Page 77 of Imperfect Match (Imperfect Match 1)
Second message.
“Wills, please don’t do this. I’m not ready to ... I can’t lose you ... just call me.”
It’s the tone of his voice in the second one that breaks me. He sounds desperate, sad, and disappointed.
I steel myself and hit his number. After two rings it goes to voicemail. Weird. Why would he want me to call him and then not answer?
He shoots me a text immediately.
* * *
Reid: Can’t talk, in the middle of something at work.
* * *
Me: Okay. Can you come to my apartment after work so we can talk?
* * *
Reid: Yes. I’ll see you about six.
* * *
That gives me the rest of the day to come up with some brilliant idea to keep him when I tell him I’m going through with the insemination. God, I hope I come up with something.
I have to.
I go into the office for the afternoon, but I find it tough to concentrate on other people’s love lives. I keep hoping lightning will strike and I’ll think of a way to have both Reid and a baby, some perfect combination of words to help him understand that being a mother doesn’t mean I can’t still be his. I can love him and love a child too, can’t I?
Eventually Aspen wanders over. “I can’t take it anymore,” she tells me. “Your aura is a hot mess.”
I roll my eyes. “Blue again?”
“Yes, but it’s so muddy it’s nearly gray.” She perches on the edge of my desk and waves her hands around my face in some kind of woo-woo motion. “I sense fear. Indecision. Suppressed communication.”
Giving up on work, I close my laptop and sigh. “That actually makes sense, believe it or not. I’m trying to think of a way to convince Reid not to bolt when I tell him I’m going through with the artificial insemination.”
My sister nods thoughtfully. “The boobs didn’t work?”
“Uh, they were a little too distracting. We didn’t exactly have a conversation once boobs were involved.”
“That can happen.”
“But before that, we had a terrible fight. I told him I still wanted to go through with the appointment, and he let me know in no uncertain terms that he’s totally against it.”
“Did he give you a reason?”
“Honestly, I think it comes down to jealousy. He thinks by using a sperm donor I’ll be having a baby with another man.”
“Well, technically you are.”
“But it’s not like that at all!” I jump up and start to pace behind my desk. “That’s just biology. It’s not love.”
“So why not ask Reid to be the donor?”
I stop in my tracks. “Reid?”
She shrugs. “Sure, why not? He’s a little bougie for my taste, but his genes are probably solid.”
