The Millionaire's 'Friend' - Natasha's Story

Chapter 6 - Back To Work

"Can I just say that's not your brightest idea." Remarked Helena.

"M'eh, it all worked out fine."

"True, but it's still not the kind of thing I want you teaching your goddaughter to do." She patted her daily expanding bump. I grinned childishly as I pulled myself up from the floor and gently rested my hands on Helena's huge, round pregnant belly.

"Well, little Natasha hasn't arrived yet, so we'll count that one out."

It was Tuesday morning and I'd spent a couple of hours on the road before getting back to the Hutch and finding Helena, Ziggy's heavily pregnant wife, twirling herself around on one of the common room chairs. Helena usually worked full time in the office alongside Ziggy, and our eternally cheerful receptionist Cherry. But Ziggy had insisted on her starting her maternity leave early as her raging hormones sent her mood swings all over the place. The final straw had come when he'd made an innocent remark about the dreary state of the weather one day, and Helena had promptly launched a mug that said 'kiss the boss' on the side straight across the office at his head. Luckily, this was Helena's third pregnancy, and Ziggy was well practised in the art of sensing when an aggressively thrown projectile was heading his way.

So far they had two beautiful boys, but Helena had longed for a little girl, and she was finally getting her wish. She'd been so excited from day one that she was posting new stuff daily on Facebook. All her scan pictures, cute baby toys she'd found online, and last week she posted a video where you could clearly see the baby kicking its little legs against the inside of her belly. It was for that reason that I was resting my hands on her belly now. I was trying to will little Natasha to kick. I just wanted to feel it, just once. But she obviously wasn't playing today.

"So who was he anyway?" Helena broke through my reverie.

"Who? Oh, him - no idea."

"What? You must know something. His name?"

"Sparky."

I smiled to myself, but Helena gave me the most withering frown. I sighed and pulled myself away from the floor.

"I don't know his name. He was so wasted he couldn't string two words together. Well, at first anyway. He came around a bit later on, but it didn't occur to me to ask him by that point. It didn't seem relevant anymore."

"He could have been anyone Nat. A murderer, a rapist, what would have happened if he'd tried something?"

I looked away and just shrugged; making Helena sigh exasperated.

"He really wasn't in a fit state to try anything. Besides, I've already had this lecture from Fliss, and I'll tell you the same thing I told her – it's done now, over, finished, in the past. So, it doesn't matter now does it?"

Since Ziggy had appointed himself as my concerned older brother, this in turn made Helena my disapproving older sister. She looked out for me; and it was nice to have someone like that around for a change. Even though, I sometimes wondered if she was going prematurely grey because of my occasionally reckless antics.

Dropping the conversation about my Friday night heroics, I briefly flicked through a well used copy of Heat Magazine, until Helena started talking to me again.

"What do you think about Jada?" She asked idly as she scrolled through a new baby names app she'd downloaded on her phone. "It means wise."

"I thought you were going with Natasha?" I asked innocently.

"No, you were going with Natasha. Not once have I said that."

"Just a thought." I grinned. "Wonder what Natasha means."