[LINDA]

"Ridiculous," I muttered, stuffing a hand full of walnuts into my mouth. I've been stress eating them lately. On the news was the story of a yet again another murder crime. The murderer's motive this time was that his wife divorced him. That's what made it sound ridiculous. Why kill her when you could make the rest of her life miserable?

I've decided not to let this Julian problem take over my life. I've started eating and taking better care of myself. All I needed to do now was take care of the overgrown hair on my head. Because I felt miserable didn't mean I should look like I was.

I frowned at the vibration of my phone in my side pocket. Can't Kevin stop bothering me? He has been calling me every ten minutes. I fished out my phone, hoping to give Kevin a piece of my mind.

"What?" I asked, picking up the call without checking the caller ID. Nobody called me apart from Kevin and occasionally Vera's lawyer, and I'd quit my job ages ago.

"Thank goodness you answered, you must be her guardian," A feminine voice from the other end said with clear relief.

I knotted my brows in confusion. I'm the guardian of whom exactly? What in the world was she talking about?

"You must have the wrong number, I'm nobody's guardian," I said in a calm voice, preparing to hang up.

"Wait! You must at least know her, be a relative or something?" she questioned from the other end. I rubbed my brows with my free hand and sighed. If she really wanted me to answer her questions she would at least give me a name.

"Who are you talking about?" I asked giving her a hand. Maybe the stress of whatever she was doing was biting at her.

"Amanda banks."

My eyes widened at the mention of Zeus' secretary. The one I'd often bullied for information.

"I know her, what about her?" I asked trying to keep my cool. For all I know, she might have reported me for harassment and blackmail, and I might just as well be talking to a cop.

"Her delivery was successful. This is the line for Sanctuary hospital." My blood boiled in irritation at that answer. Here I was thinking I was probably going to jail and I get told she had her baby? That's not my damn business.

"Then why I'm a being called? You just wasted my time—"

"But..." the lady trailed from the other end, cutting me halfway. I calmed myself to listen to the bad news. 'Buts' were never good.

"She was put in the intensive care section due to her continual loss of blood. She didn't seem to have taken her pre-care seriously. Then the nurses hooked her up and came back the next morning—" The woman stopped, sighing. I waited for it, the bad news I was so sure of. Something had happened and in one way or the other, it was probably my fault.

"And the equipment and tubes plugged to her seemed to have been forcefully detached. We tried to save her, but the damage had already been done," the lady said from the other end.

"She killed herself," I half-whispered. There were streams of apologies from the other end but my mind wouldn't focus. I'd made her so miserable that she'd killed herself. I didn't have to bully her. All she wanted to do was have her baby in peace.

I gulped, realizing I had been jealous—jealous of the fact that having just the baby of the man she loved was enough for her—jealous because I wasn't content.

"We're very sorry; we give you our sincere apologies. We had searched the bag she came in with for any information. There were no IDs, credit cards, phone, nothing. Only a crumpled piece of paper with your number on it," She said filling me in.

"What now?" I asked, running my free hand furiously through my hair.

"We've sent her body to the nearest mortuary, but we can't keep the baby here for more than a month."

"I understand that. I'll come over tomorrow to sort everything out." I said before hearing the tapping of a computer keyboard.

"I booked a visit for you, come around by one PM to three PM," The lady said from the other end.

"Thanks..." I trialed, sighing afterward. I could barely get the idea that I had killed somebody out of my system.

"And madam?"

"What?"

"Someone has to eventually take care of the bills." She's not serious, is she? Someone's dead and she's talking about bills.

"I'll sort them out," I finally said trying to keep my calm. I've always had something against people in the medical field, now I also had a thing against hospital secretaries.

"Thank you, we'll be expecting you," the secretary said in a monotone voice as if she'd been programmed to do it. I heard the call hang-up on me afterward.

"Shit!" I said falling on the sofa with a thump. My lips started quivering as the gravity of my actions weighed down on me.

"What have I done?" I asked myself, closing my eyes. I had pulled the poor lady into all my mess and see what has come of it.

"I need a rest," I whispered to myself, covering my face with my hands.

I'm so messed up. I thought, beginning to feel the weight of the tears behind my eyes. Everything I was doing wasn't proving to be worth it. I was hurting everybody, including myself.

I coughed, feeling the first batch of tears pour out. I tried to calm myself down, remembering I'd read a text from Kevin saying he was coming over today.

"Oh, fuck it!" I cried out, weeping hectically. Fuck that! I don't give a damn who walks in on me, I just needed to get this out of my system.

I remembered how afraid Amanda was when I first called her. I had toyed with her, instead of getting the information I needed and fucking get of her case. How am I even going to tell Zeus he has a kid? Or should I just scrap that and ask them to send the kid to the orphanage.

I continued crying and deliberating over what my next action should be. I was a big mess. Where in the world was that confident, ever scheming me? I can't even think straight anymore!

When my crying turned into gentle sobs, I heard knocking from the main door.

"Linda, don't ignore me! I've been trying to call you, and I'm sure you've seen the text that I'm coming!" I heard Kevin's all too familiar voice scream from the front door.

I sat up, frowning. I'm having a panic attack and he chooses to come now? One part of me wanted to leave him there until he tired himself out, but the other part of me was just tired of the shouts and knocks from the door.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm coming!" I screamed, getting up and heading for the door. I opened the door and let Kevin into the kitchen. His chestnut hair was styled nicely as usual. He was holding on to his roller box and giving me a horrified look.

"What happened to you?" Kevin asked, looking me up and down. I rolled my eyes shutting the door behind him. My eyes were still burning from the tears I was trying to prevent from shedding in front of Kevin.

"Linda, answer me," Kevin said, leaving his box by the kitchen door before approaching me.

"You know what?" I said, sighing.

"I'm done with fighting," I completed, throwing my hands in the air.

"Linda I don't understand," Kevin said taking hold of my shoulders. I looked away from him. He was probably going to rub it in my face more than anyone, so it's better to take the worst here than later.

"I killed somebody," I said. I watched as Kevin took his hands away from me with obvious surprise.

"You did what? Where's the body?" Kevin asked, backing away as he ran his hands through his hair in a wild frenzy.

"Not in that way. Fuck, you're stupid," I said, trying to calm him down.

"If I am not mistaken, I'm sure there's only one definition of kill—"

"I drove her to it. Well, sort of. I've been blackmailing and teasing her so much. God, I think she just snapped," I almost whispered to myself, looking from Kevin to the floor in frustration and guilt.

"Linda," I heard him say as he got closer.

"Calm down and explain everything to me," he said, pulling me into a hug. I looked up at his brown eyes, searching for judgment, but they were still as loving and supportive they've always been even after out countless fights.

I tried to blink back tears, but it couldn't be helped. So, I just held on to Kevin's expensive jacket and cried until I couldn't cry anymore.

*

"So, what now?" Kevin asked, sitting next to me on the sofa. I shrugged, pulling the blanket around me even tighter. I'd told him everything that he didn't already know. And felt like a vulnerable child awaiting judgment.

"You have to tell him about his child," Kevin said, looking at me with a stern look. I nodded not knowing what to say. I'd made my life a disaster and dragged too many people into my own shit.

"You've felt shitty about this enough, you have to pick up the pieces and try to get your life back together," He said giving me a sympathetic gaze.

"I've tried getting back on track—but—but it's not just working," I said, feeling my lips quiver.

"Then you've been going about it in all the wrong ways," Kevin said, making me jump as he patted my back.

"Do you mind doing that more?" I asked looking over to him as I fumbled with my hands under the blanket.

"Do what more?" he asked, making me shrug.

"You know, comfort me and stuff. I don't really get enough of it," I said, leaning into his chest. He just smiled, running his fingers through my hair. We fell into a comfortable silence I hadn't known in a while. I thought about all the chaos I'd caused. I sighed closing my eyes. I just wished I'd been a lot more mature about the whole situation in the first place. It would never have come this far.

"When are you going to see the baby?" Kevin asked.

"Tomorrow," I said, sitting up. Kevin gazed at me with an odd look in his eyes, as if he was deciding over something.

"At what time?" he asked, brushing a loose strand of hair from my face.

"From one to about three in the afternoon."

He gave a frustrated sigh before drumming two of his fingertips on his head in concentration.

"You know what? I'll follow you. I'll be forsaking a meeting, but I'll follow you," he said, hugging me to himself. That's when the waterworks started again, and I had to hide in Kevin's shirt to continue my crying. I might not like Kevin's mum, but she made a wonderful son.