Darial

“Good morning,” Rafael greeted me the moment I entered the kitchen.

My eyes darted around in dismay. The kitchen counter-tops were littered with flyers in all shapes and sizes with Rafael’s smiling face on them. In all honesty, I was getting sick and tired of seeing his face everywhere I went.

Letting out a sigh, I walked over to the kettle and pushed everything out of the way so I could make myself a cup of tea. As I stood there waiting for the kettle to boil, my mind trailed off to the list I wrote last night.

There were still so many things that needed to be done before our baby’s birth, and all Rafael was thinking about was the damn election.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when his arms slipped around my waist. My head automatically tilted to the side when he nuzzled his face against the side of my neck.

“I’ll clean up,” he said softly. “Promise.”

“It’s not about the mess,” I lied.

Reaching for the kettle, I poured hot water into my cup and added two teaspoons of sugar with a tea bag. Rafael’s arms didn’t loosen, so I dug an elbow into his ribs. Groaning in pain, he stepped away and rubbed at the sore spot.

I ignored his glare as I finished making my tea. Once done, I turned to face.

“Why are you so angry?” he asked.

My eyes darted around the kitchen.

Every few years, there was an election to choose a new Mayor for our island. Our last mayor suffered a heart attack and had to step down a lot sooner than planned. I had no interest in anything regarding the election.

The only reason I was trying to be involved was to support Rafael.

Not that he seemed to notice.

“Do you remember what we talked about last night?”

He stared at me for a few seconds and then frowned. “I have a few meetings. I－”

“We made plans for today, Rafael!” I interrupted him. “Remember? We were supposed to go baby shopping.”

The confusion cleared from his face.

I waited for him to tell me that he was going to call and cancel his meetings so we could follow through with our plans, but he didn’t.

“I thought those plans were for this weekend.” Spinning around, he hurried over to the dining table where he searched through the papers until he found the black diary that had been glued to his hand the moment he entered the election.

After a few minutes of searching through it, he stopped at a page and trailed a finger down it as he read.

“It’s not written down here,” he muttered. “I asked Joy to work it into my schedule.”

“Wow.” Shaking my head, I poured the rest of the tea down the drain and rinsed my cup. “We’re not even married yet, and I have to make an appointment to spend time－”

“Enough, Melanie.” He threw the book down on the table. “You know how important this election is for me.

“I know and I’m trying to understand, but our baby needs to come first.”

“It will always come first,” he said as he turned away.

I flinched when he called our baby ‘it’. I wasn’t that far along yet, so we couldn’t find out the gender, but he could at least be more respectful.

“Look…” He walked over to me and gently cupped my cheeks. “Winning this election is exactly what we need to secure our future.”

Pressing my hands to his, I searched his eyes but found nothing I was looking for. Before I could utter a word, he continued speaking.

“Just think about it, babe. If I win this, we never have to worry about money. Our future will be secure for years. Our baby will be able to go to any school he wants. We’d have a bigger house and－”

“That’s all you care about?”

Rafael blinked at me.

Shaking his head, he stepped away from me and ran a hand through his hair.

“We can talk about this tonight,” he said. “Joy will be here any minute now to go over the appointments for the day.”

I sighed and spun away from him.

He was so engrossed in winning this that he forgot the important things. Rafael used to be attentive, but over the last few weeks, things had changed drastically. Now he was more worried about his looks and what people thought of him, to caring about how I was doing.

Entering the bathroom, I walked to the mirror and stared at my reflection. I wasn’t going to lie, being around Joy constantly made me feel like a plain Jane.

I took a quick shower and then entered the bedroom.

My phone started ringing just as I was making my way over to the closet. Letting out a low groan, I spun on my heels and walked over to the bedside table.

The number flashing on the screen was unfamiliar. I hesitated a few seconds and then picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Am I speaking to Melanie?”

“Yes, you are. How can I help you?”

“Your sister gave me your number. I believe you worked as a caretaker for the elderly, so you have medical training?”

I hesitated. “Uh, yes, I have medical training.”

“Your sister said that you’re looking for a job. We have an opening. Will you be able to come for an interview in half an hour? I’ll send you the address.”

“Y-yeah sure,” I stuttered.

“Good. See you then, Melanie.”

As soon as he hung up, I called my sister.

“Don’t be mad at me,” Monica said as soon as she answered.

“Why?”

“I heard him talking about how he was looking for someone to help him in the lab and you were complaining about not having enough for the baby because of Rafael spending so much money on the other shit.”

I sighed. “Does he know I’m pregnant?”

“No.”

I pursed my lips.

It’s been a struggle to find a job in town, especially when people found out that I was a few weeks pregnant. They didn’t want to hire me and then later give me time off when I was close to my delivery date.

“He called for an interview,” I told her. “I’m meeting him in half an hour.”

“That’s good then!”

“No, I haven’t been hired yet, Monice. I bet the moment he finds out I’m pregnant, he will tell me to take a hike.”

She laughed. “You need to be more positive, Mel.”

“I’m not feeling very positive at the moment,” I told her honestly. “Rafael is driving me mad. I’m getting so sick of Joy constantly being at the house.”

“Which is why this is a good opportunity for you,” she said. “Just don’t tell him that you’re pregnant.”

“I－”

“A lot of women don’t realize they’re pregnant until they’re a few months along. If you start showing, then you can go with that story.”

I sighed. “I’ll see how things go.”

“Call me afterwards?”

“You know I will. Love you.”

“Positive thinking, Mel. There’s no way Rafael is going to win this election. You need a back-up, and the opportunity basically fell into your lap.”

I smiled.

“Anyway, gotta go. Love you, sis, and good luck.”

My eyes darted around the small room. We didn’t grow up with wealth, and it never bothered me, but I didn’t want this for our baby. I wanted her or him to be happy. I wanted to be able to buy my baby anything he or she needed.

I got dressed and made sure that I grabbed my phone before I walked out of the bedroom.

Loud voices led me into the dining room, where I found my fiancé and his secretary in deep conversation. Joy was leaning over the back of Rafael’s chair, pointing to things on the papers scattered on the table.

Jealousy hit fast and hard. Pursing my lips, I cleared my throat as I entered the room.

Joy slowly straightened, her eyes locking with mine and her lips curling into a mocking smile.

“I’m going into town,” I told Rafael.

He glanced at me. “Are you going to see your sister?”

“Yes,” I lied. “We’re going baby shopping.”

“Oh, that sounds fun,” Joy commented.

I glared at her.

“Have fun, babe,” Rafael muttered, already focused on something else again.

Joy gave me a little wave as she stepped closer to him and leaned down again.

With another glare at both of them, I stormed out of the house. The door slammed shut a little louder than I intended but hopefully it would make Rafael realize how pissed I was at him.