A Pact For Life (6 page)

“I've always wanted to have sex with someone famous.”

This admission was sign #3 of trouble, and Cale realized how screwed both figuratively and literally he'd be if he stuck around.

“Thanks, beautiful, but I can't do that to my ex. She means too much to me.”

Jenny walked into Diana's oak laden and coffee smelling office, and gave her boss a stack of documents separated by 'sign here' post-it notes. As Diana proceeded to sign, Jenny sat down in a lounge chair and eagerly said, “So have you gotten tested yet? Cale is probably dying to know if you are pregnant.”

“Shh...” Diana hissed. “Don't say it so loud. You're the only one who knows about this thing with Cale.”

“Well thanks for trusting me. You didn't tell your family?”

While signing a page, Diana asked sharply, “Why would I do that? This isn't exactly the most romantic story. Every time I think about it, I see myself as some crazy woman so desperate for a husband and kids that she'll settle for anyone.”

“Will Cale tell anyone?”

“Hah! Who will he tell? There's Nick who is more interested in Wikipedia than actual people, or Brian who is always high. Oh, I suppose he could tell his father. Donald Dawkins would probably be thrilled if Cale married me. He always said I was the best Cale could get.”

“What about Cale's mom?”

“Cale's mom is dead. I think it was breast cancer, but I'm not exactly sure. He's always been quiet about it. It happened when he was younger. Maybe ten or eleven?”

A knock at the door startled them both. Jamie the intern peered slightly around the door frame, and asked with uneasiness. “Excuse me, Ms. Young?”

“Yes?” Diana said as she finished signing the last document.

“I have these asset valuation listings prepared for Mr. Fern's account. Where would you like me to put them?”

“You can just leave them here. Thank you, Jamie.”

Jamie stood there working up the courage that only Bob Cratchit could appreciate after one Christmas Eve in front of Ebenezer Scrooge. “Ms. Young, if it's alright with you, could I have tomorrow off? My brother holds a 5k every year and I've always gone the day before to help him set up.”

“That's fine, I'll be in arbitration with Mr. Fern and his ex-wife all day tomorrow so I won't need you for anything.”

Jamie's eyes lit up and he clasped his hands together. “Oh, I just remembered! My brother is getting divorced and he is looking for a good lawyer to represent him. I was going to recommend you, but wanted to make sure it was okay before I had him call you.”

Diana knew some career philanthropist couldn't afford her rates, and she certainly didn't give employee discounts. Before she could make up a lie about conflict of interest, Jamie said, “Also, he wouldn't need any special billing or anything like that. He's a cardiologist, this race is just a side project.”

Diana smiled and considered herself lucky she hadn't said anything. “Sure, that's fine.” She said and handed Jamie one of her cards. “Have him give me a call.”

As Jamie passed by Jenny, she put up her hands, and mouthed “How about that?” at Diana. After she was certain Jamie was far enough away, Jenny collected the stack of signed documents from Diana's desk and whispered, “You really whipped that intern into shape. I heard he came in on Sunday to work.”

Diana whispered back, “He's the only intern I assign work to now. It's always flawless, and he is nothing but professional around the office.”

Before she left, Jenny said, “It sounds like his brother will be a good client. A charitable doctor... talk about your ideal husband. It's pretty funny considering the situation with Cale.”

Diana didn't need Jenny to bring that up, because she was thinking the same thing. It didn't matter that she didn't know what he looked like, whether he had kids, his age, and most importantly, why he was getting divorced. Her mind had already created him: tall and dark, no kids, thirty-five, and getting divorced because his wife cheated on him.

Looking down at her desk, the letter 'C' was circled for the next evening. That was going to be the night of the pregnancy test. If she truly was pregnant, then it wouldn't matter what the doctor was like. But she would have to wait one more day to find out. Until then, all she had was her imagination.

The knob of Diana's front door rattled and clicked before being replaced by a more traditional knock. With a deep sigh, Diana opened the door and found Cale on one knee holding an open jewelry box containing a ring fit for royalty.

She couldn't stop herself from laughing at this sight. “A little presumptuous, don't you thin...” Her question was cut off and laughter stopped the moment her eyes met the ring. “Holy shit, Cale! How can you afford this!?”

Rather than tell her the truth that he had to sell himself out to pay for it, Cale decided to lie. “Just because my work has dried up doesn't mean I don't have any money saved.”

Coming back to her senses, Diana said, “Seriously, you bought a ring before we know the results? Stop being so foolish and come inside.”

Following her instructions, Cale got up and walked into her apartment while saying, “I'm positive the test is going to be...well...positive. I just know it will.”

Diana turned around to look at the clock on her wall. “Well, we'll know if you're right in about four minutes.”

4:00

“Don't worry, darlin', this is fate.” Cale said and flopped on the couch. “God's never let me down before. I'm just glad you invited me over for the results. I almost expected you to have Jenny deliver the news. Remember that time you broke up with me that...”

“I've apologized more than enough for the time I ended things that way. What about when you broke up with me because, and I quote, 'I made you too happy'?”

Having broken up so many times before, Cale had forgotten about that particular one until this reminder from Diana. “First of all, the quote was 'you make me too happy to sculpt'.”

“Shut up, jerk.” Diana said and slapped him on the shoulder.

“Secondly, that was when it started becoming apparent that I couldn't sculpt anything good, and I was trying to put the blame on anything I could. I thought I was too content with life to come up with anything good.”

3:00

“And how'd that work out for you?”

“Good point,” Cale said and got up to put his hands on Diana's waist. “So how are you feeling about all this?”

Diana wrapped her arms around his neck and decided to be honest. “Well... since I took the test, I don't think I've taken an eye off that goddamn clock. My stomach is in knots and I wish I would've bought a quicker test.”

Cale leaned in and kissed her. A long, passionate one, like a soldier kissing his true love before going into battle. In a sense, the two situations were identical, depending on the results.

Backing away with her arms still wrapped around his neck, Diana said, “Cale, about this pact. If the test comes back negative, I don't want this to be the end.”

“It has to be this way. Without the risk of losing it all, this pact is meaningless. Don't worry though. Like I said earlier, you are most definitely pregnant.”

2:00

She leaned in again for quick kisses where she bit his lower lip at the end of every one. He found himself involuntarily pulled in more and more at the end of every kiss.

Logical Diana always had a hard time when it came to Cale's dependence on God, fate, etc. “Cale, I don't think you realize the odds here. This isn't some 50/50 coin flip. The chances of me being pregnant are around 5%, and that's being generous.”

“Only 5%?”

“Well, that's if Wikipedia is correct.”

As shocking as the 5% number was to Cale, he still laughed and said, “Nick would be proud you went there for information.”

1:00

“Does he still pay more attention to that website than actual, living people?”

“You know he won't sway on his 'meaning of life'. He still swears that life's goal is to learn as much as possible and somehow that website makes him feel he is accomplishing it.”

Diana looked over at the clock and knew it was time. Before she went into the bathroom to check the results, she gave Cale a goodbye kiss only few can appreciate.
⁷
 “Well, I guess it's time. Wait here, I'll be right back.”

Cale could tell how scared she was and he tried his best to make her feel better. “Be brave, darlin'. We'll be fine.”

The lights in her bathroom seemed to shine a spotlight upon the pregnancy test. Standing face to face with her future, Diana's heart felt like it shrunk farther into her chest with each thump. For most of her adult life, she had faced intimidating judges, skeptical juries, and cutthroat lawyers, yet walking a few feet to see the number of pink bars felt like the most daunting task she would ever endure. She was scared and yet, like always, some inherent defensive trait kicked in, and she found herself walking over to the test determined to show it how strong she really was.

0:00

The bathroom door slowly opened revealing Cale with a beaming look on his face in expectation for a jubilant cry, but it never came. Diana stared at him with watery eyes that told the truth far more than any words ever could. Before Cale could speak, Diana shook her head 'no' causing the tears to break through and run down her cheeks. Cale swallowed hard, nodded that he understood, and left Diana to her own, negative devices.

CONSCIOUS AND STABLE

A gun shot rang out immediately followed by the thunderous sound of footsteps. It was a coordinated stampede of Nikes, Reeboks, New Balances, Asics, and Adidi. The 6th Annual
Run for the Heart 5k
was underway, and in between the bare-chested young men leading the pack and the older ones trying to relive past glory was a slender red head with a fiercely determined look. Diana was there to kick ass.

She hadn't planned on running in Jamie's brother's race, but the depressing news about the negative test persuaded her to do something to feel better. Running and work were her two sure fire pick-me-ups, and since everything in her professional life was up to date, the only thing she could do was put her feet to the pavement.

“Ms...Diana! Wait!” Jamie struggled to breathe out the words as the distance between them grew.

“You wanted to run with me, Jamie. Are you going to let some old woman beat you?” This challenge was never heard by its intended recipient. Jamie had fallen too far behind.

Running is one of those things that after awhile, the physical act becomes involuntary, and all that's left is your own unobstructed thoughts. It's the Buddhist and meditation, the hypnotee and the pocket watch, the procrastinating college student and Adderall, but most importantly, it was Diana and the two mile marker.

Her mind was clear of worry, of pain, of disappointment, of loss. Everything was replaced by a realization of the disaster that would've resulted if the test was positive.

The Internal Dictation of Diana: