Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Eloise shakes her head at me.
“Do you hear yourself, Penny? Romantic and passionate? Girl, you’re an eighteen year old high school senior, and he’s the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. I don’t know how to say this, but I don’t think it was a date. He took your innocence on the floor of his company’s supply closet. That’s not romantic.”
My chin set stubbornly.
“No, it was! I can’t tell the story right, that’s all. He was so caring and loving, and he was nice too. We talked and the conversation flowed easily between us. I know it wasn’t a one-time thing.”
Eloise takes a deep breath, keeping her expression neutral.
“But Penny, he hasn’t called yet, right? And it’s been a week.”
I nod.
“Yes, but Patrick’s a busy man. He probably has a lot of travel and meetings to take care of, not to mention HR and finance issues. I’m sure I’ll hear from him soon.”
My friend still had a troubled look on her face.
“I don’t know, Pen. I love you and everything, but this is sounding mighty shady to me.”
“It’s not shady,” I interrupt her rudely. “It was love at first sight.”
Eloise shook her head slowly.
“I’m no expert at love, but I do know that that in general, there aren’t any happy endings in situations like this. I don’t know. Have you told your dad?”
I sputter.
“Of course not! Harold would die if he found out that I made love to his boss during Take Your Daughter To Work Day. My dad would probably pass out and have a heart attack at once.”
Eloise nodded.
“Okay, but try to keep yourself on an even keel, okay Penny? I can already see that you’re getting obsessive with checking your phone, and I can tell from the way you’re talking about this man that you’re putting too much on this relationship, if you can even call it a relationship right now.”
My chin jutted out stubbornly.
“It is a relationship, thank you very much, and I’m certain Patrick is going to call any second now. Just you wait.”
My friend nodded, but of course, he didn’t call. I waited by my phone, staring hopefully at the screen for another few days, which slowly morphed into weeks. By the time a month had passed, it became obvious that this had been a one-time thing for Patrick. I was a fun girl he’d sampled, and that was that. He’d had enough and didn’t need a second helping.
My heart was broken. I sobbed quietly in my room, hoping my dad couldn’t hear. In the mornings, my eyes were red-rimmed and watery, but Harold pretended to ignore my miserable appearance, probably chalking it to some high school romance gone wrong.
But after two months, I realized I’d missed my period twice in a row. Once isn’t alarming because I’ve never been regular, but twice was cause for concern. I took a home pregnancy test and sat on the toilet limply while staring at the indicator. Two blue lines meant I was pregnant, and the two lines stared back at me as indisputable proof of the life growing within.
Oh god, how did this happen? How did I get pregnant by a CEO who no longer wanted me? One who also happened to be my dad’s boss? Tears ran down my cheeks, but they were mixed tears of surprise and joy because while I was shocked to know that there was a baby growing in me, I was also over the moon to know that I had something of my love to treasure for the rest of my life. My baby would be proof of that incredible experience, and I’d have a piece of Patrick to hold and cherish forever.
But you can’t put off the inevitable forever, and at some point, I had to tell my father. Of course, Harold was horrified when he found out.
“You’re pregnant?” he sputtered. “But how? You don’t even have a boyfriend! Or at least, you’ve never brought a boyfriend around here before.”
I was pale but calm while absorbing his reaction.
“I know, Daddy, and I know this isn’t what you want for me. But I’m pregnant and I want to keep the baby.”
Harold stared at me with horror.
“But what about college and a white-collar job? How are you going to provide for the baby? How will you support yourself, for that matter?”
I took a deep breath.
“I’m going to finish high school, and then have the baby. Everyone will know I’m pregnant because I’ll be huge for the rest of the school year. But my manager at SexyFlow has agreed to hold my job for me during a three-month maternity leave, and she said I can come back right afterwards and start full time. You know that college and working a desk job were never right for me, Daddy. That was never what I wanted, and now, life is taking me down a different path.”