Old Friends

The drive to Alia's house became a blur before Kaitlin knew it, she was standing outside Alia's house with her bag in hand. Kaitlin was about to ring the doorbell when the door flew open, and Alia pulled her into a tight hug. Kaitlin couldn't take it after being apart for the past four years, and having nobody else to rely on being in Alia's warm embrace felt like a weight had been lifted from Kaitlin's shoulders.

Kaitlin couldn't hold her tears anymore, and she began to cry. Alia patted her on the back, "Everything is going to be okay. You got me, and I am not going to leave you alone," Alia comforted Kaitlin. Alia pulled away for a minute and wiped Kaitlin's tears off her face. "Now come down and get inside the house, we have a lot to talk about," Alia said as she pulled Kaitlin inside the house.

Alia took Kaitlin to the kitchen counter where all of their most important conversation had always taken place and this looked like it would be an important conversation. "Take a sit while I pour you a drink," Alia said as she placed Kaitlin on a stool and went around to prepare the two drinks.

"I am pregnant and I am planning to keep my baby," Kaitlin blurted out. Alia stopped what she was doing and turned to face Kaitlin.

"When did you find out? Does Samuel know?" Alia asked as she looked at Kaitlin.

"I found out two days ago, and yes, I told Samuel," Kaitlin said as she looked into Alia's eyes, "He wants me to get rid of it. He called it an it, his child."

"That son of a bitch," Alia said coming back around and standing next to Kaitlin. "Have you told your family?"

"No, I don't see the point in it," Kaitlin said as she turned to look out the window before turning back to Alia, "Whenever I mention anything to Nathan, he always says that I am over-exaggerating and that I need to be a big girl and deal with it myself."

"Your brother is a big buffoon," Alia said as she shook her head. "So, how did you get away?"

"Samuel left yesterday for a four-day business trip or so he said," Kaitlin said as she rolled her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Alia asked.

Kaitlin took out her phone from her pocket, "I got this message from Celia this morning as I was packing my bags," she handed the phone over to Alia with Celia's message pulled up. It was a picture of Samuel's back and a message 'All I had to do was call him and tell him that I need his help, I guess we all know who the real wife is.'

"That bitch, she has no shame, she does know that she is the mistress in this situation doesn't she," Alia said, "I told you that you shouldn't of cover for her four years ago."

"I know, you were right after all she did bully me any chance she got and when she came to ask me for her, since she is my cousin I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but I was wrong," Kaitlin said, four years ago Celia had just been waiting for Samuel to propose to her but his parents oppose the marriage and gave him the ultimate that if he left Celia he would get the company or that he would have to start all over with no help from the family. Celia at hearing that if she stayed and got married to Samuel, she would be poor, decided that she would go abroad and use the excuse of going to study to get away from the marriage.

"To think that she twisted everything around to make it seem like you paid her off so that you could marry Samuel," Alia said.

"Because of that I had to deal with Laura's bad treatment this past four years, but when I found out I was pregnant I knew that I had to leave," Kaitlin said as she placed her hand on her stomach, holding the child that she would make sure knew that he or she knew they were loved every single day of their lives.

"Nobody knows that you have left?" Alia asked.

"Laura knows, she was at the house today and told me her usual speech about how Samuel does not love me and that I have ruined his life. That I should leave so that Samuel could be truly happy with his real love," Kaitlin said as she started to look through the contacts on her phone.

"Have you decided on what you are going to do?" Alia asked.

"First, I am calling the family lawyer so that he can begin the divorce proceeding and serve Samuel with the papers. Second, I will inform my family of my separation and show them the evidence of what I have been going through for the past four years; it's going to be up to them whether they believe me or not. Third, I have a general plan of what I want to do with my life, and I am going to need your help to make me disappear. Fourth, once I know that my child and I are safe I will let my parents know about my pregnancy." Kaitlin said as she numbers off her action plan.

"You know I got your back and I will help you no questions asked," Alia said.

"Great, then, let's get started. I only have two days to disappear before Samuel returns officially," Kaitlin said. She found the person she had been looking for and turned to Alia, "Here goes nothing."

The phone rang twice when a male voice answered, "Kaitlin?"

"Hello, David, how have you been?" Kaitlin answered as she remembered David's dance with her at her wedding. David and Kaitlin's father, James, have been friends since they were in college, David got married later than her father. David and his wife Clara had difficulty getting pregnant but Clara took a liking to Kaitlin when she met her at three years old. David and Clara treated her like a daughter and Kaitlin always has seen them both as a second set of parents.

"We have been well, sweetie, but I am guessing you are not just calling to catch up," David said.

"You are correct; I am calling you so you can handle my divorce from Samuel St. James," Kaitlin said, "I don't want anything I just want a divorce."

"Are you sure?" David asked.

"Yes," Kaitlin said, "Do you think you could have the papers ready by tomorrow?"

"Since you want a straight divorce and don't want to fight for anything, the answer is yes," David said, sighing. Come to my office at noon tomorrow, and I will have the papers ready for you to sign.

"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow," Kaitlin said as she ended the call. She turned to Alia and added, "That's one item taken care of. Now, I need you to get my old ID and settle my accounts before I can get away. I want to disappear as Kaitlin."

"You got it," Alia said as she took out her phone and sent out messages. After a couple of minutes, Alia looked up from her phone, "Everything is settled the papers will be ready tomorrow we can pick them up after you meet up with David.

"Perfect," Kaitlin said as she placed her phone on the coffee table in front of her, "thank you for always being there for me."

Alia moved closer to her and placed an arm around Kaitlin, "We might not be real sisters, but I feel like we are and we promised that we would always be there for one another. I know that if I was in the same situation, you would be there for me."

Kaitlin couldn't hold her tears back anymore and she hugged Alia hard as the tears flowed down her eyes.

"There, there now, you are finally free and can do whatever you want," Alia said patting Kaitlin on her back.

Kaitlin finally was able to come down, "Yes, I will focus on making a better life for this little bundle of joy that will be here soon."

"I will become the greatest godmother in the world," Alia said as she touched Kaitlin's belly.