Zachary & Ciara Ch. 08

Emily Collins sat in her living room her leg propped up on an ottoman, her ankle wrapped in an ace bandage awaiting the arrival of her son, Zachary from the states. She hadn't planned on falling and spraining her ankle but she saw it as a happy accident that would get her what she wanted, her son away from that woman and her child.

"Has he arrived yet?" Abigail asked rushing into the living room with a glass of water for Mrs. Collins bringing Emily out of her thoughts.

"No, he hasn't," Emily replied her exasperation with the young woman growing. "It has only been two hours since we notified him about my accident. He won't get here until later in this evening."

"I'm sorry for causing you to fall," Abigail said a hint of guilt in her voice , the image of Zach's mother tumbling onto the floor as she tripped over her foot coming into her mind.

"I've told you it wasn't your fault," Emily said. "I'm the one who didn't see your foot sticking out in my path."

"Do you think that woman and her child will come with Zachary?" Abigail asked changing the subject of their conversation.

"I don't know," Emily replied cringing at the thought of Zachary's pretend family coming with him. "I hope they don't and I think it's highly unlikely. The child is in school and with her legs in casts; Zachary would have to make preparations ahead of time to get her ready for a trip back to London. Besides I don't see the child's mother interrupting her routine to come here with Zachary to see about me simply because I sprained my ankle."

"Even so, Zachary might talk her into coming with him," Abigail remarked.

"Why would he do that?" Emily asked. "Zachary isn't serious about this woman. He only married her so that he could get his inheritance and nothing more. He has no feelings for her nor her child. If he does, it is only because of their situation and nothing more. When the two year requirement has been met their marriage will be ended and they'll both go their separate ways."

"She might try to talk Zachary into staying with them," Abigail said.

"As I said I don't see that happening," Emily said her tone confident.

"What about the little girl?" Abigail asked. "Zachary has only been there a day and now he has to come back home. The little girl might start crying because he has to cut his visit short and that might convince him to stay."

"I'm Zachary's mother," Emily said. "He loves me; his concern for me will override any tears the child might shed."

The ringing of Emily's phone cut off Abigail's response.

"It's Zachary," Emily said pressing the button, answering her mobile phone. "Hello."

"Hello, mother," Zachary replied.

"Hello, Zachary," Emily said holding her breath worried about what her son might say.

"How are you feeling?" Zachary asked.

"I'm fine," Emily replied. "Why're you calling? Have you changed your mind about returning home?"

"Hold the line, mother," Zachary said.

Emily strained to hear the mumbling she heard on the other end of the line as Zachary spoke to someone but she couldn't make it out because Zachary had his hand over the phone.

"What's going on?" Abigail whispered.

"Shush," Emily told her. "I'm trying to hear what's going on."

"Is she trying to talk Zachary out of coming?" Abigail asked becoming angry at the thought. "Are they fighting?"

"Shush girl!" Emily said her voice more intense this time. "How can I hear what's happening with you jabbering in my ear."

"Are you still there mother?" Zachary asked coming back to the phone.

"Yes, I'm still here," Emily replied. "Is there a problem?"

"No," Zachary told her. "I'm calling to give you the details of my flight."

"Do you want me to meet you at the airport?" his mother asked.

"No, mother," Zachary replied. "I just wanted you to know when I would arrive back in London."

"I'll be waiting," Emily said as she wrote down Zach's flight information, slowly releasing the breath she'd been holding the entire time she spoke with her son. "I can't wait to see you."

"I've only been away a day mother," Zachary said. "That's hardly enough time to miss me."

"I know dear," his mother said. "I'm just glad you're coming back home."

"I'll see you when I arrive mother," Zachary said. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye," his mother said.

"Is he coming?" Abigail asked as Mrs. Collins hung up the phone.

"He's coming," Emily replied a big smile on her face. "My boy is coming home."

"I think I'll be there to meet him at the airport," Abigail said.

"I think that would be an excellent idea," Emily said passing the piece of paper containing Zachary flight information over to Abigail. "Your being there alone to meet him at the airport will give the two of you the opportunity to talk and renew your relationship."

"Great minds think alike," Abigail said taking the piece of paper leaving Mrs. Collins home, heading to her home to prepare for Zachary's arrival.

*****************

"I want you and Emilee to come to London with me," Zachary said to Ciara.

"We can't go with you, Zach," Ciara said. "Emilee has to attend school and she has physical therapy three time a week."

"I can..."

"No," Ciara said determined not to allow Zach to change her mind. "We can't go with you. You should go to London to take care of your mother alone and come back to see us when you can."

"But I've spent less than a day with you and Emilee," Zach said giving Ciara a sad puppy dogface. "I miss having both my girls around."

"We're not your girls," Ciara said fighting to maintain her resolve of not going to London with him. She hated to admit even to herself that she missed him too.

"You are for the next two years," Zach replied a stupid smile on his face that was making it even harder for Ciara to maintain her desire not to give in. "I want my girls home with me. Please?" Zach said his puppy dogface growing even sadder as he walked closer to Ciara.

"Zach," Ciara said wondering how he managed to slip his arms around her waist without her realizing it, "the situation that would be created by Emilee and I going home with you wouldn't be a good one for Emilee, me, you nor your mother. It would be very stressful for everyone."

"We could make it work," Zach said. "Together we can make things pleasant for everyone. Please come home with me, Ciara."

As he spoke Zach kissed Ciara gently on the lips at the end, he gave her a long gentle kiss. Ciara knew that Zach was asking her to do more than to come home with him. After dinner last night, he told Ciara that he wanted them to change their relationship from a pretend one to a real one. Hearing him say that surprised and caught her totally off guard. It wasn't something she was sure she ready or capable of doing. She'd imagine in her mind her relationship with Zachary changing but it wasn't something she'd ever saw happening. Now that he was asking her to do the thing, she'd imagined she wasn't sure she could do it.

"I don't think we should change the status of our relationship," Ciara said moving out of Zach's embrace away from his lips so that her mind could be clear and she could think. "Nothing between us is supposed to be real. We are only pretending to be in a relationship. Remember?"

"Are you saying you're not interested in having a real relationship with me?" Zach asked his eyes daring her to deny what was happening between them.

"I'm saying that we need to really think about this," Ciara replied. "Your mother isn't happy with me. I think the only reason she's able to deal with me at all is because she knows that what we're doing isn't real. How do you think she'll react to hearing that we're thinking about actually seeing each other romantically? She's going to pop a blood vessel."

"Let me worry about my mother," Zach told Ciara easing his arms back around her waist. "We're talking about us and what we want. That is the only the only topic of this conversation."

"Maybe you should go home, take care of your mother and think about whether or not you really want to do this," Ciara suggested. "Maybe we should both take some time away from each other to think about whether or not this is a good idea."

"It's all I've thought about most of the time you and Emilee have been here," Zach said. "I'm sure this is what I want."

Shocked by what he'd said Ciara looked him in the eyes. She searched them looking to see if they match the tone of his voice. She saw no deception in his eyes and she heard none in his voice so she decided she too would go with her heart.

"Are you sure Zach?" she asked her voice pleading with him to be sure this was what he wanted.

"I'm sure," Zach replied resting his chin on her head.

"I guess we could give it a try," Ciara said.

"I want you to promise me that from now on instead of trying to handle things on your own that you'll come to me with any problems you might have," Zach said.

"But Zach..."

"Promise me," Zach demanded.

"Alright," Ciara said relenting, "I promise."

"No matter what it is," Zach added.

"But Zach..."

"No matter what it is Ciara," Zach said.

"No matter what it is," Ciara replied.

"Alright it's time for us to head home to tell my mother the wonderful news," Zach said.

"I think before we tell your mother our wonderful news that you should call her to let her know that Emilee and I are flying back with you," Ciara suggested.

"That won't be necessary," Zach said. "I think my mom knew my goal in coming here was to bring you and Emilee back home with me. She'll be glad to see that I was successful."

"I need to tell you something," Ciara said.

"What is it?" Zach asked.

"I haven't had sex since my miscarriage," Ciara said.

"What?" Zach said shocked by what he was hearing. "That was over..."

"A few months longer than Emilee's been alive," Ciara said.

"Why?" Zach asked. "Haven't you dated since then?"

"Before my life spun out of control I dated plenty," Ciara replied. "But when I became pregnant it shocked and frightened me. It wasn't what I had planned for my life. Nor did I plan on spending the rest of my life with the father."

"You and the baby's father planned on getting married?" Zach asked.

"He asked when we found out I was pregnant," Ciara said shuddering at the thought of being married to her ex, "but I turned him down. I knew it was the wrong thing for us to do. It would've been like piling on mistake on top of another and I couldn't do that not even for the sake of my child. Besides he tricked me into getting pregnant."

"How?" Zach asked.

"I thought we were having safe sex because he wore a condom and I was on the pill, but I didn't know that he'd pierced holes into the condom just before using a pin or a needle," Ciara said. "I thought I was safe because I saw him open up the condom and slip it on."

"Weren't you on the pill?" Zach asked.

"The pill is only 99.9% effective," Ciara replied. "When I became pregnant I discovered that I'm part of the one tenth percent of woman who can get pregnant even though they're on the pill."

"How did he know?"

"He didn't. His desire to control me was so strong he decided to take a chance I might get pregnant and it worked."

"What happened after you miscarried?

"Douglas accused me of doing something to purposely cause my child to die. He said I hated him so much that I will my body to reject his child."

Ciara tried to move out Zach's embrace but he refused to allow it. He pulled her tighter against his body.

"I wasn't in love with him," Ciara said, "and becoming pregnant by him wasn't something that I wanted, but I wouldn't purposely wish or do something that would have hurt my child. The moment I learned I was pregnant I fell in love with my baby. When I miscarried, I grieved for my baby as if I'd given birth. The pain and loss I felt almost unhinged me. The way Emilee came into my life was tragic but it brought me back into the real world. It gave me, my life a purpose once again."

"I understand," Zach said rubbing his hand slowly up and down her back.

"You know," Ciara said fighting back tears, "after I lost my baby I was so jealous of Cara because she managed to see her pregnancy through. I couldn't understand how someone who was strung out on drugs, drank and abused their body the way my sister did could have a baby and me a person who doesn't drink, use drugs, exercise and got a physical every year miscarried. It didn't make sense to me then and it doesn't make sense to me now."

"Life doesn't always follow logical paths," Zach said.

"You sound like my mother when I asked her that same question," Ciara said chuckling a little. "She came to the hospital that night and held me in her arms while I cried over losing my baby and said; "Baby life doesn't always make sense, if it did it wouldn't always be worth living and we wouldn't get to see come of the miraculous things that God has done in this crazy world."

"I bet that was the last thing you wanted to hear," Zach remarked.

"It was," Ciara replied. "But I wasn't going to tell my mother that."

"I'm sorry for your loss and all the pain you experienced," Zach told her.

"I came to realize that having a baby with Douglas Freeman would've been the worst thing that could've happened to me and having that man for a father wouldn't have been a good thing for my baby."

"He was that bad," Zach asked.

"I met Douglas at work," Ciara said. "I went against my rule about dating people I worked with and we started dating. Things went pretty well until we slept together. Three months into our relationship trusting what I felt for him, I slept with him. I discovered afterwards that he was one of those men that if you slept with him, he took it to mean that you were serious about having a relationship. I found that to be attractive in the beginning because he was my first and I felt the same way. I was thrilled to have given myself to someone who felt the same way I did. I thought I was in love with Douglas and that he loved me."

"What happened to change your mind?"

"The day after I slept with him he changed from the loving, caring man I thought he was into this raving dictator who thought he had the right to run me and my life. He came over to my place with a suitcase in his hand and declared that he was moving in with me."

"You're kidding," Zach said not believing the nerve of the man.

"I kid you not," Ciara said. "I told him I wasn't ready to move in with him or anyone else. He became angry and accused me of sleeping around. According him, I had gotten my first taste of sex from him and I was looking for other men to try it with.

"How could he say that about you?" Zach asked the anger he felt filling his voice.

"I guess he was upset because I wasn't the clingy little virgin he expected me to be," Ciara replied.

"How long did your relationship with this idiot last?" Zach asked.

"About seven months," Ciara replied. "The only contact I had with him afterwards was to give him reports about my doctor visits and that was only because he was the father of my baby."

"Seems you dodged a bullet," Zach remarked.

"No, I put a target on my back," Ciara said. "After I ended things between us Douglas was put in charge of my department. He tried every way he could think of to have me written up in an effort to have me fired."

"How?" Zach asked.

"The first thing he did was to increase my workload to an amount that was almost impossible for me to manage. Then he slammed me on my quarterly work reviews. However because I was good at my job he was blocked at every turn by upper management. He was finally able to accomplish his goal when Emilee had her accident."

"Your bosses couldn't protect you any longer?" Zach asked.

"No, they couldn't," Ciara said moving out of Zach's arms. "He had a legitimate reason to fire me and he jumped on it. The quality of my work began to suffer because the only thing on my mind was taking care of Emilee and dealing with the guilt for the part I played in her winding up the way she did."

"She's your daughter," Zach said his anger increasing over the horrible way Ciara had been treated, "that's where your mind should've been. Your employers should've understood they should've done something to help you."

"They did," Ciara said. "They took up donations in the office to help financially and they allowed me to work from home so that I could be there for Emilee. However, it wasn't enough. My work continue to suffer until they had no choice but to terminate me and the pleasure of doing that went to Douglas as the head of my department."

"I bet he loved being the one to fire you," Zach said.

"He called me into his office, told me to sit down, offered me a cup of coffee which I turned down and then he began his speech with the biggest smile on his face I've ever seen." Ciara said her eyes staring out into space as tears rolled down her cheek as her mind flashed back to the day Douglas fired her.

"Ciara everyone was sorry to hear about Emilee's accident," Douglas said his smile growing bigger if possible, "and we as a company have tried to be as supportive as we could to help you and work with you through your terrible situation, but as I'm sure you know and realize things aren't going well. We understand that Emilee is your first priority; we even understood when your work slipped a little and we were willing and prepared to accept that. However, your work has fallen to a level that is no longer acceptable to our clients and us." Douglas slide an envelope with Ciara's last paycheck and severance pay across his desk towards her. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this but we're going to have to let you go," Douglas said standing and walking around the front of his desk. "I'm sorry to do this Ciara but I'm sure you understand the company's position. We cannot put our reputation at risk because of your pathetic situation. Maybe I would've been able to help you out if we were still together."

Ciara told him she didn't need his help and stormed out of his office.

"That bastard," Zach said his teeth clenched together, his hands balled into fists. "Was that how you and Emilee became homeless?"

"Yes," Ciara replied. "We lived on my savings, severance pay and the generous bonus the company I worked for gave me for almost six months."

"What about the insurance payment?" Zach asked knowing Americans pension for suing each other.

"The people who invited Emilee out the movies were the responsible for the accident," Ciara said. "Their insurance company offered me fifty thousand dollars as a settlement but I turned them down. That amount of money wouldn't have covered Emilee's hospital bills and it wouldn't have covered her therapy at all. It would've done nothing to help our situation."

"You're right about that," Zach said. "Don't you have a solicitor?"

"I hired what I could afford at the time," Ciara said. "A law firm I saw advertised on the television that said I wouldn't have to pay them unless they won my case. Thinking that it was a godsend since I wouldn't have to come up with a retainer upfront. I went in and talked them, liked what I heard and I signed a contract for them to take my case. It wasn't until I got home and actually read the contract that I realized that while the attorney fees wouldn't be payable until the case was settled, other fees such as filing fees and a list of other fees would be billed as usual."

"So what did you do?"

"When I couldn't come up with the money to pay my filing fees the attorney I hired put my case on hold until my financial situation improved," Ciara said. "I told him I wanted to cancel my contract."

"Did he cancel it?"

"He refused to do so until I paid him the money I owed him."

"What money?"

"He charged me research fees saying that he had his law clerks research my case as soon as I signed the contract."