Chapter 6

Josephine Jayden watched me as I packed my clothes into the suitcase. He refused to do same, according to him, he isn’t going to be a part of this madness. He scrutinised my every moment, making me feel not only stupid but uncomfortable. Huffing under my breath, I dropped my clothe on the bed with an attitude that isn’t needed right now. “Stop being stubborn Jayden, just go and back your damn clothes.” “How about you stop being so damn stupid!” He rebuked. “Do you even know anything about him?” I’m not having this conversation with him again. “Just because your parents wants you to marry him, and because you had a night of euphoric s*x with him, you think it’s the right thing to do!” What is his problem? “You seem to forget the part where he is the father of my baby.” My words silenced him. “Can’t you see Jayden, getting married to him will save my child from being called a bastard, an illegitimate child.” “You didn’t seem to care before.” “Yes, I didn’t care before because I didn’t have an option.” He scoffed, blinded by his own reasoning. “I am pregnant with a child from a man I didn’t know, I couldn’t go find him because I assumed he should be married by now, and I couldn’t go back home and allow my alleged fiancé take care of another man’s child. That was why I chose to stay away.” “We don’t need them.” “Yes we don’t, but my child does.” Packing my clothes now an after thought, I joined him by the doorway. “He offered to get you a position with Vogue magazine, you know what that means for your photography career.” “f**k the money and the position.” He spat. “If I give two f***s about that, I wouldn’t be here right now.” He grabbed my shoulder and tried to shake some sense into me. “I still think this is a bad idea.” I frowned at him. “Why? Why do you hate him so much?” “Have you for a moment stopped to think about what he wants from you? What he gains from getting married to you?” I shoved him away with anger. “What is that suppose to mean? Are you saying I’m not worth getting married to? I’m not worth loving? Are you saying he can’t get married to me without getting anything in return?” He cursed under his breath. “I didn’t mean that Josie.” He tried to grab me again but I pushed him away. “You’re a wonderful lady Josie, and every man would love to have you as his wife, but your completely delusional if you think he loves you.” “I know he doesn’t love me,” I muttered, suddenly feeling defensive. “But he does care about me, and that is what is important.” I returned to the clothes. “Can you please just pack your clothes, let’s stop arguing over this.” “He wants your company Josie and you marrying him means you’re practically handing the company over to him on a platter of gold.” “He doesn’t want my company.” I hissed, gripping the clothes too hard. “Why? Because he told you so?” He glared at me as if I’ve gone crazy. “Let me guess, he told you that he’ll allow your work even after getting married to him.” Why is he messing with my head. “I thought you were smarter than this.” My eyes stinged with unshed tears. Why is he torturing me? Why is he making this more difficult for me? “No, I’m not. For the sake of my child, I’m not smarter than this.” The first tear rolled down and I wiped it off. “You know what? You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to.” “Really?” He shook his head. “In care you’ve forgotten, I have nothing better in Arizona. The only reason I agreed to be here in the first place was because I was trying to save my friend from what she assumed to be danger, and right now, she’s walking blindly into it.” “I’m sorry.” I whispered. “No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for choosing you over my career, I’m sorry for putting you first, I’m sorry for making the decision I made few months ago.” He snatched his phone from the bed and stomped away, slamming the door loudly behind him. Too dejected and heart broken, I fell to my feet and cried my eyes out. ★★★★★★ It’s dark outside and Jay is yet to return. I’ve called him several times, but he kept ignoring my call. I understand that he is angry with me, not making a pregnant woman worry isn’t the best way to deal with this. My ears perked when the front door opened, I jumped to my feet and raced to the living room, ready to hug the hell out of him, then scold him for making me worry. My feet came to a halt when I saw who is standing in my living. I tried so hard to hide my disappointment, but the frown on his face confirmed I did a very terrible job. “Guess I’m not who you were expecting to see.” He dropped a plastic bag on the table. “So_” I cleared my hoarse throat. “Sorry about that. I thought it was Jayden. He left since morning and he’s yet to return.” He stared at me as if trying to figure out what happened in this house earlier. “Have you tried giving him a call?” “He’s not picking my calls.” I muttered, avoiding his piercing gaze. “Why are you here?” I’m hungry, and I hope there is food in that bag. “Josephine?” “Hmm.” “Look at me.” I’m in no mood for interrogation or another argument. “Look at me Josephine.” I obeyed. He observed me more closely and frowned. “Have you been crying?” Of course he noticed. “It’s nothing.” Why do I feel like crying again? “What are you doing here?” “Why were you crying Josephine?” His jaw clenched. “Did anything happen in my absence?” He tried to grab me, but I stepped away and his face twisted. “Talk to me baby, what’s wrong?” “Everything is fine.” I insisted. He blinked slowly at me. “Fine! I had a little argument with Jay, that’s all.” I crossed my arms, my only defence mechanism. “Are you going to finally tell me why you’re here?” “With your puffy eyes, I doubt whatever argument you had with Jayden is considered little.” He walked past me, into the kitchen as if he owns the place. “I came to see you, and I brought dinner.” He pulled out two plates. “Hungry?” Very. “Why only two plates?” I followed him to the living room again. “You do know I have a housemate right?” “I do not bring piece offerings to people who do not consider me friend.” He pulled the centre table closer to the sofa and began to dish out pasta. “If you do not consider me a friend, that means you consider me an enemy, and if you consider me your enemy, automatically, I consider you as mine too.” He passed me a plate which I happily accepted. “I do not know what you just said, but I know for sure that Jay isn’t your enemy.” He filled my glass with water then filled his with wine. “The argument was about me, no?” When I didn’t respond, he chuckled. “You don’t have to protect him by not saying anything. I know he doesn’t like me, and I’m okay with that, you know why?” I shook my head. “Because I don’t give a s**t about him. I’m here for you Josephine, you and my child, not for a suckling adult.” “That’s a rude way to address him.” He shrugged with indifference. “He’s just looking out for me Dominico, don’t crucify him.” He stared at me, his emotions hidden underneath. “Who is crucifying who Josephine? He says s**t about me when I’m not around to defend my self.” He twirled his wine. “The bastard already nailed me to the cross.” Why does everything about me have to be so damn difficult? “If you want this to work out between us, you have not only tolerate Jay, you have to also learn how to respect him. He’s my best friend,” I explained, trying hard to him see reasons. “He sacrificed a whole lot for me Dominico, he deserves our respect.” Pinching his nose with irritation, he pushed his plate of pasta towards me, silently telling me to stop scraping my plate. “He deserves your respect because he has done a lot of things for you, not for me. You want to know how I see him?” I shoved pasta into my mouth. “He took away my fiancé from me, encouraged her to stay away from me, hoping to take my place, he speaks to my child as if his, and he plays my role as her father. That doesn’t sound like someone who deserves my respect.” I tried to defend Jay, but he shut me up. “If he wants my respect, he has to earn it and so far, he hasn’t.” “But_” “Enough Josephine, I didn’t not leave my house to discuss that wanker. Eat your food in silence before you get choked.” I snapped my mouth shut and focused on my food, not because he told me so, but because I know defending Jay the more is going to deepen Dominico’s hatred for him. I don’t even understand why they hate each other…. Okay maybe I fed Jay’s hatred towards Dominico. “Are you done packing? We’ll be leaving very tomorrow morning, I have a meeting I can’t miss.” I’m no where close to being done, guess I have Jay to thank for that. “Yeah, I’m done, the rest of my things will be shipped down by my agent.” Maybe I’ll help Jay put his clothes together later. The front door opened and Jay walked in very wet. My brows furrowed as I wondered if it’s raining outside. This is middle May, it shouldn’t be raining right? “Why are you wet?” He glared at me, transferred it to Dominico, then to the plates on the table. “Jay? Were you boxing again?” His eyes holds no apology even though he promised not to box again. The last time, they almost beat him to death. “Yes, I was boxing, but at the gym.” I breathed a sigh of relieve. “Dominico ordered dinner, but it wasn’t enough. How about you freshen up while I order something for you. What do you prefer?” “Forget it, I’m not hungry.” “But_” “Forget it Josie, I’m not hungry; I have some packing it do, I’ll appreciate it if you didn’t knock on my door tonight.” Dominico observed him silently. “Is he spending the night here?” He asked, jerking his chin at Dominico. “No, he’s not.” “Good.” He walked upstairs without any further question or statement. My appetite suddenly disappeared. I pushed the plate away. “This is the longest he has been upset with me.” I muttered, trying hard not to wet my face again. “I don’t know why you men are so difficult.” Dominico stared at the plate that I pushed away. “Why aren’t you eating?” “It will be monstrous of me to eat while he’s obviously going to bed hungry because of me.” Clicking his tongue, he stared at my bump. “You need to eat, the baby needs more food, remember you’re now eating for two.” I sniffed. “How about you eat while I go talk to him.” I snapped my head up quickly and glared at him through glassy eyes. “Don’t worsen things Dominico, I’ll talk to him later.” “I’m the reason he’s upset,” he insisted, already standing to his feet. “Let me talk to him, straighten things out.” “Promise you won’t worsen matters.” I can’t trust him with Jay. They’re both bullheads who isn’t ready to listen to each other. “Don’t make him hate me more than he already does.” His hand on my jaw, he caressed it. “Jayden doesn’t hate you.” He offered me a smile to calm my nerves. “I promise not to worsen matters.” Satisfied with his response, I returned to my food. Five minutes later, he emerged from the room, gave me a kiss on my cheek and walked out of my house. Jayden walked out few seconds later with a bruised face and apologised for his behaviour.