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“He freaked out and left.” I fought the urge not to cry again, all of my emotions overwhelming me. “Like, he had just asked me to go to the premiere with him as his date, told me that he loved me, and that he wanted me to stay—and then bam! I fucked everything up by hiding the baby.”
“Just take some deep breaths.” Zena’s voice was calming. “It’s a big dose of news to take in that you’re pregnant, so he might just need a little space.”
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see it. “He was so mad though—and hurt. It was the hurt that made me just feel…horrible.”
She let out a heavy sigh. “I mean, there are consequences for our actions, and I’m not going to harp on you for that. But seriously, I would just give the man some time and space. The two of you are going to be co-parenting at least, so he has to come around.”
“He called it our baby.” I broke into a sob again. “And like, I’ve never once thought of it like that. It just hit me so hard that he wanted to do it with me. He said he would’ve given me anything that I wanted.”
“Yeah, and he probably still will,” Zena said, her voice shifting tones. “Listen, Olivia, you’re a good person. You hid the pregnancy because you thought that he didn’t give a shit. You’re only twelve weeks. Plenty of women don’t even tell their husbands until the second trimester when the risk of miscarriage drops. You’re fine. Everything will be fine.”
I pulled myself together and took a deep, unsteady breath. “You’re right. I’m just freaking out right now because it’s fresh—and the fact that he told me he loved me was just…ugh. I don’t even know. Like, that’s straight out of my dreams.”
“Yeah, and he might be mad right now, but it’s not like you stop loving someone just because they hurt you.”
“Uh, keeping a baby secret is a big deal.”
“But you weren’t together—and you had no idea that he was serious about you. Stick to your guns, get up out of the desk chair, and go home. Get ready for tonight, and even if he doesn’t show up to be your date, look killer.”
“You should be a life coach.” I laughed softly as I stood to my feet, grabbing the rest of my things. However, as I picked up the notebook from the floor, I realized there was one thing that was missing…
The ultrasound picture.
“He took it with him…” My voice trailed off as I headed toward the door.
“What?”
“The picture of the baby,” I said softly.
“Men are surprising sometimes. My husband is all tough on the outside, but I know that when I get pregnant—and we’re trying to—he’s going to be ecstatic. They’re softies at heart, some of them anyway. Eli has always been a playboy, but he’s not the worst guy to ever walk the earth. He just…needed to find the right person.”
“Yeah, it’s just too bad I fucked everything up,” I muttered as I locked the office door behind me, pausing to stare at Whiss Productions overhead for a few long moments. I had been so ready to leave and run away, starting over for the third time back in LA, but as I stood here, everything felt really bittersweet.
And confusing.
Really fucking confusing.
“I have no idea if I should go to LA or not on Monday,” I said into the phone, tucked between my ear and shoulder. “What should I do?”
“Well, a lot can happen in a few days. I would just wait it out. Maybe talk to your brother?”
I let out a sigh. “Oh, I can only imagine what he’s going to have to say about it.”
30
ELI
“Uh, hey,” Owen greeted me with a strange look as I stormed into his apartment, the door slamming behind me. “So nice to see you too.”
I shook my head at him as I spun around from where I was standing in his entryway. “I went to talk to Olivia about my feelings.”
“Ah, so you finally did it then?” Owen raised an amused eyebrow. “I thought you might never tell her after you got cold feet.”
“I didn’t get cold feet,” I snapped at him. “You know that Zena was there.”
“Right, had no idea that Zena was staying days with Olivia.” He folded his arms across his chest, looking a little disheveled and fatigued. It must’ve been a long day at work for the guy.
“I had a lot of meetings,” I said slowly, suddenly second-guessing if I should be dumping all of this information on Owen. After all, Olivia was his sister…
