Page 5 of Knocked Up

Chapter Three

Grace

“Girl, what the hell just happened?” Zoe stares at me as she starts up her car. I walked over here after work, so Zoe coming home with me makes the most sense. Plus, it’s late and we live on opposite sides of the mountain.

“I don’t know. I think he’s just a nice guy.”

“Nice guy?” Zoe laughs as she pulls out into the street. “What about that guy was nice? He’s a creep! I come in and he’s cuddled up with you, and then he punches your ex before he picks you up and carries you away? What about that was nice?”

“Okay, I get that it sounds weird when you say it out loud together like that, but it didn’tfeelweird.” I laugh as the words spill from my lips.

“Also, you’re horny as hell and that dude was really hot… so you might have on some rosy glasses, my friend.” Pine trees and red twig dogwood line the sides of the road as we make our way up the mountain toward the little cabin I rented after Jason and I broke up. It’s not the nicest place, but it’s all I can afford since my father cut me off. Turns out, working double shifts at the diner doesn’t leave much room for extras.

“Okay, horny is fair. I am that, for sure. And the hot part… is that a problem? A man can be worse things than hot. If we’re being honest, he’s gone forever now, anyway. I’ll just think abouthim while I jerk off for a few days, fantasize about what could’ve been, then move on with the rest of my life.”

Zoe drags in a deep breath and lets it out slowly as she turns down the dark road that winds to my cabin. “How are you feeling tonight? You have everything you need ready for that meeting with the town in the morning?”

“Mostly. My brother-in-law’s friend helped me come up with a plan, so I just have to present it all to the town tomorrow and hope for the best. I really think a playground would do well here. I mean, where else is my baby going to play and meet people in a public place?” I wink at Zoe in an attempt to tease her about her latest online dating fail, though I’m not sure she sees it in the dark. “How’s your love life going, by the way?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure at this point. I know I should just go to the bar more and meet people the real way, but yuck. I had anxiety meeting up withyou.It’s just… it’s not my scene. The crowds, the people, the noise… I’d rather talk to guys behind the safety of my computer screen.

“That’s okay. A lot of people meet partners online these days. Just make sure you’re meeting them in public once and while, too.”

“I know. I swore I wouldn’t put all my eggs in the one basket. The last guy was such a weirdo.” She glances toward me as she pulls down the long stone driveway toward my house. “Did I tell you that he collected teeth?

“You did, and now you’re worried about some hot guy punching a dude out. Come on… we need a better sliding scale here for creeps.”

Zoe laughs and parks the car in front of the porch, tugging her shorts down from between her legs as she walks. “If you like him so much, go back tomorrow. Maybe he’ll be there and ready to give you a hard, stiff poking. We both know you’ll be over him right afterward.”

I roll my eyes, then my body up out of the car. It’s funny, the bigger you are, the more aware you become of the height of chairs. The bar’s booths are high enough that my feet touch the ground, but not so high that my legs go numb. The diner’s booths are so low that they cut into the back of my legs, and Zoe’s car seats are even lower than that. It’s a struggle to get in and out. Before I was pregnant, I’d never have thought to assess chairs, but here I am actively reviewing seating the moment I stand.

I wonder what other fun things I’ll be reviewing soon. Orthopedic shoes? Nipple cream? Hemorrhoid ointment?

“No, he said he rarely goes over there. I guess he works a lot. Oh well. I shouldn’t be getting attached to anyone, anyway. I decided I’m done with men for the next eighteen years.”

She bursts into laughter as we climb the porch to the front door. I don’t mean little bits of laughter. I’m talking bent over, hold the rail, kind of laughter. “Yeah right!You hate being alone. You’re literally the absolute worst at that.”

“No, I’m not, and I won’t be alone. I’ll have Owen. I just… I can’t do it. I mean, I’d love to mess around at the bar, but a relationship… no. Men are all the same. They expect servility, and I’m not into that.”

“What are you talking about?” Zoe laughs as I swing open the front door. It’s now that I’m reminded of what squaller I’m really living in. I don’t know why I keep going blind to it, but whenever I leave for a few hours and come back again, the reality of how poor I am slaps me in the face. “You love it when a man takes control.”

“I know, but they know it, too. They take advantage of me. I think I’m in this cute, little relationship where I have this big strong man who wants to care and bam… all the sudden I’m trapped. I mean, look at Jason. When we were together, I did everything for him, and he still cheated. What does that say?”

“It says he had his own problems that had nothing to do with you.”

As is customary these days, at the smallest hint of emotion, tears well in the inner corners of my eyes.

“I’m just talking. Don’t cry.” Zoe lands her hand on my shoulder, and while I appreciate the comfort, I can’t talk about this anymore.

I change the subject quickly by saying, “I’m fine. I was just thinking about my rent. I’m so low on money, but there’s no more time in the day to work. I’m already doing sixteen-hour shifts.”

“Can you call your dad? He’d help you, right?”

I laugh. “No, my father made it perfectly clear that I wasn’t going to get another cent unless I agreed to marry who he’s chosen for me, and now that I’m pregnant, I’m sure that ship has sailed too.” I feel myself release the softest sigh. “It’s fine. I don’t need him. What I need is a nice nine-to-five, Monday through Friday, where I can check in, do my work, and check out.”

“Oh! You’re headed to the city tomorrow, anyway. I saw outside the bookstore today that they’re looking for a clerk. Maybe you could talk to someone about that?”

I nod in agreement with her suggestion because I know she’s trying to help, but finding a job when you’re eight months pregnant is like trying to build a sandcastle with the tide rolling in. No one is going to hire me knowing I’m about to go on leave. If worse comes to worst, I know my sister has work for me at her pie shop, but I’ve been trying not to bother her. She just got her life together. She doesn’t need me making things more complicated.

---