Chase sighed as he stared at his cell phone receiver and wondered how long it would take to get Madeline off the phone this time. On the way to his meeting, it had taken almost the whole way to the restaurant to get her to stop talking. That was nearly 20 minutes of trying to convince her that he really was busy and trying to meet with a client. Sometimes she seemed to think that he could stop at anytime and drop everything he was doing to take care of her. Her needs always superseded his business, especially, he supposed, when she thought he might have forgotten about her in the last hour or if she thought he could buy her something. He paced a few steps back and forth, waiting for her to lull in her diatribe for a moment to get a word in edgewise. She was talking about some dress or shoes, or some frivolous item he supposed she had purchased while she was out shopping today. She went out shopping almost everyday and bought shoes and dresses, so why he should be worried about the pieces she had purchased today, he wasn’t sure. Then, she mentioned something about the St. Regis Hotel and he paused, worried she might march through the front doors. Chase relaxed, realizing that he hadn’t done anything wrong. He had come to the St. Regis to meet with Toni’s dad, and before he left, he intended to. Toni marched past him, clearly tired of waiting for him to hang up his cell phone and his eyes followed her to the brightly lit lounge.
“No, Madeline. I am not at my office. I am meeting with Mr. Ralston and then if it’s not too late, I’m going to head back to my office to finish some paperwork before heading home for the night. Now, what did you need at the St. Regis Hotel? I can pick it up for you on the way home.” Chase could almost see Madeline’s pout over the phone. She humphed and complained that he hadn’t been listening at all to her, which was right, but Chase denied it anyway.
“Sweetheart, I was listening, I’m just a bit preoccupied with my meetings today. I’ll pick up your dress from the designer and we can catch a late dinner at Magu. Okay?” She let out an unladylike sound from the other end of the device and complained that she wanted something more American, and better suited for her new outfit. Chase rolled his eyes, not for the first time during the conversation.
“Madeline, I don’t have time to take you for a full night on the town tonight. I still have a lot of work to do. I’ll take you out this weekend. We’ll go to that little restaurant you like, and then we can go to the ballet.” He could picture her weighing the options of pushing for his attention tonight and possibly losing a full date in a couple of days. Finally, she submitted and allowed him to hang up the phone. He breathed a deep sigh that he had gotten off so easily. He simply had to pick up a dress that should be at the desk for her before he left and he would see her tomorrow. He would have the whole evening to relax after his meeting with Antoinette – and then her step-father.
Chase turned and headed for the lounge, he could see Antoinette’s auburn hair peaking from above the lacquered finish of one of the booths and he stopped at the bar to order a shot of Jager and then an Amber Bock beer. He quickly downed the shot and left the glass on the counter, preferring to pick up a paper coaster and his beer only before heading to the table. Toni was twirling a lemon wedge around with her straw in a condensed glass of ice water. He watched her as she lifted one manicured finger to trace a line of droplets down the side of the smooth clear glass, wiping the tip of her finger on the napkin folded under the full liquid. He didn’t say a word as he slipped into the booth opposite her, and settled the coaster and drink on the aged wooden surface. He bit the inside of his lips, and then puckered them, studying her forehead and as much of her down turned face he could see. She seemed to be afraid to look at him. He gave a little cough, hoping she would look up and it wouldn’t startle her too much. She finally glanced up, catching his eye for a moment before looking down again.
“Chase, I . . . uh . . .” She nibbled fascinatedly for a second on her bottom lip and Chase found that he couldn’t take his eyes away. He couldn’t help it, his lips turned upward into a smile, and he was unable to bit back a little laugh as he dipped his head to try to get her to look up again.
“Could it be, that Miss So Sure doesn’t know where to begin. That my little debate queen has nothing to say?” Chase hated to rile her up, but it was the only way he knew to break her out of her seeming self-loathing slump. She looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. “Ah, there she is.” He gave another short laugh as he took a small sip of his beer.
“Forget it, Brighton. You already know, so there’s nothing to talk about.” Toni made to get out of the booth, but he leaned forward and grabbed her arm, effectively cutting off her escape. “Let me go. I have nothing to say to you.”
“Come now, Toni. Don’t run away. We can be civilized about this. Am I to assume that I am the father? I haven’t heard any new Miami gossip lately, but from what I gleaned from your sister, you have been rather busy to be club hopping in the sunshine state.” Toni jerked her arm out of his grip and settled herself back onto the cushions.
“Yes,” she sighed the word, taking a sit of her water. “I am pregnant – as best I can figure, and my doctor, who is busy planning tests and ultrasounds, is about 4 months. They are recommending cystic fibrosis testing since I don’t know anything about my father’s side of the family and I could be a carrier. I suppose they are going to recommend you get tested as well. I’m not sure what other testing he has planned, but that’s the last thing he told me.” Chase flinched slightly at the thought of blood being drawn from his person. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to give blood, squeamish. The father can be tested by a mouth swab – just a little rough brush from the inside of your cheek like biology class.” She seemed cockily pleased about his aversion to needles. It wasn’t as if they scared him, he just didn’t care for the sight of the blood being leaked out of his veins.
“That sounds fine. I’d be more than happy to stop into the doctor, or hospital, or whatever and have the test done.” He could see her visibly relax and wondered if she thought he would fight her for anything. “From your expression, you were expecting a fight.” Her lips twisted thoughtfully, and not for the first time, he admired how different she was from Madeline. Madeline would have come in guns blazing, demanding money for something or other. Then again, Madeline wouldn’t have been pregnant in the first place since she wasn’t very good with children and was deathly afraid that having one would ruin her figure, and after that, all her fun. She could pretend, but it was more than obvious. He knew, on the other hand, that Antoinette had helped to raise her younger sisters. She glowed now from the pregnancy and would make an outstanding mother. He paused for a moment to wonder what a family with her would be like.
“Not a fight, but something more, I guess. Did you want to come with me to the next appointment? Or would you prefer to be at a distance? There, but not.” She took another sip of her water, waiting for his reaction and he couldn’t believe she had asked him at all, rather than telling him to back off. His astonishment much have shown on his face, because she smiled sheepishly and turned her head.
“Actually, I would love to be there. Your. . .our child deserves to know both parents.” He smiled again and lifted her fingers into his palm. “We both know our own parents had a little difficulty with that, but we turned out okay. There is no reason that any child we have wouldn’t turn out even a slight bit better.” He smiled and rubbed the back of her palm with his thumb. Just as he thought she might be more relaxed, the ridiculous tone Madeline had programmed into his phone for herself broke the light mood with its glaring obnoxiousness. Toni pulled back her hand and cocked one manicured eyebrow.
He could see her start to close herself off from him, but from her reaction, he should be able to break down some of the walls again. Chase sighed and answered his phone, watching Toni leave the bar to head up to her mother’s room. He wondered if she would pull herself completely away from him and they would be starting from square one all because of a stupid phone call from Madeline or if they would be able to move forward like the responsible adults they were talking about. Madeline’s nasal voice buzzed in his ear, and he made a few non-committal grunts and let her ramble for a few seconds before cutting her off cleanly.
“Madeline, I was in a meeting and I still have another planned for tonight. I can not take you to the ballet. Now, I can call you when I am finished with my last meeting and we can discuss plans for later, or I can call you tomorrow. Either way, I have to go and I don’t want you calling back and interrupting my meetings.” Chase felt slightly bad about being so harsh with her, but enough was enough. Maybe she would get the hint this time. Either way, he now had to beard the dragon in its lair and face Antoinette’s mother and step-father upstairs.








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