Page 102 of Burning for You
Caro
Trouble in Paradise
A couple of days after the dinner, that’s the headline I wake up to this morning. It tells me about a rift between Levi and my dad, with photos of him riding the rented motorcycle alone, coming out of my parents’ house.
I can count on one hand how many words Levi has said to me since he put on the helmet and left me at my parents’ place that night. Right now he’s out having a job interview. I don’t know what he’ll say when he finds out about this latest gossip, or if he’s going to continue his silence.
Despite my mom’s plea for me to talk to Dad alone, I’ve stopped any contact with him. I’m sad, I’m terribly sad. I had a vision—Dad, Mom, Levi and me, and our future children, having a rowdy, merry, hearty lunch one summer day at Little Random Lake. I can’t believe that out of the enemies I might have out there, Albert has to be the first one who tried to ruin it for all of us.
My head is spinning. I can’t eat, but I’ve been staring into my toilet longer than I’ve been looking at my phone, thanks to this never-ending puking. I feel like—
Mother of pearl!
I ask Oleg to drive me to Columbus Park. Sam is with me, too, but I ask him to wait in the car. Wearing a hoodie, track pants and sunglasses, I walk briskly to a clinic nearby.
“No, you’re not pregnant,” the doctor tells me.
My heart deflates. So, I should hold off on my thoughts about babies in diapers and animal-print onesies. “So why am I feeling so nauseous all of a sudden?”
“Have you changed your eating patterns lately?”
“Not really.”
“Have you been feeling stressed?”
Stress makes up my bones. I usually thrive on it, but perhaps the doctor has a point.
“Have a rest,” she suggests. “Maybe getting out of the city might help.”
An escape. Is this just doctor’s advice? Or has her thinking been influenced by all the gossip?
It’s my head that’s messed up. A busy doctor like her probably doesn’t give a toss about the city’s celebrity news.
After agreeing with all the advice the doctor gives me, I leave with a slower pace than I did going into the clinic. I was looking forward to telling Levi that I was pregnant, but it’s not meant to be.
I’ve barely left the staircase out of the building when my disguise is exposed. And it’s not Zac Moss, neither is it another reporter looking for the next headline.
It’s my past.
It’s a thorny branch I never wish to walk into again.
It’s Anton.
“What the hell?” I say. “You’ve been following me?”
“I’m sorry, Caro. Can we talk?” Anton says, raising his eyes to read the St. Anne’s For Women sign.
“No!”
“Look, I couldn’t help but get to thinking about you again when I found out you and Josh…”
“You shouldn’t be here,” I say, scurrying away from him.
“I still love you!” he says. “I’m divorcing Phoebe, if you must know.”
I run to my car where Sam is waiting, opening the door for me. But before I can make myself disappear, I bend down and vomit.
Sam quickly stands behind me and spreads his jacket to cover the scene.