Ceci had stayed with me for most of the day following the concert, and other than when we took a break to shower and eat, we'd been in bed. I'd lost track of how many times we'd had sex, but by noon we'd run out of condoms. Neither of us minded finding other ways to give and receive pleasure. When she left, she'd kissed me goodbye with a finality that told me this wouldn't be happening again anytime soon.
Our sexual relationship was like a tea kettle. The pressure inside us built up like steam, and eventually it had to be released or else we'd explode. Things then returned to a simmer, though it was inevitable that it would rise again. The longer we waited to let off the steam, the higher intensity the sex was.
A couple days later, I was sitting on my terrace having coffee when my phone started vibrating. I looked at it and saw that it was Andrew.
"What's up?"
"I had a very distressing phone conversation this morning," he said, his voice tight.
"About what?" I asked.
"Trevor Pullman, the man who was driving the pickup truck that plowed into Ceci's car, called me and is essentially attempting to extort you with selling information to the tabloids."
I sat upright in the lounge chair. "Okay, but that's not that big a deal, right? The fact that she was in an accident isn't a secret."
"Unfortunately there's a lot more to it. He knew she was pregnant."
I felt like I'd been sucker-punched in the gut. "How? I thought that was confidential medical information?"
"He was getting checked out for a head contusion and overheard a paramedic say that the victim who was being transported to the hospital was pregnant and that there was no fetal heartbeat," Andrew explained.
I got up and moved inside even though I was fairly certain no one could hear our conversation. "But why now? I don't get why he'd suddenly be compelled to sell the story or why it would even be newsworthy."
"Because of you. He has no proof, but he connected the dots after seeing the fan footage from the other night. Your emotional break-down went viral, as you know. When you ran off stage to hug Ceci, he recognized her as the woman he'd hit. Then he did a search and saw that you'd flown to Toronto after the accident and canceled multiple concerts. He also found several pictures of the two of you together over the years. He came to conclusion, which happens to be the correct one, that you were the father of the baby Ceci lost. Now he wants five hundred thousand dollars or he'll sell the story to the highest bidder."
"That fucker is trying to profit off our grief! There's no recourse for that?" I asked.
"It's a tricky situation. We could contact the police, but he'll still sell the story and use the proceeds to cover any legal fees or fines for attempted extortion. If we ignore his request, he said the story will hit the internet in twenty-four hours."
"So you think we should pay him?"
"No. You never want to give in to an extortionist because they'll keep coming back for more money," Andrew said.
"So what exactly are you proposing we do?"
"You and Ceci have two options," he started. "The first is that you tell Pullman to fuck off and let him sell his story. We know it's true, but all the tabloids can do is say it's speculation. They have no proof the baby was yours."
"But people like to believe shit like that," I said.
"Yes, and we couldn't issue a denial because it's factual. It would ruin your image if it came out later that you'd lied. I'll talk to a couple public relations lawyers, but I think the best thing to do, if you choose the first option, is to simply say 'no comment' and hope the story dies out quickly."
"What's the other option?" I asked, hoping it was better than the first.
"You and Ceci take away his leverage by beating him to the punch. You issue a statement focusing on how you'd kept this private because it was a devastating loss. The story still gets out, but it's on your terms. By telling it yourselves, you garner sympathy instead of looking like you were hiding something," Andrew said.
"So either way, the world is going to know that Ceci was pregnant with my baby."
"Yes. I know this was something you didn't want exposed, but I don't see how we can avoid it. Our focus needs to be on handling this in a way that will be the least damaging."
"To my image, you mean?" I snapped.
"Partly, but mostly to you and Ceci as humans. I hope you know that means more to me than your career."
I sighed. "I'm sorry I implied otherwise. I'm really rattled right now. Having this go public is terrifying. Is there any chance the tabloids will turn him down because it's such a personal and private story?"
"These trash tabloids are run by people with no souls. I can't even imagine trying to sell news by exploiting the loss of a baby, but they'll do it if it will make money."
"It's sick," I seethed.
"It is, which is why I hope you'll consider the second option. It takes away some of their power if you break the story yourselves."
"I can't make that decision without Ceci," I told him. "I'll have an answer for you by tonight."
Andrew and I talked for a few more minutes. When our conversation ended, I called Ceci.
"Hi," she said when she answered. "You never call me during work hours. To what do I owe this pleasure."
"The guy who crashed into you is extorting me because he figured out the baby was mine," I said, getting right to the point.
She was silent for a moment. "I can't talk right now. I'm going to take a half day and then I'll come to your place," she said, her voice quavering.
When Ceci got to my condo, she was almost hysterical. I pulled her in for a hug and held onto her until she was a bit calmer.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I had to keep my cool at work since people were around. Then I didn't want to cry while driving because it's dangerous. When I got to your elevator, I just lost it. Tell me everything."
I started by telling her what this fucker Pullman was doing and how he'd figured things out. Ceci was outraged that he'd heard her private medical information, which was understandable. Then I explained both of Andrew's options.
"It's getting out no matter what," she concluded. "I hate that it will be revealed to the public, but honestly, it's worse that people close to us will find out. They'll know we kept it from them. There are going to be hurt feelings."
She was right. People would probably understand if we told them we wanted to keep our grief private, but that didn't mean our extended families and closest friends wouldn't have questions or be upset that we'd kept them in the dark.
"I think that releasing a statement ourselves will make it easier on the people we care about," I said.
"I agree, but I think we should make some phone calls before it goes out. I don't want those I love to find out from the statement."
"That's smart. What will we tell people?" I asked. "We need to be on the same page."
"The truth."
"But we don't have to share everything. No one has to know that we've had our thing for years, right? Can't we just say it was one night?"
Ceci took my hand in hers. "Shawn, we kept our thing, if that's what you want to call it, a secret for a long time. I think that if we're going to come clean to the public about the pregnancy, we owe it to the people we care about to be honest. No one needs the details, but I think we should say we've had an off and on relationship for a long time."
I knew that most people would be understanding, because how could anyone be too judgmental of us considering what we'd been through? It was inevitable that some would feel betrayed.
"I'm really sorry it's come to this," I told her. "I know I'm to blame since I was the one who wanted to keep the pregnancy a secret for as long as possible."
She leaned against me so that her head was on my shoulder. "We're both to blame, and we had our reasons."
I picked my phone up off the coffee table to call Andrew.
Once he answered, I gave him the news. "Ceci and I have come to a decision. We're going to release a statement."
We spent the next half hour crafting what we wanted to say, which would be posted on all of my social media accounts in the morning. That gave us the evening to contact the people we needed to tell.