"Is it mine?"
"Fuck off." I snap, whirling around and storming back over towards the door of his office. The absolute nerve! As if I would have come here and told him if it wasn't his!
"No Savannah!" Brett calls out behind me, "Wait!" He grabs onto my shoulder, turning me back to face him, "Wait!"
"What?" I snap, reaching up and shoving his hands off me.
"I shouldn't have..." He trails off, taking a step back. "I just didn't know if..."
"No. I haven't been with anyone else since Christmas." I cut him off, answering bluntly.
"Oh." He mutters, before his eyes widen. "Oh!"
"Yeah."
"You... you're pregnant." He breathes out, resting back on his desk once more.
"Yep."
"Shit." He mutters, reaching up and running a hand through his hair.
"That was my reaction too." I admit, shrugging as he glances up at me.
"It was?"
"Hell yeah!" I exclaim, "This was definitely not the plan." I walk over, resting against his desk beside him.
"Definitely not." He agrees, his eyes fixed on the wall.
"Anyway, I just thought you should know, in case you want to be a part of their life."
"Are you serious?" He snaps his head towards me, "Of course I do!" He declares, "How can you even doubt that?"
"I don't know you anymore Brett." I mutter and he shakes his head, looking back at the wall.
"I haven't changed that much."
"But I don't know that." I remind him before we descend into a short silence, "So you want to be involved?"
"Of course." He looks back at me, smiling slightly, "Savannah I'm not some jerk that you had one night with and didn't know anything about."
"I know that." I admit, before tearing my eyes away from his deeply entrancing ocean blue eyes. "That's why it'll be easier to co-parent."
"Co-parent?" He echoes and I nod, pushing away from the desk and standing in front of him.
"Yeah." I shrug, "We can do like fifty-fifty custody or whatever."
"Sav..."
"What? I think that's the best idea." I assert and he sighs.
"I don't know whether it is."
"What does that mean? You want to take the baby away from me entirely?"
"No! I would never!" He quickly counters, standing up straight and taking a step towards me, "I just meant there are other options."
"Like what?"
"Bringing the baby up together." He says, as though it is actually a feasible option.
"We will be." I mutter, "As co-parents."
"I'm not sure that's what I want." He argues softly, taking a step closer and grabbing hold of a loose tendril of my hair, looping it behind my ear. The slight touch on my skin sends tingles of excitement throughout my body and I quickly step backwards, away from him.
"I-I need to go." I stutter, "I'll contact you." I finish before whirling around and throwing myself out of his office and back into the elevator, my brain absolutely shot to bits after that encounter.
That's enough for one day.
*~*~*
The consistent hammering on the front door has me cursing as I stumble towards it, the disruption having woken me from a nap. It reminds me of when I was in college and Elena would forget her keys at least once a week, forever interrupting my dates, naps or food so that I'd let her in.
I hated being interrupted then and I hate it now.
Grabbing onto the handle I yank it open, not caring that the permanent glare that's residing on my face is going to be what the person first lays eyes on.
"Brett!" My eyes immediately widen, the glare being replaced by a look of shock, "What are you..."
"I brought Chinese." He grins his killer smile, holding up a brown paper bag in his hands.
"How did you find out where I live?" I query and he raises an eyebrow at me. "Right." I mutter. Of course, he's a bloody millionaire. What can't money buy?
"Becky in?" Brett asks as I reluctantly stand back, letting him enter the apartment.
"No. She's on a date."
"This is a nice place." He notes, glancing around at the brick walls, the open plan living area, the collage of Becky and I on the left hand wall.
"Don't be sarcastic." I retort, shutting the door behind him.
"I'm not!" He insists, turning back to face me.
"Please! Your place is probably twice the size." I scoff.
"You know I never cared for that."
"What Chinese did you bring?" I ask as he places the bag down on the counter.
"Chow mein. Your favorite." He grins and I feel my eyebrows rise slightly. Why does his impeccable memory always surprise me?
"Thanks." I reply, shooting him a small smile as I walk around the other side of the counter, grabbing cutlery from the drawer and sliding some across to him as he places a box in front of each of us. "Here."
"Thanks." He smiles before opening his box. "So how was your day?"
"It was okay."
"Not going to open up to me, huh?" He smirks, watching as I take the first mouthful. I'm unable to keep the happiness hidden from my expression as the taste fills my mouth and I notice the amusement that fills his features at the sight.
"Brett, I appreciate the food." I reply, having quickly swallowed. "But I don't know what you think this baby is going to change!"
"Savannah, this could be our chance..."
"We've had too many chances in the past!" I retort, "I'm done with it." I announce, noticing his expression fall slightly, "This baby was... a mistake. We both know that." I shrug, "It doesn't change anything between us."
"You won't even open your mind to the possibility?" He tries and I look back down at my food.
"No." I reply simply, before shoveling more food into my mouth. We descend into an uncomfortable silence, our differing opinions now explicitly clear. He went on a date today, why does he even want to talk about the possibility of recommencing our relationship? Just because we're having a baby? Absolutely not.
"This is good chow mein." He says suddenly and I glance back up.
"It is." I agree.
"Have you had any cravings yet?" He asks and I shake my head.
"No."
Silence takes over once more and I find myself dwelling on his words again. Did he really think that I'd agree to start a relationship with him again? We broke up for a reason, a reason that I could never move on from, never forgive.
Didn't stop you sleeping with him though Sav, did it?
"Look, you have to talk to me if we're even going to do this co-parent thing." He pipes up.
"I am!"
"No you're not!" He scoffs, "You didn't have any problems talking with me in the cabin."
"If I seem to remember correctly, we 'had our time'." I quote back.
"Savannah..."
"No really? That's what you said!" I snap, "How the hell does a baby change any of that?"
"If you think hard enough, you'll remember that I ended up giving in the next morning." He points out, "I said that because I thought it was true." He continues, "I fucked up so many times, screwed with your feelings." He snaps, "You deserve better than me. I still believe that." He declares and I swallow the lump in my throat, "That's why I said that." He says quietly, "If you can find someone else who gives you all the happiness in the world then do it."
"Brett..."
"But if that could be me, shouldn't we try?" He says, his eyes capturing mine once more.
"No." I shake my head, tearing my eyes away, "I can't do another relationship with you." I grimace, "It's breaks me every time." I admit hoarsely, watching as his gaze falls to the table.
"I know." He replies, his voice low. "I break myself too." He looks down at his now empty box of food and I shuffle on my feet slightly, uncomfortable with the awkward situation that we both just created for ourselves.
"Let's.... have some dessert." I exclaim, grabbing hold of our empty boxes and shoving them into the trash.
"You have dessert?" He asks, cocking an eyebrow. I shoot him a look and he smirks slightly. "Of course!" He exclaims. As if Savannah Hurst wouldn't have some form of dessert in her house? Really?
"Eclairs?" I ask, pulling them out.
"Sounds amazing." He grins and I quickly serve us each one onto a plate, "Didn't you used to have ice cream with these?" He asks and I grimace.
"I can't have ice cream these days."
"You can't?"
"I throw it up."
"Oh." Brett's eyes widen slightly and I take a bite out of the eclair.
"It's depressing." I mutter and he watches as I chew off another huge chunk.
"I can imagine." He chuckles, "Given how much you love food."
"You have no idea!" I moan and he laughs. I concentrate back on the eclair, the chocolate like absolute heaven in my mouth. Noticing that Brett has stopped eating his own, his gaze instead fixed on me, I quickly wipe my mouth, "What?"
"Nothing." He shakes his head, "You cut your hair shorter."
"I wanted a change after college." I shrug, "It's not that short. It's longer than high school."
"It suits you." He compliments.
"Thanks." I can't help the smile that fills my face, "Your hair is longer too." I gesture.
"By a few millimeters."
"I still noticed." I shrug and he laughs once more.
"Fair enough." He grins, "Anything else changed?"
"What?"
"I don't know, just curious about your life."
"There's not much to know."
"I bet there is." He counters, "Come on, how did the internship go?"
"It was good. It came to an end after a year and a half and they offered to keep me on but I wanted to explore other options."
"Makes sense." He nods his head, "Did you try anything else?"
"I did accounting for a couple of months."
"And?"
"It was as dull as watching paint dry." I groan, "I went and got another job in a restaurant until I graduated."
"My Diner Girl." He blurts out, smiling.
"No!" I object, chuckling slightly, "It was as far away from the diner that a restaurant can get!"
"And after you graduated?"
"I went home for a bit. Got a job at the library." I tell him, "Becky and I got bored of Edgewater so we decided to try it in the big leagues." I smile at the memory, "We moved to the city with no jobs. She got one first."
"With Ronnie Toss?"
"Tommy Ross! Yes." I laugh, "I couldn't find anything so she managed to get me an interview for their marketing team. I worked my way up and now I oversee the entire team, writing up all the descriptions for the clothes."
"Sounds... interesting."
"It's not what I planned to be doing." I admit.
"What did you plan?"
"I didn't. I still don't know what I want to do." I shake my head and he raises his eyebrows.
"You enjoyed the internship?" Brett asks and I nod.
"I did. It was my favorite one out of the lot."
"They dealt in the same business as what I do." He points out and I nod.
"I know." I reply, "Anyway, enough about me! What about you? What happened to you after college?"
"I went to New York and worked with my Father for a few months and then I quit." He explains, "Went back into football instead."
"You finally did it." I grin, so grateful that he managed to escape his Dad's clutches.
"I did." He smiles, "I always had your words circling my head. I knew I couldn't stay there." He admits, "It was the one thing you asked of me." He says softly, looking across at me. I feel his words hit me hard, the fact that he truly listened to me causing my heart to flutter slightly. We weren't even together anymore but my feelings were still important to him, he still made sure he did what I asked.
"I think... maybe you should leave?" I manage to get out.
"Leave?" He repeats, eyebrows furrowing as he stands up.
"I'm tired..."
"You're not chucking me out like I'm a one night stand?" He accuses, standing directly in front of me.
"But that's exactly what you are Brett!" I lash out, "Don't you get that?"
"I'm not." He argues.
"Yes you are."
"Alright. You go out with another boy." Brett dares, "If he makes you feel exactly how I make you feel when I look at you like this." He takes a step closer to me, his eyes boring down into mine, setting every one of my nerves on high alert, "When I touch you like this." He continues, his hand reaching out and trailing up my arm, my hairs immediately standing on end, breath catching in my throat, "When I kiss you like this." He lowers his face towards mine and I'm frozen in place as he plants a chaste kiss at the corner of my lips, scared that if I move even slightly I'll lose all resolve and throw myself into his arms.
"Then I'll let you go." He announces, taking a step back, closer towards the door.
"Brett..."
"I'm not letting go this time Savannah." He shakes his head, "I've never felt this way with another girl, no matter how many times I've tried." He admits, "I know you're the same."
I am. It's obvious, from the moment I threw myself on him at Christmas. But just because our sexual chemistry is there doesn't mean that I can forget the mistakes he made, the deadly choices and the heartbreak that came along with it.
"I'll wait." Brett says with finality before sliding out the front door and closing it behind him, leaving me alone with nothing but my own clouded thoughts.
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