Leaving Gina’s office, Luna drove back to her office. She had let Matt go again, she had told him she didn’t want to keep him hanging around. Which was true, technically, but really, she had just wanted to be alone.Following her appointment with Gina, Luna had known beforehand that she was going to be emotional and feeling all sorts of emotions. Emotions that she didn’t need Matt, or anybody else for that matter, seeing. And she was right, Luna thought to herself as she drove, she was feeling emotional.Not teary or overly joyful or anything like that, it seemed like she was done with all that now. What she was feeling now was a more softer feeling, a gentler and yet deeper feeling. Maternal, she thought. She rubbed a hand protectively over her flat stomach. She didn’t know if all expectant mothers felt the way she did, but she couldn’t wait for her stomach to start swelling with the growth of her baby inside her. She wanted to feel that protruding, the roundness that came with i
Luna found herself back in Honor’s studio again two days later. She had almost sent Rita in her stead, to represent her, but she had changed her mind about it. Mostly because there had been an impromptu snafu at one of her branches, and Rita being the one in charge of the project that they were on from day one, Luna had told her to go. She didn’t want to disrupt the system they must have going on already by inserting herself so suddenly in the middle. And more importantly, she didn’t want to undermine Rita’s authority to the people in the company by showing up as the boss to fix things when Rita was still there and could have handled it.So it was mostly because of that that she had had to let Rita go and she had to go to Honor’s showing. But also because she didn’t want to start getting comfortable with avoiding confrontations with Honor. Luna knew the moment she took the easy way out once, she would continue doing so, and soon enough, it wouldn’t be easy to stop.She was no coward
Finally, Mira was back from her vacation. Luna pulled up in front of her mother’s house, she turned off the ignition and then just sat in the car as she stared at the house.She thought of the conversation she was about to have with her mother. She was just about to tell her mother that she was pregnant again, and the baby’s father was none other than the evil ex-husband who had made her life a living hell for years. She was just about to tell her mother that a part of the same person who had broken her heart and almost shattered her spirit and soul to smithereens, was even now growing inside her.Luna placed a hand on her stomach, imagining the conversation.The fact that she was carrying Justin’s child inside her wouldn’t be the only contender that would stir her mother up, Luna knew, but also the act that she had done to get to that point. She had slept with Justin. After all she had gone through at his hands, after how much both she- and Mira, because of a mother’s love for her
Execs and business managers trickled into Justin’s conference room the next morning. Luna sat in one of the numerous chairs around the conference table and watched them walk in. Men in suits, well pressed shirts, some in sweater vests. And then Moira walked in.Luna tried to block out the instant dull roar in her ears as she watched Moira walk in. She knew what the dull roar meant; guilt. Guilt, because no matter what Moira was, she was still the grandmother of the secret baby Luna was currently carrying in her stomach, and she had no idea of the existence.Luna knew the guilt was normal, but knowing it didn’t make it any easier. And it wasn’t just guilt, she felt antsy too. Antsy, nervous, anxious, any word that described her feeling like the lie she was holding in was going to come crashing down over her head any day, she was feeling it.But regardless of how she was feeling, Luna knew she was doing the right thing by keeping the secret to herself and not telling either Justin or
Logan’s words circled around in Luna’s head even as everybody in the conference room started to settle down. It was almost 9AM, which was the time stated for the meeting, and business men and business women were nothing if not punctual. They were only waiting on one person now.Just then, he walked in. Luna watched as Justin walked into the room. All eyes turned on him, the attention of almost everyone in the room slowly became focused on the room.One could say it was because he was the last person to enter the room, and because of that, naturally people would look over towards the entrance to him. But Luna knew different. She knew the only reason people turned to look at Justin was because of Justin. Him. He had that natural prowess, that embedded quality of dominance that seemed to have been wired into his genetics from birth.Luna knew from experience, and having lived with the Lake family for years, that Logan had that same quality too. And so she could say Justin got it from
An hour later, and they were still discussing matters. Luna looked around the room as the head of a Computer Technologies company argued with the head of the most successful non-profit organization in all of New York about the headliner for the event should portray; the industry or a strong societal issue. Luna was tired. It wasn’t that the argument was boring to her, per se, she found it a very important decision to make, but that didn’t stop the fatigue from dogging at her. It must be a baby thing. Idly, Luna’s gaze strayed to the seat opposite hers on the other side of the conference table. Justin’s younger brother, Brian, was seated there. He looked mildly bored with the conversation going on around him, and his fingers were tapping lightly against the conference table. But that wasn’t what caught Luna’s attention, the simple gold band around his wrist did. It was a slim, plain band, with the only design on it being two dots a few inches apart from each other. Luna’s brows f
Three days later, Luna stood in the middle of her office, in front of the full length mirror Jaden had helped her procure earlier that day. She ran a hand down her flat stomach, she turned sideways and then turned to the other side again. Logically, she knew the custom made dress fit snugly to her figure, and there was no visible sign of her pregnancy to be seen, but she still couldn’t quite shake the antsy feeling away. “You’re sure my bump is not showing in this dress, Andi,” she asked for the umpteenth time that night. “I feel like it’s showing a little, do you think it’s showing?” Andi, who was lounging on the edge of Luna’s desk behind her, rolled her eyes. “For the one trillionth time, Luna, no, it’s not showing. You don’t have a ‘baby bump’ either, you’re not even one month in.” Luna turned her head to give Andi a dry look. “And you’re the expert on pregnancy because?” “Because my big sister has been pregnant three different times, and has half a dozen kids, and a dog
Luna walked into the showing studio an hour later, still super self-conscious, but putting on a brave face. Today was the day for the informal fashion show for the outfits that were going to be shown on the day of the gala. For today, it was just going to be the show’s investors and a closed circle of people approved by Justin himself. It was both a practice parade for the models as well as a pre-show example for the event. By the time Luna got there, everything was already set up, and the event was about to begin. All the investors were already there, Moira and Logan were too, so was Jake. Luna saw Justin in a far corner of the studio, talking to an exec. A waiter walked past her, carrying a tray of champagne flutes. He stopped beside her, obviously offering her a drink. Luna shook her head. “No thanks,” she muttered. Her moved on, and Luna took a deep breath as she watched him walk away. She didn’t know how she was going to survive the whole day, because contrary to what Rit