บท 3: PRINCESS ?
ERICA'S P.O.V
That irresponsible boy I loved with all my heart pulled a disappearing act just so he could get some candy, I marched up to him as he stood by the vending machine, I could see him trembling, he put his hands up and said "Princess".
I hit him with a purse "don't. you.Princess.me, I was worried about you, what you wanted some candy?"
"why would I want candy while my sweet, sweet Princess is always by my side".
"if that was an attempt to flatter me, that was the worst line I've ever heard".
He walked up to me, rested his forehead on mine, and promised "I'm sorry, none of what happened 10 minutes ago will ever happen again".
We walked into the room, sat down on the bed, he looked at me and said "you could have been laying on the soft mattress in your mother's mansion, sipping Cuban coffee, yet, you've sat on that plastic chair for 2 weeks straight, sipping on ice tea, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to notice your back aches, you just won't admit it, I get it, you're worried, It wouldn't shock me if you tried to get the surgeon to make me stay". I looked away and in shock, he shouted, "you asked dr Edward to make me stay!!".
"You said it wouldn't shock you?"
"I was lying! I thought you knew me by now, anyway that's not the point, you ditched work".
"you know I don't like that job".
"you're just gonna look for any excuse, so thank you for the late nights you kept me company, singing and humming, cuddling and so on, today it all comes to end, as soon as the doctor gives us the go-ahead, you'll hold my hand, It will be like one of those romance movies, as we walk out the lights behind us start to dim down, some classic music begins to play, we turn around, look back and say, I'm really gonna miss this place, we turn around and never look back".
I chuckled "oh my god you are so childish".
He laid in bed, I laid on his chest, "I love listening to the sound of your heartbeat".
"keep listening, you're the reason it does".
He wrapped his arms around me and I said "There's no place like home".
A few hours later I was in the middle of a conference call when Doctor Edwards, his neurosurgeon, walked in for the daily procedure. I immediately cut the call. "Hello Mr. Matthews, heard you tried to escape this morning, you made it this far, you couldn't wait an extra 3 hours?"
I greeted, "Morning doctor, how is the Mrs.?"
"She's doing great, we're headed to the football game at Mercedes this Saturday."
"Oh. Fantastic; I'm not much of a football fan but hey, go eagles!"
We smiled while his assistant checked my blood pressure, I corrected her "Princess it's the Falcons, not eagles."
"Who cares? They're both birds."
Dr. Edwards held his hand up, "Time for the daily procedure, now M.R Matthews tell me how many fingers am I holding up."
"Two."
"How about now?"
"Four," I sighed.
"What's your name?"
"Joshua, Joshua Matthews."
"Date of birth?"
"October 18, 1992."
"Perfect, Mr. Matthews have you had any bowel movements yet?"
I squeezed his shoulder "No doctor not yet."
While the tests were being done "Ow!" his blood was being drawn, the room turned silent until Stephanie, his sister, and Lizzy A. K. A. my future mother in law walked in. Lizzy played multiple roles in my life, she was more of a mother to me than my own, Stephanie A.K.A my future sister in law was a twenty-year-old second-year accounting college student
They walked into the room with hands held up high hugging and shaking hands with everyone in the room everybody in the room and Lizzy said, "Doctor Edward, Erica I'm so sorry I'm late, we spent thirty minutes prowling around the house looking for the car keys."
Stephanie blurted, "I spent thirty minutes searching for the keys."
"How are you all keeping?"
The doctor nodded with a small smile
Erica responded, "Hey Lizzy. I'm just fine, how are you this morning?"
"I'm surviving, what about you son, temperature okay? Steady heartbeat?"
"I've taken my shower, brushed my teeth, and did a couple of pushups earlier on. my bags have been packed, sight has been tested, now my bed needs to be dressed so let's go home." I pinched him "ow!"
He tried to stand up, I said in a harsh tone "sit down!"
"yes dear".
Stephanie said, " we've missed you now let's go, I've gotta be on that plane in two hours."
Mama scolded her. "Shut up and let the doctor speak."
"Well, Mr. Matthews your results came back positive" He looked at his assistant and said, " Sheryl Tell the nurses to bring the stroller in about 10 minutes."
I screamed with excitement, Stephanie and Lizzy along with me, congratulating him and clustering him with hugs and kisses while the doctor emphasized, "You might be on your way out of here but the main task at hand is sticking to that medication so you don't come back, the effects of the pills will be overwhelming, but your body will adjust, glue those pills to your hands if you have too, nine when you wake up and nine pills at night."
Erica assured him, "Don't worry doctor I'll make sure of that."
"Doctor you heard her; The choice isn't mine to make"
Finally, nobody had a reason to push him down when his feet needed to stretch, It brought joy to my eyes seeing that glow in his eyes.
It wasn't exactly my dream start to the year, but I still had a fiancée, a house, a job, and money, most would consider that the perfect life, I was missing a ring on my finger, and what many would consider the most agonizing pain a woman could ever feel is something I craved so much for, I wanted a baby, I'd make the perfect mother and after a few more years of observing Joshua would make the perfect daddy. I dropped him home and drove a couple of miles back to my mother's six-bedroom, a five-and-a-half-bathroom home that only the two of us resided in, I live with a queen in an empty castle.
My mother, Margaret, was in the garden when I walked in. She heard my footsteps, walked towards me, I changed direction, increased the speed of my feet moving, but the old woman was assertive. As she caught up, I lifted my hand up high and said, "Please don't do this."
"How is Joshua doing dear?" she asked with a fake smile.
"Do you really want to know?"
"Not really, I was just being polite." I carried on walking, she followed and continued, "Now that you've ruined the moment, why don't you tell me how the wedding plans are coming along?" Sarcasm and disrespect were a natural part of her personality, so I headed to my bedroom, on my way there she mentioned, "Jeff was hoping we could dine with him tonight, what do you say?" Jefferson, My mother's boyfriend, kept her entertained and nothing more.
"Can Joshua come along?"
"Of course, not."
I turned around and carried on walking, she repeated, "So, are we doing dinner?"
"Of course, not."
"Erica, Erica!"
I walked into the bedroom, slammed the door behind me, walked to the bathroom, turned the tap on, and looked at my engagement ring as the tub filled up. I took off the ring, got into the tub, and drowned my body in warm water. The ring brought back flashbacks of the day he proposed to me; it was Valentine's night, we had dinner in the sky while on a hot air balloon, he got on his knees and asked, "Will you marry me?" I looked to the clouds and whispered, "Thank you."
A few minutes later, my hair was dried, mascara on, cheeks blushed with powder and I headed to work where my vacation time ended 3 weeks ago. I arrived, walked into the elevator, took in a deep breath as it reached the fourth floor, and said to myself, "Here we go..."
As I walked past not a single man blinked, the mailman drooled, the man at the coffee table spilled his drink, at least I know if I get fired I'll have Christian and Celine battling to sign me, as I kept walking I heard my co-worker, Shirley, scream, "Erica!! where the hell have you been? Charlie is going to murder you!" It was an interesting way to say hello; she did not miss me much.
She walked with me at a fast pace and I explained, "Long story short, I took Joshua home and lost track of time. Where's Charlie? His car isn't at its usual spot, that's a good thing isn't it?"
"You know him, probably off flirting with some girl at waffle house."
"Waffle house?"
"That's a story for another day dear; They've got a whole sexual harassment thing going on there." We walked into my office, which was a mess with tables covered with files and reports waiting to be filled and signed off so the rich could get richer. Shirley said, "Lunch is in thirty minutes; I'll help you tidy up for a few minutes, but you can't take all this on by yourself the workload is way too much for you to handle."
"I promised him I'd sort out all the accounts in three days when I got back. If I do not do this, he. Will. Kill. Me."
"Charlie was your dad's best friend; we both know you aren't going anywhere; his conscience won't allow him to get rid of you."
"he runs a law firm, he has no conscience!" We started operation clean up. We didn't place the right files in the right places, we just needed the place to look presentable.
we sat there and gossiped for about an hour, we had one of the boys working in the 3rd floor offer to get us lunch, of course, he paid for it after he offered I said "it's fascinating when the door dash driver pays for the meal and adds a little extra, some would assume I know, I know you think I'm using them, but every day when the alarm hit and it's break time they stand in a line outside the door begging to get me lunch in an attempt to impress me"
Shirley chuckled, While we waited, in the middle of the conversation Shirley whistled to Give me a head's up. Her eyes opened wide and her face turned to the blinds; Charlie my boss was outside the office talking to a fellow female co-worker, so I ended the call.
Charlie walked in. "Erica, I was wondering if we'd ever see your pretty face around here again."
"Charlie sir, yeah about that".
He looked at Shirley and insisted, "Can you give us a minute?"
"Yes sir." She walked out.
"Erica, we need to have a conversation, sit down."
"Yes sir."
" Look, I knew your old man for twenty-two years and I understand you're in the middle of a crisis, but this is a law firm, money is constantly being made, so tax payments are required, tardy behavior won't be taken very lightly from your supervisors. We need more effort; the rest of the staff are observant; sooner or later one will speak up against the special treatment I've given you, so you need to straighten up. You've got a whole lot of late nights ahead of you."
"Yes, I understand sir. I'll be on time."
"Thank you, at least you've tidied up the place."
"Thank you."
He stood up and as he walked away, he stopped, turned around and said, "By the way I hope your mother's surgery was a successful one."
"It wasn't my mother getting the surgery, it was my Fiancé, Joshua. I believe you've met him."
"Yes, the extremely tall guy with the beard?"
"No sir."
"The short bald guy?"
"No sir."
"The skinny Hispanic guy?"
"Erm, I'll bring him along with one of these days."
"Where did he do his masters?"
"Erm… I forgot. Anyway, got to get back to work; I'll tell him you said hi."
He walked out and I received a phone call from my Love "Hey baby, can't talk very long".,
"Good day Princess, -how're you feeling? -How does it feel to be back at work? -What's new? -Did you miss me? - Do you still love me?"
"Good, -horrible-nothing-yes -and always."
"Will I see you tonight?"
"I'll see what I can do"
He said "Moon of my life, my sun, and my stars".
"Whatever it is No, please don't do anything stupid, stay right there and rest"
"I'm just going to the warehouse and asking them to change my shift".
I screamed, "No!!!!, no!"
"Princess! Princess! Are you still there? You're breaking up".
"Joshua!!"
"You're breaking up Princess, I'll see you later okay, if you can hear me remember I love you!"
Going to the warehouse, now that's another fire ready to ignite.
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