Bumped - Completed Novel

Bumped - Chapter Twelve

Blake came by in the morning and started hauling away some furniture. Life as I knew it was being dismantled all around me. In between grilling me over yesterday's indiscretion, he stayed on me about packing.

"Have you even started?"

"Yes Blake. I worked on my closet last night but I ran out of boxes. Don't worry I'll be out of here before you close, damn. Don't bother to ask how I'm feeling." I hoped he didn't look in the closet; I'd only managed to pack up that one pair of shoes.

I quickly closed my door as we walked to his room.

"Sorry." He tugged at his twists. "You a'ight?"

"Fine."

He looked at the boxes stacked against the wall. "What's all this stuff anyway?"

"Shoes. Purses. You can never have enough." Or at least they would be, they were empty right now.

"If I were you, I'd put all that up on E-Bay. You probably have a down payment in those boxes."

He picked up one of my Manolos that was flung in the corner and whistled. "Look at this, doesn't even look like it's been worn."

"Grammy night last year," I remembered with a slight smile. So buzzed after the last after party, Diego and I made out in someone's bedroom. The rock, rock, rocking of the waterbed made me seasick all over the cashmere comforter. We ran out of there like naughty school kids and we were halfway to his house when I realized I didn't have on any shoes. Made him go back to the party, sneak back into the room and get them.

"So you think I can make some money off this stuff?"

"Hell yeah, you can sell anything on eBay. I heard some lady in Germany was auctioning her kids."

After Blake left, I grabbed the yellow pages and sat on the floor in the living room. He had sold the couch. I needed a storage unit for my stuff until I could figure out where to live. I mentally ran down the list of friends I could possibly crash with - short list. I knew a lot of people, but didn't have many friends. Macy would probably do it if she had the space, but she had two roommates and a boyfriend who was practically living there. The only person who would be a remote possibility was Freddie. What I paid for in wedding gifts and bridesmaid dresses should amount to at least one month's rent and some goodwill.

The phone rang as I was getting dressed.

"Elle, it's Lucy from Dr. Madison's office. I need to schedule a follow up visit."

I sank down into my bed. "Oh."

"We'd like to see you once a month." I could hear her flipping through the charts. "You're nine weeks and you're due on December 13th, can you come in next Wednesday?"

My brain had locked up and I couldn't say anything.

"Ms. Nixon, are you there?"

"I'm here, sorry. Um, let me get back to you ok?"

"Are you looking at other options? Do you need me to refer you to someone?"

"Um, I don't know."

"You don't want to wait too long, you need to start your prenatal care."

I spent the rest of the day running around trying to stitch together a Plan B. I rented a small storage unit. Talked with one of the guys who did the website for Chantal. He agreed to take pictures of my shoes and purses and upload them to eBay. I would write the descriptions. I also grabbed an apartment rental guide and I made a few calls to record labels in search of work. No one called me back yet. Suddenly, I was persona non-grata. I couldn't even get past the flunky who answered the phone. I imagined a hashtag on Twitter #whyEllesucks. Overnight, the phone calls, texts and emails stopped. Invites evaporated.