Plus One

Beautiful Mistakes

The remainder of the week was a tearful one and she was happy to work from home though she could barely concentrate. Anna had to make Tasha promise she wouldn't kill Ethan or try and get Lars involved, while ignoring calls and texts from Ivy, Eliza and Jo. She didn't know what or if Ethan had said anything and she didn't want to deal with their pity. She was thankful for the fact that she didn't have a life before Ethan. It meant she had a mountain worth of PTO days and spent the first week of June off. However, when she got sick towards the end of the week, she used another five days for the second week of June.

She had told her mother not to worry and warded Tasha and Arielle from coming over in case it was contagious, but Tasha wouldn't listen. "I told you not to come over." Tasha moved passed her walking in. "And I told you I don't answer to know one but God, my Mama and Lars." Anna smiled happily at her best friend. She deserved all the happiness in the world. "Besides you're not contagious." Anna furrowed her eyebrows. "How do you know?" Tasha threw a blue box towards her and smiled. "Because you're pregnant." Anna looked at the test in her hand and then her best friend's smiling face and laughed loudly. Tears formed in her eyes as she howled. "Laugh it up crazy, but I'm right and somewhere deep down past your heartache you know it."

Anna glared at her friend before walking to the bathroom. She took the test before washing her hands and walking out. "Three minutes." Tasha smiled. "Three minutes." Tasha was quick to talk about what was happening on their other favorite tv show Big Brother, but Anna tuned her out. The first day she got sick she had woken up from a nap and puked her life. She thought it was a bug and settled down with some saltines and Ginger Ale, but soon even that wouldn't stay down. She tried to think about what it could be with pregnancy being the last thing on her mind until Arielle brought it up jokingly. She didn't give anything away and just laughed it off with her. Her family had no idea that she and Ethan were done and she wasn't ready to detonate that bomb just yet. Her alarm rang notifying them that the three minutes were up. She turned it off and grabbed the test. The word pregnant flashed causing a cry to escape Anna's lips as she crumbled into her best friend's arms.

Ethan had been on autopilot the last two weeks. The days after ending things with Anna blurred together. He was a drunken mess who barely had the will to get up and piss let alone shower and function. Lars finally showed up and cleaned his entire penthouse before kicking him in the bathroom and promising to lock him in if he didn't shower, brush and shave. He emerged a cleaner version of himself but he was still stuck in the dark hole he dug. He filled Lars in on everything and it resulted in Lars punching him in the face. "What the fuck!" Lars shook his hand out while Ethan held his jaw. "You're a fucking idiot you know that! How am I still friends with you?" Lars yelled as he grabbed two ice packs from the freezer.

They sat down on the couch in silence for a while. "You're wasting your life, E and it's the biggest slap to Ezra's face." Ethan let the words wash over him before looking at his best friend. "You're supposed to be living it up for both of you not squandering it. You literally went back to the woman you knew your brother hated and broke the heart of the woman you knew he wanted for you. Make it make sense, Ethan." He sighed heavily as he looked forward. "I just feel so damn guilty." He broke down as tears poured from his eyes. Lars pulled him in and patted his shoulder. "I know you do, but that's because you're not dealing with it the right way. You've isolated yourself and pushed everyone away for what. We don't hate you. Ezra doesn't hate you. So, why do you hate you? You have to realize that by now it's more than just about Ezra's death."

Ethan and Lars spent that entire day talking. Lars wasn't sure what made him open up or receptive, but he was thankful. "I'm never getting her back, am I?" Lars knew who he was referring to and sighed. "If you were in her shoes would you come back?" Ethan rested his head on the back of the couch and let a lone tear fall. "You have to go back to work, E. Your receptionist is floundering and this is still your family's business." He nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I'll go back. At least I'll be able to see her." Lars offered a small smile. He couldn't relay the threats Tasha had if Ethan were to step anywhere near her best friend. He didn't want to express that he agreed with his girlfriend. Instead, Lars told him a much-needed truth. "E, you need to get yourself together. You need to learn to love you before pursuing anything moving forward, okay?" He nodded his head before walking him out. "It'll be okay." Lars comforted before giving him a hug.

It had been two weeks since then and he still hadn't seen her. She never showed up to work. At first, he thought she was just working from home, but one of her team members said she had been out sick. His mind raced with worry if she was actually really sick and with what or if she was too heartbroken to come in. He wanted to stress over her, but he knew he had no right. That night he stared at the card in his hand and sighed. Anna had given him the business card to the therapist months ago and he had shrugged it off like he did everything. He still wasn't sure why he should call and then her face flashed in his mind. Not the usual flash of her smiling at him or moaning out his name in ecstasy, but the look she gave him before she slapped him. He picked up his phone and called the number. After a few minutes he had an appointment set for tomorrow at 9 am.