Malicious

JESSICA

"I thought you were … I mean … I should have asked questions instead of just running off in anger. I didn’t know that … oh, God! I’ve been so stupid. You must think the worst of me.” I say, getting worked up. It’s my haywire hormones at work, I know.

“It’s okay. You had your reasons. I’m just glad that we cleared everything up. How have you been, Jessica? I really missed you.” Charles tells me, his tone dropping an octave and sending shivers down my spine.

Although he looks kind of gaunt now that I appraise him carefully, he’s still easily one of the most handsome men that I’ve ever known. Handsomeness runs in their family, it seems. For a split second, I imagine how handsome, or beautiful my child is going to be. It occurs to me that I will have to tell Charles about the baby sooner rather than later, and I fleetingly wonder how that is going to go down.

“I’ve been fine. And you?”

“I’ve been okay, more or less.” He replies, and for a second, an unreadable expression comes o