Page 40 of Her Baby His Gift

Several times!She wanted to scream but didn’t.“Yes. I just wanted to talk to you. You got in late last night and was gone when I woke up this morning.”

He sounded tired. “I wanted to get into the office early. I had several meetings on schedule.”

Harlem sat up. Natalie had just said he had been off-site all week. He was lying. Harlem really started to feel sick. “Yeah? How did they go?”

“About as expected. Wait. Can you hold on a second?” Damian asked. However, before he muted the phone, Harlem heard the voice of a woman in the background. It sounded almost like Dana.

Was it her? Nervously, Harlem nibbled on her lower lip as she waited for Damian to come back on the line.

“Yeah. Sorry about that.”

“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.” Her mind was whirling with crazy thoughts. There had to be a reasonable explanation. Damian wouldn’t cheat on her. She had to do something. “I miss you.”

He paused before responding. “I miss you too.”

“How about I order us a nice dinner, and we have a cozy night in?”

Damian hesitated. “I’d um . . . love to, but I’ll be getting in pretty late.”

“Again?” She was frustrated. “Whatever happened to you always making me the priority?!”

“Harlem, are you serious right now?”

Are you lying to me right now?“Damian, ever since I started treatments, you’ve been distant. If you have changed your mind, you should have told me before we did the embryo transfer!”

He was silent.

Oh, God.Harlem thought. Her voice trembled. “This is where you’re supposed to reassure your over-the-top and pregnant girlfriend.”

“I haven’t changed my mind. I just . . . I have a lot going on here at the office.” He sighed. “Can we talk a little later? I’ve really got to go into a meeting.”

“At your office?” Harlem waited.

Damian responded after another long pause. “Where else?”

“I know you’re not at your fuckin’ office!” Harlem screamed into her phone before disconnecting and slamming it down on her desk.

*****

Damian had run out of time. Harlem didn’t deserve this. He had to tell her everything.

“Mr. Fox, is everything okay?” His nurse from the Cancer Treatment Center of America asked. “Should I call the doctor?”

“No. I’m fine.” Damian leaned back in his bed after receiving his final treatment. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Damian was weak but was still able to make another call. The phone rang a couple of times before he answered.

“Carter.”

“Hey, man,” Damian said.

“What’s up?”

“It’s been a minute since we’ve hooked up.”

Carter had been avoiding Damian like the plague. He felt guilty considering. Still, this whole situation had definitely taken a toll on their friendship. “Yeah. It’s been a minute.”

“We should get together soon.”

“We should.”

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