Eyes Of Muniz

Chapter 20

Michael decided to go home after a long day's work. He had been going home after hours to avoid Marisa. It was fair because she didn't want to see him either. Michael did not want to be in her space because they had nothing to talk about.
  He got home and went to his mini bar for a drink. He loosened his neck tie and took a bottle of whiskey. He opened it and took a sip. He wondered if he had handled things well with Marisa last week.
  "And you're pregnant" Michael said to her. He wanted to know if she had known. Her face was pale.
  "What?" Marisa was shocked. She drowned in her thoughts. She had fallen pregnant that quick? But it was just her first time. Who had said first timers don't get pregnant? That was not the worst part...Michael was the father! The way he had told her didn't show he believed that.
" Yes, you heard right. Whatever you have been feeling were the..." Michael saw a pillow fly at him.
   "This is your damn fault!" Marisa fumed at him and threw another pillow in his direction. She wondered why she had been quick to believe him. It made sense. She had blamed Ned's steak when she threw up and had been ignoring her sudden dislike for steak. Her period was late! What else had she needed to know she was pregnant?
"How is this my fault?" Michael asked defensively. He realized she didn't know. She had came to help her and all of this was not staged.
  "You did this to me!"
"I did not force you Muniz you complied" he told her. He knew he was at fault for initiating the act.
  " Why would you come into the help's bedroom? You had it planned?" Marisa was shaking with anger.
"Planned? If anyone had something planned it was you. You are an opportunist and you wanted to to get stakes out of me. I knew something was fishy from the day I saw you. You wanted to get close to me and pin me down. You had to get pregnant, right" Michael said folding the sleeves of his shirt casually.
   "Pin you down? You think I wanted this? I did not plan this, I told you it was my first time you went on. You knew I was vulnerable" Marisa's mind was racing. What was she going to do? Michael did not seem interested. He was being confrontational.
"Vulnerable? You weren't vulnerable. Whispering my name and your hands in my hair. Dream come true. You can't play me, I am not a marrying man" Michael said to her. He was panicking but he suppressed it. Was the child his? What if she had been with Ned soon after? But he had weighed her and he knew she wouldn't have, she wasn't that type. He had actually taken advantage of her vulnerability that night. The child she was carrying was his.
  "Who would want to marry you if you were a marrying man?You're the man mothers tell their daughters to keep away from. I might be nothing in your eyes but I do not settle for second best, Michael" Marisa said.
  " I am second best?" Michael had been offended. Whom did she think was better than him?
"You are second best. And if you think I will need you to support my child you're wrong, I'll do it on my own" Marisa heard herself say. What was  wrong with her? She had just found out she was pregnant and she knew the type of person the father was and she had decided to keep the baby. But what other alternative was there? No! She wouldn't dare terminate the pregnancy. She was scared.
  "You do not know what I am thinking", Michael said to her. He knew he wasn't going to let her terminate pregnancy as soon as he had believed it was his. He wasn't going to lay back and let her keep the baby for herself either. His mother had taught him better. Michael's only problem was how he was going to handle the situation.
" Do I need to know? I'm leaving because I think we're done here" Marisa got up and located her undergarments and overnight bag. Michael stood there watching her. He was cross checking his decision for the last time in his head. He walked to the doorway and watched her wearing her shoes. She walked to the door.
"Excuse me" she said weakly.
"Get your ass back in bed and keep warm" Michael told her.
  "What?"
"You heard me. If you want to leave, you are free to leave but make sure you have nothing of mine with you" he replied her.
  " I have nothing that belongs to you with me" she said impatiently.
" Leave my baby with me and see yourself out" Michael said with a firm voice.
   "Are you crazy? I can't.."
"Then go back to bed and get some rest. You're not leaving with my child. I will see to it that you eat well and sleep well and that you're safe" Michael told her.
  "You don't even like me, why are you even..."
"You're right, I don't like you. I am doing this for the child you are carrying. You are the packaging, Marisa. I want what you are carrying and that is all. You're going to stay here where I can see you for as long as you are pregnant then we can make an agreement after the baby is born"  Michael said. He saw Marisa look down. She was thinking.
  "And if I leave?" She asked. Marisa had thought he didn't want anything to do with the baby. She was the packaging just the packaging and it had hit hard. If she refused to stay with him was there going to be any law against that? Michael would do anything to create it. She couldn't come back to live in the same house that had brought her into the same situation.
"You wouldn't want me to answer that," Michael said looking straight into her eyes with intimidation. He wondered what the baby would look like with her blue eyes. He dismissed the thought bitterly.
  "I have a job, I have a life" she said.
" Your life will happen where I can see you. You can quit your job, if you strain you'll kill my child" Michael said sliding his hands in his pockets.
  " I can't..."
"I had a long day and it's after midnight. I need to sleep so get your ass in bed, Marisa" Michael commanded her.
  "I can do what you want me to do from my home."
" I don't want anyone to know about this. You want reporters to follow you around when your tummy starts to show? Someone will find out and the tabloids will destroy you, they'll destroy me" Michael told her. He was not going to risk that.
     "Pig" Marisa said. She knew what reporters would do to her if any word of it got out. Mauricio would find out the truth and Michael's deal would go down. She dropped the bag and kicked her shoes off. She had no other choice.
" I will make sure you are comfortable until the baby comes. If you ever need anything you let me know. I will get a maid who is going to help you with anything you need. I have to make it clear that this is nothing but an arrangement for the child you are carrying I am not doing this for you. I'm sure it's the same for you since you don't do second best", Michael said. He noticed she had nothing more to say so he turned and strode off.
Michael took another sip from his whiskey bottle. He stood up and went to Marisa's bedroom. He had avoided her for a week. Michael would just check with the maid to see if Marisa and got everything.
  Marisa opened the door when she heard a knock. Michael brushed past her walking in.
  "Look at you, living the life you have always dreamt of" Michael said. Marisa keft the door open and walked to him.
   "I have everything that I need, thank you" she told him.
"Obviously, how can you not. I did not come here for that" he said.
  "Then why did you come here?"

Sorry for late update
21 is on the way...

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