Chapter 33
It thrilled me to touch him there
Mid-afternoon, Wednesday, October 17th
Malibu
Alessa....
It had been ten weeks since I watched my Jimmy slip away and forever enter the world of memories. Whatever future we had promised one another was dead and buried along with him. I was amazed how I seemed to be repeating my mother's life.
I sat behind my desk nervously tapping my long fingernails on the polished mahogany surface. 'Click... click... click...' went my fingers. I wondered how long it would take before the scratches would have to be polished out.
I glanced at my wristwatch. It was three minutes later than the last time.
'Where is he? He knows I don't like waiting.'
The day, mercifully short for once, was winding down and my last appointment had been sent to Kevin Sales and two division directors to finalize supply contracts for the new satellite program.
By my count, I was three months pregnant and like many women, I could pinpoint the exact moment it happened. I would have Jimmy's baby but I was bothered how like my mother I had become and how much different I had become.
I had nightmares. I'm walking out on the stage with Maury and pointing to different me, saying they're the father and then they're not and they jump up and down and run out. It happened at least twice a week and I always woke up sweating and moaning and waking Maria. God bless her, she would move over and hold me until we both fell asleep again.
I carefully folded my hands across my stomach and felt the small bulge holding his child. While Maria constantly told me I was as beautiful as the first night we had spent together, I was no fool and could feel myself growing larger each moment with the baby.
Already my tailored skirts and blouses had been replaced twice with larger sizes and I dreaded the day I would have to wear 'official' maternity clothes. It wasn't so much the idea of being pregnant that bothered me as the poor fashions available and I refused to throw good money away on something that I would only wear for a few months.
Outside my tinted windows, the afternoon sun hung lower on the hazy horizon but my watch told me it was only three o'clock. Time was dragging.
'Click... click... click...' went my fingers.
I checked my watch again... only four minutes later. 'Where the fuck was he? Goddamned men... all the fucking same.' Whatever joyful attitude I had when I first came down to Malibu had been crushed by the events that followed.
I hated waiting and reached for my bowl of Oreos before I remembered they were all gone, taken away by my OB-GYN. Damn!
I started to cry. What was happening to me? Not so much the physical changes with the baby, but just the way I was reacting to things. I've never been so frustrated in my life.
Jimmy's death was... damn, I still hadn't come to terms with it. 'Closure,' they tried to call it. Can you truly have closure with a loved one dying? Or, do you try and sequester it into a special place in your heart and try to stay alive as best you can?
There was a friendly knock on the doorway and I looked up. Philip had finally arrived again to accompany me for the second daily walk around the property.
'It's about fucking time...' I thought and then realized he was on time. 'Well, screw it!'
Sometimes I felt like a dog that had to be taken out several times a day.
'A dog! That's an idea if it's a boy!'
As expected, he was carrying the small cooler with my afternoon snacks and water. Katherine Mayes, my on-staff OBGYN, made me swear I would snack during the day on what she demanded I eat. It was much healthier for both the baby and me to spread the extra calories out.
"Good afternoon, Miss Alessa." He walked over to me, his body so close to mine. I inhaled sharply, my heart beating faster as he drew near. I thought I could smell his masculinity. Surrounded by women the entire day and Michael at night, Philip was the only overtly available man in my life that it was driving me wild.
What the hell was I thinking? Jimmy's only been gone for ten weeks and I'm thinking about another man? What was I, some kind of whore? ...a slut? ...willing to jump at the first handsome man that... did I just say he was handsome? Oh, God, I needed to get some help from somebody.
Philip....
"Philip, please get me a peach or something from the 'fridge.' I'm feeling a little dizzy. Where were you, Philip? I was... oh, Jesus, I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me."
"It's all right, Miss Alessa," I replied. "Remember, the doctor said that mood swings were normal. I'm sorry I was late but there was a problem with security I had to take care of before we could go outside."
"A problem?"
"Yes... it's been taken care of. Nothing to worry your pretty little head about but if you want a full report I can have one on your desk in the next half-hour."
"No, Philip. I'm a firm believer in letting people do what they do best. If I didn't trust your judgment... well, you know." She was looking at me strangely; it seemed she was breathing faster for some reason.
I walked behind her desk and opened the small refrigerator. Pulling out the fruit, I put it on a plate stacked next the printer and brought it over to her desk and cut it into small pieces.
"Remember what the doctor said, Miss Lane... your hormones are causing your blood pressure to change because of the baby and your blood sugar is probably a little low right now. Here, let me help you."