Chapter Nine: It get's worse

Miranda left the studio and had made her way back home.

On her way inside, she passed by Joshua. He gave her a small smile and she flashed one back. 

Joshua: "How was the shoot?" He inquired. She shrugged her shoulders like it wasn't a big deal. 

Miranda: "It was fine." She said dryly and proceeded to the bathroom. Joshua sighed and headed out of the door. 

Miranda walked over to her sink and began to wash her face. After that, she brushed out the curls and re-braided her hair into pig-tails. She glanced at herself in the mirror once she was done. As she stared at herself, she reflected on that morning. She was so nervous and afraid, she had convinced herself she'd screw up, but she didn't. She really didn't and she didn't let Toby out-do her either.

Toby She thought. A small smile crept across her face. She knew the guy for all of 5 minutes and just the thought of him put butterflies in her stomach. Her smile turned into a laugh at her last thought. Here she is, relationship falling apart and she's crushing on some strange guy? She shook her head at herself. She chucked her sudden feelings up to the recent events. Her school girl crush was nothing and it would fade. To further clear her mind, she figured she'd get a work out in. 

Her workout lasted about 15 minutes before Joshua returned. She thought he'd just make his way back to his office but instead he just stood there. She suddenly grew uncomfortable under his gaze. 

What's his problem? She thought. She thought she may have been over exaggerating the situation and tried to push on. 

Five minutes passed and he was still there. Frustrated and a little freaked out, Miranda turned off the radio and ended her workout. 

Joshua: "Done already?" He asked. Miranda only ignored him and walked ahead into the kitchen. 

Miranda pretended to scrub the sink, hoping he would get bored and finally leave. Unfortunately for her, Joshua followed her and propped himself against the counter. He didn't say anything he just watched her. She felt disgusted by the look in his eyes, and annoyed that he didn't even bother to hide the lust behind them. 

Joshua: "Miranda." He spoke at last. She ignored him. "I miss you." He said softly.

Miranda: "I didn't know I left." She said sarcastically. 

Sick of being ignored, Joshua grabbed her by the waist and spun her towards him.

Miranda: "What the--" Joshua cut off her protest with his lips. He really had missed her. He missed holding her, touching her and was so tired of her pushing him away. He knew he had screwed up, bad, but he couldn't take this punishment anymore. She tried to push against his chest, but he wasn't budging. She found herself kissing him back but stopped herself. 

No! She thought. She was still hurt and angry and it as no way he could kiss their problems away. She shoved him back harder and he released his hold. She was walking off and he was following her. 

Joshua: "Miranda stop!" He yelled. The tone of his voice had her frozen. He had never yelled at her before and she was shocked.  

She had spun around and thought he was just going to attempt to romance her again. But she was very wrong. The calm demeanor he had was replace by anger. 

Joshua: "Miranda I'm tired of this! I've said sorry. I've waited...I don't know what else to do!" He screamed. Her eyes widen in shock. She was taken back by his sudden temper. 

Miranda: "Joshua--" He cut her off.

Joshua: : "No you're going to listen this time. You said you were going to forgive me so why haven't you? Why are you ignoring me and acting as if I'm some stranger. Life is too short Miranda. If you love me then just get over it already. Stop being such a bitch about it." He finished his tirade.

Miranda listened to his complaints and took in the information. She was still a little frighten by his tone of voice, but she let him continue. That was until he had told her to get over it and called her a bitch. 

Miranda: "Excuse me? Did you just tell me to get over it?!" She exploded. It was at this moment, Joshua knew he had screwed up. 

Miranda: "I didn't know I was taking too long to forgive you. Hell I didn't know there was a time limit, why didn't you say so?" She screamed. "Why don't I just get over it like you suggested, because it really wasn't a big deal. I mean all you did was fuck my best friend and lie about and I had to find out from your father. Oh no big deal at all." She said sarcastically. 

Joshua: "I didn't mean what I said. It came out wrong." He tried to explain. She had put her hands up to silence him. 

Miranda: "No you meant exactly what you said. You really have some balls talking to me like that. You are lucky that I gave you another shot because any other sane woman would have dropped you. And I'm really starting to regret not doing so." She replied. She was fuming by the time she finished and wanted to get away from him. She turned to go into the guest bedroom and locked the door behind her. 

Miranda slid against the door once inside. She tried to cry, but it was like her tears were stuck in her throat. So she sat there and just stared at the floor as the pain built up inside of her. 

Joshua was too late to grab the door before she shut it. He didn't have to turn the door to know it was locked. He wanted to knock on the door, even bust it down, but he couldn't. He just began to weep.

The next day

Mimi had settled into her new place just fine. It was hard to leave without saying bye to Miranda, it was even harder ignoring her calls. But after a while she had stopped calling and it was getting a little better. That was until she didn't get her period. With the lie, moving, and losing her job it was almost like she forgot about it. She probably wouldn't have remembered if she didn't find her full box of tampons that she had for way too long. She immediately rushed out to get a home pregnancy kit and rushed back home. She stood in her bedroom and waited for the timer to go off. And it did. She jumped and walked over to pick it up.

To her horror the test confirmed her biggest fear. 

Mimi: "No" She said aloud as she read the test over and over again. No matter how long she stared at it, it never changed. "What the hell am I going to do now?" She said to herself. Her life was just getting worse and worse. She lost her best friend, her job and if she didn't find a new job soon she'd be poor. Her savings wouldn't last forever, and in 9 months she was going to have another life to care for. 

To be continued :)