The condition.

GEORGE

I could barely stop myself from pacing about in my room from all the worry and tension building up inside me. My body felt hot from it all and my mind felt numb.

I soon felt Eleanor's reassuring hand on my back as her soothing voice asked me.

"What's wrong?"

"I just can't believe it," I said as I finally calmed down just a little bit. "Of all the people I thought I'd be facing in court, I didn't expect it to be Jesse. I mean, I knew he might not like me, but I didn't think he would go as far as eagerly trying to send me to jail."

"Well," she shrugged. "I don't think that should be your focus right now. What is done is done. You need to focus on winning your court case."

I stared at her for a few minutes in silence but she wasn't even paying attention to me. Her eyes were looking at the floor and there was no surprise in her features that Jesse was the frontrunner of the court case against me. As if she had expected it already.

"You don't seem too surprised by it," I stated cautiously. "Is there something you aren't telling me?"

"Nope," she replied calmly. "It's just been too obvious that Jesse doesn't like you. You must get be the only one who doesn't notice how much he dislikes you. It'll be fine though. I can assure you of that. You've done all you can to prepare for this. We just have to believe in victory now."

Her eyes once again leave mine and were once again trained on the floor which is unusual for the ever composed Eleanor.

Lowering my voice and moving closer to her, I decided to satisfy my curiosity.

"Is something wrong, Eleanor?" I asked as I held her hand and led her to the bed where she sat down without resistance.

"There's nothing wrong," she sighed. "Everything is fine. Trust me."

"It's hard to do that when your features betray your words so much," I replied calmly. "You can't lie to me, Eleanor. At least not at this point of our relationship. Your face tells me clearly that you have a lot on your mind."

"And you have a lot you're dealing with as well," she retorted. "You have a court case and a terrible result ahead should you lose it. You are still dealing with your memories coming back, the attack on your parents, Zhara's betrayal and then the pain from your accident. You shouldn't worry about me."

"I have nothing to worry about if not you, Eleanor," I sighed. "You basically are my future. You have my kids in you and you're mine right now. You are everything I can be sure I have left. You are everything I have to worry about."

She stared at me for a few seconds without words and then let out an exhausted sigh.

"Don't become all romantic on me now," she smiled. "I'm too pregnant to enjoy it."

I laughed as well at her statement, forgetting the problems I soon have to face in a few minutes from now.

"Well, I mean every word," I said. "So, tell me. What's going on with you? What do you have on your mind?"

"Well," she sighed as she looked up at the ceiling. "It's been quite a rollercoaster ride since I met you. I mean, I don't regret but I can't say it's been a rosy experience either. It's had its ups and downs and the downs are especially thorny while the ups are extremely beautiful as well."

"What do you mean?" I asked with a puzzled expression.

"Do you know how crazy it was to find out that my one night stand was my boss, which meant he was my father's friend?" she asked. "You could say I was more than shocked when I realized that, and almost terrified."

"You make me sound like a mean old man," I laughed.

"You don't really strike me like an old man but you definitely were mean," she laughed as well, her beautiful voice like a musical melody in my ears. "You pretended like you didn't know me even after realising that you absolutely railed me that night. That really hurt."

"No, you started that," I retorted with a smile. "You pretended not to know me first and kept things very professional between us. I literally had to make you acknowledge our acquaintance."

"That's why you stalked me, isn't it?" she grinned. "Looking back at it, I should have filed a restraining order against you."

"That wouldn't have stopped me," I replied proudly. "I'll only come at you harder."

"Weirdo," she laughed as she playfully tapped me. "You were especially protective when my ex tried to blackmail and abuse me. Realising that you were my ex's boss was quite a shocker in itself. It felt like the surprises never stopped rolling in."

"They never did stop," I laughed. "With you, it had never been boring even for a second. It felt like my life of stagnation slowly started moving again once you came into it."

"Well, my life was no different," I replied with a sigh. "A lot of revelations were made to me since I met you. Things I might have lived my whole life without knowing."

I stared at her knowingly. She was talking about Zhara and her personality. She must have missed having a mother when she was younger but Zhara might have made her glad she didn't.

"You remember when you told me that you'd make my life hell if I left you," she added with a somber tone. "Somewhere down the line, I got pregnant. I was kinda glad to be having your children. I thought my life was finally falling in place."

She paused for a few seconds and then sighed.

"Then I caught my parents fucking in a public bathroom," she said. "Do you know how fucked up that is? To find the people who gave birth to you doing the same disgusting act in front of you?"

I remain in silence as I couldn't think of the perfect word to tell her. I just let her vent her frustrations out.

Her eyes began to become glassy as tears Welles up in their depths.

"I don't know what to do, George," she sobbed as she let the tears flow freely. "I'm trying. I'm really trying. Everytime something seems to be getting better, something ruins it. Everytime I get used to a bad situation, something makes it even worse. I am tired of living in a loop of problems with the loop getting even more complicated, twisted and surprising everyday."

"I understand, Eleanor," I say as I wrap my hands around her, pulling her closer into a hug. "My life might not be as chaotic as yours since you have to deal with my problems as well as yours, but I can genuinely say I understand how terrible it feels to wanna escape that loop so bad that you try everything within your power and still lose in the end."

"That's too cruel," she shook her head. "I don't wanna give birth to my children in a world like this."

"You won't," I say as I hold her head close to my chest. "I would give my kids the most peaceful childhood anyone could ask for."

She let her head rest on my chest for a few minutes and then sighed audibly.

"I wanna ask about something, George," she says and I remain silent as my affirmation for her to continue, which she did. "Am I a bad person if I don't feel happy about something that should be judged as a happy event?"

"It would depend on the conditions under which you were given the news," I replied calmly.

"Zhara is pregnant for John," she said, surprising me. "I don't know how to feel about it. It hurts and yet.....I don't know."

I was also at a loss for words for a while and eventually, I let out a tired sigh.

"Congratulations, Eleanor," I said as I hugged her tighter. "Congratulations on your new brother."