Jason looked down at me and said, “Don’t cry beautiful, we’ll fix this.” Then he brought his lips down to mine and kissed me, softly. It was the sweetest kiss Jason ever gave me. His kisses were usually urgent and fueled by his need for sex.
When he pulled back I said, “Thank you, Jason. It means a lot to me that you’re here.”
“I’m going to be here for you baby. I’m going to help you through this. We can do this… together.”
CHAPTER TEN
VICTORIA
I called Liz earlier in the day and asked her if I could come over. I had news that I wanted to share with her. It was good news for a change. I parked on the street since this wasn’t my home any longer and walked up to the front door. Maybe I should say waddled. I hadn’t really gained that much weight, but my belly seemed to protrude a little further out every day. I was five months along now and definitely showing. My balance wasn’t what it used to be and I know I had to look at least a little funny when I walked.
It had been three months since I was served with papers by Alexander that said I had no rights to any of his money or anything in his estate. I really couldn’t spend much time dwelling on it because it only served to make me angry all over again. I didn’t want his money or his estate and I was appalled to believe he thought I did. It had been two months since I moved out of Liz’s apartment and in with Jason. He’d offered to help me save money since I had no job and an army of lawyers to pay. He was being so sweet and supportive that I thought it was a good idea. It wasn’t. Jason was still Jason and supportive or not, I’d probably made a mistake. It had been a few weeks now since I’d run completely through my savings though, so moving out at the moment was not a real viable option. I was twenty-three, pregnant, unemployed in the middle of a court battle and I’m pretty sure my boyfriend is cheating on me… again.
I pressed the doorbell and a woman about my age with pretty brown hair and giant blue eyes opened the door. “Vicki?”
“Yeah, hi. You must be Gloria.” Gloria was my replacement. Liz’s new roommate. I felt a pang of irrational jealousy in my chest every time I thought about it. I’d left her high and dry. Of course she needed another roommate to help her pay the bills.
“Come on in, Liz is expecting you but she just got home from a run so she’s in the shower. You want some coffee, or tea?”
“No thanks,” I said. Caffeine was not on my list of approved food items. I was doing my best to follow a strict, healthy diet. If nothing else good came out of this mess I was in, I at least wanted a healthy baby in the end.
“I almost didn't recognize you from the photos Liz has of the two of you. Your hair is different, I think.”
“I’ve been out of work for a while and with the baby coming I’ve been trying to save money wherever I can,” I said. I was embarrassed to admit it, but I wasn’t going to lie. I knew that I didn’t look my best. I had to have priorities though. “I started playing kitchen beautician. It’s awful.”
“Oh no it’s not!” Gloria said, sincerely. “It’s cute. You’re gorgeous, so I doubt it would matter if you shaved it all.”
Great, she was nice too. Now I couldn’t even hate her for taking my place in my best friend’s heart. “Thanks,” I said with a smile.
“Hey! Is that my former roommate I hear?” Liz was coming down the hallway. She stopped when she saw me and cocked an eyebrow.
I knew exactly what she was looking at… my hair. “Stop it, I was just telling Gloria that I know it’s awful.”
She laughed. “It’s not… awful…” She tilted her head to the side to look at it from another angle.
I laughed too. Liz was the only one who could insult me and make it fun. “I took a little too much off the top.”
“We can fix it,” she said, confidently. “Gloria, would you mind getting our customer set up in one of the kitchen chairs with a cup of juice or something disgustingly healthy? We have to take care of the bun in the oven too. I’ll grab the supplies.”
“Not at all,” Gloria said with a grin, “Right this way.” Shaking my head and smiling, I followed the pretty brunette into the kitchen. I took the seat she offered me and chose apple juice from her list of “healthy” drinks. She tied a towel around my neck and a few seconds later Liz appeared with a small box in hand.
“What’s in the box?” I asked her.
“It’s better if you don’t know,” she said in a conspiratorial tone.
I laughed again and said, “What makes you think I trust you to do this?”
She looked at my hair with the eyebrow cocked again and said, “At this point, honey I think you’d trust my Uncle Bernie.”
I guess I couldn’t argue with that. She went to work on me. She touched up my roots and had me rinse and blow dry before beginning the cut. While she was cutting, Gloria brought out her gel nail manicure set and went about doing my nails. “So where is Jason today?” Liz asked me while she worked.
“He had a thing at his friend’s house out in Santa Monica,” I said.
“A ‘thing’?”
“I don’t know a barbecue or something.”
“Why aren’t you with him?”
“Um… I just wasn’t in the mood…”
“Don’t lie to me,” she said. “I always know when you’re lying.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Your nose is a foot long, Pinocchio.”
I laughed, and then sobering quickly I said, “He is uncomfortable explaining the baby.”
Liz sighed and rolled her eyes. Gloria looked up from my nails and started to say something, but changed her mind. “You can say it,” Liz said. “Vicki knows how I feel about Jason. You may as well join me.”
Gloria smiled sadly and said, “I was just going to say that I’m sorry for you that he feels that way. I’m sure you don’t like being hidden away.”
“I don’t think of it like that,” I said. “He’s a professional and most of his friends are young up and comers. They’re married with kids of their own. Here I am carrying my billionaire boss’s illegitimate child.”
“Jason broke up with you and forced you into Alexander’s arms. Then, Alexander didn’t want any part of taking responsibility for his part in this. You’re the only one here stepping up and they both need a kick in the pants.” Liz’s face was red. She got passionate when she was defending someone she cared about. More than one boyfriend had also burned her over the years, so men were not high on her list at the moment.
“I’m stepping up because no matter what part either of the two men played in this, I played mine as well. I’m choosing to have this child, not to punish either of them, but doing that anyways in a way. Jason’s been way more supportive than most men would be in this situation, I think.”
Liz snorted again and I saw Gloria bite back a smile. She stuffed whatever she had left to say on the subject. I was sure it was plenty and I loved her for caring so much. “There,” she said. “Finished. You are so pretty, Victoria. And you know what else?”
“What?”
“You’re smart and funny and resourceful and you have a great heart. Neither of those jerks deserve you if you ask me.” Okay, she didn’t completely stuff it.
“Thank you,” I said. She waved a hand in front of her face.
“Stop it, you’re going to make me cry.”
I laughed, “You started it.”
“I know. I’ll stop. Go look at yourself.”
I went into the bathroom and was shocked by what I saw. My hair is naturally a dark blonde. I’d gone lighter over the years when I was able to afford to have it done. Liz had lightened my roots and put some gold highlights in it. She’d also layered it softly around my face to get rid of the bluntness that I had put into it when I tried to do it myself. It was all even and soft and pretty now. I loved it. Her face appeared in the mirror behind me and I smiled. “I love it! Thank you.”
Liz hugged me and said, “I love you and remember that you’ll never have to put up w
ith a man if you don’t want to. This will always be your home. I will gladly clean out my crafts room today if you want to move back in.”
Still smiling but with tears in my eyes I said, “And you’ll listen to a baby screaming at three a.m. every night in a few months, or try and have a date while he eats mashed peas in his high chair?”
She nodded, “All that and more, gladly… wait… he? You’re having a ‘he’?”
I smiled, “That’s the reason I stopped by,” I said. I turned to the mirror and fluffed my hair and said, “I didn’t know I was going to get the beauty treatment too. I got the ultrasound yesterday. It’s a boy.”
Liz grabbed me and we hugged again. “Yay! I’m so happy, Vicki. I know things are hard right now, but I’m so proud of you for following your heart. Just promise me that you won’t raise him to be a man.”
I laughed again, “I’ll see what I can do,” I told her. It was so nice that someone was happy. As it would turn out, Liz was the only one in my life who felt that way. I was so grateful for her. I was even more so about an hour later as I sat in the booth of a downtown diner across from my mother.
“Your hair is… interesting,” she said as I sat down.
“Hello to you too, mother.” My mom is forty-six. She looks like she’s twenty-five. She has the same blonde hair I do but she has hers professionally lightened and styled. She never misses an appointment, even when I was young and we were struggling financially. She said her looks were her only asset. She tried to make me believe the same thing but I’ve resisted that notion so far. I’d hate to think that all I was good for was to look at. My mother wasn’t growing old graciously either. Everything about her had been lifted, tucked or sculpted. The picture left is beautiful, but you really don’t want to peel the canvas back and see what is underneath.