What a Rich Man Wants by Billie Summer (self help books to read .txt) 📗

Cat looked straight into Eric’s eyes he was furious, how had she let her temper get the better of her! Claudia had goaded her before and she had controlled herself. “Claudia leave now.” Eric growled, not taking his eyes from Cat. For once Claudia didn’t say anything just left the room silently. Eric moved out of her way before stepping forward and slamming the office door closed, making Cat jump. Raising panic invaded Cat’s mind, she looked wildly around her looking for an escape route? Maybe. There was no escaping this confrontation now. Eric now knew she was pregnant. The panic didn’t dissipate, Cat started to feel sick and dizzy, after weeks of being over the sickness it now hit her head on. Cat blindly reached for the filing cabinet to hold her up but missed, her legs went out from under her and Cat started to fall to the ground as blackness over took her mind. She had a fleeting image of Eric look of shock and him flying across the room.  Cat came too later to find herself laying on the couch in Allison’s office. She was making a habit of this. Cat couldn’t see Eric anywhere as she looked around the room. Cat sat up on her elbows just as Eric came out of the bathroom attached to Allison’s office. He still looked angry but the expression was mixed with worry. At least now he didn’t look like he was going to strangle her. Reaching her, Eric pushed her back to laying flat on the couch, before placing a wet hand towel across her forehead.  “How?” Eric grated out. Just one word “How what?” Cat wasn’t an idiot, she knew what Eric was asking she just needed the few minutes to get herself together. She really couldn’t fathom how stupid she had been to blurt out that she was pregnant. Eric could only hate her now. “Don’t play games with me Cat, I’m not in the fucking mood. How did you become pregnant.” Eric snapped back. Almost insanely Cat said “Well we had sex, and your sperm….” “Fucking hell.” Eric swung away from her, pacing to the windows.” I don’t need a sex education lesson.” “I know, I’m sorry.” It’s just your anger is so overwhelming right now.” Cat confessed Cat watch as Eric physically tried to calm himself. After a few minutes she could see he had himself under better control. She wasn’t concern about him hurting her. Then again hurt wasn’t just physical. Cat sat up slowly, swinging her legs around. Taking the hand towel away from her forehead she placed it on the glass table in front of her and waited. Eric calmly walked back to her and sat down. Cat didn’t look at him but studied her hands folded in her lap. The last thing she wanted to see was his hatred and disgust. “Let’s try this again.” Eric said calmly Cat nodded her head in agreement  “How did you become pregnant? How long have you known? And lastly when was I going to be told?” Cat twisted her hands together in her lap. Saying in a small voice “ Well, when things ended between us, the day you went on that last business trip, hmmm Well I…. I…stopped taking the pills, you know I hated taking them. I saw no reason to take them anymore.” Gushing out the last part. “Go on.”  Cat tried to remember his next question “I realised I was pregnant when I fainted that first time, it took me so long because of the stress I was under. Also I thought it was the flu with the headaches and everything.” Cat was still looking at her hands refusing to look at him yet. “Continue” Eric said evenly. ThIs next answer to his question was the hardest to answer because she knew that until the babies had been born she wasn’t going to tell Eric but maybe someday. Cat knew it wasn’t fair to not let her children know or Eric to stay ignorant forever. No matter what she had told herself up until this point. Taking a breath” I don’t know” Cat cried “When I found out about you being involved with Claudia. The changes you had started to make in your lifestyle for her. I honestly was  worried about telling you now.” She didn’t want him with her for the babies. She wanted him to be with her for her. Tears slipped down Cat’s cheeks.  “You decide that I shouldn’t know about my own child? Bitch.” Eric snapped  Cat flinched “I thought you would hate me for telling you now, what if it had effected things between you and Claudia.” “Well it has effected my life, it changes everything.”  Puzzled Cat finally looked towards Eric sitting next to her on the couch. He wasn’t looking at her though. He was staring unseeing outside the glass windows behind Allison’s desk. Frowning Cat asked “In what way.” Eric swung around to face her, with a total look of disbelief on his face “we will be married as soon as possible.” Cat shook her head at him “Claudia…” “Forget Claudia, we’re talking about my child here, our choices don’t come into it. Putting the baby first does.” “But..” just as Cat had feared, Eric only wanted to be with her for the baby. He didn’t love her. Before they had ended Cat had always hoped Eric would fall in love with her and ask her to married him. Well he had asked but in her mind for the wrong reasons. Was she willing to sacrifice being loved by someone to give her children two parents. It was a selfless act for her children and she had lived in a single parent family until the Nelson’s had taken her in. Laying her hand onto her stomach, the lives growing inside her won through, she would give her life for the sake of her children. If that meant a loveless marriage, then so be it. Cat looked at Eric tears still streaming down her face “ I’ll marry you.” Cat said simply. “I wasn’t asking Cat!” No he wasn’t, the only thing he wanted was in her womb. “ now grad your coat and bag, I’ll take you home, have you got a car here.” Helping her up from the couch, Eric lead Cat to her desk. “No. I take the bus.” “Damn it! Cat.” His face hardened “ you put our child’s life in danger so that there is nothing to remind you of me. For god sake Cat, you leave work some days after seven. Anything could happen between getting from here to the bus. Also the other end.” Whipping his hand over his face Eric added “ the Car will be sent back tomorrow.” Cat only nodded, he hadn’t cared that her life was in danger only that their babies was in possible danger. It cut her to the heart. Picking out a tissue from the box on her desk, Cat wiped her face clean. Then picked up her light coat and handbag. Suddenly realising she still hadn’t told Eric that she was pregnant with two babies. Cat worried her bottom lip. She knew she would have to tell him soon.    At her townhouse, Cat made tea for her and coffee for Eric. Taking both into the lounge room, Cat handed Eric his cup, careful not to touch him. Sighing as she sat down in the single chair facing Eric who had sat in the two seater. “Back at the office. You said something about leaving! Where were you going?” “How much of the conversation had you heard.” Cat almost hoped that he had heard Claudia in total bitch mode. Claudia had said some horrible things about his mother. It’s about time Eric heard the true Claudia. “Just that you are pregnant, I’m the father and you planned on leaving.” Cat ran over her mind what had been said and when. Shit that was right at the end. The last thing said. So he hadn’t heard Claudia. “Why?” Eric asked. Cat shrugged “No reason, I was just wondering that’s all.” Cat looked down at her tea, taking a sip, she needed to tell him about having twins. Soon “I handed in my notice to Allison last Friday. My last day was…no is in four weeks. I’m three and a half months pregnant now. So far I’ve been lucky not gaining to much weight or showing. It will only be a matter of time before I start to show. I was lucky really losing so much weight everyone just thought I put the weight back on I had lost.” Cat paused to drink some more tea. Looking at Eric from under her lashes. He was watching her like a hawk, the knuckles holding his cup white. Getting her thoughts together. “I was moving to Cowra, it’s about 45mins outside Young. My foster parents live there. They offered me a place to stay and the support I needed to have the baby. Also Dad gave me a job that would work around raising kids.”slipping the word kids in hoping Eric would notice. “My foster parents own the local hardware store.” Shaking his head Eric said sadly “I didn’t even know you had family Cat, you always changed the subject. So I thought you didn’t have one.” “If I explain about being fostered then I would have to explain about how I got there.” Cat volunteered “ it’s not a very pretty beginning and I don’t open myself up very easy Eric. Also our affair wasn’t heading anywhere so why share something so personal to me. You would never have met my foster parents.” “What about your real parents are they alive?” Cat looked at Eric. She really didn’t want to talk about this.. He had a right to know now they had agreed to marry. She didn’t think he would let her get away with changing the subject again. Saying in a neutral tone Cat stated the facts “I don’t know who my father was, I’m pretty sure my mum doesn’t know who my father is, she was drunk a lot of the time back then. Well all the time really. It could have been anyone she met out. Mum wasn’t picky. Even later on that didn’t change. My mother is still alive, I don’t know where and I don’t care. If I saw her in the street, I’d walk the other way.” Eric got up, put his empty cup on the table before sitting on the arm of her chair. He pulled her into his arms. It was only then Cat realised she had been rocking back-and-forth In her chair. Cat layed her head against his chest and breathed him in, Cat melted wrapping both arms around his waist.  She felt safe for the first time in months. “Jack and Dawn Nelson couldn’t have children of their own, they started fostering, I was the last one they had taken in…” Cat inhaled his clean manly scent “they never did it for the money. It was always about family…. In total they had four children through foster care and the have an ongoing relationship with them all and their families.” Cat started to talk about the Nelsons because she wasn’t ready to tell the full story of living with her mother, she promise herself one day soon. “I was fourteen years old at the time I moved in. They were good to me, they showed me what a family was all about, love and support, understanding…new clothes and home cooked meals. I was so skinny when I turned up. Dawn spent months trying to fatten me up.” Cat was so emotionally Drained that when her eyes started to drift shut she couldn’t stop them, Cat fell asleep wrapped in Eric’s arms. Her last thought was she still hadn’t told him about the twins.