Amara Gray sat on the edge of the bathtub and let her leg bounce nervously. Her pregnancy test sat on the counter, not ready to be looked at yet. She'd been imagining this moment for years, but so much differently than now.

She'd imagined sitting with her husband, clinging to his hands while the two of them waited for the result. They would have been excited and nervous all at the same time, but Amara would know that she would have his support no matter what happened.

But that's not what had happened. Instead, Amara was alone and single, anxiously waiting for the result. How could this happen to her? If she was pregnant, she'd be on her own completely, without the support of her family or the baby's father.

It wasn't that she didn't like him; that was the problem. She had fallen for him, hard, and she let her feelings take over. It had been a mistake. She knew it before it had happened but hadn't resisted it. She raked her hand through her dark brown curls. Now she could be paying the price.

Amara's phone alarm went off, signifying that it was time to check the result. An even bigger ache formed in her stomach than before. Her clammy hands shook as she picked it up. She took a huge breath before flipping it over and looking at the result.

Positive.
 
 

Joshua Leonard waltzed into his office without a care into the world. He tossed a file onto his desk and stared out the huge window at the morning sun, which was peeking over the tops of the skyscrapers. His favorite view. He ran his fingers through his light brown hair.

A knock on the door sounded. Joshua peeled his eyes away from the window and said, "Come in."

His secretary, a short woman with brown hair and glasses, hurried in. "Here are the files you were asking for. Oh, and Ms. Wimbleton is here to see you."

"Excellent," Joshua said. "Send her in."

The secretary left the room as fast as she had come. Just a moment later, a tall, blonde woman with shoulder length hair and striking green eyes entered the room.

"Good morning!" She said.

"Ah, Nicole," Joshua smiled. "The one woman I wanted to see this morning."

She swiftly walked over to him, heels clicking against the floor, and planted a kiss on his lips.

"Should we get started?" She asked.

"What about?" He answered with his own question. "Are we talking business or the wedding?"

"The wedding, silly," Nicole said, taking a seat in front of his desk. "I need you to help me pick the decor."

"Are we budgeting?" Joshua smirked. He already knew the answer.

"Do we ever?" Nicole smiled back.
 
 

Less than an hour later, the office was bustling. Amara hurried in, late and looking like a hot mess. Why did she have to work on one of the highest floors? Her dark hair was all over the place, despite her trying to tame it in a bun.

She rushed behind the main desk, where she worked as a receptionist for Mr. Leonard. Her friend, redheaded Gabby Miller, also worked as a receptionist, but only for Mr. Houston, who owned the other half of the company. Amara handled Mr. Leonard's appointments, while Gabby did the same for Mr. Houston.

"Go throw your bags in the break room," Gabby said.

"I can't," Amara argued. "I'm already late enough as it is--"

"Don't worry, I punched you in already," Gabby said, blue eyes shiny. "Just don't let Mr. Leonard see you."

"You're a lifesaver," Amara said with a smile.

"I know," Gabby smiled.

Amara quickly hurried to the break room to drop off her bags. On the way there, she kept thinking, how was she going to handle this? How would she tell Joshua? Would she tell Joshua?

Amara shook her head. She had to tell him. He was the father. He had the right to know. But when? She couldn't interrupt him while he was working.
Besides, she had enough catching up to do this morning. And she couldn't tell him after work; his fiancee was always with him.

Amara sagged against the counter and sighed. She fought back tears. This was a disaster. And all because she hadn't been able to control herself. She felt stupid, guilty, and alone. What was she supposed to do now?

A young man with curly, dirty-blond hair entered the room, forcing Amara to get ahold of herself. Ethan.

"Hey, Amara, how's it going?" He asked.

"Fine, thank you," Amara answered politely.

She hurried out of the room to her desk. Rumor had it that Ethan had a thing for Amara, and she couldn't bear to try and handle that today. She knew he wanted to ask her out, but that couldn't happen.

That was another thing Amara hadn't thought of. She probably wouldn't be able to date anyone for the next year or so. Who would want to date a woman who was carrying another man's child?

Amara's hands shook as she tried to do her work. She was going to see her parents in a few weeks for her mom's birthday. They would be asking about her love life for sure. After all, Amara was 24 now. How could she tell them she was pregnant, without being married, and without a man to support her?

As Amara picked up the phone to return some calls she had to make for Joshua, she could only think of the phone call she would have to make to the doctor later that night. How could she have let this happen?

6 weeks ago

Amara sat at her desk, trying to get everything done that was necessary. Everyone else had gone home already. Joshua had been focusing on Nicole way too much, and had fallen behind as a result. Of course, when he got behind, so did she.

Amara couldn't see what he saw in Nicole. Although lately, it didn't seem like he saw anything in her. They had been yelling at each other like crazy, and yesterday, Amara had actually witnessed Nicole storm out of his office and out of the building. She hadn't seen her since.

"Oh, you're still here."

Amara looked up into her boss's face. "I'm just trying to finish this so I don't have to do it tomorrow."

"Well, since you're here," Joshua said, "I have dinner reservations for tonight. I was just going to cancel them, but maybe you'd like to join me?"

Was he asking her out? Despite the fact that his fiancee had walked out on him just over 24 hours ago? She couldn't do it.

"What about Nicole?" Amara found herself saying.

"Forget about Nicole," Joshua answered. "She isn't worth it right now."

A nagging feeling was biting at Amara from the inside. But he was smiling at her. He obviously liked her. She glanced at the clock. It was almost seven. She would have to grab dinner anyway...

"Alright," she said, though her heart started pounding. "Let's go."
 
"Amara!"

Amara glanced up at Gabby, who was looking at her, concerned. She just realized that she hadn't even touched her lunch.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Amara asked.

"Are you okay?" Gabby asked her, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear. "You've been out of it all morning."

"I'm okay," Amara answered. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Care to elaborate?"

Amara glanced around the break room. Ethan was talking to a friend of his on the other side. A few others were scattered around, eager to catch up with co-workers before their hour was up.

"Not right now," Amara said finally. "It's really personal."

"Okay, we can talk about it after work if you want," Gabby suggested.

Amara nodded, then began picking at her salad again. She tried to eat it, but she was feeling nauseous. She wasn't sure if that was a symptom, or because she was so nervous about this whole thing...
 
 
 
They had laughed and talked all through dinner. Amara couldn't believe how well they had gotten along. Sure, she may have been slightly attracted to him before, but she had thought that was normal. After all, he was charming, good looking, and smart.

Joshua had ordered red wine with their meal. Amara didn't drink much, but she didn't want to be rude. Besides, it was just a little wine. That never hurt anyone, right?

"I never noticed how gorgeous your eyes are," Joshua said.

"Really?" Amara glanced down, embarrassed. "My last boyfriend said they look like pools of mud."

Joshua laughed. This felt weird. She was kind of on a date with her boss, but it wasn't a bad thing. At least, it didn't really seem like a bad thing. Amara had never felt this kind of connection with a guy on the first date. Wait, was it a date?

Amara slammed her bag down on her desk as she prepared to go home for the night.

"What's going on?" Ethan called.

Amara looked up, and blushed a bit from embarrassment. "Nothing," she lied. "I'm fine, really."

"You don't sound fine," Ethan said, concern in his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Amara glanced up into his face. She wanted to tell him, she really did, bit she wasn't even sure yet. She wanted the doctor to tell her for sure. Besides, this would ruin their whole relationship. If he really liked her, he would never think of her the same way after finding out she slept with their boss.

"I'm fine, really," Amara insisted. "It's nothing. I'm just tired."

"Okay. See you tomorrow," Ethan said. He walked out of the office.

"Okay, where should we go get dinner?" Gabby said.

"You know what? I'm really not hungry," Amara said. It wasn't a lie; she was feeling sick to her stomach.

"You've hardly eaten anything all day!" Gabby planted her hands on her hips. "Did Chantelle insult your weight again? Because so help me--"

"No! No, nothing like that," Amara couldn't help but laugh. "I'm just not feeling up to it tonight. Rain check?"

Gabby watched her for a moment, before answering, "Alright. But if something's happened, you'll talk to me, right? After all, that's what I'm here for."

Amara reluctantly nodded, and the two parted ways. As Amara drove home, she couldn't fight the tears in her eyes. She had to call the doctor tonight and make sure she didn't have a false positive. She would have to tell someone either way, it was killing her. Amara wondered who she would tell first. Gabby? Joshua? And would she ever tell Ethan?

She blew air through her lips as she continued to cry. She felt like she had let down a lot of people. She liked, Ethan, but not in that regard. However, the fact that his viewpoint of her would be tainted is what was hurting her. Her parents would be devastated. They always taught her that sex before marriage was wrong. Now she was possibly carrying the baby of a man who didn't believe that. That idea alone would kill them.

But that wasn't the worst part. Amara had let herself down. She could never forgive herself, even if her pregnancy test was wrong. Why hadn't she trusted her instincts that night?

Things were going much better than expected. Amara had thought they were just going out as friends. But things seemed to be taking a turn for the better. Amara had determined that she and Joshua got along very well.

"You want to come over to my apartment?" Joshua asked.

Amara almost choked on her water. "I don't think that's a good idea. It's getting kind of late--"

"How are you getting home?" Joshua said. "I know your car's in the shop."

"Oh, I forgot about that," Amara answered. "I'll just take the bus."

"No way," Joshua said. "It's late, and it's getting cold."

Amara bit at her lip. He was right. The temperature outside was quite low, even for January. And who knew when the next bus would be coming?

"Tell you what," Joshua suggested, "you can either come over to my apartment, we'll chat and get to know each other a little better, and then I'll drive you home. Or I can just drive you home now. But I'd love to get to know some of my employees better."

Amara thought it over. Normally, she would have said no to coming over at the drop of the hat. She knew the alcohol was skewing her decisions, but she simply couldn't find any reason to say no this time. Besides, they were having fun, and he just wanted to get to know her better. And she wanted to know more about him.

"Alright," she finally said. "I'll come over for a bit."

Amara opened her eyes and immediately felt sick. Before she could even really wake up, she was rushing to the bathroom and throwing up what little food she had in her stomach.

After a few minutes, Amara forced herself to take a drink of water, just so that she'd have something else in her stomach. If she wasn't pregnant, there was definitely, something wrong with her.

She did a quick calculation in her head. Dr. Chang wasn't able to take her until Monday, and today was Friday. That meant Amara had to deal with this uncertainty for another three days.

She sighed and wondered if she should call in sick. Shaking her head, Amara decided that she should at least try to push through it for one more day. She had to find someone to cover her shift anyway, and she only had to make it through today before she was off for the weekend.

As she got dressed, Amara thought back to the night it happened. She had thought it was worth it, but apparently, she was mistaken...

The two of them drove to the better part of the city. Amara had always been intimidated by this area, but with Joshua holding her hand as he drove, she felt okay. They pulled up to a huge and fancy apartment building.

"This is so cool!" Amara said, as Joshua opened the door for her.

The building was huge. The inside reminded Amara is the Plaza Hotel in New York. Joshua nodded at the doorman as the two of them entered. Amara just watched, amazed. He belonged so well here.

They went to the elevator and Joshua pressed the button for the highest floor. Wow. He lived in the penthouse?Amara felt his eyes on her as they rode to the top in silence. But it wasn't an awkward silence.

After a moment, the elevator opened up right into Joshua's apartment. Amara's jaw dropped as she looked around the apartment that was probably the size of the house.

The apartment had a black and white theme. There was a spiral staircase that led to a second floor. A chandelier hung from the ceiling. A large glass window took up almost an entire wall.

Amara wandered through the apartment, opening the doors to the balcony and stepping out. She leaned on the railing and gazed out at the city's nightlife. She felt Joshua following her, and waited until he stopped beside her before she spoke.

"I can't believe you actually live here. It's beautiful!"

"I know right? Of course, it's not the only thing that's beautiful," Joshua said.

Amara looked up at him, and smiled, slightly embarrassed. Her face went red and hot with embarrassment.She felt his hand very low on her back, almost touching her butt, but not quite. He was too classy for that.

They moved back inside and Amara sat on the black couch as Joshua went to the kitchen.

"Would you prefer more red wine or champagne this time?" He called.

Neither, technically, but Amara didn't want to be rude. "I think wine seems to work well," she says, mainly because she had only ever had champagne at weddings and celebrations. This didn't feel like the right time.

Everytime Amara thought about it, she felt sick. She couldn't tell if it was because she wasn't feeling well, or because she was so mad at herself. She should have said no to everything before it had even started.

Everything that had happened that night was totally out of character for her. Amara knew she and Joshua didn't share the same belief system, which should have led her to decline dinner. She didn't drink, so she shouldn't have let what he thought pressure her. What had come over her?

She could feel his hot breath on her lips. She wanted to close the gap between them, but this was her boss! She didn't want to make the first move.

His soft, warm lips met hers, finally. She closed her eyes and melted into it. This was different then her past boyfriends, and she wasn't sure why. But she didn't mind. It was a good different.

After a brief moment, he pulled away.

"I'm sorry. I probably should have--"

She cut him off by kissing him again, more passionately than the first. She felt him smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he grasped her waist. She felt his other hand wind its way into her hair.

They were both under the influence now, but she didn't care. The only thing that mattered was what was happening there and then. Things moved quickly, and suddenly, they were in the bedroom. Before Amara knew it, they were on the big bed, and there was no going back.

Amara rushed the the bathroom and threw up her breakfast, trying to avoid getting anything on her clothes. She hoped that was just her memories of the night that was making her do that. Otherwise, she wasn't sure that she could make it through a whole pregnancy.

Amara was glad that she had taken the day off. Doctor Chang's office was busy. That only made her anxiety worse. She felt the need to throw up again, but was able to keep it under control this time.

Finally, the receptionist said that Dr. Chang was ready for her. Knowing that it had to happen sometime, Amara forced herself to go into the examination room, despite her anxiety.

"Are you ready to go?" Dr. Chang asked.

Amara nodded; she was too nervous to speak. She wondered if maybe she should have brought someone with her for moral support. No. Too many rumors would get started. Besides, if there was nothing to worry about, why spread the word?

As the doctor performed the test, Amara knew that there was something to worry about. Even if she wasn't pregnant, though she was sure she was, how was she going to keep something like this from happening again?

Once the examination was finished, the doctor stood in front of Amara, looking at her papers.

"Well, it looks like you were right to come see me," Dr. Chang said. "You are about six weeks pregnant. Congratulations!"

Amara didn't know what to say. A million emotions raced through her. On one hand, she had wanted to be a mom for a long time. But the father was engaged to someone else! And how could she care for it by herself?

She suddenly realized that it was mostly fear. Her parents would kill her. Her reputation would be ruined. She was on her own, unless Joshua wanted to help her. But what were the chances of that happening? Especially with Nicole in the picture...

As the doctor discussed her options, Amara fought back tears. This just couldn't be happening.
  
  
  
"Okay, what's going on?"

Amara looked up to see Gabby falling into step beside her. The two of them walked toward the elevators as Gabby continued.

"You've been acting weird all week," Gabby said as Amara pushed the button. "You weren't here on Monday, you were barely here yesterday because of how distracted you were, and during lunch yesterday you ran out for McDonald's even though I saw your sandwich in the fridge. It's time you tell me what's up."

Amara sighed and waited for the doors to close after the other person got off at the second floor. She and Gabby worked on the seventieth, so it wasn't like she was in a rush.

"I wasn't here on Monday because I was at the doctor's," Amara said. "I was distracted yesterday because--" she turned to her friend "--I'm pregnant."

"What?!" Gabby gaped at her. "Oh my gosh! That's great! I didn't even know you had a boyfriend!"

"Well, that's the problem," Amara said, "I don't."

Gabby stared, prompting her to continue, "I had a one night stand."

"Wha--are you serious?" Gabby actually started laughing. "You? Miss I-do-everything-right-all-the-time-and-annoy-my-best-friend-with-it?"

"Yes, and--wait, that actually bothers you?" Amara asked.

"Forget it," Gabby said. She grasped Amara's hands. "Who's is it?"

Amara opened her mouth to answer, but then the elevator doors opened. The two of them stayed silent as another group got on. Amara tried to ignore it, but Gabby was sending her frantic wide-eyed glances. They waited a few minutes until the others had reached their floor.

"So, who did you sleep with?" Gabby asked once they were gone. "No, wait. Let me guess."

Amara rolled her eyes. This could take a while, but they still had time.

"Was it Tyler from accounting?"

Amara shook her head.

"Scott?" Gabby pressed

"No."

"Ethan?"

"No!" Amara looked her in the eye. "It was Mr. Leonard."

"What? Amara..." Gabby's eyes were even wider now.

"I know!" Amara said.

"You slept with our boss and now you're carrying his baby?!" Gabby exclaimed.

Amara hated hearing it from someone else because that just made it all the more real.

"Yes!" She squeaked out. "And now I don't know what to do, so you've gotta help me!"

"Okay, okay, let me think for a minute," Gabby said. "Have you told him yet?"

Amara shook her head again, this time fighting back tears.

"What about your parents?"

"I haven't told anyone except for you," Amara said.

The doors opened to their floor, and Amara hesitantly stepped off. Gabby followed close behind her, then grabbed her by the arm. She dragged her to the ladies' room, which was thankfully unoccupied. Everyone was too busy this morning.

"Okay, don't flip out on me, this is just a suggestion," Gabby said. "Why don't you just get rid of it?"

"Gabby!" Amara snapped. "I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Because!" Amara crossed her arms. "It was my fault anyway. I got drunk. I had sex. There's no reason to make an unborn baby suffer just because I made the mistake of not being more careful. I shouldn't have gone out with him in the first place, let alone slept with him!"

"Well, think about it, Amara," Gabby suggested. "You and I both know that you weren't planning on even accidently getting pregnant before you got married. This way, you can avoid a lot of grief. No one else will have to know."

"I did a lot wrong that night, but I'm not going to make another mistake," Amara said, shaking her head. "Besides, it's his baby, and my parents' first grandchild. It wouldn't be fair to any of them if they didn't know."

"Well, as long as you know what you're doing," Gabby said.

The two of them wandered into the office, ready to punch in.

"That's the problem," Amara said quietly to Gabby. "I'm really not sure of what I'm doing anymore."

5 weeks earlier

"You told me she didn't matter!" Amara yelled, screamed even.

"Keep your voice down," Joshua commanded. "Someone's bound to hear you."

"I don't care!" Amara yelled, tears streaming down her face. They were in his office, but it didn't matter to her right now.

"Oh, you should care," Joshua said in a stern voice. He walked around his desk toward her."You don't anyone to know you slept with your boss, do you?"

"Hey, this was a two person project," Amara shot back.

"Yes, but I can bounce back quite quickly," Joshua said. "I've been in many scandals, but it's easy to get out of them when you have money. Can you do the same thing?"

Amara didn't answer. He had a point. He knew as well as she did that she didn't have the money to pay people off like he did.

"Why don't you just fire me?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Do you want me to fire you?" Joshua said. "I think this will be better. We'll go on like nothing happened, and no one will be suspicious."

"Will you share our secret?" Amara asked.

"Why should I?" He answered. "It's not like I'll gain or lose anything. I can just hire another receptionist. Your reputation is the only one at stake."

Amara started at the feeling, even as she spoke in a low voice. "You said that you and Nicole had broken up. I didn't think you would leave me after a week just to go back to her."

"Actually, I believe I said we were on a break," Joshua said, leaning against his desk and planting his hands in his pockets. "And were you really that naïve? You should have expected that, with my reputation, we wouldn't have lasted more than a month."
  

Amara wished she had remembered his reputation before any of this had happened. She would have saved herself a lot of grief and heartache. She hadn't thought he would reject her so easily. That memory only made her more nervous to tell him. Although she wasn't all too sure why. What was the worst that could happen?

For once, she hadn't been hungry for lunch. And she didn't feel like throwing up either, at least not anymore. The day was coming to a close, and she wanted to get this over with before she went home.

Swallowing her fear, Amara got up from her desk and made her way to Joshua's office. She sincerely hoped that Nicole wasn't in there. That would make things even worse all around.
 
 
 
Joshua stretched and cracked his back. He shut off his computer and was beginning to gather up his things when he heard a knock at the door. He sighed. Who was it and what did they want?

"Come in," Joshua called.

Amara poked her head in. "Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you."

"Alright, come on in," Joshua said.  "But make it quick."

He didn't want a repeat of the last time they had been alone in his office. He was surprised that she hadn't thrown something at him.

She timidly entered his office. Her shyness made her already slim frame appear to be even smaller. Amara took a big breath and allowed her brown eyes to meet his blue ones.

"Well?" Joshua asked. He didn't have time for this.

"You remember that night we had a few weeks ago?" Amara started.

Joshua groaned. "Ms. Gray, we've been over this. It's not going to happen. I'm marrying Nicole."

"That's not it," She said.

"Then what is it?" Joshua asked, growing impatient.

She inhaled another big breath, then finally spat it out, "I'm pregnant."

Joshua's eyes widened. "Oh. I see. So you want to talk about maternity leave? You think I owe you that after our night, right?"

"Well, technically, I'm entitled to that anyway, but that's not why I'm here," Amara said. "I brought up that night because--it's yours."

Joshua froze. They both stayed silent for a moment. The only sound in the office was Joshua's own heart beating. He hoped she couldn't hear it. Finally, he snapped out of it. No way.

"Look, Amanda--"

"Amara," she quickly corrected.

"Whatever," Joshua didn't care. "I know you're upset about what happened between us, and I'm sorry you feel that way. But lying about this isn't the answer. And you won't get much sympathy from me."

Amara stood there, shocked. How could he think she was lying? Apparently, they really should have gotten to know each other better.

"I'm not lying!" Amara protested. "I really am pregnant!"

"I didn't say you weren't," Joshua said, grabbing his jacket. "But I can assure you, it's not mine."

"What makes you think that?"" Amara asked, starting to get defensive.

"Because things like this just don't happen to me."

Amara was taken back by that. "But you're the only one who I-"

"You expect me to believe that?" Joshua put this jacket on. "You slept with me on the first date. I don't even know if I could consider what we did as a date. How do I know that you didn't sleep with someone else after I dumped you, just to pull me into a baby trap?"

Amara stood there in shock. She tried to answer, but nothing would come out. How could he think she would do something like that? She wasn't that type of girl. Just as she was about to answer, someone else knocked at the door.

Nicole poked her head through the door without waiting for him to answer. Amara groaned inwardly. Why did she have to show up now? Nicole entered the room, obviously not caring that Amara and Joshua were having a conversation. Or argument.

"Are we ready to go?" She asked, barely acknowledging Amara.

Joshua kissed her as a greeting, before answering, "Yes, I am. I think we're about done here. I'll see you tomorrow, Ms. Gray."

Amara sighed. He ushered her out of his office and she gathered up her things.

"How'd it go?" Gabby appeared out of nowhere.

Amara shook her head. She didn't want to talk about it. She quickly grabbed her bag and made her way out of the building without a word to anyone.

"Hey, Amara," Ethan said as she walked by. "I was wondering if--"

She didn't let him finish, but instead just kept walking, failing to force the tears back. She couldn't do anything else tonight except go home. She just didn't have anymore energy.