Wait For It: Part One
Love doesn't discriminate,
Between the sinners and the saints,
It takes and it takes and it takes;
And we keep loving anyway
"I know, I know... Please, just let me talk to her."
It had been weeks since Christine stormed out of the mansion. She was in an undisclosed location and this was the closest Erik had gotten in awhile. A phone call.
"I know, I know what I did was wrong, but please, just let me talk to her."
Erik was aggravated. The masked man rubbed his temples, leaning back in his office chair. He could barely find enough words to beg, let alone talk to Christine.
"Okay, thank you."
Yet, here he is, fumbling over his tongue as he tried to come up with any sort of verbal communication.
He took a deep breath.
"Chris-"
"Stop calling my friends, Erik. I don't want to see you and I don't want to talk to you. Stop harassing all my friends. I mean it." Christine's voice was coarse, she sounded sick. This worried Erik beyond belief. "The baby is fine, everyone is fine. Stop calling me."
"Christine, please just listen to me. Please, let me explain everything." Erik continued to beg.
There was a long pause. It seemed like decades between them with the empty air that circulated around them.
"Fine. We can have coffee tomorrow morning before I go to my Mommy and Me class with Charlotte." Christine spoke quickly, giving Erik the address of her favorite coffee shop. "Goodbye."
Erik paced in front of the coffee shop. It was almost eight thirty and Christine hadn't arrived yet. She's usually so punctual.
"Why do you always pace?" Christine's small voice echoed from behind Erik. He had never turned so quickly. "Are you ready?"
"Oh, Christine, you look-" Erik began to speak, but Christine was clearly trying to ignore him. She opened the door to the coffee shop and headed straight for the counter.
"Decaf, please. Room for cream and sugar." Christine took out her wallet and paid the four dollars for coffee she loved. Moving aside, Christine scanned the room for an empty table.
"Black coffee." Erik ordered and paid for his drink, making sure to leave a tip in the metal jar. Erik's eyes moved to Christine as her protruding stomach made her way through the tiny cafe. She finally picked a place by the window, placing her table number in the wooden stand.
Erik made his way over to her.
"So, explain." Christine gestured to the chair in front of her, wasting no time in between breaths. "Explain to me your side of this hideous situation."
Erik sat down, exhaling all the air he had kept in hopes of something greater. Swallowing hard, he began.
"Quinn Zaneth, she was an old student of mine, formally known as Quinn Cooper." Erik sighed heavily. "She found out about us early on, very early on, and when she threatened to tell Bailey, I did my best to convince her not to..."
The waiter brought their order over to the table, bringing some flavored cream and sugar over as well.
"This is cinnamon, this is hazelnut, and this is regular. Enjoy."
Christine ran her fingers over the spout of each creamer, inhaling the strong scents. The cinnamon creamer was her favorite, and Erik knew it too.
"How did you convince her not to tell Bailey?" Christine muttered as she poured the cinnamon creamer into her mug.
Christine's thoughts wandered to the image of Bailey. She remembered her clearly. Christine wondered if Erik ever thought of Bailey, but she never asked him. She would never.
"I paid off her student loans, and continued to funnel money to her. And when I told her I wasn't going to do that anymore, because of the baby and the wedding, she showed up at our house... as Quinn Zaneth, which is her husband's name..." Erik breathed heavily, his hands shaking.
"Is... Is that why... You kept putting off the wedding, because..." Christine sipped quietly to herself.
"No, we still have money... I keep putting off the wedding, because I'm scared that Quinn will never let us be happy." Erik sighed.
"So? I thought you loved me more than that, Erik. I thought you loved me more than that. More than some tramp who is scamming you for money!" Christine stood up angrily, her breathing shallow. "I have to go. This is ridiculous, goodbye."
Erik grabbed her wrist as gently as he could, trying to stop her from storming out again.
"Please, just listen to me, Christine." Erik tried to console her, but Christine couldn't stand to look at him. "Come home tonight, and we can work this out together. I just... i can't stand the thought of us having another baby, and me not watching them grow up... I can't, Christine, I can't. I missed the first five years of OUR daughter's life... I can't bear for the same to happen again."
Christine exhaled, closing her eyes, as if that really helped to clear her head.
Charlotte was a constant reminder of what happened to her all those years ago. Erik never really talked about the kidnapping. Christine even tried to get him to go to therapy with her, but he refused. And every day Christine gets Charlotte ready for the day, all she can see is the painful past she's tried so hard to forget.
But Charlotte doesn't know any better. To her, Erik is her father and he always has been. And that's the way Christine intended it to be.
And Erik was right. He was very right. Christine didn't want to bring another baby into this world where they didn't have a father.
It really was the lesser of two evils,
"Fine. We'll come back." Christine finally decided.
"Oh, oh, oh my god, Christine, you don't-"
"But this will not be the end of this. Just because we're coming back does not mean I'm any less mad at you."
Erik couldn't help, but smile.
"I understand. I completely understand."
Christine smiled back.
"You have to work very hard to earn my trust back, Erik. Because everything you say to me now, I can't believe. I just can't." Christine replied. "Do you understand me?"
"I do. Understood, everything." Erik began to make his way to the door, holding it open for Christine. "I love you, Christine. I hope you can believe that, above all things."
And Christine did believe that, she just didn't show it.
She just moved forward, only forward.
One Week Later
Christine was restless again, as she kicked off the covers. This pregnancy was messing with her body temperature. She was miserable. And she still had a month and a half left.
The petite girl stood to her feet, swelled to her ankles. It was truly a sight.
"I didn't mean to wake you." Christine yawned, putting her robe on and tying her hair into a loose ponytail. "Go back to sleep, Erik."
Erik exhaled, placing a small kiss on her cheek, before nestling back into the covers.
He was oddly tired.
Christine made her way down to the kitchen, only to be alarmed that the light was already on and there was movement in the kitchen. Christine stepped carefully into the light.
"Naomi? What are you doing awake?" Christine's voice frightened Naomi, causing her to spill the cup of juice onto the floor. Christine tried her best to rush over and help er, but she was moving slower than expected. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's okay, really. Are you okay?" Naomi began to wipe the floor, the strays of her hair catching the light.
"I'm fine. I just can't sleep. This baby is nocturnal, I swear." Christine let out a little laugh as she made her way to the refrigerator. "Anything good in here?"
"There's some left over Chinese food... And I think some left over pasta is in there too." Naomi smiled, throwing away the used paper towels. "Hey. Ms... Um... Christine, can I ask you something?"
Christine grabbed some watermelon instead, taking a seat on the bar stool. She was content and so was the baby.
"Ask me anything, love." Christine began to stuff her mouth with fruit, her eyes lighting up in pure joy. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right, Naomi?"
"Right... Uh, I just have... Is everything okay with you and Erik?" Naomi sat down next to Christine, smiling through her questions.
"We're doing better. It's hard though. He hid it from me so long and I just, I didn't know how to react. He's doing well though." Christine shrugged her shoulders. "We're doing what is best for the baby. The baby is our number one priority."
Naomi's smile weakened.
"Right, and that's good... But aren't you afraid that Erik won't... Like... Aren't you curious as to... Why he's put of the wedding for months now?" Naomi started to fidget.
"He told me he was scared that Quinn Zaneth would come and ruin us... I guess he was-"
"Christine, he's lying to you. I can't... I can't sit here and watch you believe him... ESPECIALLY if the only reason you're giving him another chance is the baby... I mean, that baby... Your baby doesn't deserve it... He just..." Naomi trailed off into an incoherent babble. She was flustered.
"Naomi... Please, take deep breaths and just tell me what you mean. I'm sure there's an explanation." Christine tried her best to remain calm. Brushing some stray hairs behind Naomi's ear, Christine smiled softly and brought her chin up with her fingers. "Please, take your time. Just tell me when you're ready."
Naomi managed to slow down her breathing, blinking some tears out of the way. Taking a deep breath in, Naomi's now reddened eyes met with Christine's concerned green irises.
"Quinn Zaneth, yes she was Quinn Cooper and he did teach her," Naomi began, her voice slow and steady. "But, he's not only been funneling three million dollars to her every month..."
With a strong disposition, Christine sighed.
"What else has he been doing, love?"
Naomi closed her eyes, trying to clear her head. It was now or never.
"Erik, he's..."
TO BE CONTINUED