100 Days With Mr Romero

My head was still reeling from what had just happened, I was angry, jealous, and didn’t even have the time to deny it. First, he had brought her in to be our wedding planner, than had the guts to defend her. It annoyed me the more when he said I was making a big deal out of nothing.

Nothing my ass!

Did I ask to get pregnant? No. Did I ask for the wedding? No. He got me pregnant, he wanted the wedding, the least he could do was respect me. I stormed down the stairs angrily, I needed to get out of this house, any moment here and I felt I would suffocate to death.

Maybe I was overreacting, Maybe I shouldn’t have stormed out, Gideon and I had been getting along well and now-whenever I think of Ciara it just seems to fuel my anger more.

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“What?” I shouted angrily as I spun round to see who had called my name. It was Stephan. He looked taken aback, startled by my outburst. “Oh sorry, I thought it was someone else.” I gave a nervous chuckle, a bit embarrassed.

“Uh.” He looked round like he was looking for someone. “Is everything OK? Do you need me to drive you somewhere?”

“No, it’s fine. I just need to… I need to clear my head, I’m feeling really stressed at the moment.” I offered him a weak smile, hoping be would take the hint and leave me alone to vent peacefully.

He looked torn for a moment. “Do you want me to drive you somewhere? I know a place downtown, it’s quiet, I go there whenever I want to clear my head.” I was about to refuse the offer, but there was something about Stephan’s kind smile, I do need to relax my head, since I couldn’t drink because of my child, the best thing to do was relax.

“OK.” I nodded my head, that will be nice. “Is it far?” I asked as we got in the car.

“Not really,” he said.

We rode in silence for about fifteen minutes before Stephan parked the car at a spot. The road was quiet, no one was walking around, but there were many cars packed at the place. “Where have you brought me to?” I asked as I unbuckled my seat belt looking round the vicinity, I can’t lie that a little part of me was scared for my safety. The area was really dark and quiet.

He seemed to notice this and gave a kind smile. “Don’t be scared, I brought you to hear Mira play.”

“Mira? Who’s Mira?” We got down from the car and after making sure he had locked doors, we proceeded into the clear bushes.

“She’s a flutist, one of the best I’ve ever seen. Every Saturday, she comes to play for everyone here. It’s really soothing, relaxing and helps to clear my mind, will probably do you some good.”

“Oh, I will love to hear her.” I’ve never been one for anything musical, but the way Stephan talked about Mira with excitement, I really looked forward to hearing her play.

Just as Stephan had promised, it was truly relaxing, in fact I didn’t know when I nodded off and only woke up to Stephan’s call. I rubbed my eyes, slightly embarrassed to be caught asleep. Mira wasn’t playing anymore, in fact, most people had already left the place.

“You fell asleep,” Stephan said. “I suppose it was relaxing after all.”

“Yeah, thank you.” I nodded my head. We walked out and proceeded back to the car. “Can we stop by a restaurant to grab some food, I’m starving.” I was eating too much lately, even Lily had pointed it out saying I’m adding a little more cheeks, she had jokingly prayed that all the fat went to my ass.

“OK,” he said before starting the car. Stephan took me to this restaurant name ‘Manny’s’. It was small and looked really cozy, I couldn’t even tell it was a restaurant till I worked in, there was country music playing and the people in there talked like they have known each other for a longtime.

“You come to this place often?” I asked Stephan as he led me to a sit.

“Yes,” he nodded his head. “My uncle owns this place.” He raised his hands to greet an elderly looking man who was wearing a chef outfit. “That’s my uncle Manny, he makes the best chicken sandwich in the whole world.”

His Uncle came over to welcome us. “Stephan!” He called cheerily, his Italian accent thick. “How’s your mother?”

“She’s fine Uncle,” Stephan said.

Manny’s eyes fell to me, he looked back to Stephan with a smile. “Who’s the young lady, your new woman?”

“No!” Stephan was quick to say. “She’s Mr Brynch wife to be, I’ve brought her here just to eat.”

“Oh, my apologies,” Manny said to me. He led us to a table, taking out orders before he left.

While we waited for our food I decided to invite small talk with Stephan. “So, how long have you been working for Gideon?”

He shrugged. “It’s been three years now.”

“Oh wow, that’s long. You must know him pretty well then?” He nodded his head. I decided to use this opportunity and ask some questions. “Where you here when he was going out with Ciara?”

“Plastic Bimbo?” He nodded his head. “Yes,” he said. “I remember when they started dating, also remembered when they ended it, shortest relationship I’ve ever seen.”

“Really?” I was surprised, I used to think they must have been dating for months or maybe years. From the way Stephan had addressed her, I could tell her didn’t like her very much also, it felt better knowing I wasn’t the only one on that boat. “Why did they break up?” My curiosity got me asking.

“Mr Brynch said he didn’t feel comfortable going out with her anymore, he would always complain to me about the littlest things she did that annoyed him, in just two weeks he had ended things with her.”

“Two weeks? Wow, that’s short, really short.” Even my short relationship with Eugene Muller in ninth grade lasted longer than that.

“Yeah, you know, I thought she would go crazy with anger, but she had acted completely calm, I’m sure she feigned that just to remain close from with Mr Brynch. He’s never had a stable relationship since then.”

“He’s never had a stable relationship because of Ciara?”

“Yes, she always ruin everything.” His eyes softened. “Are you OK? I hope I didn’t say too much. Sometimes I talk and forget when to stop.”

“Oh no, you didn’t.”

“Don’t let her get to you though, you seem like a good woman and I can see Mr Brynch genuinely cares for you. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t ask to marry you right?”

I gave a small smile not answering, I didn’t know if Stephan knew I was pregnant. “What about his last relationship?” I asked instead. “How long ago was it?”

“Oh, it’s been long since Mr Brynch dated anyone, maybe a year or so. After the last girl left, he didn’t seem to want to date anymore, until, well, here you are.”

Once we finished eating, we headed back home, Stephan followed me up the stairs, he said he wanted to tell Gideon he would be taking his leave. I thought back to the whole day, though it started out horribly, the small moment I had with Stephan made up for it. He was really fun to hang out with and I hope he and I would become good friends, someone to talk to would be nice.

“Thanks for today,” I said to him as we walked inside the living room. “I truly would have lost it if it weren’t for you.”

“Oh no, it’s nothing, just helping out,” he said with a kind smile. At that moment I didn’t know what it was, was it the atmosphere, the kind smile on his face, or gratitude for what he had done for me, but I found myself leaning over to kiss him.

He didn’t pull back, but his eyes widened as I moved closer to him, our lips touched just for a moment, his was soft, really nice, but then what I was doing hit me. I was kissing Stephan, Gideon’s driver, before I could pull back, I heard a gasp.