Page 114 of The Last Man on Earth
“We don’t have to get into it,” he interrupts. “It is what it is. He’s a rich, famous rapper, and—“
“You think that’s what this is about? That’s not fair.”
“Neither is seeing my so-called girlfriend pop up with a gut full of another man's baby.”
I blow out a sigh as tears prick the corners of my eyes. “I’m sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you.”
“Who said I was hurt?”
I roll my eyes at the male ego on this man. “Okay, well, I’m still sorry. It wasn’t…” I trail off, realizing I’m wasting my breath. The only person who can possibly understand all of this is Vincent. To everybody else, it must seem pretty simple. Pretty grimy, even.
“Look, I wish you the best in your future endeavors,” he says coldly. “No hard feelings. I promise.”
“Okay.” I wipe a tear off my cheek. “Bye, Luca.”
After I’ve gotten my bearings, I call my sister.
She lets me vent and cry about the conversation I just had, then she shoots me some much-needed bail.
“I wasn’t gonna say anything,” she says, “because I didn’t think you’d even hear from him. But girl. That nigga ismarried.”
“I’m sorry…what?”
“Yeah. He got married a few months ago.”
“Well, damn," I say, my mind whirling with thoughts.
“Yeah. So don’t let him make you feel guilty. You didn’t do anything wrong. Neither did he, I guess. Hedidthink you were dead. But, yeah. Fuck him.”
I can’t do anything but laugh, because honestly, I’m relieved. I never planned to go back to Luca, but I also didn’t anticipatethe reaction I would get to my pregnancy. In our bubble, it made sense. It felt natural. Understandable.
But now?
I’m starting to see myself through other peoples’ eyes, and it’s not pretty.
Chapter 58
Vincent
The exam room iscold as fuck.
Bright, too.
Ari’s on the table with her feet in the stirrups. I’m next to her, waiting. Nervous. Her bouncing knee tells me she’s nervous, too.
She ain’t said much since I picked her up.
Shit, she feels just as cold as this room.
Finally, Dr. Ellery comes in. As soon as I see that she's an older black woman, my mind is at ease.
She does her thing, then smiles warmly after she takes her seat. “Everything looks great. Baby’s healthy.”
We both let out shaky breaths.
“How far along am I?”
“Well, it’s not exact, but judging by my measurement of the baby’s size and fundal height, I’d say between 32 and 34 weeks.”
