Michele Dunaway - Nine Months' Notice

Tori backed away from the sink. Oftentimes, she’d wondered if she’d made life too easy for Jeff—maybe that’s why things had never progressed. Unlike most couples, they talked only in person, keeping in touch via short e-mails, Jeff’s preferred means of communication. He wasn’t a phone conversationalist and all their calls lasted less than five minutes, unless they were fighting.

Not that they fought often since, really, there wasn’t much to argue about. From the beginning, Jeff had been clear on how their relationship was going to be—monogamous, hot, passionate, no strings, easily ended whenever the other felt like it.

Never once had they discussed children, much less marriage. She’d told Jeff how she felt about him once, but he hadn’t replied in kind. He’d told her he liked things how they were. Instead of walking away as she should have done—and isn’t hindsight twenty-twenty?—Tori hadn’t pressed, accepting that something was better than nothing. She should have left him long before she had.

Now the writing was on the wall or, more aptly, the lines were on the stick. Tori Adams, who had graduated summa cum laude and who could solve complicated math problems in her head, had blown it. Just as she had been poised to start over, to find someone to spend her life with, the traditional life she wanted—find the guy, get married, have children—she was about to get exactly the opposite. She’d always be tied irrevocably to Jeff. They’d always share a child.

A knock sounded on her outside office door and Tori opened her bathroom door and called out, “Hold on.”

She made sure the remnants of her tests weren’t lying around, washed her hands and closed the door behind her. She gave her office one last glance to make sure nothing was amiss, then double-checked her Friday casual outfit for lint before she greeted her visitor.

Jeff Wright stood in front of her, a wide grin on his face. “Surprise.”

“JEFF,” TORI SAID, her equilibrium rattled. She suddenly felt like the neurotic, guilty man in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” She took a deep breath to calm her nerves; there was no way Jeff could know her secret and she refused to blurt out her news here. “Jeff, what are you doing here? Did we have an appointment?”

Jeff frowned, the grin slipping from his face. “No, we didn’t have an appointment. I didn’t know I needed one. In fact, I’m not really visiting, I just have a fast layover before flying back to St. Louis.”

He closed her office door behind him, the click audible. “I figured I’d pop by, check out the KC office. See how you were doing. We haven’t talked in a while.”

Tori stared at him. “Well, I haven’t seen you since I transferred and I report to Justin now,” Tori said, trying to get a sense of why he was here unexpectedly. This was out of character for him.

Jeff shifted his weight from one foot to the other as if the situation wasn’t going quite the way he’d envisioned. “Everything okay with the job? Still like it?”

Tori nodded, her hair dancing around her chin. “It’s been great. We’ve landed five new accounts and exceeded all of last quarter’s income projections.”

Jeff stuffed his hands into his pockets for a moment. Tori had never really liked wearing heels, and in her flats he was seven inches taller than she was. “I guess I should have asked if everything is okay with you?” he clarified.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Tori asked, forcing herself to relax. She’d tell him about the baby after visiting the doctor, when she would know things such as her due date. Now was not the time.

“No reason.” Jeff raked a hand through his strawberry-colored hair, a habit whenever he was nervous. “I guess I just miss talking to you. Maybe things aren’t okay with me.”

He missed her. She could see it reflected in his eyes. Maybe they had a chance. Maybe…

“I’ve really missed you,” he repeated. “I want you back in my life. It’s been weeks.”

While her body hummed with the longing it always felt around Jeff Wright, his subsequent statement had made her want to fall through the floor with disappointment. He didn’t love her. He was just sexually frustrated. They’d never had problems in that department.

She was determined that this time she wouldn’t succumb to his charms or his “needs.” She was going to be a mother. Time to grow up and stop living in fantasyland. He wasn’t going to change.

“I can’t see you anymore,” Tori managed, proud of herself for keeping her chin up and somehow looking him in the eye. They’d fit each other once, but no longer. He was a man married to his computer and his cat. She wanted more than an addiction she slaked every week. She wanted it all, like the love her mother had found with her second husband, Tori’s stepfather. “I’m sorry, but no. It’s high time for both of us to move on. Although I would like for us to be friends.”

Jeff stood there, his pale-green broadcloth shirt making him look sexier than any model. The imaginary devil on her shoulder screamed in her ear that she was being an idiot. But deep down she knew this was the right thing to do. She wasn’t aware she was holding her breath until she exhaled at the exact moment he slowly said, “I see.”

An awkward silence descended. Tori’s body still hummed; the man was as irresistible as chocolate cake—but she was winning the battle against indulging. “I know this sounds harsh, but we always said we’d let each other know when we were ready to move on. I’m happy here. New town, new life.”

“New man,” Jeff said, his tone edgy.

“Eventually,” Tori confirmed, knowing that finding a man was now the lowest item on her priority list. Her baby came first. “We’re at opposite ends of the state. We’ve always been friends—we can put things back the way they once were. That would be best.”

“Yeah, I guess we can be friends,” he said, his watch beeping as the alarm went off. He silenced it.

“Work?” Tori said.

“Always. I need to get back to the airport,” Jeff said. “I’m flying to St. Louis and then tomorrow I’m headed to Buffalo for a week-long project. After that I’m home for a little while before I’m back out in L.A.”

“You do travel a lot,” Tori observed. She knew that he’d racked up over half a million frequent-flier miles the year before.

Jeff grinned, but this time his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Yeah, well, you know how I like to be constantly on the go. I like the adventure. No grass grows under my feet.”

She did, which was why she held her tongue and simply gave him the patient smile of one ready to get back to work. He recognized the message and stepped toward the door. “I guess I’d better get going. Airport security’s tight right now and I don’t want to miss my flight.”

“Probably a good idea,” Tori said, doing her best to hold herself together for a few more minutes. She could let him go, let him walk out without breaking down. Seeing him was hard, but she had to remember that he hadn’t changed. This visit confirmed the futility of her current situation. She was having his baby, and part of her would always love him, but he’d never love her. And to top it off, he was always working and jetting off somewhere. The job would always be number one, not her or the baby.

Jeff paused. “Should I tell Lauren you said hi?”

Tori nodded. “Please.”

Lauren was Justin’s wife and she was currently on maternity leave. Over three years ago, she and Tori had been on the company Christmas-party committee together and they had been friends since. That night had been a catalyst for both women’s relationships with the Wright twins.

Tori suddenly realized she’d have to take a six-week maternity leave at the very least. She made a mental note to check her company benefits brochure. A bit overwhelmed by all the changes she was facing, Tori moved to sink into the sofa located in her office.