I’m watching TV with Bo when I get a text… Which I find odd because there are literally less than thirty people in my contacts, and more than half of them work for me! It’s from Jonny… *****can we talk?***** *****sure, what’s up?***** *****in person***** *****now?***** *****yea***** *****ok, come over***** *****already here, b rite up***** I’m in the middle of telling Bo that Jonny is coming to talk to me when he walks through the door, surprising the both of us. “So as I was just saying, excuse us please Bo. We’ll take this into my bedroom, Jonny”. Bo sits back down at my kitchen table as Jonny and I head into my bedroom. I know whatever he has to say is serious because he shuts the door behind us. I take a seat on the edge of my bed and pat the bed next to me for him to sit, but he begins pacing the floor in front of me. It’s not like a leisurely slow pace, but a rough step with purpose! “Are you quitting?”, because I honestly
I’m awoken by Amory scrambling out of my arms and darting for the bathroom! She’s puking still? Bo is out cold on her couch as I walk by him on my way to the bathroom. “Amory, why are you still having morning sickness”? She sits back against the wall and says, “because it’s not guaranteed to stop after the first trimester”! “Come on, mi Amor”, (my love) I tell her as I lift her to her feet. She dangles in my arms and starts to cry, “I’m still your love”? I don’t know why I find this so funny! I laugh as I pull her into my chest, “oh Amory, your emotional outbursts finally make sense”! To this, she also laughs through her tears. At the meeting, Amory confesses to Max, Rich, and Charlene about her baby. She also offers for them to exit their contracts without penalty, to which they all decline… We all agree to continue working for her and you can tell she’s grateful. Mine and Bo’s contracts are amended and everyone’s schedules are adjusted to reflect the
Oh no, fuck! Shit! I’m squirming furiously as Jonny’s grip tightens around me in his sleepy state. Please, Lord… Make him let me go! I’m finally able to scramble out of his hold in time to leap off the bed and make it to the bathroom before my stomach unloads into the toilet. As I lean back against the wall for support, Jonny enters the bathroom doorway and says, “Amory, why are you still having morning sickness”? I lift my head up to look at him and say, “because it’s not guaranteed to stop after the first trimester”! “Come on, mi Amor”, (my love) he says gently as he helps me to my feet. But all I hear is that he’s still calling me his love, and I don’t know why this affects me the way it does. As he wraps his arms gently around me, I cry, “I’m still your love”? Jonny begins to laugh as he pulls me into him tighter and says, “oh Amory, your emotional outbursts finally make sense”! Now I find this whole thing funny and start laughing too. Jonny drives
Amory goes several days past her due date, and as each day passes she becomes more and more emotional. Eight days in, she’s absolutely hysterical in my arms. I don’t know what to do for her until she wails out what clearly is a cry of pain. She leans over like she’s struggling to breathe! Charlene is supposed to be here for this, I should not be here! When I can’t watch her squeal in agony any longer, I lift her into my arms to carry her to the car, when I’m instantly soaked in warm fluid. Did she just pee on me? I froze in shock with her still in my arms! “Jonny, my water just broke”, she whispers, and I set her back down on her feet and watch as she scrambles off to the bathroom. She comes back with a stack of clean towels and bends down to clean the floor. “What are you doing, mi Amor?” (my love) I ask her, but she ignores me. Is this fucking girl serious right now? She’s in labor and cleaning her living room floor. “Amory, it’s time to go”, I tell her as I grab on
It’s the last day of March, and my daughter is now over a week late. I can’t ignore the worried looks on everyone’s faces as each day passes. I don’t know what has gotten into me this morning, but all I want to do is cry. Jonny does his best to console me, but it’s useless… Until I start feeling lower back pain! I’m breathing heavily when Jonny notices me bent over from the feeling. He’s on the phone with his mother, who tells him I’ve likely gone into labor and that we should head to the hospital. I insisted on calling and waiting for Charlene, and Jonny, of course, obliged my request until the pains became so unbearable and frequent that I allowed myself to cry out loud from the pain. “Enough Amory”, Jonny tells me as I continue to protest about going to the hospital and he lifts me into his arms. I don’t know if it’s the baby, the labor, or the sudden motion of Jonny lifting me, but my water breaks all over him. He freezes in shock! “Jonny, my water just broke
~JONNY~ My mother spends the next two days of Amory’s hospital stay getting her apartment ready for her to come home with the baby, and when I bring them home from the hospital, Amory’s living room looks like the girl section of a baby store had blown up in it! “Oh my God, wow”, is all she manages to get out of her mouth before my mother is rambling on and on! I can tell she is overwhelmed because Amory buries her face in my arm. This has become her signal for: make whatever it is stop and go away! “Mamá, ¿por qué no te llevas a Gabby para que Amory pueda dormir?” (Mom, why don't you take Gabby so Amory can sleep?) I tell her and she gladly yanks the carrier from my hand. “Thank you”, she whispers as I lift her into my arms and carry her to the bedroom. My mother stays a solid two weeks at Amory’s apartment, like you would honestly swear it was my kid she just gave birth to. When all is said and done though, I don’t know who the father of Amory’s baby is and
***the previous chapter is the last chapter in which Amory’s POV will appear. We have now arrived at the point of the original book ‘Damaged’ on the chapter titled ‘Three Years Later’ if you wish to read both books as they occur in-sync with each other***Amory is behind the bar dressed in a black halter top with black booty shorts and silver stilettos, which is typical for her, and I see her kick into high gear when Sy starts waving to get someone’s attention. We all know that this is do-or-die time! But a couple of drunk dumb fucks smashed to the ground behind me, breaking glasses and spilling liquor everywhere. “Charge this for a case of new glasses”, I heard Amory tell Mel. When I turned back around to the bar, she was mid-air in Bo’s grip, being lifted up onto the top of the bar. She stomps her stiletto onto the countertop before kicking the broken glass to the ground and yelling, “hey break it up asshats”! Her voice is so powerful that everyone freezes and their gazes all snap
The next day, Amory was in good spirits pretty much all day, but it was one of the two monthly karaoke nights at the club and these were Amory’s favorite nights. Ever since doing karaoke with Amory in my mother’s yard, this is something that Courtney and Melanie always tease us over and, from time to time, we entertain everyone with our version of Love Lies! Tonight, however, we’re doing solo acts! I’ve chosen ‘Crush’ by David Archuleta. So, after the new girl Alina nearly splits our eardrums open with her Melissa Etheridge number, I jump up onto the stage. When Amory first suggested we do this to keep compliance instead of closing the club as other places do, most of us were against it. But we now have regulars who come to them and they, of course, clap when we get on stage because they know we’re good! I see Amory and Charlene giggling together while I perform, and I can only imagine what Charlene isn’t saying to her, since she literally has no filter. But I really