An Escort's Contract

Chapter 3

By the time the weekend rolled around, Adela was exhausted, she'd been fielding calls from both her mother and the two men from the escort agency. Her mother seemed intent on trying to work out whether or not her mouse of a daughter was coming to her step sister's party. Whilst on the other hand the male escorts were.....well, not wanting anything from her apart from 30 minutes of her time each day. The brunette had finally found refuge in a cheesy romance.

However as she sat outside in a small cafe on the ground floor, the novel soured quickly as she got a quarter of the way through it.

Cooper stood frozen in the doorway to his apartment in only his boxers as Alice heard a feminine voice beckoning from the bedroom. The throaty purr grew more and more demanding until finally a dark haired woman strode out in her underwear.

"Cooper darling...what's-" The temptress paused as she saw Alice's face drain of any remaining colour.

"Taylor...." He started before Alice's vision started to blur and she let out a strangled cry, bringing the pair's gaze to her.

"Working all weekend down in Melbourne...." She trailed off, jerking back as Cooper reached for her. The action in itself surprised them both and as she heard a door opening down below, she bolted down the stairs. Cooper made to start after her but she screamed for him not to. Instead she collided with one of the other residents of the building and crumbled into a heap before him.

"Alice? Oh shit, you found out." This brought her head up sharply as she looked up at Rhett. Her eyes darkened with fury and hurt as she stared him down.

"You knew." She stated huskily and he opened his mouth to speak but she held up a hand to silence him.

"No. You don't get to fucking talk now. Get out of my way and never....never contact me again." Alice's voice was borderline hysterical as she got up and made her escape.

"Anything of interest in there?" She jumped and dropped the book on the wrought iron table with a gasp as she pressed a hand against her chest.

"Mel!" Adela said in exasperation as she picked up the book and groaned.

"So...any good?" Mel pressed, earning a grimace from her best friend.

"Was good until she found him cheating on her." It was her friend's turn to look uncomfortable and she grabbed the book before pitching it straight towards the nearest bin.

"Well....no more reading that one then," Mel said before looking at her watch and patting Adela's hand lightly. "Time to get back to work...better come quick or Ethan will detain you for God knows how long."

Mel was right, out of the corner of her eye she spotted the handsome man coming and she got up out of her chair so fast it fell over. She swore softly under her breath and picked it back up before freezing in place as he touched her shoulder. She glanced back at him and she bit her bottom lip for a moment. He studied her face for a fair few moments and she gave him a faint smile.

"So...should we be worried about that guy coming back?" Ethan was concerned....the bloke had left her in tears for goodness sake. He didn't want a client being emotionally distressed in any situation, least of all this one.  Her lips thinned into a line and she shook her head as a waitress went past with a tray full of steaming coffee and a couple of sandwiches. Something didn't smell right with them and she turned her face away as a strong wave of nausea washed over her. Ethan noticed the look on her face immediately and sat her back down, calling for a glass of water.

"No...ah....I don't know." She mumbled as she tried to breathe and gagged as a waiter went past with more cups of coffee.

"Adela....look at me, this will be an awfully personal question. Are you pregnant?" Her eyes shot up and held his as her face turned as grey as ash. She tried and failed to do the mental calculations as she ran a hand through her hair. It shook so much that Ethan had to grab it and pull it out in case she tangled one of her rings in her hair.

"My....no.....maybe it's because of stress?" She tried feebly as the waitress brought her the water and Ethan shook his head slowly.

"When was your last period?" He asked and she looked at him strangely.

"End of October....ohhhh Ethan no! No, no.....I'm...I'm late." She whispered as she clung onto his hand for dear life as he did the calculations for her.

"You're definitely late, but let's get this checked out first okay? Take a few deep breaths and I'll duck off to the chemist. Just stay here." He reassured her before he went off at a fast walk, having left a five dollar note behind for her water.

Adela didn't know how long she waited for Ethan to come back, she was concentrating on trying to stay as calm as possible. A few people were glancing at her and one older woman asked her if she was alright. She managed to explain that she was feeling unwell and that Ethan had gone to the chemist. The lady must have thought that this was a good explanation because she went back to her own table to tell her friends. The lunch crowd had definitely ebbed away by the time Ethan came back, a shopping bag full of cardboard boxes.

"Come on, you can use the bathroom at Della Luna." He murmured and she looked down to realise that she had finished her glass of water some time ago.

She felt like a puppet as he steered her into the building and into the elevator. Adela was almost numb except for the comforting warmth of his hand against the small of her back through her blue dress. The look on Michael's face would have been priceless but as Ethan handed Adela the plastic bag and pointed her in the direction of the bathroom....well he knew it was serious. Ethan ran a hand over his face and rested his hip against the reception desk before pacing back and forth in the foyer.

Michael said nothing as he suspected that the situation was quite a sensitive one. Eventually Adela came out in tears and both men strode over, ushering her to a seat. She held one of the pregnancy tests in her hands, the cap over the place where she had needed to pee on it. The men held their breath for what seemed like an age before she turned it over and they saw the result. Two strong lines showed up in the indicator and Adela let out a shaky sob.

"Who?" Ethan's voice made everyone jump as it sliced through the tense silence.

"He's going to marry my step sister." Her whisper was small.....she sounded like something had broken inside and Ethan felt his chest tighten. Without thinking too much of it, he sat down beside her on the dark leather couch and wrapped his arm around her.

"Call her boss...she needs all the support she can get right now." Ethan instructed and Michael nodded as he rushed back to the reception desk. Within a few minutes Mel was up there with them, staring in disbelief at the two little lines. Adela looked down at her stomach and dried her eyes before clearing her throat and looking at them one by one.

"We have to do this now...not just for me, but for the baby too." She croaked out....just loud enough for them to all hear.

"Do you care what happens to your step sister?" Michael ventured and Adela stared at him for a moment before her eyes hardened briefly.

"No, she's brought this on herself and it's been a long time coming."Adela felt frightened at the prospect of being a mother.

But a maternal instinct she hadn't even been aware of, started to rear its head as soon as she thought of her step sister and what could possibly happen from here on out. She was already moving at lightening speed away from the mindset she had been in the past few months. Adela was still the same person, but she was discovering that she had more in her reserves than she had banked on. Her step sister would find that out soon enough, same with her ex.

Author's Note: My dad is doing very very well with his recovery from his cardiac arrest. However my grandmother did pass away in September. Several other things happened which prevented me from posting, but I am back for the present while. What I am shocked about though....is when I came back to see the views on this.

Oh my goshhhhh!!! 900 something? That's freaking amazing!

Also....you guys weren't expecting that were you? ;) Let me know if you like where this turn of events is going? Please rate, comment or review if you would like to have your say and I hope you all have a happy and healthy festive season!