Somebody That I Used to Know

The loud knocking on the front door accompanied by Sailor and Charlie wall-shattering barking shook me awake. I shimmied out of Ronnie’s grasp and got out of bed, making my way down the stairs as I pulled a comfortable robe around my pajama-clad body. I manage to quiet my two large dogs a bit and I opened the door.

“Hi, Anastasia,” the woman on the other side of the door said, “I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m detective Arent. We spoke a few months ago about Harper.”

“Of course, please come in.” I said to her, opening my door more and moving aside to let her in, mentally face palming at the fact that I could not remember her at first “Can I get you anything?” I asked politely.

She followed me into the kitchen and we sat down at the kitchen table.

“No thank you.” she began, “I just wanted to know; how are you dealing with everything?”

“Everything is going pretty well considering the recent events.”

“What recent events?” she asked.

“Well, I’ve recently found out that I’m pregnant, and it’s Harper’s baby.” I answered.

“Have you decided whether or not you’re keeping the baby?”

“I discussed with others and while many people that know all the facts do not agree with it, I’ve decided to keep the baby.”

“That’s a big responsibility.” she said.

I nodded my head and I watched her lean back in her chair.

“Well, how did he take the news?” she asked.

“I don’t understand.”

“Harper, how did he take the news? You have told him, haven’t you?”

“I-I didn’t think I had to. Am I in trouble?”

“Of course not, but I suggest you tell him.”

“When my boyfriend wakes up, I’ll talk to him about it.”

“Boyfriend?” she asked, “I don’t believe you mentioned that last time we talked.”

“Oh, I didn’t. Ronnie and I have been friends for the longest, as I told you, and when I found out I was pregnant he was there for me and he confessed that he’s always had feelings for me.”

An awkward silence fell around us and when her phone vibrated from where it sat on top of the table in front of her, she clicked one of the buttons and sighed upon reading the messages contents.

“I’m sorry Anastasia, but this is work. They need me to head back. Please call me anytime you need to talk to someone, I will always answer. Do you still have my number?” she asked as I walked her to the door.

“Yes I do, thank you.” I said to her with a smile.

She waved goodbye and walked out of the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I closed the door and leaned my back up against it, slowly sliding down until I was on the floor. Sailor tottered over to me and whined, his large paw resting on my thigh that was flush against the floor.

“What are we going to do, boy?” I asked him as I scratched him behind one of his ears even though he had no way of answering me.

I heard footsteps on the stairs and soon my petite body along with a portion of Sailor’s front was engulfed in a large body-shaped shadow.

“Ana,” I heard Ronnie begin from where he stood above my head, “What are you doing out of bed?”

“Detective Arent, one of the people that handled my case when I reported Harper, stopped by. She thinks I should tell Harper that I’m pregnant and that it’s his baby.” I told him, looking up at him to better see the tired and confused expression on his face.

Ronnie moved to be next to me and slid down the wall just as I had a moment earlier. Sailor whined a tad, always the one to be overprotective of his ‘mother.’

“Well,” he began as he picked up my hand and laced our fingers together and moved closer to me much to Sailor’s dislike, “If that’s what you want to do, that’s what we’ll do. We can go see him and talk to him today before we drive over to LA to check out the house. You can go upstairs and get ready. I’ll tidy up down here.”

I smiled and leaned toward him, placing a kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you.” I said.

I slowly stood up after moving Sailor away from me and made my way upstairs, walking straight into the bathroom to take a shower. Once I was done, I walked over to my closet and picked out something to wear, curling my hair just a tad to make my unruly waves look more presentable and to dry my hair once I was fully dressed. I did my makeup and walked down the stairs to see that Ronnie fully dressed as well and was playing with Charlie.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked once I was a foot away from him.

I nodded my head and he stood up, grabbing my hand and leading me to the car. He drove towards the prison, a drive that I had become all too familiar with. He stopped his car when we were in the relatively empty parking lot and looked at me with one of his hands still on the steering wheel.

“I may not know what it’s like for you, but I know this is kind of hard for you, you don’t have to go in if you don’t want to.” I told him, not wanting him to be uncomfortable when we walked in through the large metal doors.

“I will admit, this is all a bit awkward considering I was locked up in here a few months ago and I never thought I would be on the other side of this, but I don’t want you to go in there alone. I told you that I would be there for you every step of the way. Consider this Step One.”

I said nothing, still working up the courage to walk though those doors just as I had so many times before.

“You know,” I began in a tone of reminiscence, “I used to look forward to coming here every Sunday and seeing you, it was the highlight of my week, but now I can’t bring myself to even get out of the car.”

Ronnie smiled a bit before surprising me by getting out of the car. He went around the front of it and opened my door for me, holding out his hand for me to grab. I bit my lip, staring at his hand as my heart beat sped up.

“Ana,” he began, successfully making me look away from his hand and to his deep brown eyes, “every step of the way.”

I took a deep breath and placed my small hand in his large one. I closed the heavy car door and we walked towards the door, a few of the inmates that were in the yard whispering to each other without delay when their eyes landed on Ronnie who was protectively holding my petite and pregnant frame behind him. When we reached the heavy metal doors, he pulled it open for me and I stepped through.

“Ana?” Victor questioned when he saw me, “What are you doing here?”

“I need to see someone.” I told him as Ronnie stepped behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist.

“You know better than anyone that’s ever come to visit anybody here what time visiting hours are. Can you come back next week?” he asked.

“It’s really important.” I told him, my hand moving to my swollen stomach.

I watched as his eyes widened slightly when he looked down at the hand resting on my stomach and a look of understanding found its way to his face. He looked back into my green eyes and sighed before nodding his head.

“Who do you need to see?” he asked me.

I told him Harper’s first and last name and watched as he typed something in to his computer that sat in front of him before he picked up the phone. I listened patiently to the side of the conversation that I could hear and when he placed the phone back in its previous position, I looked up at him expectantly.

“They’re going to bring him out now. The two of you can go wait in the room.” he said.

“Thank you, Victor.” I said with a smile on my face as I dragged Ronnie to the other door.

“Don’t say I never did anything for you.” he said, pressing the button the opened the door to the visiting area.

Ronnie and I walked through the now open doorway.

“So, is this what it was like when you would come to visit me?” he asked me as I sat down.

“Well, normally I would be happier and excited but basically those are the motions I would follow.” I told him.

He nodded his head as the door opened and Harper stepped through. Ronnie looked over at Harper’s figure with pure unadulterated hatred in his eyes.

“You’re going to burn holes through bullet proof glass if you don’t stop.” I told him below my breath.

“I know what he did to you, but I can’t believe that you actually thought that was attractive.” he said angrily.

I chuckled a bit and Harper sat across from me, picking up the phone the same time I did.

“And to what do I owe the immense pleasure of being visited by the woman that put me in this hellhole?” he asked me sarcastically.

“Don’t act like this meeting is so enjoyable for me, I rather stick needles in my eyes but unfortunately it seems we have unfinished business.” I told him, leaning back in the uncomfortable chair and staring him down.

Harper looked me up and down before smirking at me cockily.

“You’ve gained weight recently, haven’t you?” he asked.

“Actually, I’m pregnant.” I told him, causing his eyes to widen in surprise.

“Well, while the fact that you’re a whore and managed to get knocked up is rather fascinating, what can I help you with?” he asked.

“Well, I just thought you should know that in a few months you’ll have a kid.” I told him before hanging up the phone and grabbing on to Ronnie’s hand, dragging him out of the room with me.