“Stop saying that! Why are you saying ‘Your last known address?’ It is my address. I’m not a terrorist for crying out loud.”
“You need to go now Miss or you’ll be escorted back to the main road.”
“Escorted? You would be very sorry if you put your hands on me in any way!”
“I won’t,” he said, still stone faced. “But the police are standing by.”
The police? What did they think I did? Was something missing? Do they think I stole something? Oh God, I’m going to be sick! I put the car into reverse and nearly drove right over big and ugly’s foot before he jumped back out of the way. I went backwards all the way to the main road and then when I got there, I had to put it in park, get out and vomit on the side of the road. As I was standing there, heaving my guts out, I caught sight of them watching me. Dear God, what was going on? Losing my job was one thing, but being considered some kind of criminal was entirely another. I wiped my mouth on the sleeve of my ugly uniform. It didn’t matter; I wasn’t going to need it any longer apparently. Before I got back in the car, I threw a gesture at big and ugly at the gate. His expression still didn’t change, but it made me feel a little better nonetheless.
CHAPTER EIGHT
ALEXANDER
I stood in my bedroom and watched what was going on down at the gates on the security monitors. I could see the stricken look on Vicki’s face and God help me all I wanted to do was call down there and tell her there had been a terrible mistake and they should let her through. I didn’t though. Like a coward, I watched a stranger tell her that she was not only fired, but banned from the estate. Then I watched her drive backwards… and somewhat recklessly back to the main road. I took out a pair of binoculars that I used for horse racing and went over to the window. She stopped at the road and got out of the car. She barely made it to the front of the car before she started throwing up. I felt like a weight was sitting on my chest all of a sudden and I could hardly breathe. I did pick up the phone then and I called down to the gates.
“Yes sir?”
“Michael, she’s sick. Go help her.”
“She just flipped me off and got back into the car, sir.”
I laughed. “She flipped you off?”
“Yes sir.”
I laughed again. “Sorry about that.”
“I’ve been flipped off before sir.” I’ll bet that he had. Michael was my most humorless, almost robotic employee. The attorneys had purposely handpicked him for this sort of thing.
“Okay then. Thanks.” I hung up and stood looking around the massive suite I now stood in, alone. I was always alone. I went into the bathroom and looked at that stick that was now wrapped in a Ziploc baggie. The lawyers wanted it, but I told them I’d thrown it away. Anyone who knew that I’d kept it might think I was being ridiculous. The fact was that when I’d first discovered it, I was thrilled. I’ve always wanted a family… a big one. Cassandra told me that she did too at first. Two years into our marriage I discovered she was using birth control. We had a big fight and she told me that she wasn’t going to ruin her “perfect” body having a bunch of brats. Her “perfect” body was “perfect” because I bought and paid for it. She’d asked me when she was twenty-five, a year after we were married, if she could get her breasts enlarged. I didn’t see any harm in it and I said yes to make her happy. She got addicted after that and I lost count of the procedures she’d had. After a while it was like touching a Barbie doll… she was plastic.
I thought about the day Vicki and I made love in the basement. She was so warm and so real and I just couldn’t get enough of her. I had to force myself to get out of bed at five a.m. that morning and go for a run to keep from attacking her again. Just the smell of her hair was intoxicating. When I got back, she was gone. I’d been disappointed and hurt that she hadn’t at the very least left me a note, or anything. When she came in on Monday and I looked into those gorgeous green eyes, I saw anxiety there, laced with the same warmth as before. I realized she was probably embarrassed, although God knew there was no reason for her to be. That day was the first day in a very long time that I’d felt needed and loved. I wanted it to last forever. I had decided that it wasn’t fair to start something with her while the divorce was still hanging over my head but I intended to, as soon as Cassandra was finally out of my life.
Then yesterday, I walked into my bathroom with the intentions of getting a warm rag to put on my forehead to try and stave off the horrible migraine that was setting in. What I found was a pregnancy test… a positive one. I held the little baggie up to the mirror now and looked at the plus sign. I wondered what was going through her mind when she saw it.