Divorce Attorney

Chapter 18: Justin Was Back At Work

Within thirty minutes, Ellis was at my apartment after I called him in my desperate time of need. Upon him walking through my door, I noticed he held more sweets, a Starbucks cup, and a pair of fuzzy socks.

I breathed out a sigh of relief as he engulfed me into a hug. "Hey Princess, miss me already?" He asked, planting a gentle kiss on my forehead.

"So much," I nodded as I pulled away from the hug.

"I brought you some treats. Some candy to cheer you up, nice fuzzy socks to bring you some comfort." Ellis held the cup out to me, "And one of your favorites to warm up your soul."

I pouted, "Ellis, I can't really drink a lot of caffeine."

He laughed and shook his head, "I know silly! It's just salted caramel hot chocolate."

My heart soured with gratitude as I took the cup from him and took a sip, letting the warm chocolate liquids touch my soul as he promised it would. "Thank you."

"So what happened, babe?" Ellis asked, the 'babe' rolled off of his tongue so easily that is made me feel safe and secure.

I sighed, leaning my head against his shoulder. "When I got home there was an envelope on the floor by my door, like someone had slid it right under the door."

"Go on," Ellis prompted.

I bit my lip, "It was him... He said he needed more time to process that I was pregnant and did not want to speak with me right now."

I could see Ellis twist his eyebrows together in anger. "How come he just gets to run away from it? You aren't able to, why should he?"

"Your answer is as good as mine," I shrugged.

.....

The rest of the week went by with a blur, probably because I was beginning to feel my energy was draining, and my emotions were just becoming numb. Christiana unexpectedly got a head cold so cancelled our meeting. I was grateful to be safe from her questioning, I still hadn't processed everything with Justin myself so definitely wasn't ready for The Christiana Love Inquistion.

After a weekend of laying on my couch watching different romantic comedies on Netflix, I headed back to "normal life" on Monday at work. Though I didn't have a baby bump yet, I was still really self conscious that somehow someone would know I was pregnant by staring at my stomach. For this reason, today I wore a loose fitting black blouse and a pair of stretchy grey pants. Maybe the loose fitting clothing, plus the lack of color in the outfit was cause me to go unnoticed by anyone at the office.

As I walked in Gianna looked busy as she was typing away on her computer at the front desk. Though, a small smile was displayed on her thin face so she must at least be happy with whatever was occupying her.

"Good morning, Gianna," I spoke to her as I walked into the room.

She smiled, "Good morning, Miss Lauren. Give me one moment to print up your schedule for the day. I was just finalizing Mr. Collins's."

My heart skipped a beat... Justin was back at work.

"O..oh, Justin is in today?" I cleared my throat as I could feel it drying up from the nerves.

Gianna smiled, that flirty little grin she always did when discussing Justin. If only she knew she was sitting right in front of his baby mama. "Yes, he is feeling much better, thankfully. I know the office sure did not feel complete without him!"

With that, Gianna began typing again on her computer, "Just one more thing to add... and there!" She looked satisfied. I could hear her printer firing up behind her as she turned and grabbed the few sheets of paper that popped up. She turned back to me and held them out. "Your schedule, Miss Lauren."

I grabbed it from her, feeling the warmth from the freshly printed papers dance onto my finger prints. "Thank you," I nodded before heading down to my office. My heart was picking up as I thought about what would happen if Justin came out of his office at this very moment.

What would I say? A billion different scenarios scurried around my head in circles. Would I ask him to sit down and talk? Would I just slap him right across the face? Would I cry? Maybe I could barf all over his shoes again as revenge.

Though as I reached my door, Justin never appeared. I sighed, feeling the disappointment seep into me as I walked into my own office and shut the door behind me.

.....

I had an hour break between clients at one and figured that was a good time to head out for lunch. I placed a hand lovingly on my still flat stomach.

"What are you hungry for today, baby?" I cooed to myself with a smile as I drummed my fingers gently over my stomach. I wondered if the baby could hear me yet, I wasn't sure how far along in your pregnancy that the baby developed their ears. Though, I'm sure I was still far too early. I was just excited for my first ultrasound later this week to finally see my peanut. I grabbed my coat and purse from the hanger by the door and walked out into the hallway. All the sudden I wanted to run, hide, vomit, cry, scream, and sink into the floor all at the same time.

Walking into the office was Gianna and Justin, and they were holding hands. It was obvious neither of them had seen me as they were still in whatever little bubble of bliss they had created wherever they had just come from.

"Thank you so much for lunch, Justin," Gianna giggled that little school girl giggle. I wanted to punch her in the throat just at the sound of it.

Justin smiled, "Anything for you, baby."

Baby? He was calling her baby now?

My blood boiled. There was only one baby in this office right now that Justin had any part of, yet he was ignoring it. Now even he was getting involved with another one for the sole purpose of trying to distance himself away from our baby. Why would he do that? What point was he trying to prove by ignoring me, then a week later now supposedly dating the slutty receptionist?

Involuntarily, I heard myself sniffle. I hadn't even realized I was crying. Damn these pregnancy hormones. Almost instantly, Gianna and Justin both looked up to see my standing there. I couldn't imagine how crazy I must look to Gianna, though I wasn't sure I cared. All she saw was a lawyer she worked for standing in the lobby crying. I'm hoping Justin saw more though. I hope he saw the soon-to-be mother of child having her heart ripped out as the man who is supposed to support her, whether they were romantically involved or not, go out with another woman just to get away from the situation he had created.

"Miss Lauren, are you okay?"

"Just fucking peachy," I couldn't hold back. I stormed out of the office, making sure to bump Justin's shoulder as I fast paced walked to the elevator. Gianna watched me in horror, unable to understand what was going on. Justin watched me like a sad puppy dog. Once the elevator doors shut and they could no longer see me, the sobs ripped through my throat.

The doors opened again once I was at the ground floor. A shocked and surprised Ellis stood there. He was dressed in his work attire, yet held a bouquet of flowers in his hands. He had come to surprise me. The large grin on his face immediately was replaced with a look of concern as he found me in the elevator.

"Oh no, honey, let's get you somewhere else." He immediately pulled me into his arms and ushered me out of the building.