Page 10 of After the Final

“I’m guessing so. Won’t know until I look him up.”

“Then that’s what we’re going to do.” Viv gets out her phone and starts typing. “We’ll find out where he works, decide how you’re going to tell him, and go from there. You never know, he might actually be happy about this.”

“How can anyone be happy about knocking up a one-night stand?”

“There are some people who are.” Viv winks at me. “Also, Mark is pretty hot. You will have a pretty cute baby.”

I’m not sure I want to think about that right now. I’m more worried about Mark’s reaction. I said that I was on birth control, and that was true. But he might think I’m trying to trap him. My heart races knowing that someone I’ve had a crush on for a while doesn’t believe me that this was an accident. That will crush me if he turns his back on me because of that.

“Think of it this way,” Viv goes on as she searches through her phone results, “at least you’re pregnant by Mark and not by Rick. That would be terrifying.”

“I can’t argue with that.” I shift myself up to sitting upright. Slumping back as I am is hurting my back. “If Rick knew I was pregnant, he would be refusing to leave my side and I’d be more suffocated.”

“I still don’t know what you were thinking when you started going out with him.”

“You seemed to like him when you first met him, Viv,” I remind her. “You never told me otherwise.”

Viv sighs.

“I know, and I should have. But you seemed so happy, and you were not likely to pay attention to what I said because you were head over heels for him.”

“I would…”

“You know how stubborn you can be. Would you really have listened?”

I’m about to protest, but then I realise that Viv is right about that. I would have told her that she was being daft and ignored her. This was something I needed to find out for myself.

God, I hope Rick doesn’t come by now and find out that I’m pregnant with someone else’s baby. He will never let me get away with that. I’m sure he’ll think that the baby is his and he needs to be there. Rick had always talked about having a big family.

I’m so glad I didn’t get pregnant by Rick.

My hand rubs my stomach again. Mark’s baby is inside me. Despite precautions, it’s happening. Now the shock is wearing off, I’m not feeling as scared anymore. Nervous about Mark’s reaction, yes, but not scared.

I still need to see his reaction, but things are settling inside me now. Even if Mark wants nothing to do with me, I’ll be okay.

“Ah! Here we go!” Viv passes her phone to me. “I’ve found out where he works. He’s with a lawyer firm in Harrow. That’s not far from here.”

“So what now?”

“We’ve got to go and talk to him. This isn’t something you can do by a phone call or an email.”

I frown at that.

“How are we supposed to do that? I can’t go to his office and stalk him.”

“You might not have a choice, Emma. You need to go in and talk to him, certainly. Perhaps you can get a meeting with him?”

“I doubt they let random people in for a meeting, Viv.”

“I’m sure we can think of something.” Viv looks towards the clock. “I know you’ve got to head off for your shift shortly, so how about we do it tomorrow morning? The sooner we do it, the sooner we can get this sorted.”

I know she’s right, but the nerves are still there. The thought of Mark turning me away is clearly in my head, and it’s disconcerting. I can only hope that he won’t do that, and that he won’t accuse me of baby trapping him.

When I planned to spend a few hours having hot sex with Mark that night, this outcome was not what I had in mind.

Mark

“You’re not paying attention, are you?”

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