Chapter 5. Pregnant?

Olivia Barnett POV

It was exactly one month after my last confrontation with Josh.

We have not had any clashes ever since.

It was as if we had some kind of a silent truce.

The morning passed by in a blur.

Lunch soon arrived, and everyone had gone on their breaks except me.

I was not hungry. I was more tired, actually.

These days, my body feels like a bus ran over it. But I could not tell that to Lucy, or she would worry. Instead, I just told her that I was waiting for a delivery. It’s the truth anyway. My one million dollar purchase, my small act of rebellion, is arriving anytime today. After a month of waiting!

Lucy did not argue. When she got back from lunch, she had some very juicy information for me. I did not realize that the grapevine had been working full-time during the lull hours.

“Did you hear?” Lucy asked when she sidled up to my table right after lunch break to place a wrapped sandwich on the corner and a bottle of milk. I smiled inwardly. Lucy had a way of looking out for me without being obvious.

I pretended not to hear her and continued typing.

Lucy went right ahead in informing me. “The rumors are true. Mr. Sterling and Ms. Cobbs broke up.” Her voice held a little bit of mischief.

She was waiting for my reaction. I could feel her stare boring on the top of my head, but I refused to give her one. Besides, it’s stale news. Josh told me that a month ago.

I wouldn’t have done the deed with him if Daisy were still in the picture.

I love him, but I still have some pride left. I won’t stoop too low.

I looked back on the document I was reading, pretending to work. The grapevine gossip only put an end to the month-long speculation circulating at the office, especially when everyone noticed how the boss had changed.

“Do you think it has something to do with you?” she asked, brows arched, maliciously.

“Lucy…” I warned her.

“Why not? He’s mellowed. Everyone in the office saw the way he looked at you when you were not looking.”

I noticed it, too. But I do not want to delude myself.

Josh Morgan Sterling will never love me. He said it himself.  His words still echoed in my head, like a recording, but I could deny the skip my heart made and the sudden racing of my heart.

I would be lying if I did not say that her words gave me hope.

Daisy’s out of the picture, and maybe Josh is seeing me in a new light?

Thirty minutes later, Josh’s office door opened, the same time the elevator pinged, signaling an arrival.

My jaw dropped when I saw two men in overalls and work gloves carrying between them a golden giant eggplant in a pot about four-feet tall.

My jaw slackened as I stared at the monstrosity. On the website, it did not look this big. It looked cute, but now it does not look so cute anymore. It looked massive and …. I tried to grope for words but felt at a loss.

A hush fell into the office when a third man in a suit walked right up to the receptionist, looked into his clipboard to ask for a Josh Morgan Sterling, claiming that the delivery was for him.

We all watched in bated breath as the man in a suit approached him.

Josh did a double-take before staring dumbfoundedly at the giant golden eggplant.

The sight made me want to crack up. He looked funny. Crimson crawled up to his cheeks and neck and up to his ears when the man in the suit announced loud enough for everyone to hear that it was a gift “to remind him about how big and tall a man he is.”

I wanted to erupt in laughter, but one look at Josh and the laughter was pushed back down my throat.

He glared at me before focusing his attention back on the delivery men.

“You need to sign here, sir.” The man in the suit handed him the clipboard.

“I am not accepting that!” He cried.

“It’s one million dollars, sir. The gift was paid for, and we don’t give refunds.” His announcement caused a simultaneous gasp from all around us.

By now,  the color on Josh’s face had quickly drained. He became pale so suddenly.

He looked in my direction sharply. The index finger pointed in my direction.

“You!” He yelled, startling me. It was the first time he used that tone to me in the last month. I could see how he was trying to control his anger. Did I go overboard? He said I could do anything with his money. I bought this.

It must have been the shock. Blood rushed to my head, and I suddenly felt nauseous.

I ran past Josh, pushing him away in my mad dash for the toilet to spill out the contents of my gut.

“Upset stomach again? You have been having that since the weekend." Lucy said behind me while she gathered my hair to hold it away from my face. I did not realize she followed me here, but I was grateful for her presence.

My eyes watered while my stomach continued to grumble and protest.

“I really think you should see a doctor, babe. You might be pregnant, for all we know. A pregnant virgin.” It was just said in jest, knowing Lucy, it was just her way of diffusing a tense situation. But while she listed out all that was wrong with me, something clicked in my head.

“You keep vomiting, you pee a lot, you have sudden food cravings, and babe, recently, you cry a lot, too.”

All through the morning, I was bothered. I had unprotected sex last month, and now, my menstruation is delayed.

By lunch, I had already made a quick trip to the pharmacy, a ten-minute drive away, preferring the place to the one near Sterling Enterprises.

I could not brave going there for fear of accidentally bumping into someone I knew.

I can’t expose myself and be fodder for gossip.

After the cashier rang up my purchase, I quickly put the home pregnancy test kit inside my bag and very casually left the pharmacy. I was not looking where I was going, so I ran smack into the last person I wanted to see at all.  My bag fell, and its contents were scattered around us.

“Boss, Mr. Sterling!” I cried. A hint of anxiousness that I failed to notice in my voice as I bent down to put my things back in the bag.

My face flamed as I stared at Josh Morgan Sterling, especially when he picked up my package, the one I recently bought.

“What’s this?” He asked. “Are you sick?”

The package peeked out from the paper bag, and I winced, especially when he pulled the box out to get a very good look.

The expression on his face changed quickly when he saw the home pregnancy test kit. He looked straight into my eyes and asked.

“Is this yours?” He asked. His jaw hardened at the implication the sight of the box suggests.

I was tongue-tied, caught unaware. He was the last person I expected to run into here, of all places.

I really did not know what to say.

My chest felt like it was exploding while my heart thudded painfully inside.

Tears welled in my eyes when I met Josh's stare. He shouldn’t be privy to what I was suspecting. That would be too embarrassing.

But his gaze won’t leave my face. He watched me while he waited for me to respond. But even then, something in his eyes told me that even without my confirmation, he already knew this complication was the result of the night we had together.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments between us. Then, he broke it when he asked what I was dreading to hear.

“Are you pregnant with my baby?”