Chapter 589: Point Made

Willow woke in one of the best moods she had felt in a long time. She slept well, better than well, and the dream she had was so realistic that she was physically relieved by it. Some of the stress of the week had been drained away, and the sense of dread she had been carrying around with her was gone. She had never had an erotic dream, but so far, she had no complaints.

Stretching her limbs, Willow settled to stay in bed longer than usual. She wanted to take the morning easy to conserve energy to deal with her parents, but Oric's groggy morning voice startled any trace of sleepiness out of her. She shot up, pulling one of the sheets when she realized she was completely nude.

"You had sex with me?" Willow asked in a whisper shout. Oric froze as he took in the look of shock on the woman's face.

"You asked me to." Willow swayed as she sat back down on the bed. "Do you not remember?"

"Oric, please tell me you are joking. Please tell me we didn't."

"I can't; you came into my room, you kissed me, I begged you to stop, but you wouldn't." Willow rubbed at her face and Oric could tell she was not joking. "Tell me what you remember," he pleaded as he lowered her hands from her face. She was not crying, but she was clearly flustered.

"I remember crying. I remember telling you that I hated you." Willow paused. "You tricked me. You had sex with me while I was in the middle of a mental breakdown." Oric's eyes widened.

"I what? What breakdown? Wait, Willow, I tried to stop you, but you told me you wanted me."

"I thought it was a dream," Willow whispered. She suddenly jumped up and pulled the covers off Oric's lower half.

"Where is it?"

"What are you asking me for? Willow, you are scaring me right now. You aren't making sense and I think you need a minute to process." Oric stood and put on his shorts.

"I don't remember anything. I don't know how to feel right now, but you have to tell me the truth, did we use protection?"

"You didn't ask me-"

"Oh my goodness!" Willow wailed. She started to gather her clothing, quickly putting them on while whining. "Please take me to a pharmacy," she begged, tossing clothes at Oric, who was studying her reaction.

"Willow please relax, we don't have to rush."

"Just take me now, okay? I want to go now. Please." Oric nodded and put on the clothes the woman had thrown at him.

Uncaring of how she appeared, Willow pulled Oric out of his room and to where she knew his car was parked. He took her to the same place he had taken her years prior, and she knew exactly where to find the contraceptives. When all was said and done, Oric and Willow sat silently in his car. The man was shaking but Willow had not noticed.

"You've made your point."

"Huh?" Willow responded as if she had just been snapped out of a daze, but Oric was too hurt to realize that Willow was in a world of her own.

"You wanted to show me how you felt back then right? You wanted me to experience what it was like for you, well it worked; I feel like sh*t and you can stop now."

"Oric? What? No. I am confused, but I'm not angry with you. It's just with everything going on with Olivia I'm scared." Oric's face softened before his eyes narrowed.

"What's wrong with Olivia?" Willow flinched.

"Nothing, just drop me off at my place. I'm starting to feel anxious."

"Willow, Olivia is like a little sister to me. If something has happened, you have to let me know." Willow grabbed a fist full of her hair.

"Oric please. I'm still confused. Olivia and I are struggling to stay afloat financially and it's weighing on me. If we didn't have Mina, she and I would be broke, and it's stressful watching my friend burn herself out."

"Why didn't you say something sooner? I have offered to help you many times." Willow felt guilty lying to Oric, but she needed to redirect him. She was confused and while she now remembered everything that happened, it still felt like a dream.

"Let's settle whatever this is first."

----

Mina spent the day with Olivia, whose morning sickness had become so bad that it was starting to physically affect her ability to work. She could only eat soup prepared by Mina or Mills, so the women took turns taking care of their friend, while Willow, Emma, and Jay kept the environment clean.

They had become like a small family, leaning on one another in such a way that ensured that no one would crack, or at least they tried. Mina was by far the most exhausted, but it was because she had bitten off more than she could chew, and she knew that.

Even Dom had his role, which he had started to take more seriously. He only left the apartment when he had to, and always made sure that more than one person was covering for him, especially when Mills was not around, which earned him the nickname 'Dommy' from Jay.

Little moments of happiness like what Mina felt when she was around her friends was what kept her going. There were even times that she could almost forget about everything bad, but those times were rare. She had become increasingly paranoid because her parents had started to behave oddly, calling her more often, almost as if they were in fear of something, but no matter how she asked they claimed to be okay.

It took turning to President Lee to find out that someone had been blackmailing the couple, threatening to 'release information' if they did not pay. Mina knew it was her fault because she had started to send her parents care packages, hoping to prove it was safe to visit them. Sadly, the person was never caught or rather they killed themselves to avoid capture.

"Did you feel that?" Olivia asked. Mina smiled brightly as she could feel the gentle flutters coming from her friend's abdomen. Olivia's belly was tiny, still mostly flat, but the baby was growing well.

"Are you sure you aren't just trying to tell me that you are hungry?" Mina joked.

"I could use a bite or two." Shifting out of the bed, Mina made her way into the kitchen. She shook her head at the conversation Dom and Jay were having and she reminded them that they needed to adjust their speech before the baby was born.

"Only if you give us the update on Brayden." Mina's face turned red as she thought about the man. So far, he had been doing everything right, talking to her for the sole purpose of getting to know her, and he had not bought her anything, which was extremely refreshing.

"Brayden has been sweet, but I'm still a little worried."

"Should be," Dom mumbled, and Jay pushed him. It had become obvious that the man was jealous of Brayden and while no one brought it up Dom seemed to out himself constantly.

"Don't discourage her," Jay whispered, but Mina overheard and wanting to change the subject, she asked the man about Olivia's last doctor's appointment. Dom was the one who went to all the visits, and he was the one who usually paid the most attention.

"They said the sickness will pass without medication, but they didn't give me a specific time frame. Why? Is she craving something she hasn't had in a while?"

"Stir fry."

"No, it has too much oil." Mina and Jay smiled at Dom, who had changed a lot. He went from playboy to father figure, and he was good at it.

"You know Dom, the more time I spend around you, the more I wouldn't mind marrying you," Jay added.

"Yeah?" The man said in a husky and sexual tone, and Jay made a disgusted face.

"Ugh never mind. Why can't you take women seriously?" Jay pouted and shifted away from Dom who was chuckling at her reaction.

"I think Dom takes women very seriously," Mina said from the kitchen. "He just doesn't know how to show it."