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Two Lines

Author: P.E. Hart
last update Petsa ng paglalathala: 2026-04-12 11:08:35

"Put it down," Priya said. "Stop looking at it. It's not going to change."

Lina was still holding the test.

"Lina." Priya took it out of her hand and set it on the bathroom counter face-down. "Look at me."

She looked.

"Tell me it's Freddie's," Priya said.

Lina said nothing.

"Oh God." Priya sat down on the edge of the tub. "Tell me you didn't."

"I don't know what I did." Lina pressed her hands flat on the counter. "I don't remember most of that night. I just woke up and he was—" She stopped. "I woke up and it was Marcos."

"Marcos." Priya repeated his name like it was something she had found on the bottom of her shoe. "Freddie's Marcos."

"The same."

Priya stood up. Sat back down. Stood up again. "Does he know?"

"No."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know."

"Are you going to tell Freddie?"

"Absolutely not."

"Lina."

"What do you want me to say, Priya? What is the right answer here? I left Freddie at the altar and then I possibly slept with his best friend and now I'm—" She turned around. Pressed her back to the counter. "I'm pregnant."

The word landed like a stone in water. It rippled.

Priya was quiet for a long time.

"What are you going to do?" she finally asked.

"I'm going to figure it out."

"That's not a plan."

"It's all I have right now."

She called Marcos that afternoon.

He answered on the second ring. "Lina." His voice was smooth. Warm. Completely unsurprised. "I wondered when you'd call."

"We need to talk."

"Agreed. Come to my office."

"I'm not coming to your office."

"Then come to my apartment."

"I'm not doing that either." She kept her voice flat. "I'll meet you at the coffee place on Forty-Second. One hour."

He paused. "You sound serious."

"One hour, Marcos."

She hung up before he could say anything else.

He was already there when she arrived. Sitting with two coffees, jacket pressed, looking like a magazine spread. That smile in place.

She sat across from him without taking her coat off.

"What happened that night?" she said.

He tilted his head. "You don't remember?"

"I remember some of it. I need you to fill in the gaps."

"You came down to the bar," he said easily. "We had drinks. We talked. You were upset about the wedding." A shrug. "One thing led to another."

"Did I—" She stopped. Started again. "Was it consensual?"

Something shifted in his face. Just for a second. Then the smile came back, softer now, almost gentle. "Lina. You kissed me first."

She stared at him.

She did not remember kissing him first.

"Why didn't you stop it?" she said. "He was your best friend."

"Was," Marcos said. "Past tense."

"What does that mean?"

He looked at his coffee. Then back at her. "It means things between Freddie and me are complicated. They have been for a long time." He leaned forward. "Are you going to tell me what this is really about?"

She reached into her bag. Put the pregnancy test on the table between them. Face up.

She watched him look at it.

His expression didn't change. Not the way a shocked person's face changes.

It just went very, very still.

"I see," he said.

That was all.

"That's it? That's your response?"

"What would you like me to say?"

"I don't know. Something human."

He sat back. Crossed his arms. Looked at her with those unreadable eyes. "I'll support whatever you decide. Financially. Logistically. Whatever you need."

"I don't want your money."

"Then what do you want?"

"The truth."

He picked up his coffee. Took a slow sip. "I told you the truth."

She stared at him for a long time. Something was wrong. She could feel it the way you feel a change in pressure before a storm.

She picked the test up and put it back in her bag.

"Stay away from me, Marcos."

"Lina—"

"I mean it."

She walked out.

Behind her, she heard him set his coffee cup down. Very carefully. Very quietly.

She didn't look back.

But on the street outside, her phone buzzed.

A text from him.

"Before you make any decisions. You should know that Freddie has been looking for you."

Her feet stopped moving.

Another text came.

"He's been asking questions. About that night. He knows something happened."

Lina's blood went cold.

Freddie knew.

Or suspected.

Either way, she was out of time.

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