You Left Me

Coral

Coral’s stomach was big, but she managed to pull off the look of sexy pregnant. Landon had spent thousands of dollars to get her the most beautiful things money could buy.

He could safely say that the woman was growing on him. She was always spoiled rotten by men and she had no idea why.

“Coral, I have to go out. I need to see someone.”

“You mean the guy you are currently interested in?”

“Jeremiah is my friend. He doesn’t like me that way…how do you even know about him?”

“I’m pregnant—putting my butt in your business is my hobby, sneaking around is a must, spying on you with some certain cameras in your shirt is an obligation, humiliating you is the bonus.”

“Girl…what? I swear you’re a witch,” he accused her.

“I’d like to meet him though.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why a handsome man like you would choose to be gay when the whole of the girl population is tripping for you, but sure.”

“Being gay is awesome. Bring in the mail, I’ll be back tomorrow. I’m about to get me some.”

“Okay, whore.”

Landon walked out of the house. Coral went to get the mail; there was something from Morris. The woman had a damn phone.

“Cool, what did she get me this time? A divorce contract, sweet.” Coral took the contract and sat on the couch, reading it thoroughly.

It seemed like the court had already acknowledged that they had signed a prenuptial agreement, so she had to share custody of everything they both owned. She honestly didn’t want anything from him.

Maybe he finally remembered that he would have to pay alimony and he didn’t want to lose anything to her, so he settled for sharing.

She gripped a pen then signed it. He hadn’t signed yet, so if she tore it, he would probably just send another one and sue her.

She placed a postage stamp on the envelope then returned it to the mailbox.

Coral walked over to where the landline was sitting idle. She was the only one who used it because she did not want Nikolai to trace her through her phone. She dialed his number and waited until he picked up on the third ring.

“Hello?” His cool, velvet voice rang through the phone, making her realize that she actually wanted him back. She had to keep up her facade so he wouldn’t think she was needy.

His voice was cool and husky. He’d probably just woken up and was working out before he went to work.

“Hello?” he said again, sounding confused and bringing her back to earth.

“Hi, Nikolai. It’s me, Coral. Uh, I wanted to talk to you about the divorce contract you sent me.”

“What about it?”

“Well, I wanted to tell you that I don’t want to share custody of anything with you.”

“So you want me to just toss my belongings at a homeless gold digger, is that it?

“Coral, let us just get our priorities straight—I don’t want to share any of my belongings with you either, but that was what was in the marriage contract, so that is what we are going to abide by.”

“Well, I wanted to tell you that you can have all the assets to yourself before you started insulting me. I am not homeless.”

“Oh, why?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Just answer the question.”

“I don’t want anything to do with you from now on. I want to be independent—get a steady job at a good law firm and succeed. Bye.”

“Wait—”

Coral cut the call then headed upstairs to take a shower.

After the shower, she decided to search for a job. She had sent in her résumé to various workplaces, but she was hoping they would accept her at a law firm so she could work at a maximum wage.

She got dressed formally and hid her medium-sized baby bump as much as possible, but not in a way that it could actually strangle her baby.

She headed down to the law firm for an interview. They loved her, but they said they would call her later to let her know if she got the job.

They asked her questions, like if she was okay with overstate transferring and she replied in the positive.

“Miss Carter, can you speak another language apart from English?”

“I am actually from Madrid, Spain.”

“So you can speak Spanish?”

“Yes.”

“Okay repeat everything I say in Spanish,” the interviewer said with a heavy British accent.

“Okay, repite todo lo que digo en Español.”

“Very good.”

“Muy buena.”

“It’s all right.”

“Estás bien.”

“It’s over.”

“Oh, you mean I should stop speaking in Spanish?”

“Yeah,” the man said. “We’ll get back to you, okay?”

“Okay, thank you very much.”

“You are welcome and congratulations on your baby.”

“You can see it?”

“Yes, very clearly.”

The next place was a diner that paid minimum wage. Maybe she could keep it as a part-time job so she could stay on her feet.

“Good afternoon,” she said to the manager of the diner as she sat down in the chair.

“You need a job and I need a waitress. What do you say to night shifts?”

“That’s perfect.”

“Good. I need a waitress now, so you can start tomorrow evening. You’re hired.”

Coral squealed in excitement. “I could hug you right now,” she said ecstatically.

“Don’t.”

***

A few days later, after countless weary nights, she got a call from the law firm that she had been given the job and she was to be paid $2,000 every month.

As if the diner weren’t work enough, the baby had started stressing her out. She really couldn’t wait for January when it would be born. Her back, boobs, and feet hurt.

She went to sleep by ten o’clock every evening, and she would wake up by six so she and Landon could beat the traffic.

—TWO MONTHS LATER, ONE MONTH TO GO—

“Baby, I don’t think these jobs you are doing are a great idea,” her mother said when she called her that Saturday evening. She was getting ready for her night job.

“Why not, mom?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Because you are pregnant, this is a serious risk. Please just stay at home. Landon takes care of you—how does he feel about this?”

“The same way you feel,” Landon yelled through the phone.

“Shut up, Landon.”

“See? He is worried about you. Everyone is worried about you. You need to focus on the baby first.”

“They’ll give me leave very soon, Ma.”

“You are so stubborn.”

“I love you, Ma. Bye.” Coral hung up the phone and rubbed her forehead to get the strain out. Landon was at the foot of her bed slipping her trainers onto her feet.

“Thank you, Landon.”

“You’re welcome. Have a nice day at work.”

“Okay.”

She went to the diner and was immediately called to the manager’s office.

“As much as I would like you to continue working…”

“Are you firing me?”

“No, I’m giving you your maternity leave. You come back to work five months after the birth, okay?”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Here is your paycheck.”

He handed her a check for $200 and bid her farewell.

A few days later, she got a call from the law firm telling her that her services would not be needed for the next few months, so she could play her maternal cards right.

She instantly went back to being idle again.