At Dusk

Dots and lines

"Yes?"

"Hello?" He said again upon hearing no reply.

"Hi. It's me," she said finally. She was breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry. Who is this?"

"It's Laura."

"Laura? Where the hell have you been?"

"I'm back in Londrina... I'm... I had some things I needed to solve." She stuttered the majority of the words.

"What things?"

"Can we meet? I'll explain everything then."

"Ok, " he agreed after a pause.

"Where?"

"In my office."

"At the Carousel Street?"

"Yes, where else?" 

"Are you sure you are all right?" He asked when she failed to reply immediately. 

"Yeah, no problem. I'll be there in one hour."

"Right," he replied before hanging up.

She pressed the red round button and closed her eyes. She was sitting on the bed with a spine so curled onto itself that she did not know how it was possible with her gigantic belly.

Did he suspect anything? She talked nothing like her sister. He seemed to know Laura more than an acquaintance would. Still, people were always confused by their looks. Luckily he would be too. 

She could say she had amnesia, she had an accident. She could say a lot of things. The problem was, she was a terrible liar. She had always been, especially when she was confronted face to face. She would stutter in the most ridiculous manner and give herself up ten minutes in.

Still, it was worth a try if this guy knew anything about Laura's activities in that city. She could not back down. Not after everything that happened. The manuscript, the note. Her only choice was to go on with it, regardless of how bad a plan it was.

She had no time to waste. She got up from the bed as quickly as she could in order to get dressed. Her back gave a shriek and the baby kicked in her belly.

It was the first time it happened. She was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to react. Her doctor ought to be informed of it. She fumbled across her bag to retrieve the obstetrician's private phone number; not realizing the cell phone was already in her hand.

More kicks came. The baby seemed to be waking up inside her.

Half an hour later, she was still sitting on the bed, massaging her big belly the way the doctor had instructed. She said that it was quite normal for the baby to be kicking at this stage. All she had to do was relax and enjoy the moment, maybe talk to her or him for a little while. And that was exactly what she was doing, the call, the meeting, even Laura, all forgotten.

All she wanted to do was talk her little baby into sleep. She felt for the first time the urge to hold it in her arms already, to sing a lullaby, the look into his or her eyes.

She rested her head on the pillow, trying to picture in her mind what his or her face would look like.

Some babies resemble their mothers, and some their fathers. She imagined that her baby would resemble her, mostly, even if it had a few of Mathias' facial features, which were quite symmetrical. He did not have a strong jaw or something that stood out too clearly, but all of it was beautifully arranged; his nose, mouth, eyebrows, everything was in excellent proportion, like a well-balanced equation.

The one thing that really stood out, she thought, was the emerald eyes. The color was so deep and fresh that it often drove people to stare at it directly, unapologetically. His eyes were like pools of jade.

She fell asleep calculating the chances her baby had of inheriting Mathias' eyes. He or she might stand a chance, she thought sheepishly. She woke up two hours later.