Page 23 of Only for Tonight
Picking up the phone beside the couch, I press the valet button. “Good afternoon, Ms. Weber,” the guy greets me with a chipper tone in his voice.
“Hi. I’m going to be going out in a few minutes,” I tell him.
“We’ll have your vehicle waiting for you,” he assures me right away. “Give us five minutes.”
“No worries,” I respond, putting the phone back in its cradle before grabbing the white sneaker beside the couch. I slip my foot into it before tying the laces and repeating it with the other one. Then I stand up and walk over to the hanging mirror in the corner of the hotel room, right near the entrance of the door.
I take one look at myself before I tuck my hair behind my ear and turn to grab my black purse. I’m wearing tan-colored, high-waisted dress pants that go right to my ankle and a white short-sleeved, soft cotton shirt tucked in. The pants are a bit snug on me, but I’m convincing myself it’s because I ate two slices of cake and ice cream for breakfast. I’m about to walk out of the room before I remember my phone that is on the bedside table.
I walk toward the bedroom, grabbing it and then seeing my silver watch and the silver bracelet my father gave me last year for Christmas, so I put them both on. Snapping the watch clasp shut, I hold the phone in my hand as I walk out of the room. I almost forget the key card. “Pregnancy brain is a fucking thing,” I mumble, grabbing the key card and sliding it in my purse before finally walking out of the room.
I hold my purse in both hands as I wait for the elevator to come up to collect me. I smile at the couple in the elevator when it stops on my floor, and I step in. Looking forward as it goes down, stopping at a couple of floors, before finally opening and everyone exiting on the lobby level.
I make my way toward the valet stand, seeing the rental car parked at the curb. “Hi,” I greet the valet who smiles at me. “That’s me.” I point over to the car.
“Do you have the valet stub?” he asks me, trying to be polite about it and I laugh at him.
“That would help, wouldn’t it?” I open my purse and reach into the little pocket inside, taking out the white stub with black writing. He takes it from me and grabs the car keys in front of him, handing them to me.
“Have a nice day.” He smiles at me as I head toward the rental car. I open the driver’s door and get in before starting the car and putting in the address to the restaurant.
I pull out of the hotel, my head trying to not spin with all the things that are going to happen. I turn the radio on, hoping it calms me down. I’m two minutes into the song when the phone rings and I see it’s my father calling.
“Hey, Dad,” I answer the phone.
“Hey yourself, Ariella, where are you?” His voice is tight and he sounds worried.
“I’m in LA,” I tell him, “I had a couple of clients to see out here.” And a baby daddy to inform that he is in fact going to be a baby daddy.
“I was getting worried when you haven’t called me since last week.”
I follow the directions to the restaurant. “Sorry, the trip came up last minute, and by the time I got here, and the time change,” I start to fumble my words, “it’s just been a busy trip.”
“When are you heading back home?” he asks me. “Your mom and I were thinking about coming to visit.”
“Oh, I’m not sure just yet, to be honest. I want to make sure I see everyone I need to see.” Like Jaxon and tell him that I’m having his kid. “So I don’t have to make another trip west.”
“Okay, are you going to see Zoey while you are there?”
“I’m on my way to go and have lunch with her right now,” I inform him.
“Okay, well, I’ll let you go, and keep me updated with your plans, please. Even though you live in a different state, I like to know where my kids are.”
“You got it, Dad,” I tell him, “I love you.”
“Love you more, kiddo,” he says and disconnects the phone at the same time I pull up to the restaurant, and I start to get nauseated. Which isn’t out of the norm for me now, but the back of my neck starts to tingle as I park my car.
“Well, let’s hope when you tell him you’re pregnant, he doesn’t put two and two together and know exactly why you are here.” I take a deep inhale before grabbing my purse and walking toward the brown door, pulling it open and stepping in. I try to calm myself down but know nothing is going to make me calm.
I stop at the hostess stand that says “please wait to be seated” before looking around the restaurant to see if I can spot her. I see her sitting in the corner of the room, and I smile as I make my way to her. “Well, there she fucking is,” Zoey announces when she looks up from her phone and spots me coming toward her.
“Here the fuck I am,” I reply, looking around the restaurant to see if anyone is listening to our exchange. I notice the restaurant is practically empty, which makes sense since she did this in the middle of the afternoon after the lunch rush.
She gets up and comes over to give me a big hug. I try not to cry when I feel her arms around me, but I’m literally filled with all kinds of hormones. I close my eyes as a tear escapes without me wanting it to. I step away from her and wipe the corner of my eye. “Sorry, I’m”—I throw my hand in the air—“filled with all these feelings and shit.”
“Feelings and shit?” She grabs my hand and pulls me to the table, going to her seat as she waits for me to pull out the chair in front of her. I place my purse on the chair beside me, and before I can say anything, the waitress comes over, dressed in a white button-down shirt, black pants, and a black bow tie.
“Hi, welcome to Deluca’s Italian Steakhouse.” She smiles at me. “Can I start you off with a cocktail?”
