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When we’re done, we head to the airport feeling as if we’ve conquered the world.
“Alex is going to be pleased,” Tyson says.
“Yeah, I’m glad we did okay,” I reply. “I was worried you’d miss James and I’d ruin everything.”
“Hardly,” he scoffs. “James might be Mr. Smoothie, but you’re still Head of HR. Your people skills are pretty hot,”
“Not where girls are concerned,” I say somewhat gloomily.
“Chin up,” he says. “Gaby was going to see Juliette this morning. I’ll call her when we’re at the gate and see what she found out.”
I glare at him. “I didn’t know you were going to tell Gaby.”
“I tell Gaby everything. I thought you knew that. We have no secrets from each other.”
I think about that as we check in and drop off our bags. I tried opening up to Juliette, but it didn’t get me anywhere. God, I miss her. I’ve texted her several times, but she still hasn’t come back, and when I rang, it went to voicemail again. I didn’t leave a message the second time.
Sure enough, once we’ve got to the flight lounge and ordered some dinner, Tyson heads off to call his wife. He’s gone for a while. I sit and pretend to read on my phone, but I’m surprisingly nervous to discover what he’s found out, and I end up flicking through TikTok and Insta, doom scrolling and not really reading anything.
When Tyson eventually comes back, his face is serious, and he doesn’t smile as he sits.
“Everything all right?” I ask.
He leans back as the waitress delivers our pasta, and he picks up his fork, then puts it down again as she goes off.
“Did Gaby meet Juliette?” I prompt.
He nods. “Juliette’s staying at a hotel.”
My eyebrows rise. “Why?”
“She didn’t want to stay at the apartment because she thought Cam would call in to see her. She said she wants some time alone.”
My heart slams to a stop. “Really?”
“She’s trying to make her mind up what to do.” He puts pepper on his pasta, then puts the grinder down and leans on the table. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but Gaby’s really concerned about her. She said that Juliette cried, and she seemed quite panicky and upset. Apparently…” He hesitates and meets my eyes.
“What?” I snap.
“She’s thinking about terminating the pregnancy.”
My jaw drops. “Really?”
“Gaby doesn’t think she will. But she said Juliette doesn’t want to be with Cam. She doesn’t want to go to Australia. But she doesn’t want to bring the baby up alone either. And she told Gaby that you apparently said to her that you wouldn’t want to bring up another man’s child.”
I lean back and look up at the ceiling for a moment.
“Did you tell her that?” Tyson asks.
I nod slowly. “We’d been talking about the fact that she wants children and I can’t have them. I said I’d go through IVF if she wanted to, but I think she realized that I don’t really want to do that. And I told her I wouldn’t want her to have a sperm donor. That’s when I said I wouldn’t want to bring up another man’s child. I’m not proud of that, but I said it would feel too weird.”
“And she’s extrapolated that to mean you’re not interested in being with her now she’s pregnant with Cam’s baby.”
“Yeah. It doesn’t help that I reacted badly when she told me.” Jesus, I feel so ashamed.
“So the only way she can think of to be with you is to terminate the pregnancy,” Tyson says. “But she said she’d feel too guilty to do it for that reason. She’s really confused, and genuinely doesn’t know what to do.”
I’m shocked, but I can also see why she’s considering it. The poor girl. On the surface, it’s such an easy decision. Remove the whole quandary with one easy pill, and we’d be able to start again. She’s not a practicing Hindu, or a Christian. She’s not bound by religious dogma, and she needn’t tell her parents.
