“No. Get the fuck out. I never want to see you again or your spawn.” He walks past me, out the front door where I hear him slam his hand against the button to call the elevator up then comes back to where I’m still standing shell-shocked.
“Nicholas, you’re overreacting. Please just think about what you’re saying right now, listen to me. Listen to yourself.” I reach for his face but he grabs my wrists before I can touch him.
“Keep your whore hands off me. Who knows where they’ve been,” He spits at me. Did he really call me a whore? You fucking bastard.
I take a step back and let my eyes roam over his face as they fill with more unshed tears. I don’t know the person standing before me. Who is this man that can say such hurtful things to me after telling him I’m carrying his child?
I raise my hand and slap him across the cheek before he has a chance to react, his face forced to turn from the force of the impact. My hand is left stinging and his cheek now has a fine red handprint on it.
He stands there motionless, eyes burning with rage which are directed at me.
“Congratulations, you have just managed to destroy everything we have in a matter of a few thoughtless seconds. I hate you,” I stammer through the lump in my throat.
“You did this. I thought I could trust you. Thank you for showing your true colours before it’s too late.” There is absolutely no emotion in his voice.
He can’t be serious? I did this?
He drags me by the arm over to the door, his grip tight and painful.
“Nick, stop you’re hurting me.” He’s not listening, it’s like he’s entered another zone and closed himself off.
I hear the ping of the elevator as it arrives.
He lifts my left hand up and rips my engagement ring off my finger before he practically pushes me into the waiting car with nothing but the clothes I’m wearing then walks away as the doors close on me.
“Nicholas.” I sob collapsing against the wall.
The elevator reaches the ground floor after what feels like only a couple of seconds, the tears are blurring my vision as I walk through the lobby. I look down to try and hide my face with my hair.
Where am I going to go? This is my home. Was my home.
What am I going to do now?
The life and future we were planning together is gone.
I can’t believe what just happened. I’m alone and pregnant. My heart is broken, shattered and will never be the same again.
How could he do this? His love doesn’t meaning anything, they were empty words. He was so quick to judge me and kick me out. I didn’t make this baby on my own.
I can’t stay in this city, I need to leave. I feel the walls closing in around me while I panic on the street. I need to be as far away from him as possible.
I place my hand on my stomach. “Everything will be okay little one. We have each other.” Even if he comes crawling back on his hands and knees apologising I will never forgive him for the way he just treated me.
With a final look up at the building I called home only minutes ago, I wrap my arms around myself and begin to walk down the street to wherever the road leads me.
Chapter 1
Alannah
5 Years Later
I’m pouring my unfinished tea down the sink. Ever since that particular morning I can’t stand the smell of coffee, its scent is a reminder of the worst day of my life. Rinsing my mug I happen to glance at the calendar, seeing the date. It’s Nick’s birthday today. I hate that I remember anything about him at all.
I’ve been living in Perth for the past five years. When I first arrived I stayed with my mother but I knew it wasn’t a permanent solution. I was heartbroken to begin with but I had a baby to look after and we had to make a life for ourselves and not be dependent on other people.
A little over a year ago I rented a cute townhouse outside the city with a small backyard so there’s room to run around and play, the house is not too far away from my mother’s place, so she is still close by if I need her. I’m proud of our home. It might not be much but it’s ours and I’ve tried my best to make it a happy one for myself and my daughter.
Charlotte, or Charlie as she likes to be called just turned four years old. I won’t lie, it hasn’t been easy, being a single mother was never my plan, in fact there have been plenty of evenings that I have cried myself to sleep from the stress and worry but it has been worth it, especially when I see her smile each day.
After her first birthday I went back to work, I had no choice, I had to be able to support us. I was lucky to find something close to home as a personal assistant in a real estate office, although I miss being an interior designer, it was my dream job, I loved it and hope to get back to it one day but for now I will do what I need to in order to make ends meet for our family of two.
I’m fortunate to have a great boss. John moved here from Ireland as his wife wanted to be closer to her family after they had their first child. I love his accent, even though at times he has to repeat things to me when I find it hard to comprehend what he’s saying. He is also very understanding, especially when things come up with Charlie that can’t be avoided. He himself has two little girls of his own and I’ve also become good friends with his wife, giving me someone to vent my parenting frustrations to and who understands.
The day that Nicholas kicked me out, after walking around in a state of shock and confusion I called Rachael, my best friend in the whole world, from a café and asked her to come pick me up since I didn’t have my phone on me.
When she drove me back to her apartment I was all puffy eyed from crying and devastated. I only told her that Nick and I had fought and broken up but not the reason why and that I needed to stay with her for a few days. I asked her to do me a favour and go to Nick’s apartment the next day while he was at work to collect some of my belongings and phone because I couldn’t go back there so soon.
I gave him a day to cool off and then attempted to call him. We had to talk.
I couldn’t get through to him. Not on his mobile or at work. I showed up at the building he worked in and was banned from even entering. He had cut me out of his life so easily.
As the days passed Rachael was getting pissed that I wouldn’t tell her what had happened. She tried calling Nick herself to get answers but from what I know he wouldn’t answer her calls either. She couldn’t understand what went wrong because we seemed so happy together. But I never said a word except we wanted different things.
I don’t know why I didn’t just throw him to the wolves and be done with it, but at the time I still loved him and I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to deal with the fallout.
Two weeks later I had quit my job, packed up my things and moved to Perth where my mother lived. She had relocated there after my parents got divorced when I finished high school. My father was understandably upset that I was moving so far away but after I told him about the baby he understood why I needed to go. He was so enraged at Nicholas, and really, who could blame him. He was making all sorts of threats towards my ex-fiancé that I had to beg him to not do anything crazy, the jerk wasn’t worth him going to jail for. All he told me was to not worry.
Thank goodness for Skype, it means we can keep in touch and he gets to see Charlie and not miss out on seeing her grow, even from a distance. He tries to visit when he can but it’s not all that often.