“Hey sis,” she said shyly.
Samara reached out and enclosed her in a hug.
They stood like that for a long time before Alison pulled away, wiping discreetly at the moisture on her face. If asked, she would say it was sweat so Samara didn’t bother. She stepped back.
“Come in,” she said.
Alison stepped shyly over the threshold like she was a vampire, unsure if she had permission. She slung off her jacket and laid it down on the bed, sitting down tentatively on it as well.
“It's good to see you Samara,” she said.
“You too Alison.”
Chapter 6
“Wow, I turn my back for six years and you manage to land yourself in a mountain of shit huh?” Alison said once Samara had caught her up on her life as is. She shrugged in response, feeling much better about things now that her big sister was here. Alison always knew what to do, even if she did give Samara shit about it.
“So, this Bjorn guy hasn’t responded to your email?”
Samara nodded.
“And you don’t have his phone number or nothing?” it wasn’t really a question but Samara nodded in response anyway.
“And abortion is off the table?”
Samara just gave her a look.
“Right. Okay. So…first things first. Doctor’s visit. Have you done that?”
“Yeah. I went to the campus medical center. They did a test. It was positive.”
“Have you seen an obstetrician?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
Samara shrugged again. Saying she hadn’t known what to do and she was scared and didn’t know who to ask, would sound just so absolutely lame.
“Don’t worry. The brains of the operation is here. We’ll get you sorted out in no time,” Alison said with a clap of her hands, seeming to understand, as always, what Samara left unsaid. Samara sighed with happiness. She had really missed her sister.
“What is this Inga?” Bjorn asked walking out of his office holding the printout that Inga had finally placed in his inbox together with Watson’s findings. Inga wanted to shrug and say, “You tell me,” but she liked her job and wanted to keep it so she just stood up and looked at him with an impassive expression.
“It arrived in your inbox a few weeks ago. I didn’t know what to do about it so I had Watson gather some background information on the girl and here are the findings.”
Bjorn stared down at the paper and then up at Inga as if he didn’t understand anything.
“How long is a few weeks?” he asked.
“Three weeks to be exact sir.”
“Oh. Okay. And have we communicated with her at all at this time?”
“No. We have not.”
“Alright. I have a dinner tonight; after, I’ll go through this information and then decide how to proceed.”
“Yes sir,” Inga said and Bjorn nodded and returned to his office.
The dinner was interminable and the speakers were boring and long winded. Bjorn wanted to just stand up and leave but he couldn’t do that anymore. He was a ‘representative of the family’ now, not just Bjorn. He was itching to go through the intelligence sent by Watson though and find out whether this woman who claimed to be having his baby was on the up and up or not.
If this was his baby then…it was a game changer for sure. If it wasn’t…well this Samara was playing a very dangerous game if so. He remembered how nervous she had seemed around him. So innocent looking; was this her endgame? To get herself pregnant with his child? Earn a meal ticket for life? From what Watson had gathered in her file, her family made a living conning people out of money. She had left them to attend college six years ago on a full scholarship but then had immediately latched onto Gordon Whitaker’s daughter, Amy, who was very well off and certainly facilitated Samara a great deal.
Was Bjorn her next target? If so, she was in for the surprise of her life.
The next day he asked Inga to book him a flight to California and find him an excellent family lawyer.
Alison insisted that Samara move in with her in an off campus apartment that was nevertheless a short walk from UCLA. It was pretty dingy, and the only thing it had going for it was the location. However, that detail meant that they were paying a much higher rate than a studio apartment of that size would normally attract.
Samara didn’t mind; with two of them working and Alison earning quite a bit extra in tips from the bar she was working at, they would manage. Alison even got a rescue dog from the shelter and they named him Bear. The campus medical cover was good for maternity care as well so she was covered there. Life was good.