Looking back at her marriage, Pandora could see that Derrik was always baiting her into arguing with him. He was searching for reasons to walk out on Pandora but had never gotten around to leaving her. Why? He saw her as his income provider, cleaning lady, and chef. Moreover, he got to bang her as a perk. There was no love there.
It wasn’t finding out that Derrik had cheated that made her realize how poorly he had treated her since they got married. It was a month after. Derrik came to her work with a bunch of flowers, wishing her a happy twenty-eighth birthday in a loud voice before slapping the signed divorce papers on her desk. He had then promptly turned and left with his head held high.
It had been a year since then and the only thing remaining to be finalized was his last name which she was still using.
“Let’s get you lingerie for your Vegas tour,” Kiera sang as she pulled Pandora into a luxury underwear store.
Pandora scoffed and reminded her friend, “I will be in and out of business meetings while I am there. What use do I have for fancy lingerie?”
“Pandora, it’s Vegas. Vegas! If you don’t open your box, how is everything going to come out?” Kiera stated, wriggling her brow.
Pandora rolled her eyes at her friend. “Such a witty comment.”
“Listen to me. No one will know you in Vegas, so you can have as much fun as you want. Get laid with some hot guy on your birthday to make up for the shitty birthdays in the last decade. It’s the beginning of a new era… you have to celebrate it by getting railed politely!”
“That sounds like an awful idea.”
Keira slapped her arm and picked up a baby doll. “If you had listened to me and not married Derrik, you could have said my idea was awful. And you will look hot in this.” She put the baby doll in front of Pandora’s body and gave her a little wink.
“Well, I am thinking of changing my surname back to Leonard. Remove every trace of Derrik from my life,” she said. Keira went silent for a few minutes.
“About time. Nice to have you back, Leonard!” She hugged Pandora tightly.
“I won’t be Leonard until after I come back home. Everything is booked under Preston for the trip.”
“You best believe I will have it set up for you as a coming-home gift.” Then Kiera dragged her to the nearest salon and gave her a complete makeover.
When she got home, she checked her mail. She only found a letter which must have been hand-delivered. She knew it was from Derrik the moment she saw the handwriting. Dealing with her ex-husband always made her groan.
Derrik was unhappy with the division of property. Pandora had been awarded the house, its contents in the entirety, and their newest luxury car. All Derrik got was his meager belongings, the second older car they had brought right out of high school, and the bed that Pandora refused to touch even with a ten-foot pole.
Derrik thought he deserved more and tried to blame Pandora for his mistress Mackenna’s miscarriage. He even told the judges that he cheated because Pandora couldn’t have a baby. She had to explain to the judge that she had been diagnosed with scar tissues in her ovary. The doctor had told her she had a chance to be pregnant, but that it would be a long try.
But no matter how much they tried, she never became pregnant. It caused her a lot of pain, but she would never wish something to lose their child because of what they did to her.
Pandora dropped the letter in the trash without even opening it. There could be nothing important in it that affected her life any longer. Maybe to Derrik and his mistress, it meant something, but to Pandora… it was trash.
- - - - -
Pandora tiptoed, trying to get her bag into the overhead compartment, She was a slip of a girl, and the only thing her giant ex was good for was lugging around luggage.
“Let me,” a male with an English accent said. Pandora let go and his hands took over. She turned to the man and only saw his chest. When she looked up at his handsome face, she smiled and nodded.
“Thank you.”
“It’s alright, love,” he said.
Pandora slid into her seat and buckled in. The man slid in next to her and turned.
“I should introduce myself if we are going to sit next to each other. I’m Milton.” He held his hand out and Pandora glanced at the other one and noticed the wedding ring.
“Pandora,” she replied and Milton grinned at her.
“Going to Vegas for business or pleasure?” he asked.
Pandora cleared her throat and eyed the strangely friendly man. “Business,” she said promptly.
He pressed his lips together and nodded. “I am going to meet my wife and her family in Vegas,” he told her happily.
Pandora bit back a groan as she realized this man would eat her ear out throughout the flight. At least he spoke about his wife… he wasn’t trying to hit on her.
“This is my wife,” he carried on, showing her a picture of a tall woman. “Her name is Alexis and she is the love of my life.” The conversation carried on and Pandora slowly eased into it. Milton revealed that he was a police officer and he could tell she was divorced by the little white line on her ring finger and that she had a messy divorce.
At the end of the flight, Pandora laughed when she found out they would stay in the same hotel. “I am telling you, Pandora. You should come by and I will introduce you to my family,” he said and handed her a card. “Remember to have fun.”
He winked at her and bolted off towards the exit, where his wife would be waiting to pick him up.
“Sure, if I can get out of bed after working all day,” she told herself.
In the end, Pandora was so frustrated after a grueling day of business, that she showered off the grime and picked one of the outfits Keira had stuffed into her suitcase. She headed down to the bar and slid into a lone seat.
“What can I get you, sugar?” the bartender asked.
“A gin and tonic please,” she said coolly as she looked around the many couples and groups around her. The bartender placed her order down and charged the bill to her room. She walked into the casino and sat down at the poker table. Surprisingly, she met Milton once again there.
They got into a conversation with Pandora spilling her guts about how upset she was her ex-husband wasn’t as sweet as him. At that moment, the two of them decided Pandora should meet a stranger and finish her dry spell. Still, Pandora had yet to meet Milton’s wife and family. Something about coming to Vegas being a yearly family holiday.
The next few days were a constant struggle of trying to prove to chauvinistic men that she knew more about them about her specialty. She also knew how to pick her battles because she allowed a few jokes to slide. She couldn’t die on every hill she felt uncomfortable on.
“What are you doing today?” Kiera asked on the third night.
“Having dinner in my room,” she sighed.
“I sense some sadness in that sigh of yours. What’s wrong?” Kiera asked.
“Just that the guys I have met so far haven’t made me want to spend time with them.”
“As happy as I am that you want to pick up a man, I need to remind you that you are not picking a guy to date, Pandora! You just have to bang them once!”
Pandora chuckled.
“Stop sulking. I am not telling you to fall into bed with just anyone. Dang, you don’t need to sleep with anyone. But have fun. Get some guy to buy you drinks and make you feel like the goddess that you are.”
“Kiera, how will I find a guy who makes me feel like a goddess when you already do it for me?” Pandora joked.
“Stay back, woman. As happy as my boyfriend would be to watch us together, I don’t swing that way. And it’s been a year. I think it is overdue for you to get out there.”
Pandora didn’t respond.
“I will talk to you tomorrow. Now go out and have fun.” The words made Pandora smile. After hanging up, she looked at her watch. It was after six. The perfect time to walk into the night.
“Let’s do this!” she told herself and headed off to the bathroom to get ready. When she was done, she took a selfie and sent it to Kiera.
[Damn it. You’re making me reconsider my previous words. Make me proud, girl!]
Pandora shook her head in amusement and checked herself one last time before walking out. All the way down the lobby, men turned their heads and ogled her.It didn’t take her long to find the club Milton had recommended to her. She entered the club and looked around, hoping she would see him. When she didn’t see him, she headed to the bar and ordered again.After a few minutes, a guy approached her and smiled. “Would you like to dance?” he said.“Sorry, I’m not up for that.” The guy left, leaving her to her alcohol. Still, she was not drunk enough to bust out moves. “I need a shot,” she told the bartender.“Out for a good time?” the bartender asked.“I think so…” The bartender cocked his head and recommended a drink. “Ask for Royce if you want a drink. I’ll take care of you.”“Thank you, Royce. Keep the drinks coming,” she said, tapping the bar.As Royce placed down Pandora’s drink, she felt someone come up behind her.“Royce, can I have some Jack?” the guy said and Pandora found her
It was almost nine at night when she arrived home and Pandora felt like she would die from exhaustion. She let herself into the house and dumped the bags near the door. She kicked off her shoes and dropped them down to the floor beside her luggage.She was just about crawl to the stairs when she heard a knock on the front door. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” she muttered to herself and went towards the staircase.“Pandora!” She frowned when she heard Derrik yelling from outside the door. He began to pound on it, making her groan.“Nothing important, it seems. Just a lunatic knocking at an odd hour,” she said to herself and moved to the door, knowing Derrik wouldn’t leave without seeing her face.She only managed to pry the door open when Derrik pushed it open and barged in. Pandora stumbled, shocked by the force he had used.“Finally came home, I see!” he yelled and crossed his arms over his chest. “You look like a slut with that hair color. What? Are you trying to look good now?
“Spill,” Kiera said, wriggling her brows at Pandora the moment she sat down.“What?” she asked, looking between Keira and Sia, her friends from high school and college respectively.“Don’t act coy. You had sex. It’s written all over your face,” Sia said smugly and Kiera nodded rapidly.Pandora’s mouth dropped open in shock. Was it really written on her forehead? How tense had she looked before? “No, I didn’t,” she answered stubbornly.“Yes, you did. I swear we will torture it out of you if you don’t start speaking.”Pandora frowned at the two and motioned at the server. “I need some coffee before my lips open,” she announced. In no time, the coffee was in front of them and Pandora had taken her first sip.“You've had your coffee now. What did he look like?”She squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t remember.” When she opened them, she saw the look of worry on her friends’ faces. “Did someone hurt you?” Sia asked urgently.“No.” She shook her head before placing her hand over Sia’s. “We we
Pandora groaned, still feeling tired after ten hours of sleep. As she sat up, she felt a wave of dizziness overcome her. Before she could lay back down, her stomach turned. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, hoping and praying she wouldn’t puke on the floor.She hunched over the toilet and heaved. Nothing really came up. She didn’t have time to be sick. And she willed her body to stop without much result. When the retching finally stopped, she dragged herself to the sink to clean up. Still, her stomach felt uncomfortable.As the day passed, she felt worse. Nothing seemed to help with the nausea she was feeling. She tried to force down the lunch before resting her head on the desk, hoping a short nap would make her feel better. Sleep made everything better, right?“They pay you to sleep at work?” she heard Derrik say. She jumped at the sound of his voice, but it was her stomach that made it worse. She covered her mouth and looked at him. “What?” he said irritably, staring
Keira helped her sit on her couch and walked away. Pandora knew she was still in the house because she could hear the other move around the house. She was speaking to someone, but Pandora had no idea who it was.“Here, have some tea,” she said, placing a cup in Pandora’s hand. Her hands lingered. “You got it?” she asked and Pandora looked down before tightening her grip on the cup.“I’m going to have a baby?” she questioned, still thinking that the universe was playing a cruel joke on her.“You are,” Keira confirmed. “This is real, right? It’s not a joke.”“No, it’s not a joke.” Keira rubbed her shoulder.“I’m going to be a mom?”Keira squinted, reevaluating Pandora’s sanity.“Derrik and I tried for years and nothing happened. I didn’t even mistake myself to be pregnant. But I sleep with a random guy and I am immediately pregnant?”A stranger whom she didn’t remember, whose face she had forgotten, let alone what his name was.“What’s wrong, honey?” Keira asked, worried.“I don’t know
“If you are ready, we can begin with the breast exam?” he asked but she got the feeling that he was staring at her. Pandora looked his way but his head was not positioned in a way that he could look at her. “I will be touching you now. My hands are warm.”“That’s fine,” she said nervously. “It will be hard for you to do the exam without touching me.”His soft hands touched her breasts, sending tingles throughout her body. He took his time as he pressed and moved his fingers over her. Once he was finished, he covered her back up with the sheet provided. Of course, by this point, her nipples were hard and tenting the sheet in two spots.“You have a small stature. Is your husband tall?” Dr. Parks asked.Pandora frowned, looking up at him. “He’s—” She cut herself short as Derrik wasn’t her husband any longer. How did she answer that question? The doctor obviously didn’t need her explanation but she was curious as to why he needed to know how tall Derrik was.“Is he over six feet?”Pandora
“Have you lost a baby before?”She shook her head. “After the diagnosis and surgery, I was told that the chances were slim that I would get pregnant.”Dr. Parks sighed before nodding. “I take it that you have been trying for a while, then?”“Yes, we tried for years, starting as soon as we got married. But nothing and now—” she said but stopped herself from blurting out her dirty secret. She felt his hand touch hers and she opened her eyes to see a silver wedding band on his finger. The image of him being so happy in his wedding photo hit her again and only made her cry harder. Again, she asked herself why she had to choose and marry an asshole.“I can’t promise that everything will be okay, but I will watch over you. I would like to see you every week until you give birth. According to the scan, you look about eight weeks along. That means you have another seven months to go.”Pandora agreed, feeling a little better that he was willing to watch over her so carefully.“Do you work?” h
Pandora looked at her dad’s house, taking a few deep breaths, trying to muster up the courage to go inside. ‘I am a grown woman with a job, a car, and a house!’ she told herself, but she also had that small voice in the back of her mind repudiate. ‘Did you forget the ex-husband whom your father asked you not to marry?’ Pandora groaned, knowing she was about to start her engine and just leave with how conflicted her thoughts were.She jumped when she heard a sharp knock on her car’s window.“Sorry,” Nina smiled as she looked through the window. Pandora let out a nervous laugh and opened her car door. “Is everything alright?” Nina asked as she looked her stepdaughter over.“Yeah,” Pandora muttered and shut the door.Nina and she walked to the house the older woman shared with her father. They had known each other since high school. They went from being close friends to raising Pandora together. Nina’s husband cheated on her ten years ago and Pandora’s father, Walter, stuck by her side