Page 40 of A Linton Scandal

I paused, realizing not only had we walked back the way I’d come, but the room they’d given me was next door to Mihai’s.

“Mr. Linton believed you would like this room. We prepared it, but if you wish to change it, let us know.”

“This is fine,” I said quickly. Feeling a little uncomfortable at the idea of having the staff go out of their way to change anything. Having people ready to serve me at any time was something that would take some getting used to. Besides, being called Mrs. Linton, which still felt weird to hear.

She stepped aside letting me enter the room. “I’ll come back later when the car is here.”

Once she left, I walked over to the bed and spun around and fell backwards. “Everything is so heavy,” I muttered, scrubbing a hand down my face, then placing my hand on my stomach. “Look at where you got us, why couldn’t your dad be someone like superman or something? At least he was a simple journalist, but no, you had to have the cream de le crème of the business world as a baby daddy.”

Laughing at myself I sat up and spotted my duffel bag on the table but it was empty, and neatly folded. Standing up, I thought it over before I went to the bathroom and spotted my toiletries all neatly set out. Relieved, I got to brushing my teeth and getting dressed for the day.

My Son

Juliette

“Wow, this is a nice school,” I said to myself as I got out of the car.

The buildings of the elementary school were located a little way outside of the city. The school itself had a modern layout of gray stone. The grounds themselves were neat and well groomed.

Seeing the closed gate, I looked behind it to see the entrance to the school where children were lining up. While some children lined up with serious expressions, others laughed and talked amongst themselves.

Searching through the crowd of children, I tried to find Nelu. He wasn’t hard to find, but when I finally did spot him, I felt a bit sad at his appearance. He stood at the end of the first row, his hands gripped the straps to his backpack tightly and the entire time he kept his eyes down as he kicked at the ground.

I frowned as I walked forward joining the group of other parents who were there to pick up their kids. When the housekeeper had told me to pick him, I’d first thought she was joking. Afterall, his father and I weren’t in a real relationship yet. I didn’t want to force myself on him, but now I was happy I’d come.

I’d never had a problem playing with kids, to be honest children were better than adults. They were honest and you never had to guess what they were thinking.

The gate clattered as it moved to the side revealing the security guard. The teachers lead the students forward. I dug out the permission card that Mrs. Forton had given me.

Parents rushed forward and picked up their kids. I waited patiently, not interested in being jostled around, and once there were fewer people, I walked forward. My eyes stayed focused on the little kid whose head remained down.

“Nelu,” I called out cheerfully as I showed the pass to his teacher. He looked up in confusion, before his eyes lit up when he spotted me. “I’m here to pick you up.”

He walked over to my side and as I said my thanks to his teacher, he took my hand. I glanced down at him before turning around and leading him back to the car. As we got closer to the car, I felt a chill run down my spine. I paused and glanced over my shoulder, and spotted a familiar person staring at me, it was Ms. Pall. The shine in her eyes seemed hostile, I quickly looked away and opened the door.

I wasn’t sure why she’d stared at me in such a way, but I had learned from meeting her at the hospital. That some women weren’t happy that I’d gotten Mihai to marry me.

As I helped Nelu get into the car, I decided to put it at the back of my mind. After all, there wasn’t anything I could do about someone else’s jealousy. Mihai and I had planned to play at this for keeps, whether they liked it or not. They would have to swallow our relationship and deal with it.

When the car pulled off, I became restless. I hadn’t used my hands in a while, I glanced over to find Nelu staring at me. “You know what, how about we skip your tutoring today?”

His brows crinkled together, and after a few minutes he gave a nod. Then he looked at me in inquiry as if to ask.“If I’m not going to my private lessons, what are we doing instead?”

I pondered over what we would do, I pulled my cell phone out and sent his dad a brief message. I didn’t want him to panic, and if he disagreed with my plans, he could let me know.

I still needed to go by the restaurant and make the desserts with Hannah, in order to make sure she knew how to make them, and set them up. And while I felt a bit of trepidation, I couldn’t live in fear.

Finished writing the text, I told the driver where to take us.

* * *

I should have knownthat Noah and Sophie would have tons of questions when they saw me. The minute I entered the kitchen, they dragged me into their office.

“Explain,” Noah said plopping down in his chair. He narrowed his eyes as he looked me over. “I went to crash—I mean visit your house yesterday because Sophie kicked me out, I mean told me to rest for a few days somewhere else, and you weren’t there. Your neighbor told me you’d moved, what is going on Jul?”

I sighed, as I wriggled under the weight of Nelu who’d sat in my lap after he’d been dragged along with me. He’d seemed nervous at first, until I’d picked him up and set him on my lap. He’d focused on peering around the messy office. “A lot has happened over the last few days.” I sent Sophie a heavy stare.

She snorted. “You said you were getting married, not moving.”

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