Trying desperately not to think of how badly he had handled the situation with his wife, JC threw himself into his work.  Thinking he would give her time to call down, he let days elapse and still heard nothing.  By this point, JC had convinced himself he was not at fault at all and she needed to come crawling back to beg his forgiveness.  The people around him noticed his temper was out of control and started to avoid him if possible.  This just made him angrier. 

But there were two people around JC that were elated at how his marriage was falling apart. 

Leah, one of JC’s dancers along with Susie, JC’s assistant, met for coffee one morning.  The two were close cousins.  Leah had helped Susie get the job of managing the day-to-day details of JC’s business life.  But Leah thought that Susie owed her for the plum job assignment and had started to collect. 

Nervously, Susie glanced around the small coffee shop as she entered.  Leah had already claimed a table for two near the front window.  Receiving her iced cappuccino, she took a sip as she made her way to Leah’s table. 

Exchanging a quick greeting, she plopped down into the chair, looking around for anyone who might recognize either of them. 

“Would you just relax?”  Leah commented harshly. 

“How can I, I shouldn’t have done it.” 

“But you did do it, right?”  Leah leaned forward in excitement.

 “This isn’t right, what you want done is not right!”  Susie’s voice lowered, but strained with tension.

Impatient now, Leah slapped a hand on the table.  “Did you do it?”

“Yes, it’s done.”  Susie admitted reluctantly.

Gleefully, Leah leaned back and took a sip of her coffee.  Her head nodded as she thought to herself.  Finally, he will be mine.

***

Beth waited for a phone call for days, hoping against hope that the hurtful words from JC’s mouth were said in anger, but as time passed, she became convinced that he had truly meant every word.  Otherwise, why wasn’t he apologizing either on the phone or in person.  She knew he had a busy schedule, but never before had he put their marriage anywhere other than first.  This man she was married to was a total stranger to her. 

Finally, after a couple of weeks of just going through the motions, Beth had a doctor’s appointment.  She had become so run down that she had contracted a cold and could not get rid of the cough.  She was fed up of being so stressed out, she decided to go out and become a part of the world again.  Hopefully, just being out in public would help her regain her focus. 

Checking in with the receptionist, she sat down in the waiting room to await her turn.  Mindlessly, she thumbed through an old magazine, sucking on a cough drop to try to tame the cough. 

Once she was called back and the nurse had dispensed with the normal questions, she had a sample of blood drawn for routine testing.  Time passed slowly as she waited and she had just finished her last cough drop when the doctor knocked and entered. 

“Good morning, Beth, how are you doing today?”  Dr. Smith asked. 

“Good other than this cough.”

“We can take care of that.”  The doctor paused for a long moment.  Beth started to get nervous.  “Beth, did you know that you were pregnant?”

In the middle of a cough, Beth’s eyes widened and suddenly she couldn’t get control of herself.  Coughing so hard, tears came to her eyes.  Dr. Smith quickly filled a small paper cup with water and pressed it into her hands.  Beth gulped it down as if she hadn’t had water for days. 

Struggling to get a hold of herself, she questioned the doctor.  “What did you say?”

A small smile came over the doctor’s face.  “Beth, you’re pregnant.”

The hand that wasn’t holding the cup came up to cover her mouth as she tried to absorb the words.  “Are you sure?”

“Yes, Beth, positive.” 

“When?”

“You’re around 10 weeks or so.  When you see the OB, they will be able to give you an exact due date, but that’s as close as I can get.”

Speechless, Beth couldn’t even think beyond the words, ‘you’re pregnant.’  The doctor quietly examined her patient, leaving her to her thoughts.  Writing out a prescription for prenatal vitamins and something safe to get rid of the cough, the paper was pressed into Beth’s hand.  Still in shock, Beth quickly checked out and made her way to the car. 

A huge smile broke over her face and she was halfway through dialing JC’s number before reality set back in.  He needed to be told, but she would do it in the privacy of home rather than sitting in a car in a public parking lot. 

Carefully driving to the nearest pharmacy, she began to make plans.  She was trying to figure out how she had gotten so far in her pregnancy without even realizing she was pregnant.  Dropping off the prescription, she picked up another few needed items since she hadn’t been to the store in a couple weeks.  She had existed on food left in the freezer and pantry, but she needed to stock back up now especially that she was eating for two. 

Figuring her prescription was ready, she headed to pick it up and placed her other items on the counter to be rung up.  After receiving her total, she slid a card through the machine.  An awkward look came over the cashier’s face. 

“I’m sorry; your card has been declined.” 

Confused, Beth slid another card through. 

“Nope, declined.” 

Embarrassed, Beth counted out enough cash to cover her bill and taking her items, rushed out of the store.  What was wrong with her cards?

Abandoning her plan to do a little baby shopping, Beth headed home.  Placing the bags on the counter after she rushed through door, she pulled out all of her cards. 

Dialing the first credit card company, she learned that the card had been cancelled.  The same story with the second and third.  Frantic now, she called the bank.  The joint account she had shared with JC had been cleared out and closed. 

In shock, she desperately tried to come up with an explanation.  Throwing files everywhere, she looked through the office and came up with an account that had been left in her name in case there was ever an emergency.  Digging through the file, she slid to the floor as she realized that there was only $1,000 in that account.  If she counted the cash she had left after paying for her prescription and other items, she had a total of $1,058 to her name. 

JC had cut her off at the knees.  Apparently, he couldn’t even give her a courtesy call to let her know what he was doing.  He had gone behind her back and betrayed her trust.  He didn’t want to fix this marriage, she was on her own. 

“What am I going to do?”  Beth cried as she lay on the floor of JC’s office, both hands over her stomach, holding her baby as best as she could.  “What am I going to do?”