CHAPTER THREE

RHEA’S POV

The sound of moving and honking cars in the estate streets woke me up from sleep, morning sun rays seeping through the half opened curtains almost blinding my eyes.

I yawned loudly as I sat up on the bed, rubbed my fingers on my eyes to clear the blur from my view. My eyes felt heavy, I had cried myself to sleep waiting for Leonard to get back.

I turned to his side of bed… Still neatly dressed like it was never laid on. I looked up at the clock, it was past 9am, my eyes immediately snapped open, the drowsiness leaving me at once as I jumped out the bed, grabbed my phone and hurried out of the room.

“Ms Rita! Who is up!?” I called, running down the stairs, I unlocked my phone, calls and texts from mom and Arizona popped up, but no Leonard. “Fuck! He didn’t!” I cussed and headed to

the kitchen, there were lumps of dough on the counter and Ms Rita washing off flour stains from her hands.

“I was about to come to you ma’am. Good morning, I hope you slept good.”

“I slept great Ms Rita, have you seen my husband? Did he come back last night?” I questioned. “Mr Klein is at the bar” she politely replied, I nodded and headed to the bar.

He had his back turned against me once I got to the bar, still in yesterday’s clothes.

“Have you come to humiliate me again like you did at your mother’s wedding yesterday?” He mocked and turned to face me, a glass of booze on his hand.

“Who is she? The blond lady you had the guts to bring to my mom’s home?” I asked as I approached him.

“A business partner who you have managed to emasculate me in front of, now she won’t pick my calls.” He shrugged tepidly, downing the booze at once.

“A business partner indeed, Leo! You fucking missed my mothers wedding service, didn’t even think to call me or least of all, answer your stupid phone, and you dare bring your oh so skinny blonde business partner to my moms house, holding her hand like a love struck teenage boy?” He sighed, grabbing a vintage bottle of booze and poured some into his glass. “I’m fucking speaking to you, Leonard!”

“I have nothing to say, Rhea. The lady is… well, was my business partner. You don’t have to worry, you scared her off, she probably thinks my life is full of drama.” He said and sipped his booze. “About missing your mom’s wedding, I was carried away with work, my phone was silenced. Congratulations to her though.”

I heaved a sigh as I rested my back on the wall. “I booked an appointment with my doctor, he suggested artificial insemination, he just needs to run tests on your sperm first.” I announced with a warm smile and moved away from the wall, walking towards him. “This might be our best shot.”

“Run tests on my sperm? Really, Rhea, haven’t you done enough emasculation for a century?” My smile fell into a frown instantly.

“What do you mean by that? What does your masculinity got to do with anything? We are fucking trying to have a baby, drop that macho off and get ready for the appointment!”

The antiseptic smell of the doctor’s office didn’t help my anxiety, I hate waiting, I hate not knowing what to expect. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my ear.

“Rhea calm down, I’m sure everything will be fine.” Leonard assured, placing his hand soothingly on my thigh, I hadn’t realized I was bouncing my legs anxiously. That was a habit of mine I needed to get rid of… Exposes how I feel too quickly.

“Yes, everything will be fine.” I murmured and shut my eyes, heaving a deep sigh. The door creaked inward and my eyes flew open.

The seconds it took the doctor to settle down on his seat felt like the longest wait of my life.

“Mr and Mrs Klein, we might have a good news.” He started as my eyes instantly lit up, I turned to Leo, he had a small smile on his lip, I grabbed his hand for emotional support. “Well… The

sample has an adequate sperm count for the procedure, therefore, we can go ahead with the

insemination.” The doctor declared, handing me the test results. I could feel the happy butterflies in my belly as I read it, tears threatened to roll out my eyes.

“Work calls, I have to go…” Leonard said and stood up. I frowned, staring at him in disbelief.

“Now? Really Leo? This is important, you can’t leave me here alone!” I muttered between gritted teeth and he sighed, seeming too uninterested for my liking. “Come on, Leo. We want this, we have to get through it together.”

“Holding your hand wouldn’t make you get pregnant any faster, I will see you at home.” He said and left, leaving me seated in front of the doctor embarrassed and confused.

“Mrs Klein, shall we…? It would take less than a minute.”

I had taken a Lyft back home after the procedure. I wasn’t sure what to feel, I was happy about the successful insemination, but I had this belief that if you got too excited over something, you stand a chance to jinx it.

Seeing a white Range Rover parked by the entrance of the house made me hiss loudly, I got out of the Lyft and hurried inside. Mrs Klein, Leonard’s mother as usual was throwing orders at the staff so loudly that even I flinched when she yelled at Ms Rita for apparently not minding the

house properly.

“I made myself clear! Drop the candle on the floor of the living room, and another at the

entrance of the building.” She snapped as the employees scattered around, some with burning white sage and others with red lit candles.

I quietly walked in, careful not to do something and get yelled at. Mrs Klein lit another sage as she started walking around the house, spreading the white smoke.

“Where have you been, Rhea. Didn’t you get my calls?” She asked, not sparing me a glance as I walked behind her upstairs, careful not to inhale the smoke.

“I was at the hospital ma’am, what is going on?” I questioned curiously, strolling behind her down the hallway.

“I’m cleansing the house from evil unclean spirits stopping you from conceiving, I personally went to North America to get these.” I scoffed at the ridiculousness and I rolled my eyes. She stopped on her track, turned to me, her eyes squinted. “You don’t have to believe it, but I am expecting a good news soon, this is the right time for you and Leonard to put in work at the

bedroom.” She said and continued walking.

“Well… Leonard and I…” I immediately kept shut. Announcing it to her meant that I was a hundred percent certain of the result, therefore standing a chance to jinx it. “Never mind… I hope the sage works.” I muttered.

A few hours later… Mrs Klein had gone, well, after smoking the whole building up and making soup she claimed was a recipe from her Chinese spiritualist, forcing me to drink it before she left.

I had checked the clock multiple times already, keeping my ears open waiting to hear the sound of the front door opening.

It was 10:55pm, Leonard’s phone was unreachable, I hadn’t eaten dinner; ignoring the doctors

advice that I stayed fed and stress free. After waiting a few more minutes, I ate and went to bed, crying myself to sleep yet again.