Man Seeks Woman 2, Man Seeks Wife (26 page)

“Okay.” my
best friend said slowly. “It was actually me that saw the ad and
got you to phone up but that’s semantics. Where is this going,
Vic?”

I groaned and
went to rub my hands down my face but I realised they were soaking
wet. “I don’t know, I honestly don’t know, Jen.”

Jen’s brows
pulled together in confusion. “You are back together, right?”

“Yup,”

“So what’s the
problem?”

I didn’t know
what the problem was or even if there was one. Maybe it was just me
being silly and safe or maybe there were real problems and I was
only seeing the minor set of them rather than the big picture. I
just didn’t know.

“Nothing,” I
waved my hand in the water and searched for her tummy. I didn’t
have to search long before I found the big lump and rubbed my hand
over the top of it. “Anyway, how’s the baby doing?”

“Nah-uh, you
don’t get to change the subject. Are you two back together properly
or are you still doing that feeling sorry thing for yourself and
him being an arse thing?”

“Yes, we’re
back together.”

“Oh the joys,”
She gushed and rolled her eyes again. If she kept that up, she’d
develop a tick.

“I know,
right?”

“Please tell
me you’ve got some serious shafting?”

“Of course,” I
answered incredulously with a little snort thrown in. “Have you
seen Sebastian? How could I have not gotten some?”

Sebastian was
gorgeous and damn him, he could play my body as well as a skilled
musician could play an instrument, if not better.

“Good.” My
best friend nodded. “That makes one of us at least. You can give me
all the details so I don’t feel like a nun all of a sudden.”

I sat back on
my heels, letting my arms rest on the side of the tub. “Hang on,
what?”

Jen blew out a
long breath, her head lolling back and forth along the rim of the
bath. Her hair that had been stuck in a bun on top of her head
tumbled down slowly. “I’m not getting any.”

As far as I
knew, Jen and Rick had a healthy sex life. Well that was when Rick
actually stopped working. Jen never complained about something like
that before. “And you’re not getting any now, why?”

“Exactly,” Jen
threw up a hand, throwing water all over me in the process. “Rick
won’t sleep with me. Hell, he won’t even go down on me for fuck’s
sake. It’s like I’ve got a disease rather than pregnancy. Doesn’t
he realise that he’s the one that put the baby there in the first
place and now, he won’t go anywhere near me. I’m this great big fat
cow and he won’t touch me.”

“Oh shit.” Was
all I could think of to say, after all, what can you actually say
to a pregnant horny hormonal woman that wasn’t getting any ‘Freaky
Deaky’?

Jen’s eyes
filled with tears suddenly and her chin trembled. This wasn’t my
best friend. My best friend was normally the strong one out of both
of us. She was the one that had her head screwed on straight;
always saw the way out of a bad situation. I was the damaged one,
the troubled one, the one that didn’t see a straight line;
everything was wonky in my eyes but not Jen’s.

“Hey, hey,
hey,” I sat up and brushed my fingers under her eyes, catching her
tears. “What’s the matter?”

“I’m so tired,
Victoria. I just want my body back. I want Rick to touch me like he
used to. I want him to hold me and tell me everything’s going to be
okay.”

Softly I
asked, “He doesn’t do that?”

She shook her
head and sniffed. “No, not anymore,”

My head tilted
to the side as I brushed more tears from her face. “Maybe he’s just
as scared as you?” I guessed. I didn’t know shit about pregnancy
and didn’t want to if this is what it did to you.

“Then why
doesn’t he talk to me?” she sniffed again before she fell into a
fit of more tears.

I bit my lip
and looked to the door wondering whether I should go and get Rick
but decided against it. Instead, I reached for the flannel and
quickly lathered it up with the purple coloured soap. More Jasmine
filled the air tickling my nose again. I turned my head to the side
and rubbed the tip of my nose on my upper arm.

Slathering
Jen’s shoulders with the jasmine soap, I let her cry it out until
she just hiccupped. “Feel better?” I asked once she calmed
down.

“Yeah, thanks.
I think I needed that.”

“Anytime,” I
smiled. “Now, get up so I can wash the rest of you.”

Jen snorted
and held out of her hand. I stood up and held onto both of her
hands and pulled her to standing position. Damn, she was huge. “I’m
huge.” She cried, snatching her hands back and hiding her face.

“No.” I shook
my head and bit my lip when she stared at me through the gaps of
her fingers. “Okay.” I conceded. “You are. You’re as big as a house
and are splitting at the seams.”

“You!” She
slapped at me but I quickly stepped out of the way. “How do I look
really?” she posed with her hands on her expanded hips and thrust
her extremely big boobs out in front of her.

“You nearly
knocked me out with those tits but overall, you look lovely. Your
bump is huge and out there but you’ve only got a little stretch
mark here and there.”

“I know” Jen
sighed and rubbed her tummy. “I’ve been rubbing cocoa butter in
every night but it doesn’t stop them only helps them when they do
come.”

I waved a hand
and turned her around so I could wash her back. “I’ve got stretch
marks and I haven’t even had kids.”

It was true
too. When I started my period when I was twelve, I had a growth
spurt that made my boobs pop out and become the largest amongst the
girls in my class therefore; I got stretch marks along the sides
and underneath them. It was the same with my thighs. Along the
front of them, stretch marks appeared but now you could barely see
anything.

“You’ll
probably get more of them when you have babies.”

My hand
stilled on the back of her legs. “Uh...I’m not having kids, Jen.
You better than anyone knows that.”

“How long are
you going to let your parents dictate what you do in life?”

“Parents is
not a word I would associate with the people who made me.” They
didn’t deserve that much respect.

I could
imagine the eye roll my friend was giving me. “What about
Sebastian? What about him wanting children?”

My shoulders
lifted in a shrug. “I think he wants children somewhere down the
line but he won’t get them from me. People like me are not made to
be a parent.”

“The shit that
comes out of your mouth stinks to high heaven.”

I dropped the
flannel into the water with a plop and bent over to fish it back
out of the water and wash it out. “It’s not shit, it’s the truth.
What have I got to offer a kid?”

Jen turned
around but I turned her back. I wasn’t finished washing her back.
No, the truth was, I couldn’t look at my friends big belly whilst
talking about kids. There was just something weird about it.

“You’ve got
plenty to offer a child. You do know you’re going to be my babies
Godparent or at least one of them don’t you?”

The flannel
I’d just fished out dropped back into the water. “What?”

“Oh yeah,” She
nodded frantically looking over her shoulder at me. Her eyes were
wide with honesty and determination as she pressed her hands
against the wall to steady herself. “Rick and I decided that a long
time ago.”

My mouth
opened and closed several times before I could form any words.
“But...that’s...”

Jen
interrupted me with an unladylike snort. “It’s nothing and
everything. Now shut up and finish washing me, I’m beginning to
look like a prune.”

“
You can’t
beat a good beer.”

“
Sebastian!”
the pap shouted from our left. His voice was
deep and gravelly and seemed to travel over the other paps that
were screaming at Sebastian to turn this way and that way.

I blinked
against the bright lights flashing in my eyes. The hand that was
wrapped around the back of Sebastian grabbed onto him tightly,
gripping the material of his blazer in my fist. I was in effect
holding on for dear life. The lights coming at me were blinding and
left me with dancing spotlights instead of clear, coloured
vision.

Sebastian
turned for the camera, pressing his side into mine. His hand that
was tucked around my waist, tightened as he leaned in further, his
clean and smooth as a baby’s bottom face whispered against my cheek
then his lips pressed against my cheekbone. The smell of his scent
invaded my nose and made me sigh.

The cameras
went even wilder if that was possible. Screams and shouts from the
paps filled my ears and was starting to give me a headache.

“
Sebastian,
who’s the blonde?”
one shouted.

“
Are you
still a bachelor, Sebastian?”
another one shouted.

“
Hey
Sebastian’s lady,”
A squeaky voiced pap called out. He waved
and jumped up and down from my left, his arms waved around as if he
were on fire.
“What’s your name?”

My mouth
opened to tell him that it was none of his God damned business when
Sebastian’s hand squeezed my waist again and he raised a hand for
silence. One by one, the paps quieted and waited for whatever
Sebastian was going to say. Their faces were eager, their eyes wide
and alert. It appeared that all of them were looking for some
important scoop and hoping to get it.

“Gentleman
please,” Sebastian said and smiled a little, eying each pap
sparingly before carrying on. “This beautiful woman on my arm is
known as Ms Victoria Jennings. Victoria here,” he squeezed me again
and turned his face to press a chaste kiss to my cheek. “Is my
girlfriend,” My back stiffened at his words. Sebastian raised his
hand again when the flashes started going crazy, blinding me for
the millionth time. When they all calmed down, he began again.
“Victoria is my girlfriend and hopefully one day, will be more. I
am officially off the market, Gentleman. Now, I am sure my
companion woman is hungry, so if you’ll excuse us.” With that he
turned and held me tightly at his side as I stumbled down the way
to the restaurant where we’d be having our dinner. My legs barely
carried my weight. They felt like complete jelly and about to give
way any minute.

“What the
fuck?” I hissed as we walked through the big glass doors. What I
assumed was the manager stood expectedly waiting for us, a wide
smile on her face until she caught a look of my own face. Her smile
died and her eyes became wary. Her shaky hand reached out and took
our coats.

“Mr. Blackwell
and guest, your table is through here in our VIP section.”

“What?”
Sebastian asked me innocently as he took my elbow, leading me
through the richly dressed snobby people who were watching our
little thing with wide, shocked eyes and no doubt sniggering behind
their polished fingers. They’d obviously heard Sebastian’s comments
and were looking down their noses at me as if I were a piece of
shit on the bottom of their shoes.

They could all
blow me for all I cared!

“What?” I said
through clenched teeth. “Are you fucking serious? You just
announced to the whole world practically that I am your girlfriend
and by the way, you told them my full name.”

Hell, the
woman who lived three doors down from me didn’t even know my full
name.

Okay, so I was
Sebastian’s girlfriend, there was no denying that and I wasn’t
ashamed or anything but do me a favour. I hadn’t even told Jen
about us properly yet and he was announcing it to everyone like it
was no big deal.

It was a big
frigging deal for God’s sake.

Sebastian
stopped and cocked his head to the side; his blue eyes had turned
from the denim colour they were in the limo on the way over here to
really light blue. Oh yeah, his eyes were pissed. Hell, he was
pissed. Majorly pissed, oh no!

“Is there a
problem with you being my companion, my other half, my woman, my
future wife?” the hissed whisper was delivered close to my ear. The
feel of his hot angry breath on my cheek sent shivers through my
body.

My eyes bugged
even more if that were at all possible. I pulled away from him and
blinked up at his face that was glaring down at me. “
Future
Wife?”
ding ding ding ding, I managed to gasp through a
whimper. Who said anything about marriage?

“Yes.”
Sebastian ground out. The hand on my elbow tightened as he
continued to pull me through the restaurant, following the little
dark haired woman who was shamelessly trying to disguise listening
to our little argument. She pushed through another set of doors
which led to a quietened off area of the restaurant that had a big
enough booth in the corner to fit a football team. So this must be
the VIP area she mentioned. The silver wear on the table glistened
under the soft candle lights. The walls were decorated in white and
blue airy linens with little glittery spotlights that not only
glowed but twinkled and gave the place a nice homey feeling rather
than that posh unwelcoming feeling that I was expecting to feel
like I did with the front of the restaurant.

“Victoria!” my
name was called by a deep voice. I glanced around and groaned
inwardly when I saw Sebastian’s family sat in the one of the
darkened corners. All their faces were turned towards us, various
smiles in place.

How come I
didn’t know about this?

Oh, Sebastian
was so going to get it when we got home. I looked towards him to
see his jaw had hardened. Damn, he did not look happy. Well that
was two of us. Didn’t he know that his family were going to be here
tonight or did he know but was pissed that they had gotten here
before us?

“Victoria.”
Christian called again. He got up from the table and made his way
over to us. Pushing Sebastian aside, he grabbed me and hauled me
into his arms, wrapping them around me in a bear hug. It seemed
Sebastian hadn’t been the only one to have been working out.