One Night...

Chapter 12

A week later, Scarlett was starting to feel better. Her nausea had subsided, and she was finding herself having more energy. She went to yoga with Ryland and loved it, and they'd been going together several times per week, which seemed to make Andrew really happy. She was also working a lot more, putting long hours in at her office, and she had told her boss Cheryl about the pregnancy. She was pleasantly surprised when Cheryl was understanding and supportive. She'd get three months paid maternity leave, but she had told Cheryl she'd likely work from home for part of it. Cheryl was a mom of three teenagers herself, so she was more than happy to support Scarlett in that regard. LeAnne had encouraged Scarlett to work as much as she could over the next few months, to prove to the firm that her work ethic and quality wouldn't suffer just because she was pregnant, and Scarlett had taken her advice to heart, working with fervor.

One Wednesday, she decided to work through lunch, grinding away at a big contract on an endorsement deal for a client who was on a network sitcom, and she was totally focused. Andrew had texted her, checking in and making sure she was feeling well, and she let it slip to him that she wasn't taking a lunch break that day. Always Mr. Protective, he hated that news, and he insisted on grabbing her a sandwich and bringing it to her. She was quietly happy, both touched by his offer and excited to get to see him, since she'd been working a lot and they hadn't had as much time to hang out. He'd been busy too, filming something new with Shane, but he insisted it was no problem to bring her lunch, so she agreed.

He showed up around 1 with her favorite sandwich, and she waved him into her office. He grinned a little at her as he looked her over, clad in her "lawyer attire," a full skirt suit, as she'd had a client meeting in the morning. "Wow, you look like a badass," he told her teasingly as he sat down in one of her office chairs. "I wouldn't last 20 seconds in corporate America with my grubby clothes," he added, laughing to himself, and she chuckled. "I prefer to call your style 'creative,'" she said, and he nodded in agreement. "Nice, I'm going to tell my mom that the next time she asks me why I always wear sweats." She started giggling, and Andrew shuffled around a bit.

"Uh-oh," Scarlett said with a grin, "I know that shuffle. What's wrong, why are you nervous?" she asked, and Andrew smiled a little, thinking it funny how Scarlett could pick up on his non-verbal cues so easily.

"Well, it's... um, remember when we talked about my mom, and you were wondering why I hadn't...like, said anything to her about the Bean?" he asked, and she nodded a little. "Yeah, but then you did say something..." she said slowly, and he smiled weakly. "Yeah, I did. But I also told you that there was a 99.9% chance that she'd want to, you know... talk to you." He looked at his hands shyly and then back up at Scarlett. "OK," she said, looking at him with a shrug. "OK... like, you'll talk to her?" he asked, and she nodded. "Of course, Andrew, I'll talk to her. When, tonight?" she asked, and his eyes grew wide. "Wait, really, tonight?" he asked, sounding terrified, and she gave him a confused look. "I thought you wanted us to talk?" she said, as if it were obvious.

"Well, I mean, she wants you to talk. I want her to stop asking me about it. But I wasn't expecting you to just jump in so soon." She giggled a little, amused by his reaction. "Andrew, what do you think is going to happen? Do you think she's going to tell me embarrassing stories about when you were a kid? Because I would love that," she said with a laugh, only half kidding. Andrew rolled his eyes a little, not feeling like she was grasping how uncomfortable this made him. "Scar, I don't know, it's just... you know, I told you, I'm afraid she's going to be too up in your business. And I'm afraid she's going to want to treat you, you know, in a way that you don't want. And I'm afraid, well, I'm just afraid, OK?" he asked her, rubbing his eyes a little, and she shook her head.

"Andrew, unless your mom is way worse than you've been letting on, I think you're being a little bit dramatic. Why don't you just come out and say it..." she trailed off, and he looked at her with eyebrows raised before she continued. "You're afraid she's going to... like me better than you!" she teased with a giggle, and he couldn't help but laugh.