Page 43 of Oops, I'm Having My Best Friend’s Baby!

CHAPTER 17

AMY

Amy had never considered herself much of an actress; she’d flunked out of high school theater and never looked back. The only reason she had been able to pass off being Kai’s fiancée to Jess and Jason in the first place was because she already had feelings for him. It was just that she had been stubbornly ignoring them. And she was still harboring feelings for Kai even right this second — that had never stopped — even if she had been furious with him. Because with time and space forcing her to think, now she knew all he was trying to do was help and that she should have accepted it a long time ago. The feelings were there, deep in her chest. They always had been and always would be.

The problem with going along to this dinner tonight wouldn’t be trying to convince Jason and Jess that there was something between her and Kai, because that was no longer a lie. The problem with going to tonight’s dinner was that she needed to pretend like she wasn’t completely freaking out about her current situation. She was going to have to pretend that she wasn’t drowning.

She’d debated not going. It would be easy enough to say that she was unwell, that something had come up, and none of them would think anything of it if Kai went alone to one dinner. But when Kai had messaged and given her an out, promising to cover for her, that she had no obligations or responsibilities in this situation, well, that’s when her brain had decided that she needed to go along. She needed to see him at some point, mostly because she was pregnant with his child; that kind of warranted a conversation at some point. And she needed an in, a way to reach out to him, and this would be as good a way as any.

She had looked up the restaurant where Jason had booked a table, The Crest, and of course it was beautiful and wildly extravagant. Did she even have any clothes appropriate for setting foot in there? God, she’d just said yes to coming along straight away, but this time around she might not actually be able to pull it off. Between her wardrobe and her frayed nerves, she wasn’t firing on all cylinders, not even remotely.

Would Jess maybe lend her something to wear? She’d know exactly what to wear at a place like this as well. But calling Jess up and having to pretend that she was just fine for any longer than necessary might be enough to make Amy snap. She’d make do with what she had.

In the end, Amy had shown up at The Crest after having thrown on her best dress, a plain black thing she’d had for years, and some plain black flats. She’d gotten her hair to lay mostly flat, which was a major victory in itself. If anyone asked, she was going for chic and simple, a minimalistic approach. She tried not to feel like she was dressed for a funeral.

She made her way into the foyer of the restaurant, all soft light and glass glinting off of every surface, the tinkle of cutlery and the hum of voices floating in from the main dining room. No one else was there yet and Amy’s stomach sank. She didn’t want to be alone, not right now. It was with supreme effort that she stopped herself from pacing around the foyer, like she had been pacing around her kitchen, debating whether to call Kai about the reunion, what felt like a lifetime ago.

Then there were hands on her shoulders and a giggle in her ear, and Amy turned around to find Jess in all her glory. She looked immaculate as always, wearing a floor-length, gold evening dress and heels ten stories high. Her hair was swept back into an artful chignon, and the diamonds around her neck could probably buy a house.

“Oh, I love what you’re wearing,” Jess said, waving at Amy’s simple ensemble. “Very Audrey Hepburn.”

“Thanks,” Amy said, letting herself be tugged into a hug. “You look gorgeous.”

“Stop it,” Jess tutted. “I wasn’t expecting you in here. We just ran into Kai outside.”

Oh, God. They probably should have thought about arriving at the restaurant together… Sure enough, Jason and Kai walked in together, and Amy started feeling sick all over again. At least it wasn’t the kind of sickness that was going to have her running to the bathroom at the drop of a hat.

“You guys didn’t come together?” Jason asked, confused as to why Amy was all alone in here as Kai walked in with them.

“He had to go out for a phone call,” Amy said smoothly before Kai could even open his mouth, and Jason and Jess didn’t blink an eye. Okay, so maybe she could get through tonight without failing miserably. That was promising, even though Amy really didn’t feel too happy about that, because Jess was probably going to hate her if the truth ever came out… She wasn’t going to think about that possibility. Tonight was all about keeping the ruse going, so for tonight, at least, no one was going to hate her. That was a problem for another time.

Jason went up to the hostess so they could get seated at their table for their reservation, and Amy was left somewhat alone with Kai for the first time since their disastrous fight in the marina. He was so handsome, his hair swept off his face and his suit falling on his shoulders just right. He smiled softly at her, and God, he just looked so sad that it broke Amy’s heart. He’d just wanted to help; all along that was all he’d wanted to do. She smiled back, fairly certain that she was looking just as dismal as Kai. When he offered her his arm, she took it and gave it a gentle squeeze. They couldn’t silently communicate much else by the time they were gathered up and shown to their table, but Amy hoped that it was enough to ease his worries.

The restaurant really was stunning. The ceilings soared high and there were literal chandeliers dotted here and there, their crystals making tiny rainbows dance on the upper walls. It was like being back on the yacht again, a world of effortless luxury. At least now Amy could slip into that world a little less awkwardly. She gave Kai one more squeeze of his arm as she sat and had to let go of him. She just hoped that squeeze was enough to communicate even a fraction of the million thoughts buzzing around her head. Most of which were some sort of version of I missed you. But she couldn’t tell from his expression what he was thinking because now the show was underway. They were here to celebrate Jason and Kai signing the contracts to join their substantial voices in the tech industry. This wasn’t about Amy. Her feelings could wait until after dinner when they could talk properly. She just needed to be patient, even though that felt downright impossible right now.

They sat and chatted back and forth about nothing much in particular, the usual light banter you had when catching up with friends. Amy felt like she was having an out-of-body experience through the whole thing, smiling and joking and catching up with Jess, all while she felt numb on the inside.

She had to look at the silver lining; this was a good thing. This was going well. Because no one suspected a thing. No one had asked her what was wrong or if she was okay, so the inside clearly wasn’t leaking through to the outside. She was pulling this off, and that meant if she just kept doing exactly this, then she could make it through the whole dinner. Easy. On the scale of things she had done in her life, this was so easy. She thought back to being a scruffy, sleep-deprived teenager, leaving school to go and work a six-hour shift at the supermarket before going back to Kai’s to crash for the night and get up in the morning to do it all again. Eating dinner in a fancy restaurant with people she liked? This was nothing. When the waiter came by and handed out menus, she took one with a smile and just kept reminding herself how easy this all was.

“There’s too much to choose from,” Jess said, sounding dismayed. “And it all looks so good. How are you supposed to choose?”

“Don’t worry, babe,” Jason said affectionately. “We can all have dinner here again another time, and we can work our way through the menu.”

Well, that was an odd feeling, to feel both excited and dismayed by the same thought. Excited because Amy wanted to have dinner with them all again and dismayed because it would mean more pretending. Kai, for his part, had reverted to his strategy of saying as little as possible and therefore not giving himself any room for messing up.

But tonight, just tonight, that was all Amy had to focus on. She refused to even think about the impending conversation with Kai. That was later. She just had to focus on now.

The idea of eating hadn’t been at the top of Amy’s priorities the last few days. Waves of nausea had been battering her about like a concentrated cyclone, and she’d mostly just been eating dry toast and graham crackers whenever she could stomach them. So far she was feeling well enough tonight that she prayed she’d be able to get through the whole meal without feeling nauseous. She ordered a bolognese dish which seemed fairly safe. Pasta was always a safe bet. And honestly, thank God for garlic bread; that might be her savior tonight.

“You’ve been quiet, man,” Jason said to Kai, and Amy always forgot how much the man noticed.

“Just a bit tired, honestly,” Kai said, and Amy didn’t think that was even a lie. He looked run-down. He looked stressed. All she wanted to do was reach across under the table and touch his knee. She had halfway worked up the courage to actually do it when a man arrived at their table, spine straight and proud and his uniform impeccable, a bottle of red wine cradled gently in the crook of his arm.

“Good evening,” he said with such a polished voice that Amy was honestly unable to place his accent. Was he American? Was he British? Who knew? “My name is Peter, and I am the sommelier for The Crest. My very warmest welcome to our establishment.”

Amy, for all of her cooking training and experience, had never actually eaten at a place with its own sommelier before, her mind kind of just glazing over as he went into detail about the wine he was about to pour. She was too wound up and anxious to pay that much attention to what region of France the grapes had been harvested in.

Peter poured drinks for everybody and placed a glass of wine in front of her as well, and Amy realized with a jolt that she wouldn’t actually be able to drink any of it. That little fact made her pregnancy feel immediately more real. Water it was, then.

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