1 Cold Sheets

...Pregnant. I'm... pregnant. At this critical juncture of my life, I am going to have a child with my boyfriend of only a month. Just when I was finally about to open my own store and make my designs known, I had to do the most idiotic thing possible. I peeked out of the bathroom, locking eyes with Ferris who was half-asleep and half-naked on my bed. His hooded eyes peered at me from across the dimly lit room. It was as if he could smell my fear in the dead apartment air. I shivered.

My mind instinctively flashed to where I met him: the bar he tended nightly and the fights he often broke up. I bit my lip, hesitating. Then I thought about the fights he started as well and the lack of empathy he had. His cold face when we agreed to try out a relationship. The many cut lips and bloody noses I had to treat when he knocked on my door at 3 a.m. No way can I do this with him. No way can this man be a father to my unborn child!

"Blair, are you coming to bed soon?" Ferris' voice resounded throughout the mostly empty room. I turned around to make sure he couldn't see my face. I was always a terrible liar. "Yeah, just give me a minute." I nearly whispered, my voice shaking. He gave a noncommittal grunt and rolled over to block out the light. Soon he was dead asleep and I could get to packing.

Luckily I didn't have much to begin with because I had sold most of it to fund my store. I peered around the apartment I had been camped in for so long. It was a cramped studio apartment in a cheap, crime-riddled part of town. There was no way in hell I would let my child be raised in this. Guess the store will just have to wait a little until I can get a better job.

I opened up the door as silently as possible, the humid spring breeze washing over me. I pulled out my phone, dialling a number I hadn't called since college. "Hey Fleur? Yeah, I know it's late and we haven't talked in forever but I need some serious help right now. All right, I'll meet you there. Be prepared for a shock."