CHAPTER 3: The Contract

“He’s my twin brother.”

Those were the only words that kept echoing in my mind as I followed meekly behind Russell as he led me out of the office and towards a nearby coffee shop.

After his big revelation, I was stunned to silence and I half expected him to call the cops immediately and have me dragged out in cuffs. But he did no such thing. Instead, he asked me to follow him to a place where we could speak comfortably. I couldn’t understand what he wanted to speak about that couldn’t be said in his office. Granted, I had already made a massive mess of the place but still, I’m sure we could have concluded our business in there because walking out into the lobby of the company felt like a literal walk of shame and I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

“Stupid, stupid Charlie.” I groaned in my mind. How could he never bother to mention that he had a twin brother who had exactly the same face, build, and voice as him? Now I had gone and made a fool out of myself.

Finally, we got to the shop, and at Russell’s request, we were led to a private booth in the back of the room. He ordered an iced americano for himself and asked what I would love to have but I was too embarrassed to answer. He chuckled softly and asked the server to get the same thing for me.

My mind was racing with all sorts of thoughts but Russell seemed unaffected by my troubles. If anything, he seemed amused, and that only scared me further. It felt as if the plan of punishment he had in store for me was so devious, it brought a smile to his face whenever he thought about it.

“So…” He began at last. “Let’s talk.”

“About what exactly ?” I asked at the risk of pissing him off further. “About the number of years I’m going to spend in Jail for attempted assault, or the amount of money I’m going to pay for damaging your property? Because even if I sell everything I own in this life, I would still not be able to pay for that TV.”

At my outburst, Russell threw his head back and laughed. It was a pure, genuine sound and to be honest, it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.

The more time I spent with Russell, the more I could detect slight differences between him and Charlie. While Charlie was obnoxious and loud, Russell was more collected and put together. Besides, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t quite picture Charlie in a three piece suit and a tie, but Russell, he pulled it off like he was born to wear them.

“What’s so funny?” I asked in genuine confusion.

“Nothing. It’s just…”

Before he could answer, the waiter arrived with our drinks, and Russell took his, encouraging me to take mine with a slight nod of his head.

With a little hesitation, I grabbed the drink and lifted it to my lips and in mere seconds, I was already slurping on the last drops of the drink.

“Damn girl.” Russell cooed with an amused grin, sliding his own cup towards me which I snatched and emptied in record time as well.

“Sorry. Nervous habit.” I confessed with a nervous chuckle.

“Well, there’s no reason to be nervous okay?” He assured. “I’m not sending you to jail.”

“You’re not?” I asked in surprise, my eyes widening to the size of saucers.

“No, I’m not.” He replied, amusement dancing in the corners of his eyes and lips. “And I also won’t ask you to pay for the stuff you broke.”

“You won’t?” I asked again. I knew I sounded like a total idiot but I simply couldn’t contain my bewilderment.

“No, I won’t.” He replied, still chuckling. “Although that TV would cost an arm and a leg to replace.” He added and I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not with the way he was smiling non stop.

“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. And thank you for not sending me to jail. I hear its pretty hard to raise a kid in there.” I groaned, burying my face in my hands in shame and embarrassment.

“Don’t worry about it. You won’t be raising your baby in prison or in anywhere unsafe for that matter. I’ll personally make sure of that. But if you don’t mind my asking, what exactly happened between you and Charlie?”

I was still a little sensitive about talking about the subject, especially with people whom I barely knew, but I had already gone and accused the man of an offence he did not commit so at the very least, I knew I owed him an explanation.

And so I began by telling him how Charlie and I had met at an event in Boston, how we had fallen in love, or at least how I had because clearly, my affection had been one sided. I told him how Charlie had proposed to me a few months later on a beach in Barcelona and about how I found out I was pregnant two weeks after the proposal. I also told him how I had gone to inform Charlie about my condition only to find him cheating on me with some girl. I told him how I had stormed out angrily without getting to tell him about the baby, and how I had not been able to reach him since then.

“He changed his number, relocated, and disappeared. I even tried asking some of our mutual friends but none of them seemed to have seen or heard from him recently. I just don’t know what else to do.” I finished with a sob, and Russell handed me a handkerchief which I took gratefully. A lot of emotions were going through me as I told my tale, but Russell didn’t pressure me, didn’t judge me. He just sat there and listened, quietly and attentively, and him being there, simply listening to me, was a comfort I didn’t even know I needed and I was grateful for it.

“There’s a number he has been using for years.” Russell began after a little bit of thought. “He doesn’t give it out easily, except to family and friends. I could give it to you and you could try reaching him with that.” He offered, and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes again.

“Oh my God, I don’t know what to say.” I confessed.

“You don’t have to say anything. Just, give me your phone.”

I rummaged through my bag and grabbed my phone, unlocking it quickly and handing it over to him. He took his own phone and pulled up Charlie’s number and typed into mine before handing it back.

“You can call him when you get home if you like, or you can do it now. I could give you some privacy too.” He offered, trying to leave but I stopped him.

“Don’t go.”

He looked at me in confusion as if asking what the problem was, but there wasn’t any. I just wanted him around for moral support.

“Stay…please.” I begged, and Russell agreed, sitting back down with no questions asked.

I hadn’t exactly thought about what I was going to say when I finally got through to Charlie but I pulled up the number and dialed it anyway without thinking because I knew that if I thought too much about it, I might chicken out and that would not do anyone any good.

“Hello? Who is this?” He asked as soon as he answered, and his voice sent a cold chill down my spine. That same voice I used to love was now sending me into a nervous spiral.

I glanced towards Russell who encouraged me with a nod and a small smile and that was all the assurance I needed that everything was going to be alright.

“H…hello?” I replied quietly. “It’s me Elisa.”

“Elisa?” He replied, sounding irritated. “How the fuck did you get this number?”

“That’s not important. There’s something I need to discuss with you.”

“Look Elisa…” He began with a sigh. “What we had was great while it lasted but we were never going to be more than just a fling. I hope you can understand that.”

I felt a sharp pang in my chest at his words but I had already promised myself that I wasn’t going to cry again, not for an asshole like him.

“I’m not trying to get back with you Charlie” I replied, my own irritation building up rapidly. “I won’t even get back with you if you were the only man left on earth.”

“Yeah right.” He replied, and I could tell that he didn’t believe me one bit. Clearly, he believed that the whole world revolved around him and that self absorbed, narcissistic personality of his was one of the many things I was starting to hate about him.

“Fine.” He continued. “What do you want to discuss with me?”

“I’m pregnant.” I blurted.

“What the fuck did you just say?” He asked.

“I said I’m pregnant Charlie, and it is yours.”

There was a moment of silence as Charlie seemed to be processing my words. All the while, Russell sat across from me, waiting for our conversation to be over.

“Would you please say something?” I pleaded. His silence was killing me and I was desperate to know where he stood on the issue.

“What do you want me to say Elisa?” He deadpanned, startling me momentarily. “I mean, how could you let this happen, you’re not a fucking child. How could you be so careless about something like this?”

“You’re the one who refused to use protection.” I whisper yelled in reply, being careful not to alarm the other customers.

“I thought you were on the pill.” He fired back.

“Well I wasn’t.”

“Then why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you told me you loved me Charlie. You fucking proposed to me for God’s sake. I didn’t know it was going to happen but since we were gonna get married in a few weeks, I thought it wouldn’t be such a big deal.”

“Well you thought wrong Elisa.” He replied with a scoff as if the mere thought of him marrying me was nothing if not preposterous. “Look, I gotta go alright? My flight leaves in thirty minutes.

“Wait Charlie…”

“If you do decide to keep it, well good luck with that, just keep me out of it okay? What I wanted was a quick thrill and a nice time so if you think that you can pin me down with a pregnancy that might not even be mine, think again Elisa, cuz you’ve got the wrong fucking man. God, I can’t believe I’m going to have to change numbers again because of this bitch.” He muttered angrily and with that, the line went dead.

Russell looked at me asking me for answers but I simply shook my head in the negative. Bile was rising in my throat and I couldn’t speak, but Russell seemed ready to speak enough for the both of us. Clearly, he was angry if the veins popping on the side of his head was any indication. I wanted to tell him to calm down, that I had everything under control but before I could even speak, he had already grabbed his phone and made his way outside to call his brother I assumed, and for the next five minutes, I could see him yelling angrily on the phone. I couldn’t hear what he was saying but I could swear that he wasn’t taking about the weather.

When the call finally ended, I could tell from his countenance that he hadn’t had any luck convincing his brother to take responsibility for the pregnancy either. He walked wordlessly towards me and gestured for me to follow him. I was confused but I followed him either way.

“Let’s get back to the office. “ He said without looking at me. There’s a few things I need to sort out, then I’ll drive you home.”

“Wait, you really don’t have to.” I started to say but clearly, he wasn’t listening. Instead, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

“Bridget…” He began as soon as the person on the other end answered. “Kindly dismiss all the other applicants that came in today. Tell them the position has already been occupied.”

"By who?" I asked as soon as he ended the call. I was already starting to feel dissapointed that I'd lost the job despite all my efforts but the answer he gave me shocked me to my bones.

"By you of course. Who else?"