TENACITY

CHAPTER SIX

She glanced at the entrance once more, letting out a disappointed sigh. "He talked the night club's owner—who turned out to be a friend of his—to fire me but allowed me keep my day job, then set the appointment. He was pretty mad at me so I don't think he's going to come. He's late anyway."

Alexandra nodded in understanding and asked more softly, "What's the other job?"

"Waitressing."

"At a restaurant?"

The lady scoffed. "No, they all said they didn't need a pregnant woman who'd leave as soon as she came and leave them hanging."

"Ouch," Lexi said with a wince. "Must have hurt. Sorry."

She waved it off. "I like where I'm working. It's average but clean enough and pays the bills. They also allow you to keep your tips so..." she trailed off with a careless shrug.

"I see."

"What about you? Why are you alone?" She asked. Alexandra paused, thinking about all the answers she could give her.

'My husband doesn't trust me anymore, you know.'

or

'He kicked me out so we're no longer together.'

or

'He doesn't know I'm pregnant.'

or

'He might not believe me.'

or better yet, the simplest,

'Don't you watch the news? We were plastered all over with the story of our separation—of my infidelity.'

She was patiently waiting when Alexandra came back down to earth. "I'm so sorry," Alexandra murmured with a sheepish smile.

She waved it off, grinning. "Is the answer that complicated?"

"Yeah, it is," she agreed, her lips parting with a heavy exhale. Lexi licked her lips and gazed ahead of her so she wouldn't see the look of sympathy or disgust that might appear on the lady's face when she connected the dots. "My husband—he doesn't know I'm pregnant with his child. We're not together anymore. We're going through divorce actually."

"Oh," was all the lady could mutter. "That's rough."

"Tell me about it."

Melissa cleared her throat noisily to get their attention. "That was quite the introduction," she said, narrowing her eyes to slits at Alexandra.

"I'm sorry," she sputtered, wondering how she had completely forgotten she was here with Melissa. "Uh... this is my best friend and sister-in-law, Melissa," the lady inclined her head in greeting with a polite smile, trying to figure out where she'd seen Melissa before. Clueless, Lexi continued with the introduction. "Melissa that's—sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"It's Samantha," she said warmly. "You can call me Sam."

"Nice to meet you," Melissa piped in, tossing her wavy caramel hair over her shoulder. Then it clicked to Sam just who Melissa was. She had to try hard to keep herself from fangirling over Melissa.

Lowering her voice, she asked, "Hey, aren't you Melissa Crawford, with your own fashion line that started with writing blogs?"

"Yeah," Melissa answered, looking vastly amused. "I noticed you looked at me a little strangely when Lexi introduced us. Guess I know why now."

Sam's eyes went a little wide, then she turned to Alexandra. "So, if she's Melissa Crawford, the best friend. . ." she trailed off, thinking hard. And Lexi couldn't decide whether to panic or be amused. Sam snapped her fingers when it came to her.