Condemned (Beauty And The Billionaire Geek Book 2) (11 page)

“We?”

“It’s
our
baby. It’s
our
decision isn’t it?”

“I don’t think it is
our
decision. I think it’s mine. It’s me that will have to give everything up. Look at how busy you are now. Just imagine what it will be like if this website does take off. You’ll be off working all the time, and I’ll be stuck with the kid. That isn’t the life I imagined for myself at nineteen.”

“Just wait, please.”

“I’ve made up my mind. I’m not going to keep it.”

“I can’t talk about this right now. I have to go meet Daniel. Let’s talk about it in a few days.” I backed away toward the door, praying she would listen to me. I felt too overwhelmed to meet her vicious eyes. She was right, it was ultimately her decision. She would be making the sacrifices. I just wanted her to wait until I could convince her it would be worth it.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I said, ducking out the door. I heard her yell something as the door closed, but I couldn’t hear it. My body shook with fear that she would choose to end the pregnancy.

I went downstairs to my scooter and drove home, feeling like a failure. If she killed our baby, I didn’t think I could be with her. I went to meet Daniel, and we worked out the rest of the bugs in our design. The pressure on my shoulders felt so heavy I could barely focus on our work. It would be a death sentence to our interview if I couldn’t keep myself together.

The next morning, I called Zoe but she didn’t answer the phone. I begged her voicemail not to make any decisions until we had a chance to talk it out after my interview.

The morning of the interview, I stood in the lobby of Joshua Steinman’s building, wearing an uncomfortable suit. I was sweating bullets and felt like I was wearing a tight fitting Brillo pad. My phone rang.

“Zoe. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for days. How are you? Are you okay?”

“I’m starting to get morning sickness.”

“I’m sorry. Listen, I’m about to go in for my interview. Can we talk after?”

“I’m at the clinic. I’m going to get an abortion today.”

“Zoe, please don’t do this. Just give me another few hours.”

“I made up my mind.”

My brain reeled, and I thought I might throw up. My mouth didn’t want to work, and I couldn’t do anything but make choking noises. Finally, something snapped, and I found myself filled with anger. I couldn’t abide by such disloyalty. She was pressuring me and not giving me the chance to even talk it out with her. Not only that, she’d called me to tell me on the most important day of my life!

“You want to kill our baby so you can keep doing porn. If you do that, I never want to speak to you again.”

“I’m glad to know you feel that way. That makes this a lot easier.”

“Zoe. I…” The phone went dead. I’d wanted to say, I didn’t mean it. She hadn’t given me the chance. I looked at the time. I had to go into my interview.

He said he never wanted to speak to me again. So much for loving me forever. I sat in the clinic waiting for the nurse to call my name. I’d made up my mind last night after listening to one of Billy’s many voicemails. He certainly was full of himself. He really thought I should give up my life and let him take care of me. I could take care of myself. Having a baby right now would guarantee I couldn’t. I’d be trapped, dependent on him for the rest of my life.

I made ten grand a month with my modeling, and the burlesque troop had gotten amazing reviews from our Halloween show. We could become a local sensation. The top burlesque troop in the city booked shows for thousands of dollars a night. I was supposed to give that all up for a guy I’d been dating for three months?

I sat stone faced staring at the glossy white paint and the ugly posters about STDs and flu shots. My heart sank and my anger abated. I had to admit to myself that I was going to miss Billy more than I could bear. I didn’t want it to be over.

He’d just broken up with me while I sat in an abortion clinic. His stupid website was obviously more important to him than me. Tears broke from my eyes, and I began to sob uncontrollably.

A few moments later, a nurse in purple scrubs sat beside me. “Are you Zoe Parker?”

“Yes.” I sobbed. I was full on ugly crying and couldn’t stop. The other women in the clinic looked up at me. A young woman with a huge pregnant belly glanced over her Parenting magazine with worried eyes.

“Hun, it’s probably not a good idea to go through the procedure being so emotional. You should be calm. If you’re conflicted, take a few more days to think about it.”