The Baby They Bonded Over

Nadia sighed as she ended the call, wishing she had spoken to Sylvia. She leaned against a shelf, stuffed with towels, dreading the next time she had to speak to Paul.

Megan knocked on the door, “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine Megan,” Nadia answered through the door. “I just needed a minute to regroup.”

“Great, so can you stop this tantrum and get back to your client? I know that she understands your situation, but this is still bad for business!”

“I’m coming Megan,” Nadia huffed as she opened the door.

Megan looked at Nadia expecting to see tears streaming down her cheeks, or even some puffy red eyes to show she’d been crying, but all she saw was Nadia standing in front of her. Her anxiety had subsided.

“Well I’m glad you’re okay,” Megan stepped out of the way for Nadia to exit the room, “I really wish you would tell your boyfriends, new and old, not to bring y’all business into my business. It’s great for gossip, but people don’t spend their money here for gossip.”

“Yes ma’am,” Nadia murmured. She didn’t feel like arguing, or defending what happened earlier with Paul, so she slinked by Megan, and headed back toward her client. Charlene didn’t speak and neither did Nadia as she picked up right where she left off in her hair. She finished and finally got Charlene out of the shop. Her tip was a bit lighter than usual but she expected as much, dwelling on how much time Paul took from her appointment.

Megan walked up to Nadia while she cleaned her station. Nadia didn’t want to hear whatever piece of advice she was about to dole out to her, so she started humming a random song.

“I don’t care how loud you humming,” Megan quipped. “That don’t work with the boss! Let me tell you something, Nadia. You can’t let that man child, or any other person manipulate you or your time. Be firm when you say no! And don’t run off like you having a baby or something to throw a tantrum in the supply closet.”

“You’re right,” Nadia nodded as she continued to sweep. “My behavior was completely uncalled for and very childish.”

Megan walked away but a light bulb went off in Nadia’s head. Her problems were solved! She knew just how to get Paul off her back with the perfect guy! She finished up at the salon, hopped in her car, and headed off downtown.

The litter covered streets changed to tree lined sidewalks and tall buildings. Nadia drove by business men and women hustling up and down the streets. She dreamed of opening her own shop down here one day. The upper echelon of clientele would give her the reputation she was working toward. But she knew that before she could even think about her future, she needed to shed the baggage from her past. Paul would be out of the picture as soon as she put her plan into action.

Nadia arrived to one of the tallest buildings occupying the downtown skyline. She circled around the block a few times before she found a parking space and headed inside, up to the top floor. She stepped out of the elevator into Witten Tech Enterprises. The software company had grown into a juggernaut of the industry in a few years, and that’s all due to Jeremy Witten.

Jeremy grinded hard to grow his tech company and all of his hard work has paid off, as both the company and his personal net worth have been valued over a billion dollars.

Nadia was proud of her sister’s best friend, and even though they didn’t get along as well as they should; he was just the man she was looking for. She was absolutely certain that he knew somebody she could use to get Paul to leave her alone, once and for all. She sashayed up to the receptionist’s desk, just outside of Jeremy’s office. The woman was on the phone, but took one look at Nadia and shook her head no.

Nadia clasped her hands together silently pleading with the woman to give her permission to enter Jeremy’s office.  The woman held her hand over the phone’s mouth piece long enough to say, “Mr. Witten does not have a meeting with you today, Nadia. Please give me a call to schedule an appointment and I’ll pen you into his schedule.”

“All I need is about 15 minutes of his time and I promise I’ll be out of his hair and yours,” Nadia whispered trying not to disturb her phone call. The receptionist stared at her sternly, ready to refuse her entry, but Nadia smiled widely and the receptionist caved. She rolled her eyes, waved Nadia into the office, and returned to her call.

Jeremy wasn’t in, but Nadia was sure he’d be along shortly. She wandered around the room looking at all of the pictures on the wall. Some were with celebrities and others were with politicians. She had him explain what he did to her once before, but she never cared to actually listen. She’d been around since the beginning, when he first had the idea to develop his software, and her sister, Sylvia, never shut up about him. If she weren’t a lesbian she would swear they were in love. It made what she needed him to do much easier.

“So what brings you all the way up here on this beautiful day, brat?” Jeremy chuckled as he entered into the office. Nadia stepped back taking every inch of Jeremy in.  His hair cut was low to his head, barely visible, and his goatee was dark; it accentuated his full lips. His tailor made navy blue suit, played off his mahogany skin and sculpted body well. She never realized how truly attractive Jeremy was until that moment.

“I just needed to see you big head!” Nadia snapped back. “Can’t a wonderful hair stylist come see her sister’s best friend and tell him how brilliant he is and how proud she is of his accomplishments?”

“Okay enough,” Jeremy smiled. “What do you want?”

“Why do you have to assume that I want something?” Nadia raised an eyebrow.

“Because you’re never this nice to me. You’re usually on your fifth insult by now; somewhere between Geek Guru and Milk Dud.  So what is it? Paul get you into some mess? Does he need my lawyers again?” Jeremy questioned as he sat behind his large desk. He always thought Nadia was too good for Paul, but it was up to her to see that.

“Well you are right about part of it. It does involve Paul but not for the reasons you think,” Nadia began.

“Well spit it out. You told my secretary you’d be in and out of here in fifteen minutes. It’s been eight,” Jeremy hurried her.

“Don’t rush me! This is hard enough as it is. I can’t believe I’m about to ask you this,” Nadia paced around the office in circles trying to stall so she could find the exact words to convince Jeremy.

“Nadia stop,” Jeremy commanded. “Sit down and talk to me.”

He could see the worry and anxiety creeping over her face. It made him uneasy as she took the seat in front of his desk.

Nadia took a deep breath and started over, “Okay, so I broke up with Paul a while ago.”

“Really?” he’s taken aback by her admission. He didn’t think she would ever let him go.

“Yeah and while I’m finally okay with the situation, he hasn’t taken it so easy. He’s been popping up everywhere I go. I can’t say for sure that he’s stalking me, but he shows up often enough that he just might. He hasn’t been violent or anything like that, just super annoying,” she explained, waiting for Jeremy’s input. He didn’t say anything so she pressed on, “So earlier today, he showed up at Babes & Bosses, and basically forced me into telling him that I’ve moved on and now he wants to meet the new guy. This brings me to why I’m here.”

“So you want me to play your boyfriend so you can get rid of Paul?” Jeremy asked already knowing the answer.

“Yes, exactly. But to really sell the fact that we’re together, because you know how obsessive he is about me, I need it to be a long term thing,” Nadia told him.

Jeremy nodded, “I can do that.”

“And one more thing,” Nadia cringed slightly, “I want you to get me pregnant.”

“WHAT?!”