Them (completed)

Chapter 13: Them

Chapter 13: Them

            I was shocked to see Shanay in my office before Christopher and twenty minutes early. As always she looked stunning. She had on a white button up with ruffles and a pencil skirt that showed off her curves. Her hair was pulled back in a bun and not a hair was out of place. Gold eye shadow and brown eyeliner accented her golden brown eyes. She had a hint of blush on her high cheekbones and brown lipstick that made her lips fuller.

            As we sat in my office I had nothing to say to her. Rena taped her pencil like she always did when she was nerves. Shanay crossed her legs and leaned back in the chair. Women like her got everything they wanted. Women like her don’t deserve men like Christopher. Why Christopher was into her I will never know.

            Christopher walked in at five on the dot. His jeans hung loosely and his white polo fit him perfectly. He looked surprised to see Shanay setting in her usual seat. He didn’t bother to hide his anger towards her. Christopher took the seat farthest away from her. Shanay just rolled her eyes at him.

            “I sense some tension,” Rena said.

            “She’s cheating on me,” Christopher said.

            I couldn’t let Rena screw this one up. Shanay was cheating on him. This was our chance to get rid of her once and for all.

            “You ass,” Shanay replied.

            “Is this true?” I asked Shanay.

            “Hell no and this ass would know that if he would just ask.”

            “Who the hell was the white dude?” Christopher asked.

            “My divorce lawyer,” Shanay shrieked.

            “Divorce lawyer,” Christopher said lowly to himself. He leaned back in the chair with disappointment written all over his face. “You’re still going through with this?” He asked her.

            “I was informing him that we were trying to make our marriage work. He suggested I should file for separation first. I was going to talk to you about it later,” She informed Christopher.

            “Why didn’t you say that this morning?”

            “You and Logan were engaged in a conversation, I felt like I was intruding.”

            “So you lie and say you’re going out with Marie and Mary. “

            “I did go out with them after I went to see Jackson,” she shot back.

            “When was the last time you two argued?”

            “I don’t know,” Christopher and Shanay said in sync.

            I asked Christopher what normally happens when they argue.

            He explained, “Normally she does all the yelling and I don’t want to make the situation worse. She may cry or walk away. Usually we will set down and hash out our difference. Then make up. That was before but recently we really don’t bother to argue.”

            “What do you want from your husband,” I asked Shanay.

            She thought to herself for a while then shrugged her shoulders. I had a feeling she did know she just didn’t’ want to share her feelings. Shanay wasn’t the type of women to open up to just anyone. She seemed like the girl who bottled her emotions up until they exploded.

            “You two don’t have kids but I have heard you talk about pregnancy,” I pushed. I needed to know the story behind them not having any kids.

            Shanay’s eyes filled with water and Christopher held his head down. I could tell neither of them wanted to talk about the issues at hand.

            “You are going to have to talk about it,” I said to both of them. Neither of them opened their mouth to say anything. “Okay I’ll give you time to think about it but it has to be talked about.”

            “Our son died at 20 weeks,” Christopher informed me.

            He was holding back tears and Shanay already had a couple of tears rolling down her face.

            I encouraged him to tell me the story.

            “I was driving us to the beach. It was the end of May and we wanted to get away. It was a car accident before us and traffic was stopped. I had my hand on her stomach and she was singing a Rihanna song. We didn’t notice the car behind us until it slammed into the back of my SUV. We collided with the car in front of us.  I remember holding Shanay back against the seat. She was terrified I could tell. Once the car stopped I checked her out. I kept asking if she was okay. She seemed okay. She even said she was okay. I got out of the car to see what was going on. The driver behind us was clearly high on something. I think the guy in front of us spent half an hour yelling at the guy who caused the accident. My wife had dialed 911. The paramedics wanted to check her out when they arrived on the scene. I helped her out the car. As soon as she was standing she collapsed in my arms. I was so scared. Shay looked so pale and I hadn’t noticed until she collapsed. The paramedics got a gurney and put her in the back of an ambulance. I was with her the whole time. They kept saying her VP was dropping.  I didn’t know what the hell they were talking about. The only thing I understood was the fetus was in distress. That’s what they kept saying. They rushed her straight to an emergency room while I waited.  I called all our family and friends. They were at least an hour away though. 45 minutes later a doctor came out and asked if I knew what Placental Eruption was. Of course I didn’t know what that meant. She explained to me it’s when the placenta detached from the walls. She said the baby lost oxygen. I didn’t understand what she was trying to tell me. I just stood there. She finally just told me the baby didn’t make it but Shay was okay.  I kept thinking if we had made it to the hospital earlier maybe our son would be alive. Every day I think about it. We were not ready for a kid but we loved him. I couldn’t wait to meet him. I never got to meet him.”

            Christopher had a few tears rolling down his face as he relived the death of their son. Shay was in tears herself.

            Even though tears were rolling down Chris’ face he still maintained his composure and continued the memory.

            “The worst part was telling Shay we lost the baby. I already knew she wouldn’t be happy but I didn’t expect her to accuse me of lying. She said I never wanted the baby so I was lying. When the doctors told her what I already told her she blamed me for the death of our son. I remember her words clearly. She said, ‘You was our protector and you couldn’t even do that.’ Her words cut like a knife.”

            Christopher stopped talking and looked at Shanay who was sobbing into her hands. I couldn’t tell if she was crying because of the words she said to Christopher or because the story was just too painful.

            “Can we end here?” Christopher asked.

            “Yea.”

            He went over to his wife and picked her up in his arms. I held the door open for him as he carried her out while she cried into his shoulders.