Chapter 9 D-O-O-M-E...

Zara

"What do you mean you're doomed?"

I look up at the concerned faces of my friends. " I meant I'm doomed, as in D-O-O-M-E..."

"We know how to spell doomed, you idiot. You know, I'm beginning to question how you got a degree in Law." Valerie says and proceeds to roll her eyes .

Emily chimes in " I thought you'd be happy that we finally have a clue as to who the baby's father is. What's the problem?"

I lift my hands in exasperation. " The problem is, just today, a man from Paradise group visited the firm and my boss just happened to assign me to him. That's not the crazy part, he said he was representing MARCELLO ANDRES! Does the name sound familiar?"

Emily hums in understanding. " So, you're scared because you think you might lose your job for getting hot and personal with a client?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

Valerie rolls her eyes again for what seems like the hundredth time. She walks closer and squats in front of me, until she is at my eye level.

" According to you, you had no idea what the man's name was before today. Besides, that incident was like two months ago."

I scrunch my face at the word ' incident '. She says it like an unfortunate thing happened to me. Well...she might not be wrong.

No, Zara! Don't speak about an innocent child like that.

I'm sorry my baby. Mummy didn't mean that...

"Is she... talking to her belly right now?"

" I'm too hungry for this shit. Let's have dinner"

I sight her from the corner of my eye, rounding the kitchen island and gushing at the sight of the sonogram I left there earlier.

The sound of my a phone ringing in the background, snaps my attention back to reality. I see Valerie standing in front of me, hands outstretched. I look at her as if to say " what should I do with your hands?".

I grab her wrist, still unsure of what to do. She turns towards Emily who is staring at us in amusement. " At what stage does the pregnancy brain kick in ,Em? She's scaring me"

Emily laughs. " Apparently for some, like our dear Zara, it's as soon as possible"

She turns to face me. " Your phone. In my hands"

I look at the hand I'm still holding and realize that it is indeed my phone and my mum has been calling. "Oh my God. I'm sorry, I got lost there for a moment"

"No shit, Sherlock"

I silently debate whether or not I should take the call. But, I've never not answered my mom's calls. For a long time, she was my only friend, so I shared every detail of my life with her. She would be so disappointed if she learns about this pregnancy.

Before I took that chastity oath at age thirteen, mum never failed to let me know the dangers of getting pregnant outside of wedlock. She used herself as an example always.

She would say " Zara, remember always, that your body is the temple of the Lord. You don't defile a temple. Keep it pure always, so that the master dwells in you at all times. I had failed to remember that and got pregnant at sixteen. I don't want that for you. All that stigma, it threatens to break you"

Mum would always say she was lucky enough meet my stepfather when she did. I was barely three and mum was still struggling to make ends meet, being a single mother with only a high school degree. Her parents had been disappointed but they never sent her away. But, mum said she could never look them in the eye after that.

So ,she left home at eighteen, after she finished high school, with nothing to her name but a few hundred dollars. She worked multiple jobs, so she could pay for daycare but she made sure she was always home with me every evening after work.

When she met dad, she was reluctant to give him a chance but he had assured her both in words and action that he loved me just as much as he loved her.

To think I ended up like this after all that advice.

I may be twenty six years of age with a good paying job but according to my mum's standards, babies come after marriage.

The phone starts ringing again and I pick up reluctantly. " Hey Mom"

"Zara, honey, did I wake you up?"

"Not at all, mom. I got home not too long ago. I was in the shower when you called earlier. How's dad and Zach?"

" Everyone's doing alright over here. How are you? How's work?"

" I'm fine. Work's great"

"Thank God for that. Your brother graduates college next month. I wanted to know if you'd be available "

Shit. I had forgotten about that. Zach would have my head if I missed .

" I'll be there, mom. I gotta go, I've had a long day . Say hi to dad for me"

" Alright, honey. Get some rest and don't overwork yourself"

" Yes ma'am"

"Goodnight honey"

"Goodnight mom"

Secrets are the worst.

********

I finally find the energy to leave the couch at the aroma wafting into my nose from the kitchen. A steaming pot of cream pasta sits on the counter. I remember my dreadful experience with the cafeteria pasta , so I'm kind of skeptical. But, the aroma...

I take a seat while Emily fixes a plate for me. Thankfully, the first forkful does not trigger any stomach acids and within seconds, I am shoveling the food into my mouth .

"Woah ! Woah! Calm down, speedy. Take your time or you'll get indigestion"

I can only moan at the taste of the food in my mouth.

We all eat in silence, the only sounds in the room coming from the utensils scraping on plates. The girls do the dishes after dinner and clean up around the house, even though I threaten to be mad at them. They totally ignore me and all Valerie says is " yeah yeah".