July, 2008, NYU

Chanty had been waiting outside the library where Cameron was working part-time.

She checked her watch once again. He should have been out an hour ago.

And she had been waiting that long and while she did that, she managed to edit her paper and stop herself from calling him, knowing he'd be pissed if she bothered him at work.

When she finally had enough, she dialed his number.

He picked up on her third try.

"Where are you?" she demanded.

"I am at home," he answered.

"What?! I told you I'd be waiting for you outside the library!"

"I got off work early. I am sorry, I forgot to tell you."

"I am coming home right now. We really need to talk." She could feel angry tears pooling her eyes.

"Oh, I am going out. I am just on my way to the door when you called. I have an important meeting with my law buddies for our mock trial months from now."

Chanty hung up without saying a word. Her conversation with Angelica the previous week played in her mind. Maybe her friend was right after all.

"Hey, Chanty! Wait up!" a very familiar voice rang out behind her.

"What now, Liam?" she asked, briskly brushing away her tears before he'd see them.

"You okay?"

"Yes. What do you want?"

"Angelica and Zach are at the café. I am just on my way over there. Wanna come?"

"Sure."

Liam seemed surprised at her answer. "You are coming?"

"Hell, why not? I know where this coffee stuff is leading to."

2013

"No, I am not doing this!" Chanty cried out, looking at Angelica with horror. Her head shook furiously at the thought of Angelica's plan of the day.

"Why not?" her friend asked, looking at the cake in her hands with a frown. "It looks delicious to me."

"No, Ange. That's not what I meant. I can't do this," Chanty gestured at the cake with her hands. "This is just absurd."

"Weren't you the one who told me that you are willing to get another chance with Liam by hook or by crook? Well, my friend, I am giving you the chance by kick or by cake. Just kick the damn pride and give him the cake. And don't forget to tell him you baked it."

"I can't bake such a cake! Look at the frosting!"

"The man will not notice. Because he will not eat it. He will not glance at it. You know why? Because he still hates you. He will probably throw it in the bin or give it to his people."

"Then why would I give him a damn cake?"

"Because you want him to know you are making an effort. Remember, it is the effort that counts."

"Has this ever worked for you before?"

"Well, with Henry, it did. I gave him a cake when he got angry with me a few months after we got together. He called me the next day. He said never to lie to him about baking any damn cake."

"Oh God, Angelica, this is crazy--"

"But it worked...somehow. See? He talked to me. He saw my effort. But in your case, Liam would probably trash the cake."

Chanty took a deep breath. "Fine," she finally said when she thought of what she went through that weekend. She almost threw herself at him so what's wrong with a cake?

*****

Liam looked up from his desk when he noticed a shadow of a woman walking back and forth outside his office. Since he had had the glass walls frosted, he could not see very clearly. But he very well knew who it was from the way she walked and her shape.

Chanty.

He went back to work.

Finally, when he couldn't take it any longer, he leaned back against his chair to find out what she was up to. She seemed to be carrying something.

After three more trips back and forth in front of his office, she finally walked to his door and knocked.

His eyebrows shot up.

As far as he knew, they didn't have a meeting.

"Come in," he said.

She entered with a box in front of her, looking uneasy.

Just like those nights last weekend. Liam shook the thought away.

"I came by to drop this," she uttered, walking close to his desk. She placed the box on the table and added, "I baked this. Enjoy."

And then she was gone.

Liam didn't know what to make of that. He reached out and grabbed the box toward him and peeked inside. A cake.

She baked this?

He closed the lid once more and called his secretary.

"Ms. Strindberg dropped a cake for you guys to eat. Get it in my office."

*****

Of course, Chanty saw everyone eating the cake she gave Liam.

And it hurt.

But she brushed it away, thinking it was bound to happen as what Angelica said.

Her friend was texting her about another plan she came up with when her phone started ringing. It was Cameron again. For a second, she wondered how the bastard even got her number in the first place. She chose to answer, feeling a little brave after what Liam had done to the cake. "Yes?"

"Chanty, I would like to set a proper meeting with you this time and please, be open-minded about things. We have to discuss a lot of things. Trust me when I say that there will be no other agenda other than Willie and the DNA test."

Chanty closed her eyes and composed herself for a moment before she opened her mouth. "Fine. I will be available this Friday afternoon. One o'clock sharp. Don't be late."

She did not give him time to answer and ended the call.

Ange, what's the next step? She texted her friend.

*****

Liam's phone rang.

"Yes?" he answered dryly.

"Hey, you don't have to sound like you are bored when you're talking to me," Zach's voice boomed from the other line.

"What do you want? Have you seen my email?"

"What email?"

"The one where I told you I will be leaving in a few weeks and that you are going to be in-charge of everything here."

"Why?"

Liam was surprised. "You are not going to make a big fuss over it? Really? No long speeches about not being ready to take on the responsibility and all that shit?"

"Well, you know I am trying to take more responsibility where the company is concerned now that I am a changed man," Zach uttered with pride, and Liam bet Julianne was right next to him.

"Well, then, that makes it easier. I'll send you the papers you need to sign and you have to start coming in the office soon. I need to orient you on a lot of stuff. You have to be present in meetings and--"

"Hey, calm down, buddy. You haven't answered my question yet. Why do you want me to take over all of a sudden?"

"You know why."

"Chanty? Come on, man! You have not forgiven her yet? You and I both know we've made up a lot of lies to women before. Why couldn't Chanty make the same foolish act? See what I mean?"

"It is not about the lie and you know that. It is about the fact that I am tired of all things Chanty."

"But you guys went on a trip, right? I thought you have fixed things with her."

"I just cleared a few things. And now I want to go far away and be by myself. As I told you, I am tired. I thought I could do this again when I signed up for this project. I thought I would be okay. But it turned out to be one big, freaking mess. And a child is in the middle of it. I don't want Willie confused and hurt."

"You know, I have a very good idea. I know how you can fix this problem."

"How?"

"Forget everything and start to freaking woo her again, you idiot. What the hell! You are like Julianne with all the pregnancy hormones, man!" Zach added the last sentence in a whisper.

"Well, maybe I am. But I am serious, Zach. I want out for now. I am taking that advice of yours from years ago. It is time to give up."

"I heard Chanty's making some efforts. Don't tell me you are doing this to get back to her for all the years she ignored you."

"I don't even know what she's up to with all the efforts she's trying to make and that's just as confusing as before. I just want out right now. I can't take all the drama. So, will you go to the meeting tomorrow or not?"

"Fine, I'll be there. Just let me find a good apartment to stay in and I will be in action. Wanna get some drinks later?"

"If you are planning to invite the other men, no. I am not up for another night in jail."

*****

Chanty and Angelica were talking outside the café about Chanty's plan to tell her family about the lie she made up.

"Just tell them. They will still love you," Angelica said, rolling her eyes. "Remember when Cass and Philip told them about their secret when they first got married?"

"My mother almost had a heart attack, Ange. Remember that?"

"Well, I was there when it happened. Cassandra made sure a doctor was around when they told them. And I'll be around when you tell them. Don't worry. They'll take it lightly. Your lie is nothing compared to Philip's, really."

Well, that might be true. Her brother made up a relationship and presented Cassandra a few days before their wedding. Everyone was surprised he was marrying and even more so when the couple told them after almost a year that it was all just part of a contract Philip signed with Cassandra's father. Hope and William were not as surprised as Mary when they learned about it. Maybe the old couple had had a lot of surprises in their younger years that it didn't bother them.

"I don't know how to tell them."

"Just tell them the truth. That you did it for Willie and that things just went out of control before you could do something about it. But they will hate the fact that Cameron is the father AGAIN."

"That sounds funny," Chanty uttered with a worried smile.

"Yeah, it was meant to be. Wait, someone's calling."

Chanty watched Angelica take the phone to her ear and listened. And then she saw the change on her friend's face. And then she heard the shriek.

"What's wrong?" she asked, alarmed.

But Angelica was not hearing her. Her friend shot to her feet and was jumping up and down.

"Ange!"

Her phone was ringing as well and she picked it up. "Philip, what is it?"

"We're in the hospital and Cass just delivered our son."

"What?!" And then Chanty shrieked.

*****

Everyone started coming to the hospital and suddenly, Cassandra's room was packed. The whole clan was there, including Cassandra's parents. Henry and Angelica were present. Zach and Julianne arrived with Liam an hour later.

And Chanty was with Willie who was having his moment with his cousin cradled by Philip as he sat in a chair at one corner.

Hope and Henry and her mother were talking with Cassandra's parents.

"Did you do okay?" Chanty asked her sister-in-law.

"Yes, thank goodness for that," Cassandra said with a smile as she watched her husband with their son and Willie.

"What's his name?" Willie was asking.

"Jean Philip," Philip answered.

"Does he have another name?"

"JP," Chanty uttered when Philip and Cassandra did not answer.

"Yeah, I like that," Cassandra said with a nod.

"Congratulations," she whispered to her sister-in-law as everyone started to go to Philip to have a glance at the newborn.

"How are things with Liam?" Cassandra asked under her breath.

Chanty's eyes flew to Liam who was standing at one corner of the room looking like he regretted going there. "Not so good. Ange is sort of helping me get to him."

Cassandra groaned. "Henry would disagree on that plan, whatever that is. Don't tell him."

"We're not. And they are plans. Not plan. Plans, with an S."

Cassandra laughed. "Of course, with Ange, there is always more."

*****

Liam slipped out of the room unnoticed. He was dragged by Zach to the hospital a few minutes ago and now he regretted coming. It meant he had to see Chanty's family again. He had to meet Willie again. And of course, there was Chanty.

He needed some coffee so he walked to the nearest vending machine.

"You won't like the coffee here," Chanty's voice said behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder. "I can deal with it."

She brushed her brown hair away from her face and motioned with her head saying, "Come on, I know a better place."

"No, I can--"

"I am getting coffee for everyone anyway," she said, waving a few bills in his face. "I will need two extra hands."

He looked around, hoping Zach would turn up so he could ask him to go with her. But they were alone. Everyone else was busy with the baby. With a resigned look, he turned and followed Chanty to the exit of the hospital.

*****

"Did you like the cake?" she asked, knowing the answer.

"I didn't eat it," he answered flatly.

They crossed the street.

Chanty thought she should try harder. "I see. You don't like cakes?"

"I just didn't feel like eating earlier."

Again, that flat tone.

"And if I buy you coffee from this coffee shop," she pointed at the one they were about to enter, "you will not drink it because it came from me?"

"Chanty, that's not what--"

"Don't worry about it. I know what you mean. Come on, I am buying the coffee but this is not my money so don't worry. Your coffee will not be coming from me." She couldn't help it. She was hurt.

He seemed uneasy but she ignored it as she ordered the coffees. She ordered a large black coffee with no sugar for him. And she handed it to him with a smile. "Here, I hope you'll drink it."

"Thanks," he uttered under his breath and helped her with the other cups.

As they walked back to the hospital, Chanty broke the silence by saying, "I will have a meeting with Cameron on Friday. I am starting to sort everything out the way I should have from the start."

At first, she didn't think he'd say something but he did. "You're going to tell him the truth?"

She nodded. "Yes. I'll tell him the truth and see what happens after that." She glanced up at him and repeated, "I am trying to sort everything one step at a time."

"How is it going for you?" he asked, his eyes as flat as his voice.

"So damn hard," Chanty admitted and they walked on in silence, both of them thinking about Friday in a different way.