ALINA'S POV
How did everything I worked and toiled for months all come crashing down like this?
I pondered, as I balanced the half-full stainless bucket on the floor back to the center of the room I was staying in. It had been raining for the past few days and the leak in my room ceiling had been getting worse and worse over the months. How could I have been so blind?
'You could borrow some money and go back.' A voice said in my head.
I killed the thought immediately. I couldn't borrow money without a means to pay back, that would be very foolish. In fact I couldn't go back. Not like this. What would I tell my people? My parents. No puedo. The pain would kill them. The embarrassment they'd have to face all because of my stupidity.
Gomes had ended things between us when I told him I was pregnant a few months ago. "How did you let this happen, Alina?" He had asked coldly when I told him. "I thought you girls took pills or something to prevent something like this from happening, so why didn't you take any?"
I had never felt so much pain before in my life. I didn't even know what to say. When did the man I loved get so cold hearted? Or was this just the side of him that I never got to see when we were dating?
He had promised me so much when we were together. I never planned to date anyone when I arrived, what with all the warnings I had received from my mother about how men can be exploitative. I was alert and had no plan for a relationship.
But Gomes was different, he seemed to understand exactly how I felt about all of that and was even content with us being just friends. And although he lived in America, he was of a Spanish background hence his last name; Moreno. He had asked me to help him train his Spanish accent claiming it had gotten rusty since he didn't speak much of it here.
Part of the reason I agreed was because he was also a student in WSU and he happened to be taking a Spanish course. It was when we became friends that I realized he was just pretending to get close to me. But I had already gotten used to him so I didn't mind.
One of the reasons was because we were in the same faculty. He was studying Marketing and Business Administration. We studied together. He had acted like he needed a lot of my help with Economics study. But when the results for that semester came out, he aced the course
I should have known from then how manipulative he could be, just to get what he wanted.
A few days after I informed him of the pregnancy, he sent a note to my house.It said;
I don't think I'm ready to father a child right now, Allie, I still have a long way to go. I have a lot of plans for the future and I just can't bring myself to throw it all away just like that, that would be very selfish of me.
I thought you were different and smart. But it seems you weren't sharp enough to do the right things. Don't bother writing to me again. I love you but I just can't abandon my life right now. This should be enough for you to take care of the pregnancy. I think it's all for the best.
Inside the note was five hundred dollars.
I read that note over and over, refusing to accept that it was Gomes who had sent it. But after a week of crying and waiting foolishly, comprehension dawned on me.
Gomes had left Washington, he had disappeared completely from my reach, without a trace. He ran. Like the coward he was. Never to come back again. I was alone.
Maybe he was right, because I was feeling really foolish.
I gave a start when I heard a knock on my door.
My face felt awfully cold, I touched it and realized that I had been crying all this time.
Who would be knocking this early? It was a Sunday after all and I wasn't expecting anyone. I staggered to my feet. My body was a bit heavier now that I was two months gone.
Reaching to the door, I unlocked and opened it without asking who it was. Nothing could surprise me anymore.
I was wrong.
Nobody was at the door. Heaving a sigh of frustration, I made to close it. But on second glance there was something. On the floor, it looked like a letter.
There was no post on Sundays, so who would have sent this? Still wondering, I bent over painfully, and picked it up. My waist pain was getting worse by the week.
I studied the envelope. It was very neat. This wasn't a bill. I opened it and saw the WSU seal on the back.
Hmm. I wasn't supposed to receive my scholarship money till the start of next semester.
I read.
600 SW Crestview St,
Pullman, WA 99163
Greetings,
We apologize for sending you mail on a Sunday morning, as we know it might be bothersome. However, as per this institution's policy, the boarding members of Washington State University have decided to terminate the scholarship of Katalina Sofía Diaz from the institution. This termination will be effective from two weeks of receipt of this letter, seeing as the session will end on the 1st of August, 2020.
The school sets some certain rules and regulations for the scholarship students and we require the students to adhere to these rules.
We have been checking the student's progress sheet and report card and we find that the student has failed to maintain the satisfactory progress required.
We also learned that the student has failed to appear in tests held and has also failed to give any necessary reasons.
We are deeply sad to have to make this decision. We have always strived to work towards the students' benefits and encouraged them to make progress in their career paths.
Please accept our apologies.
Wishing you all the best for your future.
Thank you very much.
Washington State University.
I read the letter three times before forcing myself to stop.
I had missed lessons for the past months.
And I also missed my Accounting test when I went for a check-up two weeks ago.
I was broken.
What would my parents say? They were so happy when my scholarship letter arrived last year. How could such a promising life end in just a year? Now not only was I pregnant, I was no longer a student.
Even if I saved some money and travelled back to Colombia, what would I say?, Papa would probably die from a heart attack by only just seeing me. I tried to imagine their faces. They would be disgusted, ashamed and would even be made fun of by the people of Salamina.
For a minute I pondered suicide. There was a bottle of aspirin on the top shelf anyway. Just ten pills in my mouth and a gulp of water and all of this would cease to be my problem. I could be free from all of this, from the shame, the pain, the neglect and even this pregnancy.
It was all my fault after all. Maybe I deserved to die.
But I couldn't do that to my parents. They were my world. They were the reason I was here in Washington in the first place. I just couldn't.
A sudden rush of guilt flowed through me.
I was actually considering taking my own life. That would definitely end my parents.
'How could you even think about setting yourself free after all of this'. I thought, as tears flowed down my cheeks.
No.
I was stronger than this.
My stomach rumbled. I had not eaten anything since today and it was already 11:50AM. I went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Nothing. Then the cupboard.
The only thing there was a sachet of chocolate and some left over bread that had obviously gone stale.
I sighed. It would have to do.
It had stopped raining. I went back to the room and picked the bucket from the floor, the water was clear. I had been behind on my utility bills so I decided to use it. It would just have to serve this morning.
I got out of my clothes with some difficulty and went into the bathroom to take a bath. As I closed the door, all the lights went out.
I hadn't paid my electricity bills for last month either.
I groaned in frustration, I'll just have to bathe in darkness today. As I bathed, my entire body shook from how chilly the water was on my skin. I bit hard on my lip, trying to hold back the tears, but they poured anyway.
If I could just go back. I closed my eyes.
Three days had passed since I told Gomes about the pregnancy and I still hadn't heard anything from him. Nothing. I had tried not to freak out over what he had said that evening, he was obviously shocked and I guess any person might have acted the same way he did so I decided to give him time and space to think about it, to breathe. Maybe that was exactly what he needed at this time. I picked up my phone and dialed his number; No answer. I bit my lip and tried again. Gomes wouldn't do this, he wouldn't ghost me, he was the kind of person that always face things head on. "He didn't mean what he said that day. He was just surprised." I kept telling myself and dialed again, this time, an electronic voice told me I had been sent to voicemail. "Hello, Gomes I think we need to talk about this. Call me back when you get this okay? I love you." I said after the beep. I wiped the sweat off my face. No, he's probably in class or something, and with that thought I went to take a shower,
With the help of Vanessa and Charlotte I moved out of Washington after a couple of days. They promised to cover up for me when Hector— the landlord and Señor Alonso's friend— asked about me. I wanted to go to either Nevada or California, but I couldn't make up my mind. When I asked Nessa and Charlotte, they had each picked a side between the two, so the day before I left Pullman, I flipped a coin over it; heads for California and tails for Nevada. It landed on heads. That was settled.Vanessa and Charlotte had tried their best to make sure I would be comfortable wherever I decided to stay, they had given me powder, some clothes, oil and Charlotte even insisted on giving me some foodstuff."No. I can't take it." I protested when they gave me an envelope containing some dollar bills."Don't be silly, girl!" They had scolded me.I was in the fifth month of my pregnancy when I arrived in San Jose, California. In normal circumstances I would have been ecstatic about moving to the famous G
My water broke two months later, on a Thursday afternoon. After a long bout of pushing and screaming, I heard it—The cries of a baby, my baby— I was extremely exhausted but just that brought me comfort."He's a bouncing baby boy!" I heard Dr. Brown say happily."Can I hold him?""Of course." She wiped the blood off him with a clean towel and put him in my arms.I couldn't describe the way I felt holding my baby in my arms, he had caramel skin and beautiful brown eyes just like mine. He really was a gorgeous baby."What's his name?" A nurse asked with a register in her hand."Niguez." I said without thinking. It was as though the name had been on my mind forever. But I liked it. "His name is Niguez Dias."She nodded, wrote it down and asked me for Niguez so she could check his weight. He weighed exactly 3.2 kilograms.I waited patiently for her to finish so I could go back to holding my baby in my hands."You'll have to rest, Alina." Dr. Brown said when she saw me watching the nurse cu
It was a nice peaceful Saturday. Niguez was still sleeping, he had outgrown his cradle and was sleeping on the small bed in the centre of the room. I folded the little mat I had used to sleep on the floor got up and tucked him in so he would feel more comfortable. He had grown so fast, a few days from today he would be two, meaning it would have been two. Two whole years since I gave birth. Wow. I felt a bit guilty when I got up and saw him lying on the bed. I couldn't provide for him as well as he deserved, the dish washing and laundry job I was working didn't provide for any more than little food and rent. I had tried to start doing delivery services for a small firm some time ago, but it was a disaster because I had to pay for my own transport wherever I was going to deliver, at the end of the day the money I was paid and what I spent on transport was almost the same. I quit the following week. I opened the door and picked up the mail on the porch, the newspapers were always i
TRENT POV"What are you wearing sir?" Clarence's voice came from behind me."I think you mean just Trent, Clarence." I smirked. "You scared me there. What's up?" He looked confusedly at me. Probably wondering what I meant. Then continued;"I called you all day, sir. I have been looking all over for you since the afternoon. I had to hold a meeting between Otega Group and our board myself." He said frowning."And how did it go?" I asked seriously, even though I knew what was coming."We secured the deal sir, but it wasn't easy, I could have really used you there today.""Yes. But I wasn't there and it seems like you had everything under your control. That's impressive Clarence, I know I can count on you any time." I said, giving him a slight pat in the shoulder. He smiled warmly, Clarence always beamed when he was complimented for a job well done and I always appreciated his efforts.I had known Clarence for a while now. We had graduated together in the University Of England, and when
ALINA POV"Can I get everyone's attention please." Clarence Jacobs said as he stood in front of the crowd of workers in the firm's large hall. "Some of you might be wondering why I we are all gathered here today. The company will be throwing a party to celebrate the completion of our latest high-speed, 4G telecom tower in San Jose!" He announced.There was a loud round of applause from the audience including me. When the applause had died down he continued."This new tower will enable a faster, stronger and more secure connection for us to work better and more efficiently while also serving our customers better. It is a major breakthrough here in the minority part of California. There is no doubt we will be having more investors from far and wide and eventually overseas. So the management has decided to throw a bash tomorrow evening in honour of this achievement. You all deserve it." He said and there was another round of applause, and cheers from the crowd."Be sure to attend the par
TRENT POVGilbert had proposed that I moved out of the mansion for now go keep my cover hidden."Move out?" I asked, bewildered when he came up with idea."Not technically move out, just to find a place to lay low now that you want to keep your identity hidden." He said."That doesn't sound like a very good idea.""Just think about it. Imagine if maybe someone followed you and you were unaware of it. You'd lead them straight to this multi million dollar mansion here in the GRA. I don't think that's a good idea either." He pressed on. "Trent Williams is a technician working at Suntech right. But Trent O'Neil is the CEO, the main man, the alpha of the company. Keeping your identity a secret will not be easy but at least we can try. First off, you'll need to move to someplace less… exotic." He said, motioning around the living room.I thought about it. He was right. As always.If I stayed here, it would pose a bigger threat to revealing my true identity and as soon as it was out, the med
ALINA POV"Hey are you okay there?" He asked, racing across the street to help me up.I closed my eyes in embarrassment, he hadn't seen me yet but there was no escaping now. My hair was messy, I was in my pajamas and worse? I didn't have a bra on. How delightful.He helped me up to my feet. His eyes widened when he saw my face."Alina?!" He asked, visibly shocked. What… what are you doing here?" "Oh, Trent." I said, forcing a smile. I was embarrassed and I couldn't help feeling annoyed that he had seen me just when I prayed he wouldn't. "Uhh.. I live in Gordon's Drive, that's about two blocks away.""Wow." He said smiling. "So, What's up? No work today for either of us huh?""Nope." I smiled. Uh.. Trent?" "Yeah?" He answered."You said you live here but I don't think I've ever seen you around this area before." I said. That part didn't quite make much sense to me."Oh, that. I just moved in. Actually I just moved in this morning." He smiled. "Soni guess we're kind of neighbors now o