. My eyes widened. I was too late. She’d read my reactions wrong, and now she was leaving to go goodness knows where, and I had no way of contacting her without begging her sister to give me her number.

Not ready to give up yet, I bolted for the stairs. I had no idea what I wanted to say if I caught her, all I knew was that I needed to stop her before she left.

I jumped most of the first flight of stairs, running as fast as I could, wishing I was faster. As I got to the last flight of stairs, I jumped the bannister and landed on the balls of my feet with a loud thump that echoed in the empty stairwell. I was out of breath – it wasn’t just the physical exertion, it was from the shock. I was going to be a dad. Me, a dad. That was crazy, but not something that I totally hated. I pictured Evie as a baby. Watching her growing up, seeing Brandon gush about his daughter proudly when she’d drawn him a picture or won an award in horse-riding… no, I definitely didn’t hate the idea of being a dad.

I forced myself to move and ran to the building’s lobby, looking at the little light above the lift that signalled which floor it was on. It seemed luck was on my side today because it was still on two.

I barely had time to catch my breath before the bell sounded and the doors slid open. Two people walked out, chatting animatedly about some customer who they’d had trouble with on the phone this morning. I ignored them, looking past them, seeing Bronwyn leaning against the wall. Her shoulders were slumped; her eyes were firmly fixed on the floor as she chewed on her fingernail.

“Bronwyn,” I muttered, raking a hand through my hair, trying not to make a fool out of myself.

She gasped; her hand flew to her heart as her startled eyes shot up to meet mine. “Harrison? What…” She shook her head, clearly confused as to how I had beaten her down here.

I held up one finger, signalling for her to wait while I tried to work out what I wanted to say. When the doors timed out and started to slide closed, I jumped inside with her, letting the doors close behind me so that we could have some privacy.

I took a deep breath and tried not to look at her stomach in case I zoned out again. “OK, look, I’m not good with words so bear with me here,” I requested. I stepped closer to her and she stepped back, bumping into the wall behind her. “The first time I ever laid eyes on you, I wanted you. I’ve wanted you for a long time, Bronwyn, but you were married, and I don’t do home wrecking, so I left it.” I looked at her to gauge her reaction. She was staring at me with wide eyes, a little shocked expression on her face, and in that moment I knew that she had no idea that I liked her. Brandon had promised me that he would never tell Skye that I was crazy about her sister; her shocked reaction clearly showed me that he’d been true to his word. Every time I’d seen Bronwyn Reynolds over the years she’d made my heart speed up and my hands long to brush her hair behind her ear and stroke her face. It had been eight extremely long years that she’d been my unobtainable dream girl – yet here she was, pregnant with my child, and single.

“Now you’re divorced, and I don’t need to worry about breaking up a family, so I can tell you how I feel. I’m crazy about you, Bronwyn Reynolds, I have been for a long, long time,” I continued.

She gulped. “Johnson.”

I looked at her, confused. “Huh?”

“Bronwyn Johnson, not Reynolds, you called me Reynolds,” she mumbled, shaking her head.

“Does it really matter what I called you? Was the incorrect name the only thing you heard out of my whole embarrassing speech?” I asked incredulously.

She shook her head, looking like a deer trapped in the headlights. “I heard every word. I just don’t know how I’m supposed to respond to that.”

I smiled and stepped closer to her again, at the same time the door behind us dinged so I turned to see Mrs Sanders go to step in. She was the elderly lady that cleaned the office building; we’d had many a chat when I was working late and the only one in the office. We were still at the lobby because neither of us had pressed the button to make it move.

I held up one hand to stop her and shook my head, looking at her pleadingly. “Mrs Sanders, I just made a life-changing speech to this girl that I’ve been crazy about forever. I really just need a little privacy, is there any way you could get the next one?” I asked, begging her with my eyes.

“You’re a good boy, Harrison. I hope it works out for you,” she said, winking at me.

The doors closed, so I turned back to Bronwyn. “That night with you was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’ve never felt like that with a girl before. It was incredible, and I hadn’t wanted it to end. When you told me on the phone that it was a one night stand, I was crushed. I don’t just want one night; I never did, not with you. I’ve been pining for you for the last two months.”

She was just staring at me, unmoving.

I swallowed around the lump that was rapidly forming in my throat. “Bronwyn, you seriously need to say something before I pass out,” I instructed, running a shaky hand through my hair.

She blinked a couple of times. “You’re an incredible person, I’ve always liked you, but I’ve never even really let myself think about you like that because I was married. To be honest, I didn’t think that someone like you would even look twice at someone like me.” She frowned, seeming confused as she shook her head.

“Meaning?” I prompted, hoping she’d continue because this was starting to sound like a rejection.

She blew out a big breath. “I didn’t come here today expecting this. I just wanted to tell you about the baby. I actually expected you to run a mile, not chase me down the stairs,” she said, looking at me like I was crazy.

As soon as she mentioned the baby I struggled to keep my eyes from wandering down there again. I needed to stay focused and not turn into some kind of moron that stared at skin wishing I had x-ray vision.

“I like you, but…” She winced, clearly uncomfortable.

“OK, look, this is getting too complicated. Just do this for me: pretend you’re not pregnant for a second. Actually, pretend that we haven’t even slept together. Pretend that I didn’t just say all of that crazy stuff,” I suggested, waving my hand dismissively. She looked at me curiously, obviously wondering where I was going with this idea. I was going somewhere with it, at least, I thought I was. “Want to come out on a date with me?” I asked, cocking my head to the side. “A date. Let’s see how it goes, take it slow. Just a date,” I asked, looking at her hopefully.

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “A date?”

I nodded. “Movies and dinner. Maybe a drink after… orange juice for you, of course.”

She laughed, looking down at her feet, chewing on her lip. Her eyes came up to meet mine. “And what are you expecting to gain from a date, Harrison Baxter?” she asked playfully.

I stepped a little closer to her, letting my hand brush over her side lightly. “A girlfriend,” I answered honestly.

She raised her hand, setting in on my chest, stroking gently, making the hair on the back of my neck prickle. “I’ve actually been craving tacos with extra sour cream.”

I grinned and wrapped my arms around her. “Mexican food it is then.”

She smiled and looped her arms around my neck, pulling me closer to her, crushing her body against mine. “A date sounds great,” she whispered.

I nodded and traced my nose up the side of hers. “I’m gonna make you fall in love with me by the time our baby’s born,” I promised, wrapping her securely in my arms before kissing her softly. I felt her smile against my lips.

Less than a second later, the doors to the lift pinged behind me. I heard a heavy sigh, but I didn’t break the kiss with Bronwyn, I couldn’t break the kiss, I wanted to melt into her and never let go.

“You’re supposed to press the button for your floor you know, not just stand there kissing,” Mrs Sanders scolded. She sighed again. “Oh, I’ll get the button for you, shall I?” she teased. She fumbled at my back, obviously pressing my floor for me. Just as the doors closed, she laughed. “Oh to be young and in love,” she mused.

Bronwyn giggled against my lips and tangled her hands into my hair, pulling me closer to her as the lift lurched upwards. No doubt this would be a long and hard process. There would be a lot of things to overcome – her living two hours away was one of them. Officially meeting her son was another. Telling Skye that I’d gotten her little sister pregnant by accident. Making Bronwyn fall in love with me. There were definitely a lot of things to do in the coming weeks and months. But it only had to start with a chance; just one chance was all we needed.

THE END