AN EMPTY SHELL

Oasis looks at me like she's seen a monster jump into her boat. “You want to kidnap a pregnant woman.” She blinks in confusion and disbelief. “Zeath's girlfriend?"

I huff. “Skip mentioning the last part for the sake of our friendship. And I won't harm her. I only need to teach Zeath a lesson or two.”

“You think he won't find her? He has eyes everywhere.”

“Yeah, sure he does. But the thing is, he won't be searching in the right place. Zeath thinks I'm a softie and all about whining for my dreams to come true. He doesn't know that when a Fanning puts their mind to something, they get it done. One way or another.”

Oasis lets out a huge sigh—it sounds shaky as if she's scared of Zeath rather than frustrated by me. “Oh, fuck me, Mells,” she groans. “I'm gonna be roasted like a witch if I'm discovered. And you, you might actually turn up dead.”

I smile. “You'll die first if you don't get your ass working.”

“Ugh! Stay here. You move an inch, the hospital swallows you. You hear me?”

I nod.

Oasis leaves and returns after a few minutes, looking sweaty, tired, and quite pissed. She ignores me for seconds as she reclines in her chair with closed eyes, while I turn to her, wagging my tail impatiently.

“Will you tell me where she is or not?” I ask.

Oasis opens her eyes. Oh, there's a glare. “‘Thank you, Oasis.’ It's simple courtesy to say thank you when you've been aided.”

“I'll do that when I know I got what I want.”

We exchange silent stares for some time before the lady begins to rap, “Yolie had finished the ultrasound and was probably waiting for someone in the VIP section. Guess who? That makes things more complicated. But I had a trusted nurse of mine put her to sleep and take her to my car without being noticed.”

She sits up and tosses her car key to my side of the desk before warning, “Now I've taken precautions in handling Yolie so far and hope you do the same. At least for the sake of her baby.”

“I'm not going to kill her, Oasis, if that's what you're scared of,” I say with a shrug. Then, on second thought, I frown. “You shouldn't even think that of me in the first place, but thank you. How about the scan result?”

“Will be sent to your private estate in a few. Drop your car keys and leave now. Yolie might be awake already.”

I serve Oasis a mock bow before grabbing her keys, dropping mine, and heading for the parking lot.

She mentioned Zeath's coming complicates things, but she doesn't know it's a blessing for me.

Purely Mother Earth hearing my pleas.

I want him to discover his baby mama's not in the hospital when he arrives. Let the itch to know his baby's gender kill him.

And, hell. Let the fear of Yolie's safety eat him up to the last of his guts.

Reaching Oasis’s car, I find Yolie carefully laid in the backseat.

Her breathing features are laid out in plain sight: subtle cheeks that are evidence of good sleep, light brown baby hairs straying over her forehead, and the front corners of her ears.

She looks tired, probably the effects of pregnancy hitting her. It makes me wish guilt works the same way too—showing on the face as one sleeps—because then I wouldn't have to exhaust myself asking a hundred and one questions.

I start the car, and as I turn the wheel toward the hospital entrance, a shuffling sound from the backseat causes me to stop.

Yolie's soft sigh reaches my ears before I stare at her through the rearview mirror. She's glancing around, confused. And the fear that meets her eyes when she notices me can't be missed.

“Hello, Yolie, spot your dearest boyfriend?” I ask with a smile.

Zeath's car had just driven into the parking lot.

As he rushes into the building, Yolie looks at him through the window.

She panics, banging on it. If only she knew it was useless. No one will hear her. Zeath has already disappeared into the building too.

“What do you want from me?” She snaps after she stops banging.

I huff. “What you lost when you played with my person.”

“I don't lose stuff. If anything, you lost Zeath.”

The fuck? “Shut your trap, or I'll cut your tongue and feed it to your baby.”

Yolie places her hands on her stomach. For a moment there, I see terror flash in her eyes.

But it disappears right before she hisses, “This won't go unnoticed. My husband will come for you.”

“Husband?” I can't help laughing. “You're just his baby mama, hon. You'll see him long enough for me to give him a legitimate child. And, oh, let him come.”

I drive out of the hospital.

Throughout the ride, I don't stop glancing at the rearview mirror occasionally, just in case Yolie tries to strangle me from behind. She keeps checking her knee-high boots too, looking like she lost something.

It takes nearly an hour to arrive at my villa before I alight the car, going around it to usher Yolie out. She struggles to step out, and I don't help her at all.

Here I was scared she'd do something when she can barely hold her feet on the ground.

We head inside the building, where I keep Yolie prisoner in one of my spare rooms that only has a narrow bed.

Yolie sits on the bed with her legs stretched wide in front of her. She rests her backside against the wall and puffs out air, while I perch beside her.

“Your doctor mentioned your baby's gender after the scan?” I ask after staring at the woman for some time. It's a rhetorical question, by the way. And Yolie rolling her eyes confirms that.

“I plead the fifth,” she mumbles.

“Like you'll tell the truth even if you swear in a courtroom,” I snap back. “Your conscience is what you lost. So, I like to know how it feels to fuck me up like that.”

“Well, if kidnapping pregnant women is ethical, then why not anything else?”

“Yolie, that's out of character for you. I know you could do worse; you know that too.”

“Then why ask about my conscience?”

I tilt my head to the side, my lips too. “You present yourself as a tough nut. Still, I notice a crack of your envy and fear. You're scared Zeath might actually love me. That he might wake up tomorrow and say, ‘Fuck you and your baby, Yolie, I go with Mellow.’”

Yolie lets out an enormous belly laugh, nearly falling to her side. “Do you hear yourself? Only I should be delusional; I'm pregnant. What's your excuse?” She stops laughing, then sniffles before swiping her index finger under her nose. “At least put on your saintly character and let me go. Don't be this villain you're forcing yourself to become. It'll compress you.”

I sigh as I move toward the room entrance.

“You and Zeath are really birds of the same feather, aren't you?” I mutter, facing Yolie and leaning on the door. “You do stuff and try to turn it on me. Not fair.”

“You are the one who allowed yourself to be used. You were like an empty vessel that craved a fill of love and attention.”

“An empty vessel, you say?”

“Were you far from that?” Yolie's starting to enjoy this. “I could smell your misery from afar. Even with all your raised chins and unblinking eyes, I knew it was a protective shell with no meat inside.”

“I might just hit you, Yolie,” I whisper weakly.

Yet, that doesn't bother the woman. “Sweet, add assault to your list of offenses.”

If she's aiming to get inside my head, then she shouldn't try so hard. Whatever she's doing, it's working. Because now I'm contemplating if there's some truth in her words.

Zeath mentioned the same thing, after all.

“You're just waiting for Zeath to jump in and save your ass,” I say slowly as Yolie rests her head on the wall and closes her eyes. “But what will you do when you discover he'll never find you unless I let him?”

My phone rings. It's Mama Tia.

Before last week, a call from her meant a massive flow of joy.

Now there's nothing.

“Mellow, darling,” her soft, careful voice comes from the other side of the phone.

I hesitate before replying, “Hi.”

“Ah. Be less grumpy, and you'll live longer than I am. What do you say we talk over tea this afternoon? I brewed too much. You know I don't like wasting stuff.”

“Uhm…” The doorbell rings. “I don't know if I can, Mama Tia,” I say flatly while leaving the room, locking Yolie behind.

“Oh, come on. What could you possibly be doing? I thought we always compromised together.”

At the front door, I find a big brown envelope sitting on the threshold. I tear it to reveal the main package, and bingo, it's what I've been waiting for!

Oh, good Oasis. Best friend ever!

I can't help smirking as I stare at Yolie's ultrasound result. Maybe I need this meeting with Mama Tia.

“Alright, expect me soon.”