Allison's POV
The next morning, I woke up with a sore throat. I got up and chugged some water, hoping that would help, but it hurt to swallow and did little to alleviate the pain.
Great...
When I got to work, I felt worse. Renee was already there, typing away on her computer. When she saw me, she stood up and came around to the front of her desk, handing me a hot chocolate.
"Good morning, ma'am. Here's your usual hot cocoa, extra marshmallows. Just the way you like it."
She's not wrong there. I drank one every morning at work. I hate coffee, but I love hot chocolate, especially with marshmallows, even though I would drink it without them as well.
"Thank you, Renee," I replied as I took the cup and headed for my office. "I'm not feeling well today. So, could you please hold all calls unless they're an emergency or are from Mr. Stanley?"
Mr. Stanley owned the company I designed buildings for. He was a very sweet old man, but you did not ignore his phone calls.
"Yes, ma'am," Renee replied.
I went into my office and tried to get some work done, but my whole body began to ache. Then, came the splitting headache, followed by chills and a fever.
This is not good.
I pushed the intercom button on my phone that connected to Renee's.
"Renee?..."
Nothing.
I pushed it again. "Renee?!"
Still nothing.
"Ugh!!" I let go of the button and put my head down on my desk, closing my eyes.
Where is she?
*****
"Miss Cooper?" Renee's voice rang out over the intercom on my phone.
My head shot up from my desk. I must've fallen asleep. "Huh? What?...I mean...yes, Renee?"
"Uh...there is a delivery here for you ma'am. Would you like me to bring it in?"
Delivery?
"I didn't order anything."
"Well, I'm not sure you would have ordered this ma'am."
What the hell is she talking about?
"Um...ok...I guess come on in."
The door to my office opened and in walked Mason with another bouquet of roses, but they were pink instead of red. He was dressed in a nice grey suit and matching tie, looking as dashing as ever. A smile was plastered all over his handsome face.
"Mason?!" I came out from behind my desk and threw my arms around him as Renee closed my office door.
He hugged me tight, picking my feet up off of the floor slightly. "Hi, Baby."
My heart practically leaped out of my chest at the sight of him. I leaned my head up towards his and he met me with a smoldering kiss that set my entire body on fire.
"Mason?..."
He set me down but didn't let me go. He just looked at me with love and desire filling his eyes. "What is it, Baby?"
At that moment, I realized that my biggest fear was true, but I didn't hesitate. "I love you, Mason."
He looked at me and smiled, but seemed like he had something more to say.
"What is it, Mason?"
His expression unexpectedly turned cold. "You will never be good enough for me. You will never be good enough for anyone. You deserve to be alone."
Tears instantly began to fill my eyes and leak down my cheeks. "What?...I thought you..."
He cut me off. "You're just a slut and that's all you'll ever be...just a good lay. That's all this is for me, nothing more."
Katie's voice rang out far off in the distance. "Allison..."
My heart felt like someone was ripping it from my chest and the world was spinning super fast. "I thought you wanted more than just s*x from me?...."
I heard Katie again, closer this time. "Allison..."
"You thought wrong. I'll never want someone like you," he scowled at me.
All of a sudden, Katie appeared behind Mason and screamed at me. "Allison!!"
Next thing I knew, I was sitting at my desk and Katie was standing to my right with her hand on my shoulder.
"Katie?"
"Damn, girl. It's about time! I've been shaking you for five minutes now. I thought I was gonna have to call a paramedic to get your ass to wake up."
It was a dream...
"Katie!!" I jumped up and threw my arms around her.
It was just a dream! Man, did it feel so real.
My heart was still hurting from it.
"Wow! I'm excited to see you, too!" Katie laughed, hugging me back as I started crying on her shoulder. "Honey, what's wrong?"
I pulled away and sat back down. My head was throbbing. I felt like I could hurl. "I had a bad dream and I think I'm sick. I should probably go see the doctor."
Katie sat down across from me and started raiding my candy jar....as usual. "Hmm...What was your dream about?"
"Well, Mason was here."
"That sounds like a good dream if you ask me," she wiggled her eyebrows at me as she popped a Jolly Rancher in her mouth.
"Normally, I would say yes, but it wasn't like that. No one was naked. No one was having s*x."
"Damn! Then, what was going on?"
I gulped, trying to blink back more tears. "I told Mason I loved him."
Katie's mouth dropped open so far, that I'm surprised it didn't hit the table. "You said, 'I love you'?....To a man?"
"Mmm...hmm.."
"Oh. My. God."
"There's more…," I trailed off.
"Oh, I bet! Tell me what Mason said."
"He said he didn't want me and that no one ever would."
She slammed her hand down on my desk and made me jump. "He does not actually think that. You know that, right?"
I bit my bottom lip.
"You seriously believe that sh*t, don't you?"
"He doesn't want me. I'm bad for him. I can't give him what he needs," I told her, sadly.
Katie growled at me. "You're so infuriating sometimes."
She picked up her phone, pushed some buttons and set it on my desk, letting it trill out in front of me.
"Hey, Babe," Evan said as he answered.
"Hey, Love. I'm with Allison right now and she thinks Mason doesn't like her," Katie spilled to him.
"Honey, we really shouldn't get in the middle of it. We should let them sort it out for themselves."
"Really, Evan?! She's over here having bad dreams about him telling her she's not worthy of love and you're saying to leave it be?! What kind of friend would I be if I did that?!"
"Well, I can tell you that I highly doubt he thinks she's unworthy of love."
"So, what does he think about her, then?" She urged him.
"She should ask him herself. Al, Hun, just tell him how you feel and see what he says. He might feel the same way as you."
I smiled. "Thanks, Evan."
Katie rolled her eyes. "Yeah....thanks for no help at all." She stabbed her phone with her finger, hanging up on Evan. "See if you get any tonight, Mister."
I giggled. "Katie, guys don't gossip like we do."
"The hell they don't! Evan is always telling me crazy sh*t about the people at his firm and the one time I actually want him to, he won't. Ugh!!"
Katie seemed in rare form today. She's never this angry and yet I feel like she could Hulk out at any moment.
"Katie, are you ok?"
Tears welled up in her eyes. "I just found out this morning...I'm pregnant."
Holy shit!
"Honey, that's great!" I ran around my desk and pulled her into a bear hug.
"Yeah..."
I let her go and looked at her confused. "Aren't you happy?"
"Yes, but no."
"What's wrong?"
"Evan said he didn't want kids, but I want them. I accidentally missed a couple of pills here and there and didn't really think anything would come of it cuz it happens all the time. Then, I didn't get my period Friday or Saturday or Sunday and I'm always on time. So, I took a test after Evan left for work this morning. Sure as sh*t, two lines. Didn't even take one minute and they appeared."
"Katie, I'm sure if you told Evan, he would be ecstatic," I encouraged her.
"I don't know..."
"People can change their minds, Katie. Sometimes they say they want one thing and then something happens that makes them think differently."
She smirked at me. "You mean like, a hunky man sweeping her off her feet and making her believe in love?"
I narrowed my eyes at her. "I need to go see the doctor now and find out what I'm sick with so that I can feel better." I grabbed my things and she followed me out the door. "Tell Evan. He'll be so happy."
"And you tell Mason."
I rolled my eyes and hugged her. "Love you, Katie. Call me later."
"Love you, too, and you know I will."
On my way to the doctor's office, I thought about my conversation with Katie. I gave her advice that really did apply to me as well and she was adamant about me talking to Mason about my feelings, but that was so hard for me. Hiding how I felt, was what kept me together most of my life.
How do I just open up and say it now? How do I even start a discussion like that?
Ugh....this is so frustrating. God, help me out here, please!