After the Brunch meeting with the Granvilles, Ashley went home after that went to bath. She sat on the edge of the pristine bathtub, clutching her phone tightly, her stomach churning not from nerves or guilt this time, but something deeper than that.
She had thrown up three times that morning.
At first, she thought it was the food poisoning or food from yesterday. Maybe stress, but this morning made it the fourth time in a week. The same metallic taste in her mouth. The same nausea creeping in before she even opened her eyes.
She hadn't had her period in over a month.
And now the realization began to settle like cold steel.
No.
No, no, no.
She wasn't that girl.
She was smart. Careful. Always in control.
Except that one night…
Ashley stood, heart thundering, and opened the bathroom cabinet. No pregnancy test. Obviously. She wasn't supposed to need one. Girls like her didn't get knocked up by strangers at bars.
Fifteen minutes later, she was in her car, headed to the nearest pharmacy, hoodie pulled low over her face, sunglasses on. She hoped no one would recognize her. Not in this part of town.
She bought three test kits.
Just in case the first one was wrong.
The stick turned pink in under a minute.
She blinked at it. Then picked up another one. Did it again. Same result.
Positive.
Positive.
Positive.
Her legs gave out. She sat on the cold bathroom tiles, tests scattered like broken promises around her.
A baby.
His baby.
She didn't even know his last name.
Meanwhile, Darren was at his job site, lugging a heavy toolbox across concrete. The sun beat down on his back, sweat clinging to his shirt. The physical work helped him stay clean one of the few things that did.
"You okay, man?" his coworker, Miguel, asked as he passed him a wrench.
"Yeah. Just tired."
He wasn't. Not really. Just… off. Since that night. Since she disappeared.
He kept telling himself it didn't matter. That she had her reasons. That it was probably better this way.
So why did he keep wondering what her name really was? Why did he keep replaying the way she'd looked at him? Vulnerable and strong at once.
"Yo, Earth to Darren." Miguel snapped him out of it. "Lunch break."
Darren nodded and wiped his forehead. He sat down on a cement block, pulled out a sandwich from a crumpled brown bag, and stared off into the street.
Then, for the first time since that night, he wondered:
What if she's dealing with something, too?
Back in her room, Ashley sat on the floor, surrounded by digital silence. No calls. No texts. No comfort.
She pulled out her phone, then hesitated.
She had no idea what his number was.
No last name.
No idea how to find him.
But she would.
She had to.
Because she was pregnant.
And this wasn't something she could face alone.