Accept My Baby

Chapter 5

“He asked you out on a date?” Emilia asked as she looked at Amanda in surprise. Emilia had insisted on knowing everything as soon as Amanda walked into the door. She had been staying up late, probably twiddling her fingers as she waited for her to get home.

It was almost midnight by the time Amanda finally made it back to the apartment and a worried Emilia looked up at her, doe eyed, ready to hear about what she had been up to. Amanda had asked her to come with but Emilia had adamantly refused saying that the Imperioli parties were known to get a little ‘out of hand’…whatever that meant.

“Yes, he asked me out on a date,” Amanda said as she looked at Emilia. “That is exactly what I said two or three seconds ago.”

“And you agreed?” Emilia asked.

Amanda looked at her and wondered what she was supposed to do. She wanted to lie and say that she had turned him down but to be quite honest, Emilia was like a bloodhound when she was onto something and there was no way she was going to hide the fact that she was going to have dinner with Rafael forever. Plus, she was in Turin for another few weeks. There was no way she was going to come up with a reasonable excuse for getting dressed up.

“Well, to be honest I am not very sure what I agreed to,” she said as she looked at Emilia.

“Okay, now that makes absolutely no sense,” Emilia pointed out crossing her arms over her chest. Amanda took a long deep breath and sighed.

“He asked me to go out to dinner with him and he also asked to be my tour guide and I said yes, just not sure what I said yes to,” she explained.

Emilia still looked confused.

“I still don’t get it.”

“Well, honestly I don’t want to get into all that. Just know that everything at the party was great.” She brushed a curly strand off her face. “I’m actually glad that I got that invite. I had a great time out there. You really should have come.”

“I love being taken seriously and being in the same circles as Penelope Lowe is going to kind of taint my reputation in my professional circles,” Emilia said and Amanda raised an eyebrow over the other.

“Penelope Lowe is amazing,” she said. “You and I both know that…I mean have you seen her latest music video? She makes Rihanna look like old news.”

“That’s because she is hardly ever clothed when she shoots her videos,” Emilia said rolling her eyes. “Like seriously, that ‘Forget About Us’ video, she literally only covers her nip*les and she calls that a fashion statement?”

“Musicians do that all the time…Miley Cyrus, Rihanna herself also puts on some questionable clothing… Lady Gaga wore an outfit made of meat,” Amanda pointed out.

 “Honestly, I would have loved to see her perform at a zoo or something of the sort,” Emilia said and Amanda laughed.

“Did anyone ever tell you, you are evil?”

“The whole world was thinking the same thing. All I did was just give people a voice.”

“Did you suddenly turn politician and not tell me about it?” Amanda asked and Emilia gently pushed a strand of her brunette hair behind her ear.

“We are digressing. You were telling me about your date or not a date plan with Rafael.”

Amanda suddenly went silent. She had been hoping that they would not have to go back to that topic. All she wanted to do was forget about everything. Forget that she had actually met someone by the name of Rafael Imperioli but there was something inside her that was crying out to her that she just couldn’t do that. She could not ignore the fact that she had met someone who was potentially a good man. And another thing she did not want to handle at that moment was the fact that Emilia was grilling her. She wanted to know everything. Everything about the party.

Everything about Rafael.

And not just what Amanda was telling her. She wanted to know what Amanda was thinking about. What she planned on doing now that she had accepted Rafael’s offer.

“Hey,” Emilia said as she waved her hand in front of Amanda’s face. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

Amanda took a long deep breath and sighed.

“I don’t know how to say this without sounding like a complete tool,” she started and Emilia shrugged.

“How about you just start at the beginning and we see how things go?”

Amanda shook her head. She knew that Emilia could almost read her mind, understand what she was about to say. She looked into Emilia’s eyes as she tried forming the right words to say exactly what was on her mind. That she was actually looking forward to seeing Rafael again because he was the complete opposite of Brett. That she wanted to see him again because she missed the attention. Craved it actually.

She wanted anything to make her feel beautiful again because heaven knows, she did not feel like much at that moment. Brett had managed to break her. He had managed to shatter her. Literally.

“You look like you have so many thoughts right now,” Emilia said again and Amanda nodded.

“I do.”

“Then tell me. Let me know what is going on with you,” Emilia said as she shifted her weight getting herself closer to Amanda. “I’m here for you, you know.”

“I know.”

“Then talk to me.”

Amanda sighed.

“When Rafael asked me, it was not a struggle to say yes. I knew that I wanted to see him again but I can’t tell you why.”

“I think that is perfectly normal,” Emilia pointed out and Amanda shook her head.

“Any other time…any other situation and I would have considered it to be okay but right now…” her voice trailed off and Emilia raised an eyebrow over the other.

“Right now…what? What are you trying to tell me?”

Amanda bit her lower lip and shrugged.

“I’m pregnant, Millie,” she finally said. She looked as Emilia‘s eyes gradually grew wide. She could tell her friend was more surprised than she was when she first found out that she was expectant.

“I’m sorry. It sounded like you just said that you are pregnant,” Emilia said, seeking clarification.

“That’s because that is exactly what I said,” Amanda said in a low voice. “I am pregnant,” she said again.

There was a long silence before Emilia finally spoke again, a clear sign that her news caught her off guard.

“Wow,” Emilia said after what seemed like forever. “How long have you known?”

“A few days. I found out just before I left New York.”

“And how long…I mean, how far along are you?” Emilia asked again and Amanda shrugged.