“Do you know where a pay phone is?” I asked.
You would have thought that I asked where the nearest cobbler was. “A pay phone?” she asked in a tone that told me that she had no idea.
“Yeah, a pay phone. I need one.”
With her eyelids half closed, she shook her head, then turned back to her homework. I sighed, then looked outside. The New York winter was no joke, and on top of not bringing my coat, I just had on yoga shorts. I looked around, and I must have looked desperate, because the R.A. spoke up again. “You can use the office phone if its an emergency.”
My faith in humanity was restored. I nodded quickly and she opened the office door for me. “It's just back there,” she said, pointing to a closet in the back with a desk and chair. I thanked her then quickly went to the phone while she went back to her homework. I dialed the number, and Tessa picked up halfway through the first ring.
“Are you on a pay phone?” she asked, sounding even more worried than before.
“How did you know it was me?” I asked.
“We don't get too many business calls from the 212 area code,” she said. So she did have caller ID. I would have felt really awkward if I had tried to pass off a cell phone call as my own.
“Then, no, not quite anyway. I'm on the office phone for my dorm.”
“Mmm,” I heard her say. “I do kind of doubt that James has that phone bugged. He does have some limitations.”
“Of course he has limitations,” I said. “What's this all about?”
“You said that you and James had a conversation and that you were going to fly out to Boston to see him. What did you guys talk about?”
I bit my lip. I couldn't tell her everything, could I? I had promised James that I wouldn't, but Tessa was my best friend. Then again, he had specifically mentioned Tessa by name as a person that I couldn't tell. I had been surprised that James had even known her name.
“We talked about... the kiss.” I couldn't avoid that topic at least, I had told her that before I had even left Springfield.
“And...” she said.
“And about how we needed to get it out of our system.”
“So, you're going to Boston to get more 'out of your system'?”
I touched my belly. He was already more 'in my system' than any man had ever been. We had already had sex several times at this point, and I had no doubt we were going to fuck like rabbits while I was visiting him. “I don't know,” I said, the lie rubbing on me. “I mean, he's my stepbrother.”
“But you want to,” she said.
If we continued having this conversation, I'd either slip up and tell her something that I didn't want to or I'd just get annoyed with her. “I thought you had something to tell me, something that you couldn't tell me because James had my cell phone bugged,” I said, changing the subject.
“Girl, what I'm trying to tell you is about James. You need to be careful. You remember seeing Audrey Lipman the other day?”
How could I forget? The girl who had made my life miserable all through high school was now pregnant. Her face had gotten rounder, her cheeks were rosy, she had a glow about her, but most of all, her belly was big and round. She was absolutely beautiful. “Yeah, of course.”
“You remember how I told you that Austin wasn't the father?”
“Yeah, but-” I was going to say that she didn't tell me who the father actually was, but then I realized what she was going to say next. My stomach sank. This call was supposed to be about James. “No...”
“Yes. I just found out the other day. Audrey's about ready to pop any day now, but suddenly all her expenses are paid for. I talked to my friend Kendra who works at the hospital, and she said that your brother's company is picking up the bills.”
My mind immediately fixated on how big a HIPAA violation that was, but I knew that it happened all the time. “That's hardly conclusive.”
“Well, you're right. Apparently, Kendra tried to make some small talk with Audrey. She was being easy-going, until apparently Kendra asked the wrong question. Suddenly, Audrey locked up, saying that she couldn't really talk about it for legal reasons.”
I bit my lip. If James was involved, she was probably under an NDA. James loved his non-disclosure agreements.
“Look, the reason that I had to talk to you right away was that last text message. Nine months ago was the end of the school year. I shared homeroom with her and I remember that bitch bragging about how she was going on a trip to see this awesome band in Boston right after school let out. Your brother was in Boston then. Your text message talking about basically the same thing basically brings it all together. When you add it all up, it seems to lead to one obvious conclusion.”
“So, what you're saying is James is the father.” My voice seemed small, even to myself.