chapter 03

“We need to get out of here!” Antonella crawled out of her crouch, grabbing Dominique’s hand, and headed for the fire escape.

“What are you doing, friend?” She stopped Antonella in mid-stride, looking into her frightened eyes. “You have a job interview.”

“I can’t work here,” she said, and when she felt like her heart was going to explode, she stopped, leaning against the wall behind her and sliding her body down the steps. “I know my father will want to kill me when he finds out I didn’t do the interview, but I can’t work for Benjamin. For the man who abandoned me at the altar and then, pretending he didn’t know me, took me to bed.”

“You’re not that innocent, Antonella.” Dominique crouched down and, sensing her friend’s despair, tried to be sympathetic. “But he’s a Greek god. Who could resist such beauty?”

Her eyes narrowed in disapproval at Dominique’s comment. She realized that, deep down, she was only trying to help. But in this case, there wasn’t much he could do. Had Benjamin done it deliberately? Antonella didn’t doubt it, but she wouldn’t humiliate herself enough to go after him and demand an explanation.

Feeling calmer now, she stood up again and decided to leave. She hurried down the stairs. She wanted to get out of that place before she accidentally bumped into Benjamin.

“I can go there and demand an explanation from him,” she said, making Antonella suddenly stop, so frightened she was by her words.

Antonella knew that she could do it.

“Forget it, Dominique,” she said, holding her shoulders and pleading. “Let’s get out of here and pretend none of this ever happened.”

“And what are you going to tell old Enrico?” That question made her eyelids flutter. “He’ll refuse your apology, Antonella, and you’ll end up in trouble with your father.”

“Better a problem with him than facing that green-eyed devil.” The comment made Dominique smile. “Besides, I’m sick of doing Enrico’s bidding.”

“He’s the most beautiful green-eyed devil I’ve ever seen.” The comment made Antonella roll her eyes as she walked back out of the building.

Silently, she got into the car, realizing that Dominique was right. Enrico wouldn’t accept her excuses, whatever they were. She needed to get a job urgently, to calm his father’s rage, become independent, and finally leave that house.

“It’s not possible to have only one job in this whole city,” she grumbled. “I can get a better job; somewhere I don’t have to face the man who cheated on me.”

“You’re right,” she said, driving back to Antonella’s house, “but that job was the best you could get.”

“Why do I get the impression that you’re trying to coerce me?”

Dominique stared at her, feeling offended.

“I wish you the best,” she said, without looking her in the eye, “and if the best is to work for Benjamin, then so be it.”

But Antonella wouldn’t allow anyone to influence her. She asked Dominique to change the route, and they stopped at a coffee shop in town. While she was having breakfast, she searched the internet for job openings in the surrounding area. She looked worried, and frustration filled her when, for the second time, she realized that Dominique was right. She wouldn’t find a better job than that.

Likewise, she was in a state of despair when her cell phone rang. She was startled to see that the call was from her home, specifically from Enrico.

Not only that, but she felt like she was going to have a heart attack, and her face paled as soon as she answered the call and heard Enrico’s furious voice on the other end of the line.

“Where are you, Antonella?” She wondered how long Enrico would treat her like a child. “Oscar just called to tell me that you didn’t show up for the interview.”

She swallowed, feeling the saliva tear in her throat. She hadn’t imagined that the news would reach her father’s ears so quickly.

“I would rather not work there, Dad,” she said bravely, hearing him grumble on the other end of the line. “I’m asking you to let me choose where I am keen to work for once.”

“Do you think you’ll get a better job than that?” His tone of voice was so loud that Antonella thought she would go deaf just listening to him. “What are you going to work at, Antonella? Waitress? Because that’s the best you can do with your education.”

He felt another slap being thrown in his face. She swallowed all the pain Enrico’s words were causing in her heart and boldly told him,

“I’m looking,” she said, and he grumbled for the tenth time, “don’t wait for me for lunch. I won’t be home until the evening.”

She ended the call without saying goodbye, which would have made Enrico mad. She closed her eyes tightly as she felt Dominique comforting her. Although she didn’t agree with her attitude, she was willing to support her to the end.

Antonella spent the whole day away from home, and when she arrived, her parents were already asleep. The next day, she did the same. She left home early and came back late, just so she wouldn’t have to face her father.

A month had passed, and she hadn’t found a job, not even as a server. Enrico’s demands were becoming unbearable, and Antonella began to consider the idea of going back and humiliating herself by agreeing to work for Benjamin.

When she met Dominique that morning, she asked her to take her back to the company. She had arranged with Oscar, her uncle on her father’s side, to do the interview again, but something happened that changed the entire story.

Antonella ran out of the car as soon as Dominique parked it and threw out all the food she had eaten that morning. She hadn’t told anyone, but she had been experiencing constant nausea and intense sleepiness.

“I don’t like it; it’s a bad sign.” She closed her eyes tightly to finish the thought. “Since when have you been feeling sick?”

Antonella was wiping her mouth when she looked at her, startled by what she saw on her best friend’s face.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Just answer my question, Antonella,” she emphasized impatiently.

“A few days ago,” she replied, “but I know what you’re thinking, and there’s no chance of that happening.”

“Do you swear you protected yourself when you had s*x with Benjamin?” Antonella’s face suddenly turned red. “Because you don’t even remember exactly what happened that night.”

Antonella fell silent, and despair gradually consumed her. As soon as she understood, Dominique grabbed her arm and dragged her to a pharmacy. They bought a pregnancy test and used the establishment’s own bathroom to take the test.

“Is there really any need to do that now?” she asked, as she looked apprehensively at the cup full of urine, on which the white test strip rested. “I’m going to miss the interview for the second time, and Enrico won’t forgive me this time.”

“Imagine what he’ll do when he finds out you’re pregnant.” Dominique took out the test and showed it to Antonella. “Positive result.”

Antonella’s heart exploded in her chest.

This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t be pregnant with the man who abandoned her at the altar.