Did you really ask her to terminate the pregnancy? Wallace asked in a disappointing tone.
Instead of answering the question asked, Mitch rather stated in despair, "I became responsible for the unplanned variable!" He was stuck reviewing the said memory and did not notice the tone Wallace had used.
Wallace, "huh?"
Mitch continued by saying, "Looking back, I can't believe that I had to beg for forgiveness for 'forcing' myself on her when it wasn't me. It still agitates me to think about that!"
At this moment, Wallace was at a loss for words as he had run through all the possible emotions he could express in relation to what he had heard. He realised then that Mitch was the cruellest, self-centred … and, well all the other words he couldn't think of … He was just a plain nasty person. However, Wallace could not bring himself to say out loud any of these thoughts that were going through his thoughts.
Mitch continued, "Yvonne never really forgave me for that night, but she was happy that she had a baby girl out of the encounter and that was partly why I let her keep the baby."
"You let her keep the baby?", Wallace facepalmed himself and decided to change the direction of the conversation as he could not take it anymore.
"Thank you for confiding in me my friend," Wallace said and then asked him another question.
"Is this why you do not like Amanda?"
Mitch remained quiet for a while and pondered on how to answer. This slight pause gave the answer to Wallace as he knew that there was more to the story than this.
"Not really".
"She just could not guard her mouth even as a child."
"She was the main reason that her mother divorced me and for that, I will never forgive that ungrateful bastard!"
"How did she cause your divorce?", Wallace inquired yet again.
"She was just a child when you divorced but how could she cause the divorce?"
"Wallace, I like you as a friend and the new addition to our family, but I do not want to talk about this anymore. It is making my blood boil too much. Mitch run his hands through his head in a frustrating gesture as it looked like he was being tormented.
"Let's talk about happier times like the upcoming dinner for the engagement", he changed his mood drastically as a smile appeared on his face.
Wallace noticed that it was time to let go of the conversation. He, however, made a mental note to talk to Yvonne about some of what they had discussed especially the part about Amanda and their divorce. As he had promised, he vowed to himself to keep the truth about Amanda's birth for now, but he also knew that walls had ears, and nothing can be hidden under the sun. He did hope that Amanda would be happy in her life.
The little he could do was alert Yvonne of the upcoming marriage proposal with Mr. Corns and hope that they are able to do something about it in the week that they had left for the engagement dinner.
After this, both laid down a thorough plan for the engagement as well as the contract that was to be signed on that day. Before Wallace left, he tried one last time to convince Mitch to rescind the agreement with Mr. Corns but he was adamant about it.
*** *** ***
Yvonne was just about to leave her apartment for an errand when her phone rang that evening. She was expecting a call from Amanda so without checking the caller, she picked up the phone,
"Hello, my sweet daughter,"
"Yvonne, do you have some time now?" a male voice replied,
She frowned a bit and checked the screen of the phone. "Oh, Wallace, I'm sorry. I thought it was Amanda".
"Yes, I have time to talk. To what do I owe this call today?" Yvonne answered with a smile in her voice.
As Yvonne listened to what Wallace had to say, the smile left her eyes. She shook her head several times but could not answer any of the questions that were asked to her as she had no clue at all, but what she did tell him was, "Amanda ..., I mean none of my children was the reason for the divorce between Mitch and me. It was a decision that I made on my own and in as much as I do like you as a friend, I prefer not to tell you the reason."
"I hope you do not mind" she let the last statement hang of which Wallace responded rather quickly,
"Of course not."
"I am happy that there was no issue that involved the children, but I wonder why Mitch thinks this way though?"
Yvonne responded, "Thank you for letting me in on this. I will try to handle it from my side without letting Mitch know that you told me. I really appreciate it, Wallace. You are indeed a good friend."
After Yvonne hang up, she sat quietly for a while in deep thought. She grabbed her purse and keys as she looked like she had come to a resolution and then left her apartment.
*** *** ***
Tasha and Amanda had almost finished the vodka they brought out. They were sprawled on the living room floor and Tasha was trying her best to lift Amanda's spirits but had been mainly unsuccessful. They were not drunk enough though, as they had a very high tolerance level. This was one of the days that Amanda wished she could blackout from being drunk but she had trained herself too well with alcohol so that was not to be the case sadly.
"You never told me about the dashing young man who walked you to the door. How did you meet him and what do you think about him"?
Amanda rolled her eyes but still narrated the events with Kelvin to her.
"Kelvin, that's a great name for our new catch!"
"Tasha!", Amanda shouted with a fake stern look on her face as she tried to look reprimanding but failed miserably.
Just then, a knock was heard.
"Who could this be this late?" Tasha asked as she turned to look in that direction.
"Are you expecting anyone Amanda?"
Amanda shook her head, and she suddenly felt a little dizzy because of all the alcohol she had taken in.
As the knock sounded again, Tasha rose abruptly and said,
"What if Kelvin came back? I do love persistent men" she winked at Amanda and run to answer the door.