Just One Drink (96 page)

Chapter 6

After that night everything changed.  The wedding was the talk of the island. The date was set and approaching quickly. As promised Zaria pretended to go along with the wedding until a plan could be hatched. That was until Zaria realized that she was pregnant.  She stared at her pregnancy test, unsure of what to do.  She had to tell Ryder, she ran as fast as she could to the stables. 

She banged on the door and once again Ryder opened the door with concern before seeing it was Zaria.  He softened a little.  He could tell something had happened, but he was happy to see her.

“Zee, are you okay?  Did something happen?”  It felt like déjà vu.  Zaria entered the stables before thrusting the pregnancy test in his face. At first he had no idea what it was.  He took it in his hands, looking at it. 

“What… what is it?”  He asked her.  It was some sort of long stick with a circle in the middle which had a + on it.  He wondered what the + meant. 

“It’s… it’s a pregnancy test.”  Zaria answered, her voice shaking.  She honestly didn’t know if she was excited or scared.  While she was elated to be carrying Ryder’s child, what would it mean for them?  They didn’t have enough money to run away together yet.  What were they going to do if she started to show while she was engaged to Oliver?  The answer is it would end badly, very badly.

“A… what?”  Ryder blurted out.  A pregnancy test?  With a +?  Did that mean she was pregnant?  Ryder’s eyes were the size of the moon as he looked at her in disbelief.  He walked toward her, placing his hands on her stomach, asking a silent question. Zaria nodded.

Ryder suddenly picked her up, spinning her around.  He was going to be a father!  He was excited.  He wondered what the baby would look like as he looked down at his princess, completely in love with her. 

He suddenly noticed Zaria’s serious look.  Was something wrong?  Did she not want to be pregnant with his child?  He frowned before putting her down, looking at her.  He wondered what was wrong. 

“Zee… what’s wrong?”

“Ryder… what are we going to do?”

“What do you mean?  Do you not want the baby…?”  He asked, his face falling.  What if Zaria wanted to get rid of the baby?

“Well… if anyone finds out it will be the death of us. I’m scared.” Zaria looked pale as she told him. 

“That’s true…”  Ryder sat down before pulling her down onto his lap.  He didn’t want to put her into danger but at the same time he didn’t want to give up the baby.  Having a child with Zaria had always been a dream of his.  He wanted nothing more than to start a family with this beautiful woman. 

“What… what are we going to do?”  Zaria asked, a panicked look on her face.  What
were
they going to do?  The moment seemed bittersweet.  While on one hand she wanted nothing more than to start a family with Ryder, how would she do so without condemning both of them to death? 

Ryder took a deep breath before saying, “We will have to keep it a secret… just for a little while.  I will find a way… Any way to make enough money for us to run away together.  I promise.  I won’t let you slip away from me, or the beautiful baby growing inside you.”  Ryder tenderly kissed the top of her head, a hand on her stomach.  She was glad to have him in her life.

Zaria knew it would be hard to keep the baby a secret but they had no other way.  There was no way she could give up the baby or Ryder.  She would have to take the risk.  One way or another she would find a way to be with Ryder, to start a family with him.

Chapter 7

Ryder worked harder than ever before in order to save every penny he could.  Still, despite his efforts, it seemed that they wouldn’t make it in time.  Zaria was already about two months pregnant which meant they only had another month or two before she started to show and people would get suspicious. Ryder was doing everything he could do to save money for them but it never seemed to be enough. 

Zaria had also done her part, doing everything she could to avoid Oliver.  Luckily for her he had been called back to Mokha Island on family business.  Zaria was thankful for his absence since it made making the baby a secret much easier.  Still she was always nervous he would come back before her and Ryder had the chance to run off together.

It was scary.  What if he came back and noticed her stomach had grown bigger?  What if he could tell there was a child inside of her?  No one else had seemed to notice anything different about her, but she was still afraid that soon enough they would.  If they did it would mean death for Ryder and Zaria couldn’t even think of the possibility.

Maybe she
should
marry Oliver.  Ryder would probably be safer without her.  If she married Oliver he wouldn’t have to fear being killed.  But, no, Ryder loved her and if she left him he would be heartbroken and she couldn’t do that to him.  No, they had to stick to the plan and just keep the baby a secret.  It would all be okay in the end.  No one had figured it out yet so they still had a chance.

She was just glad no one paid enough attention to her to notice her growing stomach.  Her father was always busy with business and preoccupied with arranging the wedding.  She also had succeeded in avoiding most of her servants anytime she was in the mansion.  Everything for the moment was okay so she just needed to calm down and have faith.

That is, everything was okay until suddenly one of her servants told her that Oliver had arrived and that he was waiting for her in her bedroom.  The servant said that he wanted to see her as soon as possible.  Her heart fell into her stomach. Why was he in her bedroom?

Zaria didn’t like the sound of the request.  The last time she had seen him he had tried to kiss her.  What if this time he wanted more since they were, after all, engaged?  Would she be able to stop him before he did anything?  Zaria knew she couldn’t straight up deny him his request to see her or it would be very suspicious.  She just had to play along and hope that nothing happened. 

With her stomach in her mouth, Zaria started to climb the stairs to her room.  She wondered how he would react to her and a million scenarios played in her head, all bad. She wished she could just disappear and not see him at all.

Slowly, she finally approached her bedroom before opening up the door.  She gulped as she entered the doorway, and stood scared.  She saw Oliver sitting on her bed with a cup of whiskey in his hand.  He smirked at her before telling her to come in. 

“Ah!  There’s my beautiful fiancé!  Have you missed me?”  He asked, a smirk dancing on his lips.  Zaria felt like throwing up.  How could she miss a man she had no feelings for?  She looked at him, trying to remember that she needed to act like an excited fiancé.  She had to act like nothing was wrong and that the sight of him didn’t repulse her.

“Oh… of course!”  Zaria chirped, a little too enthusiastic. He smiled at her before standing up and walking towards her reaching out his hand to pull her closer.  She hesitated before walking forward.  He suddenly grabbed her hand and then frowned.

“Why are your hands so rough my precious little princess?  These are a worker’s hands not those of a princess!  What causes you to have such rough skin?”  He asked her with accusing eyes.  There was no way she could tell him the truth because if she did she would have to tell him that she often helped Ryder with his work.  She needed to come up with some sort of convincing lie or she would blow their cover.

“I… uh… have dry skin… Yeah… and moisturizer doesn’t really work… unfortunately.”  Zaria tried to be convincing, but she knew she sounded like an idiot.  She watched as his eyes peered down at her.  She could feel the tendrils of doubt run up her spine.  What if he didn’t believe her?

“Hmm… I’m sorry to hear that.  Well, remind me to bring you some lotion from Mokha.  We have this great crème that works wonders!”  He said before suddenly pulling her onto his lap.  Zaria yelped when he did, not expecting the sudden movement.  She looked at him with frightened eyes as he chuckled taking the look for excitement.

Oliver smiled before leaning down and kissing her neck.  Zaria could feel her skin crawl as she felt his lips and did everything she could do to resist the urge to run away.  Zaria had to pretend to like this guy.  She could feel his lips move across her neck and get closer and closer to her chest.  She bit her lip, hard, drawing blood.  Oliver stopped, looking at her.

“What’s wrong baby?  Do you not like it?”  Zaria forced a smile.  Hopefully, he wouldn’t notice the fake smile and hopefully he wouldn’t want anything more from her.  She could handle a kiss on the neck but if he wanted anything else he would be pushing her limits.

Suddenly Zaria found herself pinned against the wall.  He pushed his lips against hers.  Zaria’s eyes grew in shock.  She could feel her mouth fill with bile. 

She could feel the kiss intensify.  Then suddenly she felt his hand crawling up her dress.  Zaria grew tense, not wanting what would happen next.  When he started unbuttoning his pants she finally snapped.

“Oliver. No. We aren’t married yet.” Zaria tried to stop him.  He smirked and shook his head.

“I don’t care.”  He whispered in her ear before nibbling on her earlobe.  This couldn’t be happening.  This wasn’t happening.  Zaria suddenly felt adrenaline fill her veins as she kicked him as hard as she could.

He fell to the ground withering in pain.  Zaria ran.  The next thing she knew she was at the stables banging on the door, “Ryder!” She called out hoping he would answer her. She was desperate and sighed in relief when he finally opened up the door.

“Zee… what’s wrong?  You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”  She nodded and then looked at him shaking. 

“Oliver… he … he tried to… you know…. I panicked and kicked him… we have to leave!  Now!”  This wasn’t good.

Chapter 8

Ryder grabbed her and quickly entered the stables.  She would have to grab their money box as he grabbed one of the horses.  He just hoped there would be enough in the box for two tickets out of the island.  Zaria ran as fast as she could up the stairs to grab the box, already hearing her name being shouted.  They were already looking for her.  They were running out of time.

Ryder unlocked a stall as fast as he could, picking out the best horse on the island. He quickly tossed a saddle onto the horse including a few bags with very minimal supplies in case they didn’t succeed in finding tickets. 

He led the horse outside before quickly helping Zaria onto the horse.  In a moment, he jumped up as well, getting in front of her and wrapping her arms around him before taking the reins in his hand. 

“Hold on tight, okay?”  She nodded and squeezed him as hard as she could.  Ryder snapped the reins hard and the horse shot off in a fast gallop, making the ride a bumpy one.  He navigated the horse toward the closest dock, prayers being uttered under his breath.  Zaria squeezed her eyes shut also uttering prayers.

Ryder couldn’t believe how fast this was happening.  One minute he was eating dinner and then the other he was running away with the love of life, the threat of death lingering on the back of his neck. He urged the horse to go even faster, fear creeping up on him.  Ryder knew they couldn’t get caught or it would be the death of them. 

Ryder pushed the horse to go even faster until the woods around them were blurred and their world became a sloppy painting of greens and browns. They needed to get away.  Fast and far.

Chapter 9

They soon reached the port city. No one seemed to be following them.  They relaxed before counting their money.  There wasn’t enough.

“How are we going to get the rest of the money for the tickets?” Ryder looked at Zaria, wondering how they were going to come up with the rest of the money.  Zaria looked at him, thinking.  She suddenly had an idea and ripped off her engagement ring.

“I’ve been waiting to do this for a long time now.  It should give us the money we need.”  Ryder smirked, nodding, before snatching the ring.  “You better stay here so you aren’t recognized. I’ll deal with the ring and find something to disguise you. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He kissed her passionately. Zaria agreed and stayed with the horse. It was good company.

Ryder clutched the ring in his hand as he left to find the closest pawn shop.  It felt great to get rid of the ring that had plagued their lives.  He quickly pawned it not bothering to bargain with the shop manager. They had enough money to buy the tickets and a scarf and sun glasses for Zee, and they even had a bit left for whatever may come ahead.  He went back to Zaria as quickly as he could. Ryder then brought his horse over to a stable, solemnly saying goodbye. 

He then grabbed Zaria’s hand and together they boarded the ship together, about to change their lives, hopefully for the better.