Page 103 of In This Together

Then Rod was upon her, kissing her roughly, growling into her neck and pulling down the straps of her dress. When she laughed, he placed a hand over her mouth. ‘Do you really want the zoo to come down here?’

With humour dancing in her eyes, she shook her head. He picked her up and carried her to the table, stepping between her legs.

‘Oh, and Rod, one more thing… I want you to have a vasectomy.’

26

ANDREA

Andrea had suffered a restless night’s sleep, tossing and turning. It was no wonder, since most things in her life were falling apart. She had slept alone in her own apartment because Tommy was in Los Angeles for a pre-recorded chat show interview about his solo work and wasn’t coming back until later that day. All that had been going through her mind for the last four days was that Sofiahatedher. And she had no idea if she could ever repair her relationship with Rosalie.

But on top of that, she’d experienced stabbing pains in her lower abdomen. At 3a.m. she had made herself a hot water bottle, which had eased the pain enough that she’d managed to settle into a short sleep before her alarm sounded its wake-up call.

She had just ended a terse meeting with her executive board and was now pacing the floor of her office, trying to walk off the pain that was now a constant ache in her stomach. Was it wind? Had she eaten something?

She was trying not to be melodramatic but had decided to give things until lunchtime and if the pain hadn’t subsided by then, she would put in a call to her obstetrician and confirm what kind of painkillers she was allowed to take whilst pregnant.

She was startled by the entrance of Bryant Matthews – the man who had been gunning for the position of CEO and who thought he was a shoo-in for the role ahead of Andrea – as her office door was opened so hard it clattered off the adjacent wall.

‘Were you born in a barn, Bryant?’ Andrea chided.

‘What the hell kind of presentation to the Board was that?’ he quipped, ignoring her remark.

Before she could retort, a stabbing pain struck Andrea’s stomach and her mind went blank as she breathed through it, trying not to let her weakness show.

‘I’m afraid you’ll have to expand on that,’ she told Bryant, forcing herself to stand upright and not fold forward.

He pushed his hands into the pockets of his suit pants defiantly. ‘You presented a load of nothing, Andrea. Since you took the position of CEO, Stellar’s books are down. That’s a pretty impressive rate of profit destruction, wouldn’t you say? Then you have the audacity to sit in that meeting and give us nothing – no way forward, no plans. What happened to your promise of luring in new stars, big-hitters? What happened to acquiring high-performing indie labels?’

Another strike of pain hit Andrea and she moved to her desk, leaning on it for support.

‘Bryant, we need to do this another time, I have a meeting.’

With another wave of pain, she bent forward, gripping the edges of her desk, unable to hide any more as she sucked air through her teeth.

Bryant came to her side. ‘Andrea? Are you okay? What’s wrong?’

She shook her head, still gripping the desk with one hand and holding her stomach with the other. ‘I’m fine.’

‘The hell you are,’ Bryant said.

What happened next was a blur. There was a flurry of shouting and activity around her, but Andrea heard nothing distinctive because her eyes were fixed to the tears of blood that came from underneath her skirt and rolled down her legs.

No. No, please, no.

* * *

‘Shhh, let yourself go to sleep,’ Hannah said as she stroked Andrea’s temple and held her hand at the side of her hospital bed. ‘Close your eyes.’

‘Hannah, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for everything,’ Andrea said, grateful for her best friend.

‘I know you are, sweetie. I am too. Just rest.’ Andrea watched as a tear fell from Hannah’s eye. ‘I’m here.’

Andrea’s breath hitched as she tried to breathe in. She’d been given painkillers, antibiotics and fluids but the intravenous plug in the back of her hand was currently empty as she lay in the small grey room.

She barely remembered the trip in the ambulance, what the doctors and nurses had been saying to each other and to her; she couldn’t remember who had called Hannah from the office and at what point she arrived at the hospital. All she could see when she closed her eyes was the blood. All she could hear when the room fell silent was the absurdity of the doctor who told her she had ‘lost’ her baby, as if she might find it again some place.

‘This is my fault,’ she said, her throat hoarse. ‘I deserve this for everything I’ve done.’

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