NEW YORK CITY, NY – KIRSTIN’S LOFT – FEB. 14TH, 2002 – Tuesday

     It was already 8 pm and Kirstin and Grace were at Kirstin’s loft.

     “Kirstin… did you realize today is Valentine’s Day? Mark called me this morning. I had forgotten all about it.” Grace asked checking the calendar on top of Kirstin’s kitchen counter.

     “I totally forgot.” Kirstin said absentmindedly, more interested in her thousand thoughts.

     “Yeah… I would too, with so much stuff going on in my life.” Grace said more to herself than to Kirstin and closed the refrigerator door after pouring herself some milk.

     “Yeah…” Kirstin was still confused. She decided to tell Grace what was bothering her “G… do you… ahm… do you think I should… ahm… tell Tom about it?” Kirstin played with her fingers.

     “You have to, K. Why? You weren’t considering it?” Grace was surprised.

     “No.”

     “Really?” Grace sat beside Kirstin on the couch “You weren’t gonna tell Tom you were pregnant with his baby?”

     “I never really thought about it. I didn’t think I wasn’t gonna. It’s just that I’ve never even considered it.”

     “I understand. But you have to, K.”

     “I guess so. But what will I tell him? How will I tell him? Just like that? From out of nowhere? We never even solved our problems. And I’m just gonna come up to him and say ‘I know we haven’t spoken since that day, but I don’t care, because you know what? I’m carrying your baby’? It doesn’t seem right.”

     “No, it’s not right. You’re gonna have to come up with something. You want to know why he did it, right?”

     “Why he cheated on me?” Kirstin asked and Grace nodded “Yeah, I guess…”

     “So… you set a date and meet him and start with that. Tell him that you wanna talk to him about it and then, you hear what he has to say and just… I don’t know, forgive him…”

     “I can’t forgive him.” Kirstin played with her fingers again.

     “Then don’t. That’s alright. You don’t have to. But you can’t argue with him and tell him about the baby all at once. You’re gonna have to tell him about it gently.”

     “I guess…”

     “K, that’s what you gotta do. I’m gonna giving you an advice here. I’m telling you what to do. You can’t just throw it in his face that you’re pregnant.”

     “Yeah, you’re right. It’s just that… I’m a bit afraid…”

     “Afraid of what?”

     “I can’t really say. But afraid of Tom, I guess…” Kirstin looked up at her friend.

     “You don’t have to be afraid of Tom. I know he cheated on you, but he would never hit you or do anything to hurt you physically. He just wouldn’t and we both know it.”

     “Yeah, he wouldn’t…” Kirstin looked down.

     “If you want to, I can go with you.”

     “Really?” Kirstin asked and Grace nodded “Oh, that would be so great! So much better!”

     “Don’t worry, honey. I’ll totally go with you.”

     “Thanks, G.” Kirstin hugged her best friend.

     “My pleasure.” Grace hugged her back.

 

NEW YORK CITY, NY – HOTEL – FEB. 14TH, 2002 – Tuesday

     Ashley was now pacing around the room. It looked like he was undecided, but he had already made up his mind. He heard a knock on the door.

     “Hey!” Erik greeted him and entered the room “So…”

     “I think I made up my mind.” Ashley was still pacing around the room.

     “Really? Because you still look a bit confused.”

     “I’m just going through all I’m gonna say to Kirstin to see if that’s what I really wanna say.”

     “Oh… do you think you’re gonna talk to Kirstin tonight?”

     “I wanted to. But I don’t know…” Ashley stopped and stared at his friend “Do you think I should give it one more day? Sleep on it?”

     “I think. It’s a really important decision. You should take your time. If you take one more day, it won’t make a difference.”

     “Yeah. I have to be certain of everything.” Ashley returned to his pace.

     “You do.”

     “Ok. Then tomorrow I’m going there.”

     “Alright. Good. Now, Ashley, try to relax, man. You look really tense. Go take a shower and then just lay down. It will do you good.”

     “I guess you’re right.”

     “Good. Let me go, then.”

     “Alright. Bye.” Ashley didn’t even mind showing Erik the door. He took his shower and soon was in his bed, staring at the ceiling again.

NEW YORK CITY, NY – KIRSTIN’S LOFT – FEB. 14TH, 2002 – Tuesday

     It was past midnight already and Kirstin couldn’t sleep. She turned over for the 57th time. Grace was sleeping with her in Kirstin’s bed. She couldn’t help but think how wonderful it would be if she could trade lives with Grace right now. Grace was happy with her baseball boyfriend, didn’t have a baby to carry, her mind was clear of thoughts, no worries. All Kirstin really wanted at that moment.

     Not being able to sleep, Kirstin decided to step downstairs.

     She got into the kitchen and poured herself some chocolate milk. She took the mug and headed to the couch.

     When she sat down, she hesitated before taking the phone out of its base. She took a sip of the milk and looked at the phone. She pressed the on button and started to dial Tom’s cell number. She was about to hit the last number when she decided to turn it off. She then realized the ring around her finger. She stared at it. With the situation, she had even forgotten she had that ring. Her relationship ring. She twisted it around her finger and looked tenderly at it.

     “Oh, my God! This is too difficult!” Kirstin looked at the phone one more time and, one more time, hit the on button. She was about to start dialing when she heard someone talking on the corridors.

     Kirstin frowned, put the phone down and got up, heading to the door. She then took a look at the peep-hole. Surprised, she opened the door. Ashley was standing right in front of her.