Excitement bubbled in Tasha Harrison's stomach as she looked at the pregnancy test stick again for what seemed to be the umpteenth time since she ran the test a day ago. She smiled at the word on it; pregnant and clutched the stick to her chest.
“Blake is going to be out of his mind with joy when I show him this,” she said to herself and used the tip of her fingers to blurt out the tears of joy from her eyes.
She had been experiencing bloating for some days and even when she complained to Blake; he had put it down to something she ate. Blake made chicken soup for her and it seemed to calm her. He stayed with her throughout the day before, being Saturday. And none of them ever thought of pregnancy.
It wasn't after he left and she was talking to her friend, Phoebe, on the phone that she asked when last she had her menses.
Tasha kept quiet for a long time before she shouted, “oh my God, do you think I am pregnant?”
“Do you feel any dizziness?” Phoebe had asked further.
“Yes,” was Tasha’s answer. “Once in a while.”
“You know what?” Phoebe said excitedly. “I'm coming over right now to your place with pregnancy test kits.”
Phoebe arrived half an hour later with four different brands of pregnancy kits. All four of them confirmed Tasha was pregnant.
Tasha had fought the urge to call Blake and tell him over the phone throughout the night. She wanted to go to his house this morning and look into his eyes when breaking the news to him.
She rubbed her belly slightly through her dress before she slotted the sticks into her purse and let herself out of her apartment.
Her heart fluttered in her chest with her love for Blake as she stopped her SUV in front of his apartment building about forty minutes later. She got out of the car and took the elevator to his apartment floor.
Tasha stopped still when she opened his front door and found his living room in disarray. Storage boxes littered the floor, it was apparent Blake was moving out.
“What is going on here?” She asked, walking further into the room. Sam, Blake's best friend, stood up to his height from the picture frames he was stacking in a box.
Just then, Blake rolled out two suitcases into the living room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Tasha.
“Tasha,” he blew the air out through his mouth and looked from her to Sam.
“I'll leave both of you,” Sam patted Blake on the back and walked out.
“Are you moving?” Tasha raised furrowed brows at Blake. “What is happening here?”
“Please, Candy,” he walked over to where she was standing and took her hand. “Come and sit down.” He swallowed hard, regret and guilt boldly written on his face.
“I'm not sitting down,” she said forcefully. “Why are you moving out of your apartment without telling me?
We were together yesterday. You never thought to mention it to me. What is going on?”
He didn't talk at first. He glanced at her and looked away.
“I'm going away, if you don't want to talk.” She took a step, but she remembered the pregnancy and decided to wait this out.
“Candy.” He called her softly and walked up to her. He took her hands. “I want…. I need to tell you something.”
“Now you are scaring me.” She looked up into his eyes. “Talk to me.” “I'm going home,” he finally said. “I’m returning to New York.” He took a deep breath, as if he was finally relieved to say it out to her.
“Candy, I'm so sorry,” he dragged in a deep breath. “I didn't know how to tell you. I thought you won't find out until I'm gone.”
“Let me get this straight,” she broke her hands off from him. “You were planning on leaving without telling me?”
“I'm sorry,” he apologized again. “I…I couldn't muster enough courage to tell you. I was a coward.”
“Blake!” she chirped.
“Look.” He walked to the media unit and pointed to a white envelope. “This is the letter I have asked Sam to give you later today. My flight is in less than two hours.”