Baby Love Me Read online

  Maybe she would reply to him, that one simple sentence. Maybe tonight.

  Clinton glanced at Clarice. He saw her face held a dreamlike state. She looked like she was in her own little world. Clinton smiled too. He too wished his son would propose to this young girl quick because he wasn’t getting any younger.

  “Have you thought of a name for my little grandchild?” he asked again.

  “No,” Clarice replied. She was still in her fifth month of pregnancy, so the thought of naming her child didn’t enter her mind at all. Maybe she could discuss this with Hunter when he came back from work today. It would be something to bond about and the perfect way to lead into the proposal conversation.

  Clinton and Winton stayed for an extra half hour. After that, they both left with the excuse of having a meeting about the upcoming merger conference, which would be held in conjunction with the passing of the heir title. Clarice couldn’t understand what that was all about but dismissed the subject and waved to the two gentlemen at the door.

  Back inside, she went to sit on the couch and reflected back on the last few moments. She was glad Clinton and Winton had visited her. Sharing little wee aspects of Hunter’s life with her when he was young made her love him even more.

  She knew as Hunter’s partner, there were many other things in life she didn’t know, but she would be willing to spend a lifetime with him to learn more about him. She smiled at the thought.

  Bringing her mind back to the present, she was about to continue with her reading when she heard the front door ring again.

  “Ah, coming.” Clarice ran to the door again.

  It must be Winton or Clinton, she thought. They must have forgotten something. But when she opened the door again, it was neither Clinton nor Winton. It was someone she dreaded seeing the most. Caroline.

  Chapter 11

  Clarice remembered Caroline was the one that had slapped her on the face a few months back at the pre-conference ball. Seeing that face again, her temper flared immediately.

  “What do you want?” she snapped when Caroline barged through her door without an invitation.

  “I came to visit you,” Caroline said sweetly.

  “Why?” Clarice eyed her suspiciously, as the latter moved into her kitchen.

  “Why do you think?” Caroline responded.

  Caroline assessed the woman in front of her. Midnight hair parted to the side, fair porcelain skin with a warm pink glow on the cheeks, body that was slightly rounded, especially around the stomach. To Caroline, Clarice looked like a woman in love, which made Caroline’s emotions boil at the sight. Caroline diverted her gaze, no longer wanting to see Clarice’s unique aura, and they landed on a single red rose in a vase.

  A red rose. Hunter was fond of red roses. So it must be true, Caroline thought. Putting all the pieces together, she deduced Clarice was pregnant and with none other than Hunter, the one man she’d been pinning for.

  “Such a beautiful rose, isn’t it?” Caroline asked, twirling the rose in her hand. “Oops.” She deliberately dropped the rose Hunter had bought for Clarice onto the floor. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to drop your flower.”

  Clarice eyed Caroline and, ignoring the bursting anger about to thrust through her chest, she bent down to pick up the rose. Except when she wanted to get back up, she was stuck, squatting in this position, half standing and half sitting.

  Caroline laughed in a sarcastic tone. “Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. And once Humpty Dumpty falls, he has no way of getting back up.”

  Clarice knew Caroline was referring to her, but it was kind of true. Why in heaven did she intend to pick up the red rose Hunter bought for her that day?

  Of course she had to pick it up. That bloom was a sentiment of love from Hunter.

  “Oh, shut up, Caroline,” Clarice yelled, irritated. “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then get out of my house.”

  “Wow, you’re all spicy now. Where did that tongue come from?” Caroline asked. “I thought you were quite timid before. When I slapped you at the pre-conference ball, you acted like a scared little black cat. Now I guessed the cat has turned into a tiger.” She laughed again.

  “If you don’t get out, I will have to use force.” Clarice threatened.

  Truth be told, Clarice didn’t have a clue as to how she would force Caroline off her property since she was stuck in this position. She made a mental note to herself to never ever squat to pick up anything again while she was pregnant.

  “And how are you going to force me to leave when you’re stuck in this position?” Caroline asked, enjoying the show at Clarice’s expense.

  Right, that blond stick figure was right yet again, Clarice thought. And now she was just squatting above the kitchen floor, having no energy to lift herself and too heavy to sit down. Someone, please help me.

  “What is going on?” Hunter came barging in just in time, holding the many grocery bags in his hands. Then his eyes landed on Clarice half sitting, half standing. “Clarice, what are you doing?”

  “Humpty Dumpty can’t seem to get up, Hunter,” Caroline said sarcastically when she saw Hunter enter the scene. Then she went to wrap her arms around him.

  “Let go of my hand.” Hunter jerked out of Caroline’s grip and went to help Clarice. Once he made sure she was well again, he turned his attention to Caroline.

  “What are you doing here, Caroline? If you want to discuss the merger on behalf of your father, then go see Anton. He oversees everything.”

  “No, Hunter, I came to see you. You’re living with this woman?” Caroline flicked a careless glance in Clarice’s direction, then turned back to Hunter.

  “Yes, so what?” Hunter challenged.

  “You can’t, Hunter. You can’t.” Caroline drummed her foot on the floor to show her disapproval and went to embrace Hunter again, holding him tightly.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Hunter lashed out at her again, tearing his arm from her grip. He turned to Clarice and saw she looked shocked. Not wanting to distress her even more, since he was about to turn beastly on their intruder, he dragged Caroline to the hallway and reprimanded her there, away from Clarice’s sight.

  “What do you want? Get out of this house before I turn nasty,” he warned Caroline through gritted teeth.

  Caroline heard a squeak near the door and knew Clarice was listening to their conversation. In a loud voice, she decided to show Clarice who Hunter belonged to. She plunged into Hunter’s arms again and held him tight. “How could you do this to your girlfriend? Don’t you love me anymore? You’ve run away to live with that old woman?”

  Hunter’s eyes grew wide, oblivious to Clarice standing behind the door. “What the hell are you talking about?” he snapped. “If you’re only here to talk down to Clarice, then I suggest you get out now.”

  “Hunter,” Caroline ignored his reprimand and said in a fake soft, passive tone, “Please, why can’t we make up? You know I forgive you. We don’t need to fight anymore.”

  “Okay.” Hunter stepped back, afraid of Caroline’s sudden change of personality. “You are seriously sick. Check yourself into a mental institution or something.”

  Caroline didn’t care what Hunter said to her. All she wanted was to hurt Clarice, the woman who had obviously stolen the man she loved. So she pretended to cry, fake tears dropping down her cheeks. “Hunter, how can you do this? We’ve been through so much. Just because we had a fight, you have to find another woman to hurt me?”

  “Caroline, what the hell is wrong with you? You’re not my girlfriend. Get it straight. Now get out before I call the police. You’re trespassing on private property.”

  “Stop acting like you don’t love me. We’ve been through this many times before. I forgive you.” She stepped closer, invading his personal space so Clarice would see how intimate they were. “Whenever we fight, you always run to your other toys. I don’t care anymore about your playboy ways. So just come back to me. I know you’re
only doing this to hurt me.”

  “I’m not doing this to hurt you. I love Clarice. That’s why I’m living with her. I’m sorry if you like me, but I don’t love you. Now that I’ve made myself clear, you can leave.” Hunter walked to the door and opened it for her. When Caroline didn’t move, he glared at her and said in a cold tone, “Leave now before I show you my true self.”

  “Hunter.” Caroline walked to the door and stood in front of him. “How can you say this to me? You’ve changed. What happened to that Casanova everyone knew? You were on the cover of magazines and everything. Now look at you. You’re just a man looking after his pregnant wife, a man that’s unemployed and unkempt.”

  “That’s right. That was me before, but now I’m a changed man, a man worthy of her love. I’m no longer a Casanova that dwindles away time, pursuing endless games. This is my life now.”

  “Oh really?” Caroline asked, her eyes glinting evilly. “I’ll have to wait and see if this world-renowned Casanova has changed.” To make sure Clarice could see them in this intimate position, she leaned forward and placed her hands on Hunter’s shoulders. Then moving her lips next to his ear, she whispered, “Make sure you look after the egg well. You don’t want it to break, now do you?”

  “For fuck sake. What is wrong with you? Get out of this house right now!” Hunter shouted. He pushed her out the door, but Caroline was clever as she dragged Hunter along with her. Now they were both standing outside, arguing.

  “Get a grip on yourself.” Hunter pushed her away again when Caroline came to press her body to his.

  “Hunter! Hunter!” Caroline whined, pressing her head into his chest. “Please, don’t do this to us. I know you love me. And I’m sorry, but I won’t run away from you again. I’ll marry you. Just as you asked me before.”

  “I have never said anything about marrying you. Get off me.” He struggled in her arms. Finally, he was able to push her off.

  “So you hate me that much now. Is that it?” She spoke even louder than before. She aimed for the whole neighborhood to hear of their affair, right on Clarice’s doorstep. “How cruel you are. After we’ve been together for so long.”

  When Caroline heard footsteps running away from them, she stopped her acting. Now it was just the two of them with no audience.

  “So you love her that much, right, Hunter, to break up with me?” she asked in her normal tone, laced with cyanide.

  “For the last time, we are not dating, so how can I break up with you? You’re just someone I met when my dad set us up.”

  “Stop lying, Hunter. We went to college together. We were in the same class. Just because you made that woman pregnant, you want to stop our relationship?” Caroline poured out all the emotion she had for Hunter. “Tell her to get an abortion or something, and then come back to me. I love you, Hunter. I’ve waited for you for so long. And now you have this old hag. Why, Hunter, why?”

  “You’re sick, Caroline. Totally sick,” Hunter said in disgust. Then with a look that meant that he would skin her alive if she dared set foot on this front porch again, he shouted, “Get out now, Caroline! I’ve had enough of your stupid nonsense. You are not welcome here.” And when Caroline refused to budge from her position, he dragged her out of the gate and shut it before she could come back in.

  “If I see you talking shit to Clarice like that again or step foot inside this property, you’re dead. Now get out.” Hunter slammed the door before he went back inside the house, leaving Caroline to smirk at his disappearing figure.

  Caroline didn’t care. She had come to get results, and the result she got was beyond her expectations. It was excellent. Now all she had to do was wait for the right moment to break them apart, to let that distrust settle between them. And when the time came, she would be there to snap Hunter up.

  As for Clarice, she witnessed everything between the two. What she didn’t see was Hunter hurling Caroline out the gate. Her heart was too upset to take in the full situation. It was in too much pain.

  Closing the door so they both could have their private time, Clarice went back into the lounge. She pressed her body close to the door and closed her eyes.

  This must be what it feels like to be in love, she thought. To feel insecure and jealous of your lover’s past girlfriends. And for once in her lifetime, she felt vulnerable, afraid of losing Hunter to Caroline. And then it came to her.

  That red lipstick stain. Caroline.

  Chapter 12

  Clarice gazed at the stars twinkling on the far black horizon, eyes wide in this silent night. The sounds of her partner’s breathing and the infrequent sounds of cars zooming past her house alerted her to others’ presence in this universe.

  So she wasn’t alone. The man she loved was cuddling her from behind, his arm circling her waist.

  Hunter was close to her, yet why did she feel he was so far away, like those stars that were so far away from this earth?

  Clarice tried to sleep, but thoughts of Caroline and Hunter hugging each other earlier that afternoon kept plaguing her mind.

  So that lipstick that was on Hunter’s shirt, that was from Caroline? Would he leave me now?

  In the past, she’d frequently thought this, but since Hunter had proven he was the man worthy of her love, she didn’t really want to believe in that hypothesis anymore.

  Clarice curled her fingers around Hunter’s and closed her eyes, gripping on for dear life. She didn’t want Hunter to leave. Not now. She loved him. She loved this man. After tiring out her brain with no conclusion to her questioning, she fell asleep.

  In the middle of the night, Clarice woke to the sound of rustling. She turned on the bedside lamp and rubbed her eyes. There she saw Hunter raiding the wardrobe, clothes already packed into a bag.

  “Sorry, Clarice. Did I wake you?” Hunter came over and kissed her forehead, then went back to his packing.

  “What are you doing at this time of…?” Clarice checked the time on her bedside table. It read 4:00 a.m. “Dear heavens, Hunter. It’s four in the morning. What are you doing up this early?”

  “Sorry. I just needed to do this while I remembered.”

  “What are you doing?” she asked again, an unsettling feeling suddenly swarming her heart.

  “I’m packing.”

  A look of horror overcame her face and a sudden panic attack seized her, making her stomach twist into knots and her heart thump wildly in her chest. A loud ringing in her ears repeated the words, I’m packing, I’m packing. It almost made her faint on the spot. Not wanting to pretend to be strong anymore, she slumped back onto her pillow and cried.

  Hunter was shocked to see his partner crying. What was wrong? Had he done something wrong? He immediately dropped what he was doing and went to scoop her into his arms. She was now shaking like she was in pain.

  Clarice clung to Hunter for dear life, tears of sadness, loneliness, and fear settled into her heart.

  Is Hunter leaving me? Does he not want to see our baby anymore? Does he not love me anymore? Does he want to go back to Caroline?

  Why was she so afraid of being alone? Isn’t that what she wanted back when she thought her baby was Anton’s?

  No, of course she didn’t want to be alone. Everything was different now. She’d experienced what it was like to depend on someone, to hear someone say they loved her as soon as she awoke, to receive a good morning kiss, a goodnight kiss, a good-bye kiss before work, and red roses every day.

  If only Hunter hadn’t confessed and come barging into her life, claiming he was the father, then she would’ve been fine. But now she had a taste of paradise and she knew she didn’t want to go back to the real world.

  But what was she thinking, based only on the notion Hunter would stay just because half of their baby’s blood was his? Of course Hunter was going to go back to Caroline. She saw them whispering and hugging each other. Hunter, after all, was nothing but a young man who had a lot of time to live his life, unlike her. He didn’t need to think about a family y
et. This was just a responsibility for him, a mundane responsibility that must have bored him to death by now. This event was just an endless spiral of coincidence, brought together by their baby, orchestrated accidently by her cousin Max. And here she thought he loved her.

  Of course not, you dork. Stop acting like a child and grow up.

  But no matter how many times she told herself to let that hand go so he could leave to spend his life with more enjoyable things, she just couldn’t make herself do it. In contrast, she continued to cling to those arms, choking on her own tears, begging for him not to leave her indirectly.

  Oh, dear heaven, help me. Her heart was wracked with pain. It was killing her. Why must Hunter leave her?

  Hunter, on the other hand, thought Clarice was having one of her high emotional moments, so he continued to comfort her and rock her body back and forth, lulling her back to sleep. But the more he rocked and comforted her, the more she cried, until he was sure he needed to call the midwife because she was in so much pain.

  “Wait here a minute, baby. I’m going—”

  “Don’t leave me, Hunter,” Clarice shouted in alarm, startling even him, bringing his arms closer around her. “Please don’t leave me.”

  “Clarice, baby. I’m just—”

  “Hunter, please!” She choked on her words. “I can’t…” Then more tears poured out.

  “Oh, baby. I’m very worried. Are you hurt anywhere?” Hunter came back to her and scooped her up again so now she was resting on his chest. His heart was thumping at a dangerous speed. His body shook. For once in his life, he was afraid. “Baby, what’s wrong?” He pulled her away to look into those eyes that continued to shed tears. “Please don’t cry. Tell me. Are you hurt? Does your stomach hurt? Does it hurt, baby? Let me look.”

  Hunter kept asking, but Clarice continued to cling to those arms, burrowing her head into the warm comfort of his body, hoping and praying he would get the message and not desert her.