The man, who stepped inside after her, caused my heart to drop into my butt.
Holy crap. They’re so alike.
“Mom, dad, what are you doing here?” Mike asked with a puzzled expression on his face, as he stood up quickly.
“Michael, I was worried about you. You haven’t stopped by to see me in weeks,” his mother crooned in a soft British accent, as she placed her clutch purse on the island, before closing the distance between herself and her son.
“What has you so busy, that you couldn’t call your mother?” she asked, kissing both of Mike’s cheeks, before her curious gaze landed on me.
“Mom, this is my friend, Lee. Lee, this is my mother, Anna,” Mike mumbled, waving his hand back and forth between us.
“Hi,” I muttered, waving awkwardly, as I pulled myself up to a stance. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Henderson.”
I held my hand out towards Mike’s mother, who, after a heartbeat, shook it.
“Yes, you too, dear,” she said, smiling kindly at me. “Michael has told me so much about you.”
I was baffled for a moment, unsure of what to think.
I had imagined Kyle’s father’s wife to be, well, to phrase it bluntly, a bitch.
But Anna Henderson had kind eyes, and a warm smile.
“David, come here and meet Lee,” Anna said, waving her husband over.
I watched Kyle’s father watch me, as he slowly prowled towards us.
David Henderson was every inch the spitting image of Kyle, with the exception of slightly less muscles and a few gray hairs sprinkled on his dark head.
His sharp blue eyes- identical to his eldest son-scrutinized every inch of me, before resting on my swollen belly.
He raised his brow at Mike in disgust, and tutted.
“Please, tell me that’s not yours?” he asked, his voice laced with contempt.
I immediately stiffened and stepped away from the tall, intimidating man. I wrapped my arms around myself, protectively.
“David,” Anna chided, clearly shocked at her husband’s lack of subtlety.
“Shut up, dad,” Mike said defensively, coming to stand beside me. “It’s none of your business.”
David gazed at me with a look of disdain in his eyes.
“What’s your game, little girl?” he asked me, as he pulled out his wallet. “How much will it cost me, to make you disappear?”
I gaped at Mike and Kyle’s father, as he held several hundred dollar bills out for me.
“Oh, my god,” I gasped, appalled, and quite frankly, dazed.
“Jesus Christ, dad, put it away. It’s Kyle’s baby,” Mike shouted.
Anna was gone speechless.
So was I.
“That fucking idiot,” David muttered, shoving his money back into his wallet. “He has his own money to get shot of her.”
I grabbed my coat off the back of the couch, and hurried towards the door.
“Lee, wait, I’m sorry about him,” Mike apologized, rushing after me.
I held my hand out, warning him off. “It’s okay, Mike, honestly. I’m going to go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
I didn’t wait for his response, before closing out the door of his apartment, in a state of complete and utter disgust.
*****
Kyle
I paced the length and breadth of my office, holding my phone away from my ear, while Linda sat in a chair with an amused expression.
“Rachel.”
I spoke in a firm voice, as I tried to get her to shut the fuck up for a second, so I could speak. “Just listen to me, will you?”
“No, you don’t understand, Kyle. I love you, I do. I need to be with you. We need to be together,” she wailed, continuing with her incessant bullshit.
I rolled my eyes, and shrugged off my tie.
“Listen to me,” I ordered, putting the phone to my ear. “You need to get it into your head, we are not together.”
I heard her sobbing on the other line, and shuddered.
“Please Kyle; I’m sorry for lying to you about the baby. I am. It was wrong, but I love you, let me fix this. I will do anything to be with you. Anything.”
Jesus Christ. I was losing my patience, fast.
“There is nothing to fix, Rachel, I think you need to see someone. Seriously, I’m starting to worry.”
“See,” she sniffed. “You’re worried about me; that has to show you that you still care about me.”
I shook my head.
“I’m worried about Lee. I care about the fact, that I think you’re having a breakdown, and your behavior is affecting the mother of my child. All of this craziness isn’t good for her. You need to back off.”
“Ah,” she screamed, and I had to pull the phone back from my ear.
“Her. It’s always about your little princess,” she spat. “If she wasn’t pregnant, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”