His Nanny Mate (Moana and Edrick Morgan) novel Chapter 58

#Chapter 58: Keeping Secrets

Moana

Edrick’s eyes flashed with recognition as I refused a drink. I knew, then, that he was onto me. Edrick quickly disappeared into the crowd again, leaving me alone with Verona once more, but that interaction alone was enough to cause me such stress that I suddenly felt as though I was going to throw up.

“Excuse me,” I said, pushing my chair back and standing. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

Before Verona had the chance to respond, I quickly turned on my heel and beelined for the bathroom, holding my hand over my mouth to keep myself from vomiting. Thankfully, the bathroom was empty when I entered, and I barely made it to the toilet before the contents of my stomach poured out.

When I was finished throwing up, I flushed the toilet and stood shakily, leaning on the side of the bathroom stall for a moment to steady myself before walking over to the sink. I took a few deep breaths and calmed my nerves before digging into my purse for a mint, then left to get myself some ginger ale to calm my stomach.

As I made my way to the bar, I felt weak and shaky, but not entirely from the nausea. Not only did I feel completely out of place at this party as the only human, but I also felt that Edrick would potentially discover my pregnancy tonight… And I wasn’t ready.

I leaned on the bar and asked the bartender for a ginger ale, trying my best to steady my nerves. Just then, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up to see Kelly standing beside me. She looked drunk, but also contemptuously devious.

“Just a ginger ale?” she asked.

I nodded.

A smirk spread across her face. She glanced over her shoulder toward where Edrick was standing, then back at me, and looked me up and down.

“You know,” she said, leaning closer to me, “from girl to girl… That dress isn’t fooling anybody.”

I frowned, taking a step back, and looked down at myself. I thought I looked perfectly fine. “What are you talking about?” I asked.

Kelly scoffed. “Let me be blunt. I know you probably grew up being half starved, so maybe you have some issues when it comes to controlling your appetite, but maybe lay off the fancy foods for a bit. Your belly is looking a little…” She stopped, then, and gestured with her hand around her stomach in an arching motion to indicate a round belly.

My jaw dropped at Kelly’s rude words. “That’s a nasty thing to say,” I replied, narrowing my eyes.

Kelly simply shrugged and picked up her fresh drink off of the bar. “I’m just telling the truth,” she said, before turning on her heel and sauntering off into the crowd.

I felt tears coming to my eyes, but I blinked them away. Once I had my ginger ale in my hand, I returned to Ella, who gave me a worried look as I sat down. So did Verona.

“Are you alright, dear?” Verona asked, eyeing my ginger ale.

I nodded. “Yes. Just a little too much sugar in that cake for my stomach to handle right now,” I lied. “I’m okay, though.”

Ella leaned over to me, cupping her hands over her mouth. “Next time, I’ll eat your cake instead,” she whispered.

Verona, overhearing this, threw her head back and laughed loudly. I couldn’t help but laugh, either.

…

Soon enough, the gala ended and it was time to go home. I said my goodbyes to Verona and Sophia, ignoring the cold look from Kelly as I got into the car, and watched as the building faded away in the distance.

I looked over at Edrick, who was sitting across from me. He was staring out the window.

“That was a nice gala,” I said, wanting to ease some of the tension. We hadn’t said more than two words to each other since he asked if I would drink alcohol.

“Mhm,” was all he said.

“Your speech was lovely as well,” I continued. “You spoke very eloquently. It was nice to hear you speak so affectionately about the orphanage.”

Edrick’s eyes flickered over to me, and they were cold and bitter. He began to clench and unclench his jaw repeatedly, as he often did when he was angry. It made my heart race.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence. Ella seemed to notice this, and apparently decided to take it upon herself to lighten the mood.