Chapter 86: Who Did You Run Into?
Scarlett, not even hearing Sophie’s question, reached for a piece of watermelon. Immediately, Sophie hit her hand, trying to get her attention.
“Ouch! What the fuck? Why did you do that? What’s wrong?” Scarlett shook her hand and cried out in pain.
“Watermelon? For a pregnant woman? No way.” She handed her an apple and said, “Here. Eat an apple. Take it.”Belongs to © n0velDrama.Org.
Scarlett frowned. “Can I have a peach instead?”
“Peaches will make you feel really warm inside. Like, uncomfortably hot. You don’t wanna eat that.” Sophie put the apple in her hand.
“Wait, what? I don’t know what you mean.” Scarlett looked confused.
Sophie patted her head, “Jeez, you’re way too ignorant to be a mom! Girl, you gotta learn a thing or two about nutrition before you go ahead and pop that baby out, okay?”
Scarlett touched her stomach, a nervous look on her face. She still couldn’t believe that there was life growing inside of her– her child.
“Alright, fine, no need to taunt me like that. I’ll learn some stuff about nutrition.”
Sophie smiled at her and then quickly grew serious. “So… I know you don’t really wanna talk about this, but, like, it’s important, so whatever. When are you gonna tell Francis the news? You gotta tell him sooner rather than later, Scarlett.” Sophie said, a stern expression on her face.
“Sophie… you know I don’t wanna think about that. I mean, to be honest, I haven’t really even thought about it. I just, like, don’t even wanna have that conversation with him, you know?” After all, she was the one who had insisted on going abroad in the name of chasing freedom and dreams regardless of Francis’s affection for her. She was too embarrassed to go back and tell him she had quit all her adventures because she found she had gotten pregnant. Besides, she was not even sure whether Francis would be happy or disappointed to hear this news.
“Like… I get it, girl, but what’s the plan here anyway? Like, are you gonna wait for the baby to be born and only then tell him? He’s going to lose it. You can’t keep stalling like this.”
Sophie sat on the other side of the sofa leisurely and said, “I suggest you simply take advantage of this great opportunity to marry into the Sandler family. What do you think?” She laughed.
“I don’t know… I just feel like something’s off… like, why would I wait so long to tell him if I really loved him? If I really believed that he’s the one, wouldn’t I want to marry him? Wouldn’t I have told him the moment I found out about this baby?” Scarlett said. Her eyes glazed over; she was deep in thought.
Sophie’s eyes widened. “Wait, what the fuck? Seriously? You don’t want to marry him?” She was shocked to hear Scarlett’s words.
“I just feel like there’s this huge chasm between us, you know? It’s too wide… and there’s no way that gap is gonna narrow if we get married. People will just see me as a woman who covets his money and social status. But I know I have the ability to make money myself and live a beautiful life. I want to make my own life, I don’t want just to marry a rich man and live under his rules for the rest of my life. This was the first time Scarlett had revealed her inner monologue to Sophie.
Sophie crawled to Scarlett’s side and leaned on her, “Listen, I hear what you’re saying, but you know there’s no such thing as an equitable marriage, right? Dudes with lots of money run the world, and they decide what they want. That’s how this world works, honey.”
Sophie took a bite of the apple and continued, “You’re young, beautiful, and brilliant. You know that, right? You deserve better than an old dictator! If you get married, I would say Francis’s simply an old man who covets your beauty! So fuck whatever people say. What they say doesn’t matter. You’re the only one who knows the truth about whether he loves you or not. You gotta be the one to decide who you want to spend the rest of your life with.”
Scarlett put her head on Sophie’s shoulder and took a long breath. “Thank you, babe. Thanks for being there for me. I don’t know what I would do without you, honestly.”
“I will get myself ready to move out as soon as you want!” Scarlett turned to Sophie and said.
“Hooray!” Sophie laughed and shouted jokingly.
***
Sophie’s reminder to Scarlett was not misguided: it was true that Scarlett knew close to nothing about nutrition. She realized that it was really urgent and necessary for her to gain some knowledge about nutrition and childcare.
For almost ten days, Scarlett stayed locked up inside her room. It was as if she were writing a final paper about Chekhov’s contributions to Russian literature or something, but in truth, she was reading books she had downloaded off the Internet about babies. She was a quick learner, so after the 10-day period was over, she actually had quite a comprehensive understanding of motherhood and everything it entailed… or so she thought.
“Why didn’t you turn on the AC?” Sophie asked Scarlett as soon as she came home from work.
It was already July, and it was very hot outside.
“I wasn’t feeling hot. Are you warm? Let me turn it on for you.” Scarlett answered her as she walked towards the air conditioner.
“Guess who I met today?” Sophie beamed.
“Francis?”
“Wow, girl, you’re obsessed with him. You must be really missing the dude if you can’t go a day without mentioning him in some capacity.” Sophie raised her voice.
“Oh, come on. Just tell me already. Who is it? Who did you run into?” Scarlett walked to sit on the sofa.
“Your roommate, silly! Remember her? Fannie Miller! Or have you forgotten all about her?”
Sophie walked out of the kitchen with two glasses of orange juice in her hands. Scarlett was thirsty. She picked up one of the glasses and drank the liquid down in a matter of seconds.
“Oh, really? But, like, so what? What’s the big deal?”