Page 42 of The Bonus

He digs his phone out of his pocket and looks at the screen.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump goes my heart.

Here it is, the moment of truth…

He looks at the screen and without answering the call puts his phone back into his pocket.

The caustic truth hits me hard in the face.

My vision blurs with tears.

“He’s such a fucking prick,” Debbie mutters under her breath.

I sit and stare into space, my heartbeat hammering in my ears.

And now I know.

7

Grace

“Maybe he’ll call back when he’s alone, I mean…he couldn’t really talk when he was with people, could he?” Deb says as her eyes stay glued on the group of men as they disappear around the corner.

I nod, but I know that’s not true.

Gabriel doesn’t conform for anyone, if he wanted to talk to me then, he would have.

I slump back into my chair, shocked but not surprised.

“This would have been such a great opportunity to get rolling drunk right about now.” Deb sighs, she points to my stomach. “Hope the baby’s having fun in there…drinking all the drinks he wants to drink.”

“It might be a girl.” I look over at her and smirk. I stand, feeling somewhat relieved that calling him is over. “Come on then.”

“Where are we going?”

“To get you a cocktail.”

“We are?” Her eyes widen with excitement. “But you can’t have one.”

I link my arm with hers. “I get the feeling that you are going to drink enough for the two of us.”

“The three of us.”

The three of us.

“Yeah, the three of us.” I smile. “I kind of like the sound of that.”

“And something unexpected happened in the streets of New York today, a giant drone landed in Central Park.”

The late-night news is playing in the background. I glance over to see Debbie fast asleep on the couch, I glance at my watch.

12:05 a.m.

I exhale heavily and look at the screen on my phone.

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