Page 43 of I Dated a Holiday Hero
“Just ask the fucking question, Zera?”
“Are you pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Six months.”
“Shit. I had hoped he was wrong. Stay where you are. We are coming down.”
“He’s here?”
“Yes. Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. This is my home, and he’s getting married to someone else. I have no regrets.” She calmly completed the notes regarding her morning, and by the time she was done, Zera was in the doorway with her ex and Sgoth. He seemed to have been selected as an escort or guard or something.
“Romar, what takes you out of the library?” She glanced up and kept working.
“Cloud. Why did you leave?”
“Your mother struck me in the face, called me a whore, and told me that you were marrying the woman of their choosing, and then that woman stepped forward and called me a whore. It was a banner day for me.”
Romar swallowed. “My mother wishes to apologize.”
“Good for her. It is always a sign of growth that she can admit her wrong. I am sorry if I missed the blessed event. I can still send a gift, I suppose.”
“I am not marrying Hilian.”
“Oh, she seems like a lovely girl with a delightful turn of phrase. Give her another chance.”
“Would you stop working and look at me?”
“Nope. That costs extra. Would you care to pay for a session?” She flicked a glance at his dark and roiling countenance.
Zera inhaled, and Sgoth hissed.
“What are your rates?”
“For normal consults and talk therapy, four hundred per hour. For what you have in mind, two hundred thousand.”
He blinked. “That’s a little steep.”
“I am a single woman collecting an education fund. I know what I am worth.” She shrugged. “Take it or leave it, monster.”
Romar smiled. “I will take it.”
Zera told him where to send the funds.
When the payment came through, she looked away from her terminal and said to Romar, “Please have a seat in my consulting room. Everybody else has to stay out.”
She waited until he was past her, and then she stood up and followed him. Her body showed her occupant as she walked, and Zera gasped, “How did I never see that?”
The mist wrapped around her and camouflaged her body.
Sgoth paused. “That would do it.”
Cloud walked into her consulting room and took a seat in the chair while Romar sat on the couch. She looked at him. “So, why have you come this way?”
