Taylors POV
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This city must emit a huge amount of light pollution I think to myself as I look south over the balcony at the lit up buildings that decorate the skyline. Sipping my virgin pina colada, I almost laugh at how being pregnant has made me order a virgin cocktail. It’s safe to say I am not a virgin any longer. I smile up at Jay who strides over to me having spoken with the chef. Acquiring the reassurance that all of our food will be dealt with bearing in mind the knowledge of my pregnancy.
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"Another virgin pina colada" he announces holding a glass with a small pink umbrella and my favourite cocktail. It's the best non alcoholic drink I've tried.
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"All taken care of" he whispers taking a seat on the plush grey upholstered sofa seat next to me and wrapping his arms over my shoulders. The exposed neckline of the dress is showcasing my neck and cleavage and Jay has been somewhat distracted by the view.
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"You have popped mon amour" he whispers in my ear as a smile spreads across my face. The midwife had told me that the baby is growing nicely and that there is nothing to be worried about. Jay rubs his hand over my bump and I smile up at him pleased with the happiness we are finding in this pregnancy. We abruptly realised that we were pregnant with baby number two, a whole host of emotions conjured up from the news. Worry was a big one for me. Brought on by the implications of falling pregnant so soon after birth left me concerned. I believe, however, that any life changing news sets you on a new path. It gives you a new focus, soon we will be a family of four. That will entail its challenges but it is the biggest gift I have ever received.
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"Everything is going to be just fine" he whispers and I giggle slightly feeling his stubble tickle my cheek.
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"I know Jay baby" I whisper and he laughs his head rocking back slightly. Pushing his blonde hair back he relaxes next to me.
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"How did your meeting go Mr CEO" I ask casually and he grins.
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"You're adorable calling me Mr CEO" he laughs.
"It went well. Mum was pretty pleased with it and so was John." He begins as I watch him.
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"John was my father's best friend and accomplice I was quite shocked when he didn't make him COO." He laughs easily.
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"He is now though" he giggles and I smile over at him before looking out at the view, the candles flickering on the tables as we sit on the balcony.
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"My father's office is the same as it was, I haven't changed it or made it my own. I'm sure that I'll be able to fulfil the role adequately but it is a big ordeal" he sighs, looking down at me whilst rubbing my baby bump.
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"Got to have a little empire for the little ones" he explains rubbing bump again as I chuckle. I suppose the empire, as he puts it, that his father left to him is a huge acquisition for him. And I can only imagine that he foresees himself doing the same for our own children.
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"It's quite sizeable, let alone little" I laugh and he chuckles pushing his hair back as our mains arrive, Jay opted for grilled octopus and despite my reservations it looks and smells divine. My pork chops, not a usual choice for me however this baby likes his or her meat, are presented wonderfully. Marinated in herbs and presented with vegetables that have been roasted. My tummy practically growls and I tell baby and my appetite to chill before I slop food all over my Chanel gown.
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Jay playfully cuts up my meat and I laugh telling him that I'm more than capable of feeding myself as he grins forking up some meat and holding his hand under the spoon as he feeds me. What can I say we are newlyweds away from our little baby and we're enjoying the us time we're having.
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“So a gender scan” he begins his arm hooked around my shoulder. It’s just so Jay to plan ahead, one casual comment about my desire to know the babies sex has him planning how to make it all happen.
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“I think I’d like to know” I whisper looking up at him through my lashes as he smiles.
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“Now that the pregnancy is progressing, it would be nice to know whether we’re giving Henry a brother or sister” I add and he nods. His hand subconsciously rubbing my waist as he looks down at the food which is now all finished.
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“I think that we should find out then, I will get it sorted” he smiles again and I rest my head on his shoulder looking over at the water that is now a dark inky blue. The reflections of the city lights scattered across its shimmering surface.
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The waiter sets out our desert, a large bowl of sorbet and a platter of various small deserts. Including mini cherry cheesecake bites and fudge brownies. The sweet tooth in me gets carried away as I get my hands on the sugar like a small kid in a candy store.
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"Odd" Jay mutters forking his phone out of his jacket as I look up from our shared desert that he had been spoon feeding me. I'm spoilt. I watch the curiosity flick over his face as his eyes travel over his iPhone.
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"What is it?" I ask him deciding to spoon feed myself the ice cream, baby is hungry after all.
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"It's..." he begins slowly his face almost unreadable. If I didn't know him so well I would not be able to gauge when he is in any sort of distress. The small indentation of his lips and the way his eyes turn slightly cold, they tell me one thing, that something has gone wrong.
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My mind flounders through possibilities. The first is Henry, something has happened to him and I almost jump out of the plush sofa and run through the fancy foyer to the lift.
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"I've a missed call from Ross" he begins and my mind cannot correlate the importance of it, how this would be something to worry about. Ross calling Jay would merely be out of the blue, not groundbreaking. Not something to bring up interrupting our desert platter, my mind scrambles as I look up at him just praying for no more tragedies.
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"It's just" he begins flicking through an online news article. I peer my head over his phone screen as he's reading and take in the keywords. Words such as unfathomable attack, terror and shattering loss. My mind sifts through the information and tries to connect the dots.
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“Let me call him back” he mutters as I look up at the concern drawn over his face and I begin to wonder. Pulling my own phone out I scramble over a similar news article, the twin towers have been subjected to a terrifying attack. Two planes colliding intentionally with the world trade centre in an act of war, I gaze at the picture of the planes on the online news article. The destruction and the horror swamps me and I finally connect the dots in my mind. Matthew and Ross are in New York, in the midst of this horror.
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Jay stands briefly, walking over to the side of the balcony waiting for the call to connect, his face serious as he looks out at the city lights. I watch him push his blonde hair back before looking down at my phone and dialling Matthew’s number impulsively. I don’t even think about any of it, I must know that he is safe. The call disconnects instantly and I curse out loud placing my spoon down on the table. Taking a glance around the bar I realise that a whole host of patrons are collecting around a flatscreen. Tuned into a news channel that is televising a minute by minute broadcast of the live events occurring in New York. The world trade centre in the middle of the screen letting out billows of smoke like black clouds drifting up and into the sky.
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Frantically, I dial up Matthew’s number one more time as a few stray tears collect in my tear ducts. I imagine him answering my call, I almost fantasise the entire conversation we would have. Him telling me that he is okay and me relieved just to hear his soft voice. However the call beeps off and disconnects and I’m left sitting looking out at Jay who is dialling Ross for what feels like the one hundredth time, his face composed and collected as he looks out into the distance.
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Scrolling through the pictures on the online news article unable to tear my eyes away from the images, I come across a shot taken early on at the outset of the disaster. A single plane hit first, protruding out of one of the towers in this snapshot of the beginning of the attack. I can only imagine the hideous roar it must have caused hitting the building. The way the ground would have shattered around it. My eyes linger on the caption; 8:46 am flight crashes into the north tower of the world trade centre, the beginning of the deadliest attack on American soil since pearl harbour.
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Sitting with my legs crossed over one another I look up as Jay makes his way back over to me, his face drawn into a frown. The shock emanating from him as he looks at the crowds of people watching the television screens in the bar.
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“It’s just the dial tone” he says softly as I nod and he takes a seat down next to me. My mind tells me that book editors do not work in the word trade centre and that there is therefore no reason for Ross to be anywhere near this devastation.
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I curse myself for not pushing Matthew for details on his photography shoot. It’s the one question lingering in my mind, could Matthew be anywhere near the panic and the potentially life threatening attack? I beg myself to remember every conversation we had in Italy surrounding his photography, trying desperately to remember whether he once mentioned the twin towers.
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I gaze back down at the photograph unable to deny my hysteria as I see the credit just hanging beneath the shot; Photo by Matthew Henderson it reads. Matthew has been present, and by the looks of this particular picture he had been pretty close to the building when the plane hit. Thinking of everything I know about Matthew, my ex fiancée, I know that standing in the face of any sort of real danger has never stopped him from doing the right thing. And although honourable it’s the one thing that terrifies me the most. My eyes sweep over the death toll that delineates the amount of civilians fatally lost on ground zero helping and aiding first responders before I hand Jay my phone showing him Matthew’s picture.
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