Like everything major that had happened to me this year, it took me some time to accept the fact that the mother of my baby's father hated me. Granted, not everyone would be head over heels for me but I expected some level of cordiality. I heard that Italian mothers were protective of their sons but it was not like I was marrying her son or anything. And here I thought Nigeria's mothers-in-law were the worst.

Nicholas felt guilty about how his mother acted at the dinner, as he ought to. I was still a bit salty towards him. He decided to take me out for dinner after work, to make up for it but I wasn't up for wining and dining. To be honest, I wanted to go home and put my feet up. I tried to dissuade him with the fact that I had gotten over it and it was fine but he was adamant.

After minutes of back and forth, we decided to have something from a street food stall that sold shawarma, Rice, Falafels and other kinds of stuff. It was a couple of blocks away from the hospital so we decided to take a walk, instead of his car.

Nick wasn't keen on the idea of having dinner on the street but with great reluctance, he went along with it. On the condition that we would eat our food someplace else. We both got takeaway plates of shawarma and falafels with two bottles of water.

We ended up on a sidewalk of a bridge, sitting on a public bench that overlooked the water. The evening had settled well over us and the street lights, building lights and nocturnal beings came alive. We sat quietly on the bench, eating our food, enjoying the beautiful, serene view and drowning out the occasional honks of cars.

"So... Uhm, about that night. What happened?" I asked

That was something that had been hampering my thoughts for over a while. I'm almost six months pregnant and I couldn't recollect our whole encounter at the club. If for some reason, I needed to give an account of how we met, what we talked about and what made us click – other than the alcohol – I wanted to be able to give a clear story. In my memory, there were a bunch of holes I needed to be filled.

I wanted to know his own side of the story. What attracted him to me? Or vice versa. Although, I was pretty sure I didn't make the first move. He wasn't exactly the first person I'd pick out in a room of men and that's not based on the level of attractiveness, but ethnical compatibility.

He glanced at me with raised brows but didn't utter a word until he finished chewing. "You still don't remember anything from that night?"

I shrugged and picked at my shawarma. "I remember some of it,"

"What exactly do you remember?" He asked as he wiped the corners of his mouth with a serviette.

"Uhm... I remember talking to you by the bar. I don't remember what we talked about. I also remember taking so many glasses, very stupid of me" I muttered the last part under my breath.

"Is that all?" He asked

"Uh... I also remember going along with you to that hotel and then... You know, bits and pieces of – of what happened afterwards"

A snicker escaped him and one side of his lips tugged upwards. "You mean, sex"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Let's move on"

His upper body vibrated from suppressed laughter. He cleared his throat and leaned against the bench. "Well, I approached you on the basis of how oddly you stood out in the club. It was clearly not your scene"

I narrowed my eye at him and tilted my head a bit to the side. "That's why you approached me? Because I looked odd?"

He released a sigh. "No, I mean, you were extremely attractive – and still are" He added quickly, at my raised brow. "Every guy glanced your way, at least twice. You didn't look particularly interested in talking to anyone but the people you came in with. So, I took a risk and approached you"

"A risk? What could I have possibly done?" I chuckled and brushed away loose strands of hair the wind kept pushing into my face.

"Well, you could've ignored me and flat out rejected my advances" he reached out and tucked the lock of hair behind my ear lobe.

Oh okay. I'm not sure what I thought this conversation would be like but it's taking a rather nice turn.

He picked up his bottle of water from the bench and took a gulp. "We talked, more like I talked and you listened. You're a very good listener, by the way. We had way too many drinks and then I guess, I asked if you wanted to head out with me"

"What did we talk about?" I asked. I couldn't go five seconds talking to him without thinking he was cocky and flat-out rude. I wonder how I was able to deal with him. The alcohol must have dulled my senses.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. It's been months, I can't really remember the details. I think you said you were celebrating with your work colleagues and that you were a doctor – you did mention that quite a lot."

A smile crept up on my lips. Who wouldn't? I am proud to be a doctor. I sacrificed so much to get to this point. Sleep, fun, friends, even dating. I mean, I did go on a few dates but most never really went past that. Basically, my social life suffered. I would scream about my achievements and being a doctor if I had to. I adjusted in my seat and bit back a grin as I ran a hand over the sleeves of my large-sized light blue tie waist chiffon dress shirt. I'm glad my drunken self knew the vibe.

"– I remember having a frustrating day at work and talking about it a bit" I tuned back into the conversation. He covered his half-eaten falafel, clipped the takeaway and placed it down between us, on the bench. "I'm not sure I remember any more of our conversation... unless you want to know how things led up to the hotel"

"Lord, help me" I muttered underneath my breath as I rolled my eyes to the starless night sky. As memorable as that night was for him – maybe us –, the morning after when I had to pick up bits and pieces of my memory and underwear wasn't as dignifying. I've looked back at that memory and shuddered before trashing it into the back of my memory. Ugh, it's all coming back now that I'm thinking of it.

Wait... I turned to look at Nicholas and his amused little smirk. That curl in his lips dropped fast, as soon as he noticed my wide-eyed expression. I sent a hard jab with my fist into his arm. "You left money on the nightstand. God, how did I forget that?" I narrowed my eyes at him as I leaned forward. "What did you think I was?"

"What? No." he cradled his arm with his other hand. "The money –"He glanced about the busy street, eyed a few passersby and returned his gaze to me. He scooted an inch closer and lowered his voice. "That wasn't for you, okay?

"Mm-hmm?" I pursed my lips as I scooted back and crossed my arms over my chest.

He released a sharp breath as he ran a hand through his gelled hair, breaking apart the uniformity. "I realized the next morning – "he lowered his voice. "It was your first time and someone had to clean that up. It was for them, not you."

Oh. My lips rounded into an O shape and my crossed arms came loose. I didn't even think of that. Oh wow. Now, I'm even gladder that I didn't take that money cause, imagine that. I spared him a glance. He still had his hand over the assaulted arm, nursing it, as he stared ahead into the water.

"Sorry," I bit into my bottom lip. "And thank you"

I picked up my bottle of water and took a long sip, looking unto the street for nothing in particular. I shut and placed my bottle down beside me then dusted off invisible particles from the hem of my dress shirt. I side-eyed Nicholas and the bright glow of his phone illuminated his face as he tapped on it. Really? I rolled my eyes as I ran my tongue over my frontal teeth then blew out a chest full of air from my lips.

His phone clicked shut and he stuffed his phone, back into his pocket. "Let's take a small stroll then head back to my car" He rose up and extended a hand to me.

"Why? I'm not done with my food" I pointed at the small piece of my shawarma.

He shifted his weight to his right foot as he dropped his hand to his side. "Do you really want to finish that?"

I looked down at the shawarma. I wasn't hungry for it anymore... and it was probably cold now. I shrugged my shoulders. "I mean, I can't waste it"

"Sure, you can" he snatched the takeaway from my lap, along with his own and thrashed it into a nearby public trash can.

He dusted his hands by clapping them against each other as he walked back. I pulled myself to my feet by the time he got to me. "We could just walk back to your car. No need to walk about. I'm appeased by your attempt to make up for your mother"

"You've been sitting down too long. It would do you some good to stretch your legs" he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his suit black trousers. "I thought you were the doctor"

Really? I pursed my lips and looked at him, through my lashes. A gush of cold air blew from the direction of the river and hit me right in the face. I turned away from the wind and hugged myself with one arm, whilst the other held down my dress.

Nicholas stepped up beside me, blocking away the biting wind. He peeled off his suit jacket and draped it over my shoulder.

I bit my cheeks to stop from pulling up into a smile. "My, my, aren't you a gentleman?" I tugged the jacket closer to my frame.

He gave me a tightlipped smile and raised both brows then returned to a bland expression in a millisecond.

I chuckled and shook my head as we ambled up the sidewalk. "You're so confusing," I glanced to my side and met with his furrowed brows. "You're nice one minute and the next, you're arrogant and infuriating"

He scoffed out a chuckle. "I'm not sure what you want my response to be. Okay? Thank you?"

"This is exactly what I mean" I pulled up the jacket and buried half my face behind it. His cologne choked the living daylights out of my sense of smell but I didn't mind because I needed warmth and it was ... nice, I guess.

He snaked his arm around my waist and made an about turn. "Let's head back to the car"

I lowered the jacket back onto my neck as I glanced up at him. "Why? I thought you said I needed to take a walk"

He let go of my frame as soon as we fell into the same pace. "I also don't want you to freeze up my baby so..."

I flexed my brows and clicked my tongue. "Sure"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah," I lowered myself onto my bed and rested my back against my wedged-up pillows. I let my head fall back against the wall and shut my eyes for ten seconds.

My tub of shea butter rested on my nightstand, right next to a tray with a glass and Jug of drinking water. I reached for the shea butter but my phone vibrated beside the tray. I peered at the screen before it turned black and saw Nicholas's name bold under the notification bar.

I huffed out and picked up the phone whilst my other hands kneaded the lower part of my back. Once my finger clicked the home button in the middle of the phone, the screen came alive. It was a text message from him.

A giggle bubbled up in my chest and escaped my lips as I read the text over again. I could picture a deadpanned expression on his face as he typed out this message. Well, that's something. I put down the phone on my bed and picked up my shea butter tub. Wait, I should respond. I dropped the tub between my wide-spread legs and picked up my phone. What do I say? Okay? Thank you? Now, why did that sound oddly familiar?

I screwed open the tub and scooped out a small amount unto my fingers. I wouldn't want to soil my sheets with the sticky butter. After rubbing the butter till my palm shined with oil, I applied it to my belly with care.

The moment I nestled into a comfortable position on my mattress and willed sleep to take over, Nicholas's text popped back into my mind. I shook my head and thoughts away and closed my eyes to sleep. I'm not messing up this position. Seconds ticked by and my mind refused to shut down, my eyes shot open and I huffed out in frustration as I leaned over my bed. This is ridiculous. I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and added one more text.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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