Weathering the Storm by Brynn Paulin

 

 

 

Chapter Seventeen

~ Becca ~

Simon had been a prize jerk all afternoon. I’d been handling it, but it had been difficult. First, he’d criticized my hair. Apparently, it was limp and the cut was outdated, and he’d suggested I visit a stylist. I also needed more makeup on because the circles under my eyes looked like a football player’s eye-black. Then he’d sniped at the pale pink dress I’d worn, saying I looked like a little kid in it. Then he’d gone to his standby—lose weight. He was tired of me looking like “a pink blimp” beneath the camera. If I didn’t drop the pounds, he’d have me replaced.

If he thought that was a real threat, it wasn’t. After how awful he’d been today, I didn’t really care what he did. And if it wasn’t him bullying me, it was Aubree. Normally, I was clear of her radar. I knew how she was, but she left me alone. Today, it was as if she and Simon had a pact to double-team me.

My eyes burned as I stared at the monitor of my computer, waiting for the latest storm data from the NWS to load. I’d felt wobbly all day. Exhausted. A little dizzy, a little nauseated and now, with the constant confrontations, a little weepy, too. Not that I’d let those two assholes see me cry. I might lose dinner on them, though. My hand flattened on my belly as I took slow deep breaths and tried to force my stomach to settle. I didn’t know how Simon could be on about what I weighed. I’d dropped ten pounds in the last month, and I hadn’t been overweight to start with.

“Hey, are you okay? You’re as white as that sheet of paper on your desk.”

I glanced up at Addison, blinking hard so my watering eyes wouldn’t ruin my makeup. I shook my head. “No… Crappy day and I don’t actually feel well. Upset stomach.”

“You’re not pregnant, are you?” she teased.

“I…” Wait. Pregnant? Oh God…

She waved away her question. “Sorry, sorry. I was only joking. I’m sorry you don’t feel well.”

“Thanks. Did you need anything?” I asked weakly, my mind firmly on the possibility she’d presented. I was so dumb! How could I not have considered that? Heller and I fucked like bunnies. It was bound to happen.

She held up her hand. “Batteries for your remote. You didn’t leave it on set.”

“Oh sorry.” I looked around, but she was already reaching over the cubicle wall for the device.

She looked at me in concern after she’d changed out the power cells and clicked the cover back into place. “Should I have them call in coverage? You really look like you might pass out when you go under the lights.”

I really felt as if I might, too. She didn’t even wait for me. “Hey,” she radioed to production. “Uh…” She winked at me. “I’ve got a weathergirl over here who just ralphed all over. I’m making her go home before she gets all of us sick.”

She jerked her head toward the doors and mouthed Go.

“Yeah, I’m leaving,” I whispered.

“Yep,” she chirped when they questioned who was taking care of the mess. “I’ll take care of it.” She leaned on my cube and looked at her nails. “It’ll probably be at least a half hour. You don’t want anyone to come over here for a little bit.”

I shook my head at her and mouthed, Thank you. I’d probably be fired for it, but at the moment, I didn’t care. You’re pregnant, screamed over and over in my head.

I had to take a test. And if I was having a baby, what then?

I’d lose my job. I had zero question about that. They wouldn’t put up with an unmarried, pregnant meteorologist on air. It didn’t matter what labor laws were in place. They’d find a way around them, and there would be no way for me to fight it without a lawyer and enough litigation that I’d have a toddler already when all was said and done. It was that knowledge that had me on my feet and leaving the building as if it were on fire.

Deep down, when I thought through how I’d felt the past month, I didn’t doubt I was having a baby. And its daddy was about to go away to college to pursue his dreams. I couldn’t ruin that for him.

I couldn’t lie to him, either. In my car, my head rested on the steering wheel, my hands clutched to either side of it. What was I going to do?

The only thing I was sure of was that I was keeping this child. If I was actually pregnant. First things first. Get a test.

Without looking back at my job, I started the car and took off for the drugstore. All the way there, I tumbled the situation over and over in my head. Heller was going to hate me. He’d think I was the most flaky woman who’d ever lived. But I couldn’t do this to him. I couldn’t saddle him with a baby while he was pursuing his goals. He’d worked too hard.

Me? I could move back with my parents while I looked for something off-air. I never wanted to be an on-air personality again. They’d wanted me to move back closer to up-state New York for a while now. And I had my resumes out. I still held hope there, though I didn’t know how that would go if my current station fired me. When…not if.

In twenty minutes, I had the test and was standing in my bathroom, staring at the box that was about to change my life. No… Not the box. My life had changed the day I’d met Heller. All the times we’d had unprotected sex, when we should have known better. What did it say that I hadn’t even considered it?

I wasn’t naïve. I’d known the consequences. I’d just ignored them, enjoying the feeling of being with Heller and damn everything else. Maybe, a little bit of it was a mental middle finger at the station. I knew they’d never allow me to be pregnant and keep working there.

Yet, I couldn’t drag Heller down. He’d try to take care of me and the baby, and it would mess up school and his aspirations. I’d promised I was his, and I was. I just couldn’t stand at his side.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, and my chest clutched. I’d have to leave him. With no getting back together five seconds later.

“Find out if it’s true first,” I whispered to myself.

But in five more minutes, I was standing there again, this time staring at the stick. Two distinct pink lines…

“What is that?”

I jumped, slamming my hand behind my back as I stared at Heller. I’d given him the apartment key a couple weeks ago, but I hadn’t heard him come in. He probably hadn’t expected me to be here, since it was between his jobs and I was supposed to be at the station.

“Becca…” His gaze fell on the box I’d left on the counter. “Are you pregnant?”