C7 Laila pov

“What’s the worst mistake you’ve ever made in your life?”

Tara stared at me, the look of confusion plastered on her pretty face. I could feel her search my face for a clue oh what was going on.

“What was the worst mistake of your life, Tar?”, I asked again, this time facing and looking directly into her eyes.

So many things were going through my mind and Tara was my safe space. I needed her to answer me so I could tell her the very thing I wanted to share with her. I had called her very early in the morning to let her know I was coming over to hers.

Getting out of the house that morning had been no easy feat. The days before that too.

Anton has been breathing down on my neck. He constantly talked about me and Elijah but never about him and the mysterious woman he’d been cheating with.

I tried to condone his rubbish as much as I could but it was the hardest thing ever but if that’s what it takes to convince him to annul our marriage, then so be it.

We argued all morning before I left. Something about it being my fault that he had to get with another woman

“You have been very distant from me and I had to find companionship elsewhere. You only have yourself to blame for whatever happened”, he kept yelling in the room.

This was a bad time to bring up the annulment. It’s always a bad time with Anton. Finding something to argue about every day was his forte. He could argue about a spoon or a total stranger in a TV show. It’s always one or the other thing with him.

The plan was to stay a little longer before doing so and I was sticking to it, but he made it so hard for me. But I would do anything to be with Elijah and be happy again.

“I don’t keep track of my mistakes so I would know if I have a worse one. I’m sorry to disappoint you, it seemed this question was important to you”, Tara said and I could understand why. She was perfect, almost didn’t make any mistakes. I felt stupid asking her the question.

She sensed the uneasiness I was feeling and she held my hands and gave me the best pep talk, everything I wanted to hear at that moment without her having an idea of what the problem was. She gave the best advice. A big sister anyone could ever wish for.

Trusting Tara was one thing but telling her about Elijah felt wrong. I could talk to her about me, Anton, and work but it was hard to talk to her about him.

We talked about Anton for a while, as always.

“Tar, whatever I’m about to tell you here, promise me you won’t tell anyone”, I said.

She looked even more confused than before but managed to answer.

“You can trust me with anything Lay. You know that”, she reassured me.

I told her about the pregnancy

“I know it was stupid of me to get pregnant by him but what’s done is done. Finding a way to get out before he finds out is my top priority now”, I broke out into tears.

She tried to persuade me to stay until I had the baby which was very unlike her, but then again, I understood her reasons.

Getting an annulment might be hard especially when Councillor Leigh is involved. Anton and his father always had their way. It doesn’t matter the length they had to go and this could be a problem for her. My best friend was right about the Leighs’ but I was ready to do whatever it took to get us out.

It was going to be one long fight, it terrified me but I had to be out of there for myself and my baby.

Of course, I planned to tell him about the baby after I left. If I leave.

Only a monster would keep a child away from his parent and I wasn’t one. If only Elijah had come earlier and I never had to meet Anton or his family.

Tara got a call in the process of consoling me and went outside to take it.

It was odd. Very odd for Tara to not want to take a call in front of me but I was hiding something from her too.

I guess friendships become that way at some point. We told each other everything down to the outfit we’d wear the next day or the kinky fantasies we had growing up. Maybe we grew up too quickly and are now hiding things from each other. I said a silent prayer for us. Whatever this was, it shouldn’t affect our friendship. I stared at her ran out of the room and locked the door behind her.

She always took care of me. Lending me a shoulder to always cry on. Making my favorite meals. Taking days off work to hang out with me but I never got a chance to do any of those things for her. She never shares her problems with me or anybody. And this call might be one, which is why she had to run outside to take it. I wanted so badly to eavesdrop but decided to stay back and respect her privacy. Maybe she’ll tell me later or not.

I was walking around the room when I saw it.

“What the fuck was that?”.

“Just how much was she hiding from me?”.