Chapter 132: The Coincidence
Moana
I woke up the next morning with the memory of what I overheard still fresh on my mind. To not only hear that Michael had sent that wolf to attack us, but also to hear that “Olivia” called Edrick again, left me feeling both confused and scared. If my baby was going to be in danger of someone like Michael, I didn’t know what I would do. I could only trust that Edrick would handle it and keep us protected.
It was Saturday morning, which meant that it was also a training day for Ella. I woke up early to get her ready, and decided that I would go to the orphanage and volunteer while Ella was in training. The last time I was at the orphanage, I discovered that Sophia was in need of help, so I decided that I would spend every Saturday morning that I could helping her out. I just hoped that she wouldn’t be too upset with me for not telling her about the baby sooner, as I was certain that she likely saw the news by now.
“I’m going to the orphanage while Ella is in training today,” I told Edrick as we ate breakfast together. “I’ll be volunteering for Sophia on Saturdays now.”
Edrick furrowed his brow as he took a sip of his coffee. He seemed a bit concerned, which I understood; with everything that had happened recently between the Rogue district and the Rogue that came to attack us in the woods, it was no wonder that he was worried about letting me spend time out of the house by myself.
“Well, at least bring a bodyguard with you,” he said, somewhat sternly. “I don’t want you going anywhere alone from now on.”
I agreed, only because I was constantly reminding myself of Edrick’s phone call with Michael the night before. But on the way to Ella’s training and then the orphanage after that, I couldn’t deny the fact that I felt a bit uncomfortable having a bodyguard follow me around. However, I knew that it was the safest thing to do, and the bodyguard that Edrick hired was very nice. In fact, as I sat down at the front desk and began my work for Sophia, I couldn’t help but smile when I heard the children pestering the bodyguard and making him play with them.
Sophia, just as I suspected, was a little sullen when she saw me.
“I do wish that you told me sooner,” she said, setting a cup of tea down on the desk in front of me. “I would have preferred to hear it from you instead of from the news.”
I felt myself blush a bit. “I know,” I replied. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that Edrick was going to announce it like that.”
Sophia sighed, then shrugged. Finally, a bit of a smile spread across her face and she reached out from across the desk to squeeze my hand. “I’m happy for you. You’re going to make a wonderful mother.”
Sophia’s words made me smile. She didn’t mention my relationship with Edrick, however, which was a relief; I didn’t feel like I was in the mood to explain that entire mess to anyone, let alone Sophia — although I was certain that she already had a good idea as to what was really going on, anyway. After the past week, I felt even more confused about my relationship with Edrick than ever. I just hoped that Mina was right when she told me that I just needed to give Edrick time, and then he would want to have more than a fake relationship. If it was going to be confusing like this forever, I wasn’t so sure if I would be able to handle it, let alone how our future child would handle it. How could I explain to our son or daughter that their mommy and daddy weren’t really married, but were instead only pretending to be? I couldn’t imagine that going well.
Thankfully, however, I was able to stop thinking about these things and keep myself busy with work for a few hours. The phone rang almost nonstop; it seemed that Edrick’s foundation was bringing a lot of attention to the orphanage, and there were a lot of couples who wanted to get started with the adoption process. Not only that, but there were a lot of potential donors who called to make appointments so they could tour the orphanage, as well as other people who wanted to volunteer. Between all of the phone calls and workers coming in to make repairs thanks to the money from the foundation, I was busy nonstop during the few hours that I was there. No wonder Sophia was having a hard time keeping up; working at the front desk was a full time job in and of itself.
Everything went smoothly for the few hours that I was there. Or, at least, it did up until the very end.
It was only a few minutes before I had to leave to pick up Ella. The phone calls had died down a bit, so I was getting ready to leave. Just before I got up from the desk, however, the phone rang one last time and I answered.
“Bayside Orphanage,” I answered politely. “How can I help you?”
“Hi!” a cheerful, female voice said on the other end. She sounded young — about my age. “I’d like to make an appointment. I’m interested in adopting.”
I smiled, thrilled once more to hear that more people were interested in adopting. It made my heart swell to know that some of the children who were here would finally be going to homes with loving families.
“Sure,” I replied, opening up the appointment book. “What’s your name?”
“Olivia.”
My blood suddenly ran cold. This couldn’t possibly be the Olivia, could it? The same Olivia who called Edrick relentlessly in the middle of the night? It couldn’t be… This woman sounded perfectly nice, not at all like the disturbance that Edrick made her out to be. I couldn’t imagine that the lovely young woman on the other end of the phone was the same woman who pestered Edrick for money on an almost nightly basis. Surely it was just a coincidence.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I decided that it was really just nothing but a coincidence — Olivia wasn’t an uncommon name, after all — and that I was just being paranoid.
“Okay, Olivia,” I said as I looked through the appointment book. “Can you come in on Wednesday next week at ten o’clock in the morning?”
The young woman paused for a few moments before answering.
“Hm… Actually, can I come in on a Saturday? I work all week.”
“Uh, sure,” I replied. “I’ll put you in for next Saturday at ten o’clock.”
Olivia thanked me and we hung up. I kept telling myself that it really was just a coincidence, but something in me felt as though there was something fishy about all of this. Was it possible that Olivia was an ex-girlfriend of Edrick’s who found out about our “relationship” and wanted to confront me in person?
No, I thought to myself as I followed the bodyguard out to the car to go and pick up Ella. You’re just being paranoid.
And so, I swallowed the odd feeling of dread in my throat and left to pick up Ella from training, deciding that the Olivia who just called the orphanage was simply nothing more than a coincidence.
