Best Mistake

New Year's Eve was our busiest night at the Loft. I guess I was trying to prove something, because at almost three months pregnant, I volunteered to work. Although no one there that night knew I was pregnant to begin with, I still wanted to show myself I could do it. I would just have to take an ice bath the whole week after.

Since it was a snazzy holiday, we were expected to look our best. The only other female bartender, Becca, wanted to coordinate outfits with me. I had a nice little bump where the baby was poking out, but I'd done a good enough job concealing it. I shot her down immediately as soon as the words "silver" and "sequins" came out of her mouth.

At 10:45, I was starting to get uncomfortable. My black halter dress wouldn't stay where I wanted it, so I was constantly pulling up and pulling down. I wanted nothing more than to run to the bathroom and change into some jeans and a tshirt. Thankfully we were allowed to wear comfortable shoes, and I clicked the heels of my black vans together as I gathered the ingredients for the drinks I was working on.

I was getting more winded than I thought I would. We were allowed to take an hour break when needed, but I was holding on to mine until Megan showed up. She promised the Loft would be one of the bars she and Luke hopped to.

Around 11:30, I heard my name being called from the other side of the bar. I looked over the heads of all the people crowded to place orders and saw Luke wave to me. I could barely see the top of Megan's head. She was under five feet tall and easily got lost in crowds. I went and found the manager on duty.

"Hey, I'm taking my break," I yelled over the music and voices filling the exceeded capacity room.

Jake looked at his watch. "Yeah ok," he said as he gently pushed me out of the way. I quickly poured two shots and carried them over to Megan and Luke.

"Hey guys," I said while handing them their shots. "Happy New Year!"

"Hey Whit," Luke smiled after throwing back his shot. "Congrats," he said, pointing to my stomach.

I shot Megan a glare. She shrugged, her expression apologetic. "Sorry, we tell each other everything."

I groaned and shook my head. There wasn't much I could do about it at that point. Luke excused himself to go to the bathroom. I found a space against the wall and leaned against it.

"Thanks, Meg," I yelled.

She shrugged again. "I'm sorry! You know how I am with secrets. He won't tell anyone, I made him promise."

I glared at her a second before nodding. As far as I knew, Luke and I didn't have any mutual friends. Oddly enough, I really wasn't worried about him telling anyone. I let out a huge yawn, the exhaustion catching up with me quickly.

"You ok?" she asked.

I looked around the room. "I think I've served more alcohol tonight than I have in my entire life."

"What time are you guys closing?"

I held up three fingers and she winced. "You gonna make it?"

I smiled a little. "I may need you to push me home in a wheelchair."

Megan laughed, then her smile fell a little. "Have you heard from him recently?" she asked.

I looked down at my shoes that were almost soaked with liquor and shoot my head. I hadn't heard from Alex since a day or two after his birthday. I was kind of okay with it though. He did tell me not to expect too much in the beginning. He had his own life to live.

Jake came over to me a few minutes later and grasped my shoulder.

"I'm sorry but it's almost midnight. We're getting murdered back there. We need you," he said quickly before running back behind the bar.

I frowned at Megan and Luke and waved before fighting my way through the crowd of people to get back to work.

I must have taken thirty orders in the ten minutes I was back. The clock was ticking down and everyone ordering drinks started to look panicked, hoping they'd have something to toast with once the ball dropped.

I was ripping tops off of beer bottles and sliding them to customers, delivering just in time. Once it hit midnight, the room erupted in cheers. It was the first time since we opened that we had no orders to fill.

I took a deep breath and me, Becca, and Jake congratulated each other for surviving. It wasn't anywhere near over, but the worst was behind us. I leaned against the bar and looked out at the sea of people.

Everyone that was in a pair were joined at the lips, getting their New Year kiss. I couldn't help but feel jealous, and my mind unwillingly drifted to Alex. I didn't want to think about him, but I couldn't shake the curiousity. I didn't even know where he was.

Out of nowhere, a pair of hands had me by the face and a pair of lips pushed against mine in a long, sweet kiss. I was pretty surprised when it ended and I looked up into Eric's dark brown eyes. He winked at me.

"For good luck in the new year," he said, his forehead against mine. "You may just need it."

Even though it was cold in the bar with the door open, letting the Baltimore chill in, I was incredibly and suddenly warm, like my whole body was blushing. I hadn't been kissed like that in a long time, and it felt surprisingly good. As quickly as he arrived, Eric turned to leave.

Three hours and two hundred bottles of alcohol later, we were finally closed. I cleaned and straightened up as quickly as I could. I wanted nothing more to be comfortable in my bed.

"Great job tonight, guys. You all fucking killed it," Frank yelled from one of the booth tables.

"Yeah," Stevie said, stumbling from the back. He was almost too drunk to stand up. "Go team."

I took the remaining bags of trash to the back of the bar and met up with everyone else up front. Frank was busy deviding up our tips, and handed us each three envelops.

"Almost $600 for each of you," he beamed. "This is the Dream Team right here."

I smiled, thanking him and telling everyone goodnight before hurrying out to my car.

The drive home seemed a little longer than normal. I considered it being due to my severe exhaustion. I was pretty pleased with myself for making it through the night without giving up, given my condition.

When I parked in the parking lot of my complex, I had to push myself out of the car. My legs felt like cement blocks and it was almost hard to walk. The stairs to get to my apartment were going to be hell, I was sure.

Once I got to the top of the stairs, I gasped when I saw Alex sitting on the ground, slumped against my door wearing a fancy suit. He looked handsome, but unconscious. I hurried to him as fast as I could.

"Hey, Alex," I said, shaking his shoulders as I crouched in front of him.

He opened his eyes and tried to sit up, but fell to the other side. "Whitney," he slurred. He was clearly inebriated.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to hold him still so I could look at him. His eyes were so dialated they were almost black.

"Just in the neighborhood," he smiled, and his head fell back, hitting the door hard. "Ouch," he groaned.

"Yeah right," I muttered. "How did you get here?"

He started making noises resembling cars, tire screeches and all.

"Please tell me you didn't drive like this," I begged, grabbing his face with my hand so he would look at me.

He held his hands out to me, his wrists side by side. "Guilty," he laughed.

"Fuck, Alex," I groaned. I stood up and pulled out my keys. "Lean up, I'm opening the door."

He did for a second, but once I had the door open he leaned back again, falling flat. "Ow, why'd you do that?" he asked loudly.

I rolled my eyes and quickly put my purse on the table before running back to him. "Shut up, I have neighbors," I hissed.

"'Shut up, I have neighbors'," he mocked me.

It took everything in me to pull Alex off the ground. I finally got him standing but he was so intoxicated he couldn't do anything else. I back up to him, pulled his arms over my shoulders and literally drug him to the couch.

"You're so hot," he said rather loudly in my ear. I was not in the mood to hear it and continued to drag him.

"You taking me to your bedroom?" he asked, trying and failing to mix some seduction into his voice.

"Nope, to the couch," I grunted.

Alex giggled. "Aw, like you wouldn't fuck me again if you had the chance." I had to ignore the urge to drop him right there. "This is fun," he added.

I finally pulled him to the couch where I flung him onto it. It was then that I noticed he'd started crying. I'd only seen him drunk once, and I was drunk myself that night, so I couldn't remember if he was an emotional drunk or not.

I desperately wanted to just leave him to cry himself to sleep, but my conscience stopped me. "You ok?" I asked.

He began sobbing and shook his head. I inwardly groaned and sat on the coffee table in front of him. "Come on, what's wrong?"

Alex took a deep breath a few times, not looking up at me. Finally, he said, "Sophia left me."

I gasped, and my head began to pound, like it was under a lot of pressure. "Why?" I whispered.

Alex shook his head, smiling a little. "She found out about you."

My eyes widened at his words. I could barely speak when I asked him how.

Again he smiled, but there was no emotion behind it. "I was in the middle of texting you to wish you a happy new year and she caught a glimpse of it."

My heart began to race like I was in trouble. "Well did you try to explain it to her?"

The look he gave me shot right through me. "You honestly think I didn't? Like, 'hey babe, yeah I cheated and got this chick pregnant, sucks I know, bye'?"

I couldn't think of anything to say. I was heartbroken for him. This was exactly what I didn't want to happen, for Alex's sake. I reached over and put my hand on his knee and he pushed it away so hard I nearly fell backwards off the coffee table.

Exasperated, I said, "Alex, I'm trying to h-"

He cut me off when he whispered something. I didn't hear him though.

"What?" I asked.

For the first time since I got him inside, he looked me dead in the eyes. "Fuck. You." he said through clenched teach.

I couldn't speak. I was heartbroken for myself at that point.

"Fuck you," he said again, tears spilling down his face. "And fuck you, too," he added, pointing to my bump. "Fuck both of you. You've ruined my life!"

I tried to blink away the tears that had collected in my eyes. Alex slowly laid down on the couch and I listened to him repeat "Fuck both of you" until he passed out.

Notes