|
DR GREEN’S OFFICE
"Gabi?" Antonio raised his eyebrow at her. Gabi raised her eyes to Antonio and Dr. Green. "What?" she asked innocently. Antonio gave her a firm look. "Okay…okay. I’ll knock off the popcorn." "Not just popcorn, Gabi," Dr. Green said gently. "You have to watch all your salt and make sure you drink eight glasses of water a day. I can’t give you medication to control the blood pressure so you’re going to have to do it by yourself." Antonio was listening intently to the doctor’s instructions. Gabi’s seven-month appointment revealed that her blood pressure was elevated. Gabi had confessed to three bags of popcorn per day with lots of butter and salt – even though it was usually four or five. They listened to the baby’s heartbeat which was clear and strong. Antonio voiced Gabi’s concern about her small size. "Actually, Gabi. You’ve gained quite well this last month." Gabi looked embarrassed but Antonio beamed proudly at the expectant mother. "I think you’ll see a significant increase in your size during this month. It sometimes happens that way…one morning you’ll wake up to find that you’ve blossomed overnight." Antonio chuckled at the thought and Gabi corrected him with a firm nudge in the ribs. "Really, Gabi, I’m not concerned at all…you’re doing great. Except for the blood pressure." "Yes, Dr. Green." Gabi relented. "Dr. Green?" Antonio began quietly. "I’m concerned about..." he glanced at Gabi who looked quickly to the floor. They had talked about this at home and she begged him not to bring it up. "About hurting the baby." He almost whispered the last part. Dr. Green nodded with a gentle smile. "Don’t worry, Antonio. The baby is very safe as long as you don’t put all your weight on Gabi or, obviously, get too rough." Antonio blushed as Gabi shook her head at him. "It’s a common concern, Antonio. If you’re very concerned or Gabi is uncomfortable, you might want to try some different positions." Antonio’s pinkish hue turned bright red as Gabi laughed out loud. Dr. Green gave Gabi a sheet with instructions for her blood pressure and left the room. Antonio’s cheeks were returning to normal as he looked at Gabi. "Well…you weren’t going to ask!" he said as Gabi slid off the table. Antonio held her hand for balance as she put on her shoes. The walked out of the office hand in hand. "You know, we really should sign up for Lamaze classes soon," Gabi said as they drove home. "La what?" Antonio asked. Gabi laughed. "Lamaze, instruction for natural childbirth. They teach you breathing and relaxation techniques to use while you’re in labor." "Your relaxation is going to come from a needle," Antonio instructed her. "I know you, Gabi, you’ll be begging for drugs with the first contraction." Gabi gasped loudly as she turned to him with her mouth open. "Mr. Torres, you are terrible." She hit him in the arm. "Don’t you give me any credit?" "I give you credit, Gabi, but I know you too well." He took his eyes off the road to smile at her quickly. Gabi grabbed his hand and held it as they drove. For the first time, Antonio gave serious thought to Gabi’s upcoming delivery and quite frankly, it scared the bejesus out of him. THE DEEP Antonio dropped Gabi at home and headed to work. He had an order coming in at three and a stack of reports to finish for Ben. He checked on the staff before heading up to his office. He closed the door behind him and took off his jacket. Antonio sat down behind his desk with a heavy sigh. He started to plow through the mess on his desk when his eyes were drawn to Gabi’s picture. He leaned back with a smile as he dialed the phone. "Hello," she said with her mouth full. "That’s not popcorn, is it?" he asked already knowing. "Um," she swallowed and paused. "No." "Gabi, I mean it, no more popcorn," he scolded her. "The doctor was serious." "It doesn’t have any salt," she protested. "And I’m on my third glass of water since you dropped me off. Hey, don’t you have a lot of work to do!" "Yes," he said guiltily. "But I missed you, and I needed to check on you. Good thing I did." "I love you, good bye," she said happily as she hung up the phone. Antonio smiled as he set the picture back on his desk. He was really going to have to keep an...his eyes fell to the thick brown envelope protruding from the stack of papers. He pulled it out as he examined the front. No label. He opened it to find an unmarked videocasette. "Hmm, this must be from that architect," he thought as he walked to the VCR. Ben was considering some remodeling and had asked Antonio to view a tape of some work. He slid in the tape and turned on the TV. Sitting back in the chair, his eyes hit the screen as the image of he and Heather jumped from the set. They were kissing each other wildly as Antonio caressed her chest. Antonio leaned forward on the edge of his chair in total incredulity at what he was seeing. He watched as his shirt and her blouse came off and they backed over to the bed. Antonio quickly hit the stop button as his heart fell to his stomach. He rewound it and pressed play to confirm what he had just seen. He turned it off immediately when he felt his stomach rolling. He thought he was going to be sick. Heather? Why would she do this? Did she want something from him? He stood up and began pacing nervously around the office. A dizzy feeling came over him when he realized that quite possibly she had sent a copy to their house, too. Gabi knew what happened with Heather, but hearing about it and seeing it on tape were two very different things. Antonio began to panic as he thought about Gabi eye-witnessing his infidelity second hand. Should he leave right away...what if she had already seen it? Maybe I should call, he thought .if she hasn’t seen it yet, he could probably stop her. He picked up the phone and dialed frantically. THE TOWNHOUSE Gabi headed for the door with the large glass of water in her hand. "Ricardo, come in." Gabi stepped back as Ricardo walked inside. Antonio never told her about their discussion at Carmen’s party last week and she assumed it hadn’t been too big a deal or he would have told her. "Hi, Gabi. Is this a bad time?" Ricardo smiled as she closed the door and headed to the couch. "No, come sit down." Ricardo sat in the chair next to the couch. "What’s going on?" "I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I’d come by. I stopped earlier, but you weren’t home." "I had a doctor’s appointment," she rubbed her stomach gently. "Just a check-up." "Everything’s fine, I hope," he said sincerely. Gabi shook her head. "Good. I can’t wait to meet my nephew." The phone rang and Gabi started to answer it. "Oh, forget it," she said as she sat back down. "I’ve gotten five sales calls already today. I don’t need another one." She had just spoken to Antonio so she didn’t think it would be him. "So, what’s new at the station?" Gabi missed her friends from work. She stopped in sometimes to say hi, but it wasn’t the same. Ricardo told her stories about some of the crazy things that had been happening lately. THE DEEP "Come on, Gabi, answer the phone. Come on," Antonio closed his eyes. He could picture Gabi standing in front of the TV set with her contraband popcorn in her hand watching his disgusting soft porn flick with Heather - in color. "Oh God, Gabi. Pick up," he pleaded with his heart in his throat. Antonio hung up quickly when their voicemail picked up. He took the tape and tossed it on the floor as he smashed it angrily with his foot. He picked up the remnants and threw them in the trash. He grabbed his jacket and the trash can and ran from the office tossing the entire garbage can into the dumpster behind the club. He jumped in the car and sped off. THE TOWNHOUSE Gabi emerged from the kitchen with her fourth glass of water. Ricardo stood near the mantle softly touching Antonio and Gabi’s wedding photo. Gabi watched him quietly before she headed to the couch. Ricardo spun around when he heard her sit down. He tried to seem nonchalant as he walked back to the chair. Gabi could see something in his eyes. "So, I can’t believe it’s almost your one year anniversary, Gab." Ricardo tried to sound enthusiastic. "Already!" "I know," she beamed. "It’s pretty unbelievable. This time next week" Antonio came flying through the door causing Gabi to spill her water all over herself. He was breathing heavily as he came to a stop next to Ricardo’s chair. "Ahh," Gabi cried as she stood up sopping wet. "Antonio! What’s the matter?" Ricardo glanced up with an evil smile. "Something wrong, T?" Antonio wasn’t even fazed by Ricardo’s presence as his eyes searched furiously for a brown envelope. The mail was sitting on the table, no brown package. Gabi was staring at him as she brushed the water from her shorts. He took a deep breath as he searched for some plausible explanation of his behavior. "I..I tried to call you...and...you....didn’t," he was breathless. Gabi rolled her eyes. "Antonio, I was getting a zillion sales calls and I had just talked to you, was that you that called?" Antonio caught his breath. "Yes, when you didn’t answer, I got worried." "So you rushed home, all the way from the Deep? You couldn’t have tried to call back?" Gabi smiled sweetly at his concern. "Antonio, I’m not due for two more months. Will you overreact like this from now until then?" Ricardo couldn’t help but laugh. He knew exactly why Antonio had come rushing home, that was what he intended. He was thrilled to have been there to see it.
|