The ones we hate

Chapter 19

I took a deep breath, my worst fear coming true. Jess wasn't Edward's son. Cara was raped by the same guy who almost raped me. 

Cara shot me a guilty look, and I turned to Leo, his jaw clenched. His hands were curled up in fists, and I put my hand on his to console him. 

He calmed down after that.

'He...impregnated you? Does Edward know?' I asked her, concerned. Her eyes grew confused, then wide.

'Oh! No! The baby is Edwards. Why would you assume that? I admit, a bit coincidental, but I took a test. Edward is the father. And no, Edward doesn't know. And I'm not going to tell him. The reason I went to Klaus that fateful day was to ask him to give Edward that promotion. He has friends in high places, and he was a friend of Dad's. So, he said yes, and gave me a drink. Next thing I knew, I woke up in his bed. Naked.' Cara sighed, and continued talking. 'Edward needs this job. He loves it.'

'He loves you more!' I let out, a bit too harshly. 'You have to tell him, Cara!' She looked down, and I stopped myself from saying more. I turned to Leo, as tense as ever.

'We're filing a case against him.' Cara looked up, her eyes a bit...hopeful, if anything. 'We need your statement.' She nodded. 'And we need you to tell Edward.' Cara's eyes turned worried, and I let out a sigh.

'Promise?' She nodded. 'Promise. Now, let's get a cheesecake.' 

Oh.

That was code for: 'You. Me. Talk. In Private.' Every day in high school, when we needed to talk about something(it was either what someone was wearing, or about Edward and/or Leo), she asked the teacher to go to the bathroom. Our school bathroom sucks, so I always understood she wanted to speak to me about something. I usually asked the teacher if I could go too, and he usually said yes.

Later on, in college, we had a bakery, and our friend group of 12 was...complicated, so me and Cara usually went to get cheesecakes in order to talk gossip.

I went to the counter, with Cara next to me, and she immediately gave me a grin. 

'I know it's not the correct circumstances for this conversation, but you're in his hoodie! You came out of the same car! And it's a Sunday, so I know you didn't have any work.'  I sighed, and reluctantly started talking. 

'So, after Klaus almost...you know, I told Leo. Then went to my apartment, where Leo came minutes later. Bloody. He had beaten up Klaus, and stole papers which had proof he assaulted his workers. So, he needed to lay low, as you know, Klaus has connections everywhere. I decided to let Leo stay at my place. And, uhm, we fell asleep on the same bed. And woke up...in a very awkward position. Then, I went to the washroom in a rush...without taking clothes. So then I had to run, and Leo saw me. And he was kind of ogling me.' I looked at Cara, and she was grinning ear-to-ear. 

'So...you're basically dating at this point, right?' I blushed and hit Cara on the arm. 'Shut up. It's highly requested.' I smiled as I picked up our cheesecakes and headed back to the table. Leo was waiting there, and he raised an eyebrow as if to say 'What took you so long?' 

We finished our cheesecakes, paid the bill and as we said goodbye to Cara and walked back to my car, Leo suddenly put his arm around my waist. I blushed, and looked at him from the corner of my eye. He simple chuckled and said 'Wouldn't want you getting cold again, would we?' 

I laughed and opened the door to my car. Well, almost. Because Leo did it first. I giggled and sat in my car, and as Leo got in, I put in my folklore CD and started listening to illicit affairs.

'So, where to, Ashlyn?' I checked my phone for the time and realized my interview was in an hour.

'Home. I have an interview. I have to change' Leo looked at me and chuckled.