Mrs. Pandora Preston hadn’t had a moment to herself in almost a month. She had pulled a twelve-hour shift at work already and when she got home, she would have to clean the house, do shopping, make dinner, and take care of all the bills. By the end of the month, Pandora didn’t know how much longer she could hold on.
A jerk at work didn’t think a petite five-foot-one and twenty-eight-year-old woman should be the creative director. Being the nice ‘gentleman’ that he was, he had decided to let his opinion known… in front of all her coworkers and clients. His ideas were from the middle ages, but what bothered her was that nobody stood up for her in front of the smelly, balding man.
To add on top of that, when she stood outside the restaurant for their weekly ‘date’, she found that her husband had not arrived, and he wasn’t even picking up his phone like he was supposed to.
Pandora sighed, remembering that he had also not mowed the lawn like she had asked him to and the Karens in the neighborhood were going to knock on their doors soon. Now, you might be wondering why her husband Derrik was being shown in such a bad light, but you will be appalled to know that he was not working and never picking up his weight in the household.
It had been six months since he was fired from his last job and he hadn’t attended even one interview. Pandora was beginning to doubt that he was even looking for work. All Derrik did when she broached the subject of getting him into her company was that he would look like a fool and less of a man because his ‘little woman’ would be his superior at work.
Mind you, Derrik was six-foot-five inches and towered over everyone. He was the last person who should feel emasculated.
The restaurant Derrik had chosen for their date was situated on top of someone’s house. It overlooked a few apartments and Pandora wondered how Derrik had found such a cozy place. She was seated near the window and stared out after looking at her watch again. Her husband was fifteen minutes late.
The blinds of the apartment she could see were wide open. Throw them, she could see directly into the kitchen and some woman was surely using her kitchen. She was awash with lust, oblivious to the eyes on her while a huge man stood in front of her, his ass bared to the world as he thrust into her.
Pandora was jealous for a quick second, remembering the lack of action in her marriage bed.
Pandora’s stomach dropped when the woman stared in horror through the window, realizing she had forgotten to close the blinds. Her lover followed her horrified gaze, looking over his shoulder.
The first words Pandora uttered through half-formed thoughts were: “These assholes.”
A woman gasped and turned to her. “Miss, please watch your language. My son just heard you.”
Pandora ignored them and cursed under her breath as she raised her phone and started taking pictures. She snapped photographs constantly, thanking god that she had invested in a phone with a camera that could pass off as a telescope.
The woman and Pandora’s husband scurried out of the kitchen, scrambling to dress. Her vision tunneled and she got out of her seat, ignoring the scandalized woman. She raced down the stairs and to the next building where she knew her husband and his mistress were. No guard was stopping her and Pandora grinned as she burst into the building.
The elevator door opened, revealing the hastily dressed woman and her husband, stepping out. Pandora stopped short.
“Caught you.”
Pandora vaguely noticed the presence of a handful of people in the lobby leaving and entering the building, taking their mail. They stopped their mundane activities to watch.
The woman froze, but Derrik took two steps towards her, palms up. “Pandora, calm down.”
“You’re a bastard,” Pandora growled. “And you, do you know he has a wife and he is trying for a child with her? Me?” she addressed the other woman.
“Pandora…” the woman said shakily.
There were gaps around them as Pandora spoke, “So you did know he was married and still fucked him.”
“This is my apartment building and you are embarrassing me,” the woman hissed.
Pandora jerked back. “Oh, I am embarrassing you? You should have remembered that when you were screwing my husband with the windows open, making sure I saw you two… because you guys knew for damn sure that I was going to be there.”
“Mackenna, please…” Derrik said. “Step back.” He sighed and turned to Pandora. “This is your own fault. You were a nag and I got sick of you.”
Pandora swallowed the agonizing tightness in her throat, pushing back the sting in her eyes and the mortification his words caused her. She refused to cry in front of the cheating pair.
“Is that so? Am I a nag because I asked you to contribute to the house?” she asked.
“It’s not a big deal,” Derrik started but Mackenna cut him off.
“It wasn’t a mistake. Why do you think you two stopped having sex? He doesn’t want you! What’s more, I know all about how you climbed to the top of your company. You have no talent and you can’t even have children. Years of trying and you can’t even give him a baby? Meanwhile, he and I have been together for three months, and I am two months—”
“You should stop talking while I am still calm. The last thing you want is to be handed your pregnant ass by the woman you called barren. And that sick jerk you claim to love? He is going to be on the market and single very soon. I hope you enjoy having a bum hanging around all day.”
With a final glare, Pandora turned and put the phone to her ear. “Do you know a lawyer who can help me get divorced?”
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 bu
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