Chapter Fourteen

1339 Words
After calling the number on the crumpled paper and registering for her first language class, Kate headed down to breakfast, as she had been doing all week. She hadn't once ordered room service since she arrived, even though she had paid extra to have it included. Kate was enjoying sitting down to breakfast with all the other guests, she felt alone here as it was, the last thing she needed was to sit in her hotel room and eat breakfast alone too.  Maybe she would make a friend at her class this afternoon? Kate knew she needed to try and make an effort, but she was too shy and too nervous to strike up a conversation with a stranger. She hadn't spoken to any of the other guests yet either, she didn't want to be that annoying guy on the plane she had tried so hard to avoid. The only person Kate had actually spoken to on a regular basis was Mario. He wished her buongiorno every day, in such a way that it warmed Kate's heart to hear it. He asked about the previous day's adventures and she was always happy to fill him in, even though she was sure he had heard it a million times before, he never looked bored or disinterested. Kate enjoyed her usual breakfast with a coffee this morning. She had already cycled through all the freshly squeezed juice options and was missing the caffeine kick. While not quite the latte's she was used to, the percolated black coffee served in the dining room sure did have a kick to it. It was just what she needed after a long night of tossing and turning. The conversation she had with Nina on her way back to the hotel had kept her up most of the night. Kate had called her to check in at the office and get an update on a case she was working on, but Nina had something more important to tell her; Elise was pregnant! Kate's mouth dropped open upon hearing the news, she was in shock, to say the absolute least. She couldn't believe that this was happening. How long had those two been seeing each other behind her back? But that wasn't all Nina had to tell her.  Apparently, Elise had passed by the office to pack up her things yesterday and according to Nina, she was very obviously "showing" and at the very least she was three if not four months along. Nina had approached Elise and offered her congratulations. Elise really only knew Nina as the quiet lady from accounts and told Nina she had resigned because of the pregnancy and was moving in with her fiance!  Nina had searched Elise's hand for an engagement ring and sure as anything there it was, shining brightly on her left hand. She had been dying to tell Kate but hadn't been able to contact her all night. Suddenly, everything started to make sense. Ryan calling Elise insane back at the apartment when she had heard them arguing, Dianne being so incredibly angry with Elise on their phone call, Ryan and Elise disappearing for weeks and both of them returning to Maplewood instead of Ryan's apartment in the city.  Even though Nina had told Kate so much about what was going on back home, it actually left her with even more questions. She had to call Ryan. She couldn't actually remember the last time they had even spoken, but Kate needed answers. If she was going to move on and somehow find it in herself to be happy for the both of them, she needed to know what happened. Kate made the decision to sleep on it and if she was still feeling up to it, would call him in the morning. So after breakfast, Kate returned to her hotel room, took out her phone and dialled Ryan's number. She didn't care if she woke him up, not bothering to check what time it was. "Hello? Kate, is that you?" "Yeah Ryan, it is. Look, I'm not calling to chat. I just want to know what happened. I just, I need to know what happened between you two so we can put it all behind us. I heard Elise is pregnant. Congratulations, I guess?" "Kate it's two in the morning, I thought something was wrong." "Nothing's wrong, I just need to know what happened. I want to hear your side. I know I didn't give you a chance to explain and don't get me wrong, this changes absolutely nothing. But if you're going to be the father of my niece or nephew I feel like we should at least try and be civil, you know?" "Hello?" There was a lot of muffled noise on his end and some shuffling around. It was possible Ryan was trying to avoid the question, but after a minute or two, he finally responded. "Yeah, give me a sec I just needed to get out of bed. Kate, I never meant to hurt you, you have to know that. It was a just stupid mistake. You were all caught up in the wedding and Elise was over and she was pissed at you for something stupid, I can't even remember what now. She kept pushing me and one thing led to another and that was it. Then she got it into her head that we were together. That night, she came to tell me she was pregnant. I didn't even believe her, she had been acting crazy for an entire month trying to convince me to leave you. I just thought she was nuts, but turns out she wasn't lying." "So you only slept with her that one time?" Why this was important, she had no idea. But for some reason, it was the only thing she could think to ask. "Yeah, well once before me and you broke up anyway. She's pregnant Kate, I couldn't just leave her." "Well, you don't have to marry her either!" "She's having my baby Kate and I guess things are kind of okay between us now."  At this point, Kate decided she needed to end the conversation. She had heard enough, it was Elise who had seduced Ryan, not the other way around as her mother had suggested. Kate told him to go back to his fiance and ended the call. She didn't actually know if this made things better or worse, but at least she knew the truth.  Kate tried to clear her mind of their conversation and got herself ready for the day. She decided on a pair of khaki shorts and a simple white tank, she pulled her now sun-streaked brown hair up into its usual high ponytail and tried to find the one pair of sandals she had packed, they had to be somewhere in the hotel room, she thought, as she rummaged through the cramped wooden closet. Finally, after going through almost everything she had unpacked, she found the sandals wedged between the closet and the dresser. They must have fallen through the gap somehow and gotten wedged in. Kate almost broke the strap off one sandal while trying to dislodge them. Once they had been freed, she slipped them on and headed downstairs.  The class didn't start for another hour, but she needed to stop by a place that sold notepads and pens and Kate hadn't noticed any in her travels so far. She asked Mario where she might find some on her way out of the hotel and he suggested the post office a few streets away. Kate headed over there and as she entered the store, spotted a few notepads on a shelf towards the back. After picking out a pink notepad and green pen, she headed over to pay for them. Kate noticed a few postcards on display at the checkout and even considered buying one, but other than Nina and her father, who did she really have to send a postcard to back home? Mrs Boretto? 
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