Page 53 of Surprise Baby for Daddy's Best Friend

"Ma'am?" a girl barely out of high school tapped me on the shoulder.

I wanted to tell her I wasn't old enough to be called ma'am but pushed that aside. No point in causing a scene. "What's up?"

She pointed to her seat, "You don't look so good. You can take my seat." She wrapped her arm around the pole. "I can stand. My stop is coming up next anyway."

"Oh... thanks."

I sidled through the crowd and made my way to her now empty seat. An older woman was sitting next to me, reading a random magazine about country home life. I wondered if she had ever seen the countryside before or was just dreaming about it. I couldn't imagine not living in the city. There was just so much to do out here and while I hated the trains some days, it was better than dealing with rush hour traffic any day of the week.

The train was quiet, but it was obvious that a lot of people kept looking over at me in concern. I tried brushing it off, but the feeling of being watched made me uneasy. As the train reached my stop, I pushed myself up and joined the others filing out.

It took longer than I had expected to get upstairs and outside. Every few steps felt like agony, and I almost wanted to call off the dinner meet-up with Carl, but at this point, it was too late. The restaurant wasn't far from the subway station anyway. I just needed to get outside and I could see it. The warmth outside was nothing compared to the blistering temperatures underground.

The sign for the Mediterranean restaurant stood out amongst the other signs, half a block away. The words Cafe Mediterranean were shaped to resemble a lime. A few tables and chairs were placed outside the restaurant for people to eat outdoors. Not many chose this option with how hot it was outside. On a nicer day, or later in the evening, it would be impossible to find seats like that to enjoy the weather on.

"Kim?" Carl called out from behind me.

I turned around. The blood rushed to my feet and my stomach churned. The fear on his face was obvious as soon as he got a good look at me.

"What the hell happened to you?" he wrapped my arm around my shoulder and put a hand on my waist. "You look like you just got done getting all your blood pulled out of your body. Are you sure you're all right?"

I nodded slowly and closed my eyes, "Yeah. It's just exhaustion. Once I sit down and get some water I should be fine."

Amanda popped up next to me and clicked her tongue, "I don't think water is going to do it. Maybe you need some food. Something that will go easy on your stomach, and then we’ll get you home."

"Thanks," I muttered.

"Don't thank us. We're family," Amanda said brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. "We're here to help. But if I knew you were in this bad of shape, I would have canceled the dinner. Your dad is going to kill us if he finds out what you did."

I shrugged and pushed away from Carl so I could stand on my own "He won't kill us if he doesn't know. Look, I'll be fine. Let's just get inside so I can get out of the heat."

Once seated, I leaned back in the booth and closed my eyes. The noise inside the restaurant, was hurting my head, but the cool air from the air conditioning made up for all of it. I drank deeply from my glass of water, enjoying the hint of lemon.

Amanda stretched her hand out to touch mine, "You really should get checked out."

"I will tomorrow," I huffed. "I don't plan on pushing myself anymore tonight." I sat back up and opened my eyes. "So how was the honeymoon?"

"Great!" Amanda immediately perked back up. "We didn't get to do everything we wanted, but I did get to swim with some sharks."

"Sharks? And you're alive?"

She nodded and showed me photos of their honeymoon adventures. We continued talking about the vacation until the conversation swerved to the wedding.

"So..." Amanda leaned forward. A sly smile crossed her face. "It's been a few weeks now. Have you been talking to Mr. Mysterious?"

"Who?" I raised my brow and sipped on my water.

"You know," she waved a hand in the air. "The guy you were seeing during the wedding. You never told us who it was. I assumed you kept in contact with him."

"No," I sighed. "I haven't talked to him since we left. He's probably busy, and I've been trying to find someone to get my mind off him."

Her brow furrowed as she crossed her arms, "By trying to find, I'm guessing that means you've met some guys that fell really flat."

"You have no idea," I rolled my eyes. We continued our conversation about the guys I had attempted to date and how so many failed at even meeting the bare minimum standards. None of them could compare to Jared.

"Then let me help you find someone."

"What?"

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