Leah laughed again—was this a sweet case of wishful thinking? ‘I’m sorry, Maeve, but—’
‘You can’t fool me, you know. I know it’s the norm these days not to say anything until you’re a few months gone, but you can’t hide how radiant you are now. You have so much more colour and sparkle than when you first started.’
Leah’s breathing quickened. Did she? That was because when she’d started, she’d only just moved away from her parents. It had taken a while to bounce back from the pressure they’d put on her for so long and to accept that what she wanted to do with her life wasn’t anything they’d ever approve of.
‘I’m on a health kick,’ Leah explained, because that was true. She’d been eating well and exercising...it wasn’t anything else. It couldn’t be.
‘You don’t drink coffee any more,’ Maeve pointed out, looking very pleased with herself. ‘Because you’re blooming.’
Leah stared at the older woman and slowly shook her head again. But inside she was beginning to panic. She had become sensitive to certain smells and tastes, but that was because she’d chosen to eat so well—wasn’t it? It was impossible for her to be pregnant because she was single and she’d never—
‘Leah?’
‘I think the pattern looks beautiful.’ She forced a quick smile. ‘I just need to...um...’ Her brain wouldn’t compute. She couldn’t think of a reason to leave—she just threw another smile at Maeve and dashed from the room.
Oh. Leaning against the wall in the corridor outside, she breathed hard. For the first time in for ever she thought of that magical night. She’d been trying to forget it—to move on and not judge every man she passed by the impossible standard that was Theo Savas. Of course, no one compared. That night had been part of the reason her confidence had grown too. But for her to have got pregnant? She couldn’t have. He’d used protection each time—she’d seen him. And that night had been months ago and she’d had her period since, right?
Oh, no. She put her hand to her mouth as she frantically tried to think, but the panic zombies had eaten her brain. She’d always had an irregular cycle and she’d been so busy she hadn’t been paying attention to that much because she’d thrown herself into her work in part to help herself forget him and now she couldn’t remember...
Oh, no, no, no. Cold horror curdled her blood. What Maeve had noticed was true. She suddenly loathed the smell of coffee. And her skin was kind of amazing in a way it had never been before. And now she remembered other things she’d not realised before—that tiredness that had leached her for a while a few weeks ago? She’d attributed it to getting used to life in London with all the commuting and everything, but what if it had been symptomatic of something else?
Impossible. It just had to be impossible. Please could it be impossible?
But what if...? The appalling possibility took hold. She was so terrified she couldn’t concentrate at all on her work. For the first time she left the second her shift was over, and stopped by a pharmacy on her way home. Once she was alone in her tiny apartment, her hands trembled as she opened the pregnancy test.
Even doing this was ridiculous, right? In a few minutes she’d be giggling about wasting her money. There was no way she could be pregnant. The idea was just a farrago of fact and fantasy planted by a confused elderly woman and taken on by her because she had some random make-your-skin-glow fever...right?
Two minutes later bright blue stripes appeared on the white background.
No, no, no, no, no.
Leah stared stupidly at the positive result. It couldn’t be correct. It just couldn’t. How could she be pregnant?
Her zombie mind now zinged with endless unanswerable questions. Where had the morning sickness been? Or all the other symptoms? More importantly, what was she going to do? And most terrifyingly, how was she going to tell him?
All these months she’d been trying not to obsess over him like some loser stalker. Now she had to make contact. How was she going to do that? And how on earth was he going to react?
Please, no.
With shaking hands she used the second test in the box. And cried when she got the same result. She picked up her phone and begged her way into a last-minute appointment with an after-hours doctor who was able to give her a scan to check on the baby’s development. Leah stared at the grey whirls of motion on the screen as they formed into an image that made her eyes smart. Tiny and perfect. And terrifying.
Apparently everything was just as it should be for just over four months gestation. Everything appeared healthy and normal and all she had to do was keep eating well and taking care of herself.
‘Would you like me to phone someone for you?’ The attending nurse smiled at her as the doctor left the room. ‘You’ve gone very pale.’
‘No, thank you,’ Leah murmured, standing up to leave. ‘I’m fine. I’m often pale.’
‘If you’re sure...?’ The concern didn’t leave the nurse’s eyes.
‘Yes,’ she said, aching to get out of there. ‘Thank you anyway.’
Back alone in her apartment, she folded her legs beneath her on the sofa and tried to come up with a plan, except all she could do was hunch in a disbelieving ball.
She had to tell him.
Truthfully she’d searched for him online months ago in a moment of weakness just after their one night together. She’d even avoided seeing Zoe much because she couldn’t bring herself to share a moment of that night with anyone. She’d discovered Theo Savas was regarded as Greece’s most eligible bachelor. Heir to a business banking empire that had branches around the world—he was now CEO and game-changer of that enterprise and apparently he could do no wrong because he’d broadened the family holdings, buying diverse companies and creating a conglomerate of success. There wasn’t a hint of scandal about him—he wasn’t known for partying ways, no rolling parade of beautiful girlfriends in the media, no salacious rumours of his endless succession of one-night stands.
But he had them. He was just discreet and courteous and too clever to leave a woman dissatisfied...
He was going to be horrified. But as much as she really didn’t want to, she had to tell him. The question was how. Not for the first time she regretted not taking his phone number. Until today those regrets had been tempered by the knowledge she’d saved herself from making a complete idiot of herself by begging him for another night. That wasn’t how Theo Savas rolled. He was too busy being the banking CEO, the charitable gift-giver, the employer of many, sponsor of the arts... He was too busy being perfect.
Would he even remember who she was?
She searched him again on her phone. His company’s main headquarters were in Athens and there was another office in London, more in other cities around the world. But there was no email address for him—only a public contact address. She couldn’t put something this personal into an email that would be read by an administrative assistant. She’d have to phone.
She tried the Athens branch first.
‘I’m sorry, do you speak English?’ Leah asked the woman who answered in rapid Greek.
‘Of course.’ The woman’s reply was professional and immediate. ‘How may I help you?’
‘I’d like to speak to Theo Savas, please.’ Leah tried to sound confident and assertive but her nerves were fluttering so hard they rendered her breathless.
‘May I ask who is calling?’
‘Leah.’ She cleared her throat, wincing at her own rushed answer. ‘It’s important I speak with him.’
There was a pause. ‘Mr Savas is very busy. May I ask what it is in regards to?’
‘I...’ Leah braced as a wave of hot embarrassment swarmed over her skin. ‘It’s a personal matter.’
There was an even longer pause. ‘If it is a personal matter, then you will know Mr Savas’s personal number on which to contact him.’ The woman’s tone was cruelly cool.
/> Mortified, Leah hung up in a flash.
Why did he need such a dragon-led first line of defence? Did he have women trying to get in touch with him all the time?
Probably, she realised morosely. And the brutal fact was her pregnancy would appal him. He wasn’t ready to settle, even if his grandfather wanted him to. And neither he nor his grandfather would want him to have a child with some random one-night stand. He moved in exalted circles—his clients were CEOs, royals, celebrities—he’d be expected to marry and have a family with someone from the same social strata. That wasn’t her. She was utterly unsuitable—not educated, not successful, not glamorous or gorgeous... She faced the reality. She wasn’t anything he’d either need or want. And she couldn’t bear to think of her child knowing it was an unwanted disappointment to its father.
She was that to her parents.
Nor could she contact her parents and ask for their help. She gently held her lower abdomen as she briefly considered, then dismissed, the possibility. This precious baby deserved protection. It deserved to be loved and secure and never to face the judgment of her impossible-to-please parents. She wanted her child never to experience that inferior feeling she’d had all her life. She might not have much else, but she had unlimited love and support to offer her child. And she had to do the right thing for it.
She had to get in touch with Theo to at least give him the chance to consider how, or if, he wanted to be involved in their baby’s life.
She glanced down at the website she’d pulled up with its list of addresses and phone numbers. What if she went to his London office and spoke with someone there? If she could convince them how important it was that she speak with Theo directly? But how could she convince them? She shrivelled with embarrassment at the thought of telling a stranger anything of that intimate night, but she had no choice.
The next morning Leah stood on the other side of the street from his London office and watched the people come and go from the building. All were smartly attired—exactly the opposite of her in her old wool coat with her home-made cardigan and her patched black jeans beneath. Her legs trembled and she pulled her coat more tightly around her and made herself step inside the lobby.
The place was beyond intimidating with its sleek interior. She looked at the perfectly coiffed women at the counter and just knew she’d get the same response as she’d got from the Athens receptionist. She’d be exposed in front of all these smooth professionals who were giving her sideways looks as it was. She didn’t fit in here—she knew it, they knew it. She didn’t have the money, looks or status.