Cool Mom

73: Dire News

"Please check on Daniel at intervals in case he needs anything. Jeremy will be here in half an hour." I tell the butler as I get into the car that the driver brought out to the front for me.

Daniel has been ill lately. Nothing too serious but the doctors have prohibited him from traveling to work or straining his body, mentally. It's been a week since Daniel last went to the office and he has been looking for ways to get out of the house arrest until he reached a compromise with Jeremy about working from home which is why Jeremy has been visiting twice every day to update him on the daily happenings.

I drive to Hazel's school, only to arrive fifteen minutes early. Since the rest of the school was let off an hour ago, the only cars in the parking lot are probably those waiting for children involved in extracurricular activities, like Hazel's swimming practice.

I decide to walk to the school's swimming pool and catch the end of Hazel's practice session for the day. As I'm making my way towards the pool, I feel my phone vibrate in my handbag. I check the caller ID to see that it is Jeremy.

"Hey!" I answer the call and continue on my way.

"You're pregnant?" He asks.

"How-?" I stutter.

"Just answer the question!" He tells me.

I take a deep breath and reply, "Yes."

"Shit." I hear him mutter and ends the call.

Shocked and confused at the conversation and puzzled about how he found out, I try calling him but he does not answer. I don't even realize how long I stand where I am, trying to get Jeremy to answer his phone by leaving voice notes and messages until I hear Hazel behind me.

"Hi mommy!"

I whirl around, "Hey Bunny! How was your day?"

"I got the highest marks in the Math test!" She excitedly tells me how everyone in the class clapped for her when the teacher told them who received the highest score.

For a second I forget about Jeremy's phone call, proud of the fact that Hazel got these marks on her own with no one's help as Daniel was ill and I was not feeling too well with my fourth month coming to an end.

Hazel is exhausted from the day and falls asleep on our way home. Half way back, Jeremy finally calls again.

"How did you find out that I'm pregnant?" I ask, answering the call.

"Can you meet me at the office? I need to talk to you immediately." He says.

"Is something wrong?" I ask, my heart hammering.

"Might as well be." He sighs and I agree to meet him in ten minutes.

Promptly, ten minutes later I park in the area designated for Daniel's personal cars and wake Hazel. She groggily lets me drag her into the building and to the top floor via the elevator where Jeremy is waiting for me.

"What's wrong?" I ask Jeremy, the minute we walk into his office.

"It might be a while. Have a seat." He says but Hazel has already curled up on the couch in the room and gone back to sleep.

I sit down and raise an eyebrow.

"Hamish and Co. somehow found out about Daniel's illness." He says.

"What?!" I exclaim.

He sighs and leans back in his chair, "I have the company's PR working on the source and lawyers are looking into ways to subdue any damage that this information may cause to our business."

"But if everything's under control then what's there to worry about?" I ask.

"Your pregnancy." He replies. I'm too confused to even ask him to explain so he continues on his own.

"Hazel was a liability that they already exploited and failed and now with the added security, she is untouchable and so are you."

"What are you saying? Aren't we safe?" I ask him.

"Theoretically, yes. But with them getting ready to tell the world that the owner of the largest PR firm in the world is unwell to look after his own business, the world will answer by turning to them instead. Daniel's dedication to this business is the image that attracts clients to us in the first place. With Daniel no longer coming in, the Human Resource department is working double time to ensure employee satisfaction but once they all know what the real reason is for his absence, Aaron Limited might as well be plunging to its death."

I sit in silence for a moment, absorbing his words before I gather my thoughts and ask, "What does my pregnancy have to do with any of this?"

"Somehow they're aware of complications that you had with Hazel's birth and--other complications that you had conceiving. They're willing to push both Daniel and you to the extent that not only does this business die but so do you two."

I'm back! This time for good.

I'm so sorry that I dropped off the face of the earth but some things in my life have not exactly been going the way I had wished them to be which is why I had to take a break from everything and just gather myself.

But I'm back now and I already have the next chapter half written which I'll probably post in a couple of hours or latest by tomorrow :)

-T