The scratchy feeling of unfamiliar sheets brushed against Karina's cheek. She groaned, still somewhat exhausted from the night before. Her first thought was, who buys such cheap sheets? Only half conscious she tried to roll into the fetal position but her limbs felt so heavy her body stayed stubbornly in place, as though they were frozen. Panicking, she struggled as hard as she could to move but her body remained leaden. She heard the voices of strangers around her and tried to open her eyes but the lids would not move.

"She doesn't seem to be seriously hurt but there are signs of sexual assault." A male voice said, his voice deathly serious.

"Where'd you find her?" Asked a concerned female voice that she realized was her mother.

"She was lying by the side of the road."

After these few lines of dialogue there was a disturbing silence punctuated by the soft sounds of crying.

"I don't know how this could happen to her. We were always so careful." Karina's mother said between sobs.

Karina wanted nothing more than to wake up and comfort her mother. She felt the weight of her mother's head on her chest and the moisture of her tears.

Suddenly her body shot up instinctively and she was in her own living room again. She sighed with relief as she realized it was all a dream. The feeling of powerlessness she had experienced during the dream was almost more than she could take and she sighed in relief realizing that it was all over. What had it all meant?

Her laptop still glowed invitingly in the darkness, a lantern piercing through the frightening unknown of 3am in Indonesia. Picking up the computer, she saw it was still on the travel website. A phone number was listed next to the e-mail address on the homepage. She looked around the room, her night-vision setting in, trying to find her cellphone. Scanning the room, she saw that it lay just out of reach, next to where the laptop had been. Groaning wiht fatigue and laziness, Karina got up to grab it, stabbing the travel company's number into the phone. Karina held the phone to ear as she lay back down. The company let it ring twice before answering. Nice touch, not too desperate while maintaining their interest in you as a client...or perhaps she was overanalyzing just a bit.

"Sky Trails Airlines, how may I help you?" Said a female voice that was just a little too happy to be plausible.

"I'd like to book a flight to London. The earlist flight available, if you please." Karina said, formally, her accent slipping in as she thought back to the many English classes she had taken throughout her school-age years. None of them had quite eradicated her renegade pronunciation of some English words and her general accent.

"Okay, ma'am, I actually have a special offer for you if you can take the 8am flight." Said the female voice.

"Alright, what is it?"

"I can actually give you a free first class ticket as one of our wealthier clients bailed on his plans. Normally, we would resell the ticket but since it is so close to flight time we have decided to just give it away."

"REALLY? That's amazing! Guess I'll see you at 8 then." And Karina arranged to have the tickets and hung up the phone. However, she wasn't done with it quite yet. She punched in the numbers for Arthur's home phone. Once again, it rang twice before Arthur got to the phone.

"Hey Karina, isn't it like 3am where you are?" Asked Arthur.

"Well hello to you too. And yes it is but I just called to tell you, I'll be flying into to London International Airport tomorrow morning so I thought we could hook up and hang out." Karina tried her best to sound cool and casual, like she didn't care if they hung out or not. She didn't want ot sound too eager, that was always a turn off.

"Okay, ring me on my mobile when you get in and maybe I can show you around the city."

"Wow...you actually say 'ring me on my mobile'. It'a so quaint." Karina chuckled.

"Shut up, I'll see you tomorrow, I guess." shot back Arthur,a mix of annoyance and self-deprecation emanating through his voice. With that, he hung up the phone.

Karina pressed the glowing red "end" button with vigor and threw away the phone. She would need four hours of sleep she could get before her early flight.

Sitting on the plane, Karina was unabatedly amazed at her lavish accomodations. She had a fully reclinably seat, her own T.V. and workstation and extendable room dividers so she could pretend she had her own room if she so desired. Her "oos" and "ahs" were met with undisguised scorn by her fellow passengers who had obviously all flown first-class before and were impatient with the musings of a first-timer.

After her temporary daze was over, for the first time she began to question the practicality of visiting Arthur. She seemed to be forcing herself on Arthur. Though he had invited her, she was arriving much earlier than expected which might freak him out and she didn't like the sound of that. She really liked Arthur and didn't want to mess this up. She had been hurt too many times to face another rejection. Some would call her emotionally damaged but she just called herself experienced and protected (referring to the emotional walls she sometimes threw up to protect herself from heartbreak although being "protected" during sex was always good, too).

After her worry, she fell asleep and the flight continued uneventfully until she was awoken by the sound of a flight attendant announcing that there was only ten minutes left before landing time.

After that the plane landed safely and it was all hustle and bustle to get off the plane in one piece with one's carry-on bag. After making her way to the baggage claim to retrieve her suitcase, she sat down on a nearby bench to do some much needed people watching. She saw a nauseating couple in love whispering in each other's ears and some wailing toddlers before seeing a tell-tale pair of eyebrows in the crowd.

Instinctively climbing up on the baggage carousel, she yelled, "Arthur, over here!" Waving her arms emphatically.

Laughing heartily, Arthur made his way through the crowd.

"Okay, I see you, get down from there, you don't have to impress me." Said Arthur offering a hand that shook from laughter to help her down.

"Who says I was trying to impress you?" Asked Karina, smirking, as she grabbed Arthur's hand. He had a surprisingly firm grip and a warm aura surrounded him. Beyond that, Karina felt the telltale spark between her and Arthur and that was always a good sign. A good sign that made her weak at the knees like a lovesick teenager.

"What are you staring at?" Asked Arthur curiously, waving a hand in front of he face.

Karina was jolted out of a daze as she realized she had been staring at Arthur for longer than she thought and as if that wasn't bad enough she had been smiling, once again, like a lovesick teenager.

"The ceiling..the floor...everything...nothing." Karina stuttered trying to play it cool but failing miserably.

"That's not vague at all. Let's proceed, shall we?" Asked Arthur. I suppose what she lacks in sublety she makes up for in enthusiasm and all-around intrigue, Arthur thought to himself.

Karina followed Arhur though she wasn't sure where they were going.

"I'm not going to lie to you, I actually walked here but I think I'll call us a cab, now." Arthur chuckled.

"Sure, yeah, that's fine." Said Karina, distractedly. She had been staring at Arthur's rock-hard abs too much to be actually listening, although she was aware enough to pull a very old trick.

"Brr, it's cold out here." Shivered Karina, hugging her shoulders, in an attempt to look cold.

"Are you kidding me? It's fucking July. Man up." Chortled Arthur and then seeing her horrified expression, added, "I'm kidding, calm down." He said sliding his arm around her shoulder.

"Better?"

She flinched inadvertently at his touch and then allowed herself to lean her head on his shoulder, "Much better, I've missed how close we used to be."

"You realize you are very tranparent, right?"

"Just the way I like it."

Just then the cab pulled up. Arthur politely opened the door for Karina before sliding into the seat himself and closing the bright yellow door behind him and telling the cab driver where to go.

That ten minute cab ride was the longest Arthur and Karina had ever experienced because they had to face the fact that even though they both wanted to deny they both felt a spark back there on the bench.

"So, how's the weather in Indonesia?" Asked Arthur.

"Uh, good, rainy." Said Karina. And that was all that was said.

Before too long, however, the cab pulled up in front of a lavish mansion with a long winding driveway.

"This is where you live?" Screeched Karina, betraying her general parochial-ness in her amazement.

"Yeah, did you think I was povo?" Asked Arthur, a smirk of superiority returning to his lips.

Like a small child Karina pushed open the door and ran down the walkway, eager to enter the house and explore its many hallways.

Arthur followed at his own pace, inspecting Karina from behind with dirty little smile on his face. Suddenly Karina spun around and caught him.

"You jerk!" She laughed, slapping him lightly as he unlocked the door.

She insisted he walk ahead of her after that.

As soon as they got in the door, Karina practically glomped him, saying "Thank you so much for inviting me over!" Suddenly she drew back, " Ew, I'm sorry, I must be so gross from traveling, I think I'll go shower."

"It's the third door on the left." Said Arthur, helpfully. As he watched her bound down the hallway, he got such a bad idea in his head it almost canceled out and became good: he was going to debut "The Naked Man."

Last week as he had been watching, "How I Met Your Mother" (which was a surprisingly competent American show) he had inadvertently stumbled on some useful information. One of the main characters, Barney, tried to convince his peers, namely Ted and Lilly, that his theory which was aptly named "The Naked Man" was true: that two times out of three if you sit naked in a girls apartment she will have sex with you out of sheer shock and amusement.

Now, Arthur was going to put that plan into action in his own way. He was going to "suit down" as Barney would say and wait for Karina in the bathroom and perhaps the theory would work.

As Karina made her way to the bathroom, she noticed a room marked "Experiments". Curiously, she opened the door to find an assortment of vials and beakers full of many different liquids that varied in color and consistency. Against her better judgement, she chugged a purple liquid and let the vial fall to the ground. Come on live a little was her justification to herself. As she walked out of the room, she didn't noticed the way the sun that streamed through the window glinted on the label that marked the vial and revealed that it read, "Experimental Aphrodisiac. Warning: May be dangerously effective."

Sitting naked in the guest bathroom shower, Arthur began to question the validity of his favorite sitcom hero. Maybe Karina would just freak out and leave. Of course, if she was into it the reward far outweighed the risk so he silenced his doubts.

Finally, after almost twenty minutes of waiting, he heard the bathroom door open and a hand reached into the shower to turn the water on. Arthur contained his shriek as cold water descended umercifully on his head. After this, Arthur heard the telltale signs of disrobing and did a silent air five with the shower tiles and began air boxing with no one. He pushed aside the curtain slightly for one moment to quell his curiosity. As he looked at her naked body, the one thought that came to his mind was: well at least her boobs aren't false advertising.

Suddenly she turned and began walking towards the shower. Pulling aside the curtain, to Arthur surprise she purred, like a sexy cat (so many things wrong with that simile) and descended on Arthur and began kissing his neck. As their bodies touched they both again felt that spark which bonded them together.

"Wow, you fell hard for The Naked Man, I really didn't think you'd be into this." Said Arthur.

"Are you kidding? You totally turn me on and now you're naked and willing? I take what I can get." Answered Karina between kissing.

"What's with your voi-" Began Arthur and then realizing what had happened, he yelled, "Oh yeah! you must have gotten into the potion room. Score!"

After that encounter, it became hard to count how many intimate moments they shared during Karina's stay. They barely left his house in the four days she spent with him and when they did, it usually ended in scrambling to find a bathroom to do it in anyway. Arthur began to wonder if Karina was actually into him or if the aphrodisiac was just incredibly long lasting.

However as with all good things, Karina's stay eventually ended and she left Arthur with a passionate kiss, running for her flight but promising to return. Arthur promised to call her. Neither fulfilled their promise.

One Month Later

Karina sat in her living room, sipping tea, thinking of Arthur. In the month that had passed since her visit to his house, she had recieved no calls, emails or even texts from him. Just as well, she supposed they both understood it was meant to be a one night stand. Or rather a 96 hour stand (and that wasn't even meant to be a sexual joke but make it into one if it suits you).

One thing worried her of late however. Her period was three weeks late and never in her life had she wanted so much to bleed. She couldn't even deal with thinking about pregnancy let alone having a legit pregnancy. She still used the word legit in her internal dialogue. How could she possible be mature enought to raise a child?

For peace of mind, Karina decided to walk to the drugstore and pick up a pregancy test. On her way she felt as though many judging eyes were on her though no one could know what she was about to buy. She supposed it was paranoia and guilt getting the best of her.

Walking into the drugstore, she scanned the aisles and quickly found the one aisle just dodgy enough to have what she needed. Scanning all the different brands, she picked the most discreetly namely box and rushed up to the front counter, praying no one she knew worked there.

"Karina!" called a familiar American voice behind her.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUU-" Yelled Karina before spinning around, producing a fake smile and hiding the pregnancy test behind her back.

"Yo Alfred, my man, what up? How's tricks, broseph?" Called Karina in a surprisingly good imitation of a California bro.

"What's wrong with your voice?" Asked Alfred as Karina tried to do some complicated bro handshake.

"What wrong with me? What's wrong with you? You don't hit me up anymore, broski. What's the haps?" As Karina inadvertently waved her hands in an elaborate hand gesture that changed as she improvised, Alfred caught sight of the box in her hands and his face became deathly serious.

"Oh, I see what's going on here." He said and then his expression changed completely, "Don't hide it, you tried out the poppy seed myth. Looks like it is true." Alfred laughed and patted her on the shoulder in a good-natured gesture of friendship, good times and... complete obliviousness.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Check you later, Brosama Bin Laden." Karina said, making her way to the check out counter.

"That's actually really offensive." Said Alfred, under his breath as she walked about and then to himself, "I got the bitch."

"Oh sweetie, are you trying to have a baby? That's so sweet. I remember when I was trying-" The middle-aged cashierwoman went on and on about her apparent infertility.

Fuck this small town, everybody in everybody else's business. I don't need to know your life's story, lady, just let me pay for my shit and leave, thought Karina.

"Yes, that's nice. I agree with what ever you said." Karina said, shoving some money into the cashier's hand and going to the bathroom in the back of the store. She wasn't going to wait for results.

Opening the bathroom door and entering the stall, Karina opened the box. She found her hands were shaking along with the rest her body.

"Calm down." She told, herself, "worst case scenario: you die in childbirth or you're a horrible mother. Both perfectly viable options."

Surprisingly, this calmed her down quite a bit. Following the instructions, she peed on the tester and waited a few minutes in the stall.

To pass the time, she thought of all the ways she could accidently screw up this hypothetical kid's life. She could be neglectful, become a drunk, just be generally annoying, there were so many possibilities and that was after the kid was old enough to be cognitive and emotional. Maybe it (had she really called the child an "it"? Oh well, just roll with it) would die in early infancy or even in the womb, she thought morbidly. I can't be this perfect mother who knows exactly what to in the event of pregnancy and-

She looked down at her watch, it had been five minutes, the maximum number of minutes one must wait. She turned over the test and saw that it read positive and screamed.

"Ma'am, are you okay in there?" Yelled the female voice of the cashier.

"Yes, I'm fine and I'm NOT having a baby. Today is a great day. The test read positive and I hate children! WOO! I'm pumped."

There was an awkward silence before the cashier said quietly, "I don't mean to rain on your parade but that actually means you are pregnant." And Karina heard her leave.

"Well forget that noise, I think I'll bask in a little more solid gold denial before I- oh what's the use, I actually have to make a decision now." Karina groaned, slumped back down on the toilet, crossing her arms and pouting like an adolescent. She couldn't tell Arthur about this, she just couldn't. It would ruin everything. He would hate her.

There were two things she knew definitively at that moment:

1. Edward was a vampire.

However that was a given and ripping off Stephanie Meyer is so last week so let me begin again. There were two things Karina knew definitively at that moment:

would keep the child. She couldn't think of another alternative she could live with.

2. She would not, under any circumstances, tell Arthur she was carrying his child or raising it.

Two years later

"Oh my god, Karina hi." Said England as he was shopping for mangos on his Indonesian vacation. You would not believe how many people just randomly end up in Indonesia due to plot wall effectively broken.

"Uh, hi Arthur." Replied Karina, her two year old child clinging to her arm.

Putting a thoughtful finger to his lips, Arthur said, "Let me guess, that's your...niece. How'd you get saddled with babysitting?"

"I don't have any siblings, how could I have a niece?" Said Karina, laughing, "Actually, she's my daughter."

"Woah, newsflash there. I didn't know you had a child, where's your husband?" Asked Arthur.

Karina knew he meant well but that question annoyed the hell out of her. As if she didn't do just as good of a job raising her child alone as she would have with a husband, better actually.

"Actually, I'm single. She was kind of a surprise and that ended the relationship." Karina said putting her hands over her little girls ears as she said this.

"Uh, well that's fine. See you later then." Arthur said, happy to live in denial. At least for now.

Later that night, Arthur paced his room. Was the child his? Was that what she was trying to say? The timing was definitely right. Or had she gotten with someone else just after him? Lucky bitch.

He couldn't take this kind of uncertainty, he had to see Karina.

Karina heard a knock on her door. Who could that be? She didn't want to see anyone after her terrifying run in with Arthur earlier. What if he had found out the child was his? Not only would he be mad that Karina had let this happen but that she had lied to him for two whole years.

At this point, she'd just as soon raise the child alone forever rather than expose her to a father that didn't want her. She didn't want to share Aya.

Opening the door, she winced at the sight of Arthur, drenched from the rain.

"Can I come in? I'm bloody soaked." Arthur said gruffly.

Karina stepped aside wordlessly, allowing him into her living room.

Without being asked, he sat on the couch, twitching nervously, trying to get up his courage to say what he needed say.

"Is the kid mine?" He asked bluntly, seeing no delicate way to ask.

The stress finally got to Karina and something snapped inside of her.

"First you barge into my house, dampen my couch and say something like that in front of my kid? You need to leave." Said Karina, pointing at the door.

"No, please, Karina. I'm sorry. I've just been pacing around all night worrying and it finally got to me."

"Yes, the kid's yours but don't think you're going to whisk her away or that we're going to get married and have some perfect family."

"Don't worry, I'm not here to turn your life upside down. I just want to know why you lied." Said Arthur quietly.

"I knew for a fact you didn't want kids and to be honest I didn't either. Also, I was young and stupid and I feared you would be mad at me." Replied Karina putting her head in her hands, crying.

Sweeping Karina into his arms, he comforted her. "It's okay, we'll get through this." He said softly.

That was how it ended, in a passionate embrace.