CHAPTER 10

It was an awkward silence the whole ride there as I watched her staring out of the window and clutching her fingers tightly.

When we pulled up to quaint the Japanese Restaurant, Wilson got out quickly and opened her door.

Gently she placed her hands in his and stepped out onto the curb. I followed and stood before Wilson.

"I'll call you when we're ready to leave," I said.

The smile in his eyes curved his lips into a broad grin. "Enjoy your dinner,"

I showed her the way in opening the door and placing my hands gently on the small of her back. We were greeted by a server who immediately smiled at me.

"Mr. Chase so nice to see you, are we sitting at your usual table?"

"Yes, please," I said.

She led us to a quiet spot in back my usual away from the prying eyes and bright dining area lights.

I pulled out the seat for her to sit and sat in front of her. Politely she thanked me and sat. She was such a quiet girl I wonder if she was this way all the time. The server placed our menu's down before us and took our drink order.

Finally, we were alone. And the silence around us lasted very little time as I began to speak.

"I know this must be awkward Stephanie, but we have to talk about what we did that night," I watched as she slowly looked up to me.

I could see the look of fear and sadness form in her gaze.

"We both drank way too much and the heat of the moment got the best of us," I said.

I watched her squirm and fidget.

"Stephanie, look at me," I watched her reluctantly lift her gaze to mine.

"This was your first time wasn't it?" I asked, getting the question off my chest.

She nodded lowering her gaze.

There it was the truth. I was her first. What do you say to such discovery? I had to think quickly.

"How old are you?" My gaze held hers.

Finally! Some emotion. Her eyes widened and filled with uncertainty.

"I'm 17," she whispered. "I will be 18 in 6 more months'" she lowered her gaze.

A muttered curse escaped me as my gut clenched and my heart nearly stopped. Oh God! She was only 17.

"What do you mean you're 17?" My voice was harsh and it scared her a bit. Her eyes shot up and stared into mine glazed with the beginning signs of tears.

"How old are you?" She whispered on the defensive, looking at me.

"I'm 24," I said.

She gasped.

I slouched back in my chair and watched her expression mirror mine.

An eerie silence followed.

What do I say to her now? Where do we go from here? I can't just up and leave.

Before I could say anything the waiter returned to take our orders. I watched Stephanie give hers. She was sweet and polite. I was kicking myself for not seeing it sooner how young she looked. But, of course, I couldn't tell. I was so freaking drunk.

But then again, what the hell was she doing there at that party?

I didn't hear the server ask me what I wanted. My eyes were so focused on hers, I answered sternly.

"I'll have what she is having," I said.

Relieved now that the server left, I slowly leaned back and observed her. I waited a moment before speaking.

"If you're 17, what were you doing at the frat party?" A protective flare burst within me at the thought of her being there that night with no one's permission.

"We were on a college tour. Since, I will be graduating this year. I plan to go there in the fall," She said. Her gaze lowered.

O.K., so that's not a bad thing that means she won't be 17 for long. My gaze settled on her then. I couldn't help but stare, she is so beautiful. Damn! I am really kicking myself now... I could tell that she was nervous. How the hell did she get dragged into this?

I sat up and tried to regain some composure. I searched in my head for some ideas to go about this.

The inevitable.

"We have to make arrangements Kira, Just in case you're pregnant," I said.

I gained not only her attention at that moment, but the sudden look of pure fright and shock.

"Pregnant!" she gasped.

"Stephanie," I breathed searching for the right words to not make me sound like a heartless, crass, asshole.

"We didn't use protection," I said waiting for her to respond. My heart sped up at the thought of her being pregnant with my child. The idea didn't sound bad and that fucking scared me. What am I thinking?

"And I doubt you are on any kind of contraceptives."

Her quiet demeanor only made me impatient. The terrified look made me feel helpless. What do I do at this point if she isn't responding?

"Damn it Stephanie! Say something," I hissed slamming my hand on the table. I didn't mean to but, I am so out of sorts right now. So, nervous with the possibility of her being pregnant.

Immediately she bolted out of the chair and ran out. I stood fast and ran after her.

"Stephanie, Wait!" I called after her.

I trailed behind her as she exited the restaurant and began walking the sidewalk fast. The blaring music from the street and honking horns stuck in traffic was chaotic as I shouted her name and continued running after her. I sped up my pace and caught her around her waist then spun her around to look at me. She was a mess. I pulled her aside into a dark alleyway out of the noisy traffic and blinding headlights as the night and darkness engulfed us both.

I tried to calm her down as much as I could.

She was trembling furiously and all I could do was pull her into my arms, cursing myself for scaring her off. It was obvious then at that moment I realized she was probably alone in this. No one else knew and she was terrified.

"I don't know what to do," she blurted out in a panic.

"I can't tell my parents," She shook her head.

"Don't worry, we will figure something out," I caressed her back and pulled her tighter to me.

My mind swam with ideas and searched for what to do next.

I pulled back and held her cheeks gently in my hands. I could feel the tears as they fell along my fingers.

"We need to go back in and get something to eat and figure this all out, ok?"

She nodded. We returned shortly and sat down at the table that held our food. We ate the night away with small talk as I was determined to get to know her. What else could I do? I mean, if she is pregnant, I at least needed to know the mother of my child...... Right!

*~*~*~*~*~*

We decided to talk about handling our situation first before getting further into the design bid with P&L.

I've heard at one time the name of an emergency contraceptive called Plan B that Josh mentioned his girlfriend using a while back when his condom broke. Yes, we guys do talk about these things.

I barely knew anything about it. Although, I did slip once or twice and had sex with Jane unprotected. Meaningless as it was, she was on birth control. She made sure she took it religiously for the simple fact she detested kids and she never wanted to ruin her figure.

I looked at Stephanie and I mentioned it. I got her full attention and that when she confessed she thought about it, but the fear of going to the family Doctor. She didn't.

I understood her completely.

I wanted to know more about it so I pulled out my phone and I began scrolling through the screen and found the info on it. I read it out for her to hear and went over the options. The first, called Ella was a no go because we needed a Doctor's prescription.

I could see it in her eyes as she whispered my name and said it was prescription only. She was nervous and so worried. I continued on to the next one.

I read through it all and it was the one she needed. It had to be 3 days after unprotected sex and this was it.

I continued reading about it. Then she said my name again and it just undid me. I looked into those eyes and I wanted to pull her into my lap and hold her close.

She agreed to take the Plan B.

"But is it safe?" I asked, worried and skeptical about it. I read further down that it's not considered an abortion pill. My heart squeezed in my chest.

I have to be truthful right now and say I'm not a happy camper at this moment. For one, she is terrified and it's killing me that I can't comfort her like I want to. And two.... She is agreeing to take this.... pill. I have no idea how it will affect her.

Yes, I'm concerned. For her.

I don't want her to put her life at risk. It was a mistake we both made, but here she is making the decision to right this by preventing a pregnancy with a drug.

I... I want to say, that a part of me deep down, doesn't want her to take it. As scary as it sounds, I admit I don't.

Why? You say. Well, selfish as it may sound, I don't want her to end what could possibly keep us tied together. But I would be ruining her life if we didn't go through with this.

The moment she whispered my name I looked into her eyes.

"I think plan B is our best bet. I have to take it, the sooner the better." She said

Yeah, for who?

When she insisted that she would go ahead and do it now, I wanted so bad to tell her no.

But I agreed and stood to pull her to her feet.

We left the restaurant and I asked Wilson to drive us to the nearest 24hr Pharmacy out of town. I did this to avoid any type of tabloid leak or the risk of us being known and it getting out.

Social media, isn't it great?

The whole ride there I thought it over. I was terrified that this method of undoing what we did was going to end wrong and I couldn't let that happen. I noticed her gaze on me and when I turned to look at her; I wanted to tell her so bad to forget about taking the pill.

When we finally arrived at the pharmacy immediately I got out and approached Wilson.

"Hey, we are going to run in here real quick and get something done, you mind keeping a look out? It's important." I held my breath. Praying he would understand. I would have a hard time explaining this, but it would have to be later.