Page 33 of A Night To Remember

Charlie nodded. At least she didn’t try to lie about it, not that she could anyway. In his heart of hearts, Jake knew the child was his the moment he set eyes on her.

“You must have had a good laugh behind my back.” What a fool she’d played him for.

“Jake, it wasn’t like that. Look, I won’t ask you for any money, so please don’t think she’ll become a financial burden to you and I promise I won’t say anything to anyone about her. I’ll resign and no one will be the wiser for it.” She paused giving him a pleading look, but he wasn’t about to let her off the hook.

When he remained silent, she continued. “I don’t think there was anyone else in the lobby other than Jennifer who saw her so no one has to know. I didn’t know my Dad would bring her inside. You see my parents are visiting me and—”

“Shut up. Just shut the hell up,” shouted, interrupting her. “Charlie, you’ve made me feel a number of things these past few months, but I never thought hate would be one of them. What kind of woman are you to keep me from my child. How dare you think I would want to keep my daughter a secret? Why would you think that?”

“I was afraid that you’d reject her.”

Her answer further infuriated him. “Is it because you think I’d be ashamed of her skin color?” When Charlie didn’t answer, he yelled. “Answer me, goddamn it!”

Charlie said a hasty no but Jake didn’t believe her.

“So not only do you think I wish to be a deadbeat dad, you think I’m racist to boot?”

“I never said that, Jake. I know you’re not those things. I just wanted you to know she’s taken care of and you don’t have to be a part of her life if you don’t want to,” Charlie protested.

“Charlie, you’re treading on very thin ice at the moment.” Jake took a deep breath to calm himself. “What’s my daughter’s name?” he demanded.

“You don’t have to sound so proprietary about her,” Charlie muttered defensively.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t play games, now tell me her name!”

“Kristy. Kristy Elizabeth Brown.”

“Her birthday?”

“December 12th.”

“Exactly nine months from that night.” He calculated in his head.

He knew the answer before he asked, but had to hear it from her lips. “What did you put for the father’s name on her birth certificate?”

“Unknown,” she said so softly he had to strain to hear.

Jake abruptly turned away from Charlie, hating the very sight of her at this moment. “You labeled our daughter a bastard,” he accused.

“Jake, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. It was a one-night thing and I thought… Well, I didn’t think…” He could hear the tears in her voice, but no sympathy came. Let her feel miserable. She deserved it after the stunt she’d pulled.

“That’s right, you didn’t think. You’ve been with this company for three months, not weeks, months, and yet you couldn’t have told me in that amount of time?” Tears of fury and hurt sprung to his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Jake. In retrospect, I probably should have said something, but I didn’t consider your feelings in the matter. It was selfish to keep Kristy a secret,” she began hesitantly.

“I don’t want to hear it. There’s absolutely nothing you can say at this moment to justify what you did, but I guess I should thank you, though.” He turned back, feeling his temper slowly reining in. At Charlie’s puzzled expression, Jake smiled humorlessly. “From the looks of things, you’ve taken good care of her, and for that I thank you. She’s seems like a sweet little girl. It’s too bad her mother is a cold bitch.”

Charlie gasped. “I know you’re upset, Jake, but I’m not going to stand here and be called nasty names.” Tears ran down her eyes as she turned to leave, but Jake was too quick for her.

He grabbed her and turned her back around to face him. “You’ve got a lot of nerve to play the victim here. You’re lucky nasty names is the only thing you’re getting right now. How could you, Charlie?” He was still trying to make sense of it all. How could someone he thought he loved do something so underhanded?

Charlie closed her eyes as if trying to block out his anger and hurt. “I’m sorry, Jake.” She sounded contrite, but he wasn’t ready to hear her apology.

“You keep saying you’re sorry but your apology comes too little, too late. I’ll be in touch with you, and I will have access to my daughter. And I expect you to fix her birth certificate. If you try to keep her from me, then you’ll know the true meaning of sorry. Now get the hell out of my sight!”

Charlie scrambled out of the room like a scared mouse. When she closed the door behind her, Jake punched a hole in the wall.

After Charlie went scurrying out of the office, Jake screamed his frustration. He rubbed his sore fist. All this time, Charlie had been deceiving him. Jake thought about all the times he’d seen her at work and that time in his office when they made love. She had plenty of opportunities to tell him.

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