Life After You

Kelly is standing in the reception area when the phone in her office starts to ring. She sets down her briefcase and returns into her dimly lit office. She answers the phone, slightly abrupt about being disturbed when she is trying to go home. She has no idea who would even want to call the office at seven-thirty in the evening.
After a few minutes of conversation, Kelly hangs up and gives a frustrated sigh as she picks up her briefcase for the second time in ten minutes. Her friend Rosie wants to try out a new club in town, where people partied until they dropped . Rosie followed the local hot-spots religiously and had to at least go there once or twice to assess the venue.
Kelly preferred to go to quieter bars where everyone could have a conversation. In her younger years she had partied hard like everyone else, consuming as much alcohol as she could in a short frame of time. But she had grown up and had become married to her work.
It was a life she had never really wanted for herself as a child. She had been told often enough of what was expected of her and maybe disregarding her families concerns was her way of rebelling.

***

Jeremy pulls into Minnesota Avenue and kills the engine, drifting until he parks in the driveway. He jingles his keys as he rings the doorbell, the warm sun beating down on his back. He looks around the well maintained garden, in particular at the rose bushes that are starting to bud.

“Hi” She says as she answers the door. It is clear she hadn’t been expecting him.

“Hey, how are you?” He asks as he gives her a quick peck on the lips. He follows her into the kitchen where she had been disturbed chopping onions. A pot of red sauce is bubbling nicely away on the stove.
Stephanie continues to chop the onions.
She feels a pair of strong arms wrapping around her waist, a pair of hot lips gently kissing her neck.

“I’ve missed you” He mumbles into her neck. His warm breath sends shivers down to her toes.

“Jeremy, please stop” He stands back and looks at her.

“What’s up?” His tone is serious, his eyes searching her troubled expression.

“I need to tell you something” Stephanie replies slowly.

“What is it? Are you sick or something?” Jeremy’s voice Is full of concern. She had been distant when he called her every couple of days from the movie set. Nine times out of ten it was later in the evening once he had showered and found a few minutes to himself.

“I’m pregnant” She finally says. He looks at her with confusion. She doesn’t look pregnant and they haven’t been together in a while. “It’s not yours. I’ve been with someone else”

He can’t believe it. She’s pregnant with someone else’s baby while being in a relationship with him. He hadn’t seen her properly in three months. He knows deep down that the baby was never going to be his.

“How long?” He asks finally.

“Six months” Stephanie answers quietly. “I’m so sorry. It was never supposed to have happened. I still love you”

“How can you love me when you’ve been screwing around with another guy?” Jeremy says, tears stinging his eyes. “What was I to you?”

“Jeremy, I do love you. I really do. It was never supposed to go this far. Can’t we talk about this?”

Jeremy shakes his head, biting down on his bottom lip. It feels as if someone has kicked him in the stomach, winding him to the point that he’s on his knees and gasping for breath.
“Why’d you do it, huh?” Jeremy demands.

Stephanie wipes a stray tear from her eye. She tells him that when he was away she had gotten lonely. She never planned falling for another guy, but over the course of six months she had fallen in love with him.