An Act of Persuasion(14)

She thought about what her life would be like if the kid inside her turned out to be anything like its father. The world would have to watch out having two like him in it.

“It’s not as messy as I thought it would be.”

Anna wasn’t sure how to take that statement. Her office was always neat and orderly—everything in her place. Of course she kept her home the same way. Not that it was hard to keep a one-bedroom apartment neat, but still, all of her possessions meant something to her. Each purchase had meaning and she would never treat her things so carelessly. He should have known that about her. There was no reason for him to assume she would live like a slob. Still, she cut him some slack because she could see he was out of sorts simply being here.

“Okay.”

“You have no pictures.”

Anna carried the two steaming mugs to the living room and handed him one carefully. Glancing around, she pointed at some of the pictures she had hanging on the walls. “What are you talking about? Last time I checked those were pictures.”

“I mean personal pictures. Of you and friends.”

“Neither do you.”

“That’s different.”

“Is it? Neither of us have parents or siblings. We’re both dedicated to our work. It’s not like either one of us spends time at places where we would be snapping photos of ourselves.”

“I guess I just imagined your place differently.”

“Messy and with pictures apparently. Sorry to disappoint you, but this is it. Although not for much longer.”

“What do you mean?”

“My lease is up early next year. They’re converting to condos but the price is a little out of my reach. Not that I want a condo anyway. I’ll need to rent something else for a while. Definitely a two bedroom. From what I understand babies require a lot of stuff.”

He nodded, but looked away from her as he spoke. “I thought you wanted to buy a house.”

“Sure, that’s the dream. And I’m almost there with my savings fund. Luckily for me, Mark pays as well as you do. But I don’t want to simply settle for something. When I buy my house it’s going to be perfect and mine.”

A place no one could ever take her away from. Anna shook her head and tried not to think about what that would be like when that day finally arrived. That would make her too anxious about the money she still had to save and the length of time that would take her to do so. She would worry about possible renovations and furnishings for this future, unknown house. She didn’t want to do any of that until she was ready to buy.

He seemed as though he wanted to respond, but hesitated. Eventually he shrugged. “Makes sense.”

“Do you know I’ve worked with you for six years and this is the first time you’ve ever been in my home?”

“You’ve never invited me before.”

Anna considered that. “True. But then why would an assistant invite her boss over?”

“You were more than an assistant,” he said. “And maybe I’ll get luckier with your next place.”

He put the mug on the coffee table and stood as if he needed to move. Another thing Anna had never seen him do. He wasn’t fidgety. Ever. In fact there was usually a stillness about him that implied his absolute control over everything—including his thoughts, his words, his emotions, hell, even the air around him.

“So you were planning on telling me. About the baby. It wasn’t just because you saw me last night.”

“Yes, I was going to tell you. It’s why I went last night. Do you really think I would hide something like that from you? Beyond any personal considerations, you’re half responsible for this, which means you’re going to help support it.”

“Of course I’m going to support it!”

Again with the shouting. And now he was pacing. Based on his behavior now, Anna wasn’t sure she even knew this man. “Relax. I know. You wouldn’t walk away from your responsibilities. You’re not that guy. I truly only waited to make sure everything was fine. With you and the baby.”

“You never said anything...about not being on birth control.”

It was true. Like every other woman who got knocked up unintentionally, Anna had let the moment take over and had stopped thinking. She wanted to regret her actions. She really did. But she couldn’t. Not the sex and, strangely, not the baby. Realistically, she should be way more freaked out by the whole single-mother thing. But when the indicator on that stick had turned pink she suddenly felt as if this were meant to happen.