I still can’t believe it. There’s no possible way. I haven’t been with anyone for months, and the first time I forget protection with Lyle, I fall pregnant? No way. There has to be something else wrong with me. Some kind of stomach bug that will go away with time.
I’m barely aware of handing the form in to the reception desk and being told to wait for the nurse. In my pocket, my phone vibrates with a message, but I don’t look at it. I don’t want to talk to anyone right now. My head is spinning and I can’t think straight.
Is it possible?
“Amanda Simmons?”
My head jerks up. The nurse, an older woman with a kind smile, is calling for me. I force my body to my feet and follow her into a side room.
“How are you?” she asks.
“I might be pregnant,” I blurt.
“Oh?” The nurse smiles. “Congratulations!”
Congratulations? Is this a good thing? I’ve only known Lyle for two weeks and now I might be carrying his baby. I feel like I’m going to throw up.
“Yeah,” I say with a sickly smile.
The nurse seems to sense that I’m not very happy with the idea because she ushers me into a chair. She chatters on about something to do with her dog, obviously hoping to raise my spirits, but I barely notice. When she pats my arm and tells me I’m done, I blink; I didn’t even feel her put the needle in.
“Thank you,” I say.
There’s a pharmacy next to the clinic, so I pop in and buy the pregnancy test. The man at the desk grins at me and says he’ll keep my fingers crossed for me. I tell him I’m keeping my fingers crossed too, but I don’t think we’re hoping for the same thing.
Then I drive home. I really, really hope this test comes back negative.
The test is sitting on the bathroom basin, where I left it, too much of a coward to be in the room when it might change color. I pace the length of my living room, feeling sick and anxious. I need to go in there and see, but I can’t bring myself to.
“It’s fine,” I tell myself. “It’s just a test. It’s probably negative.”
I draw in a deep breath and step into the bathroom. The small white test is sitting innocuously on the sink, facing up. It’s okay. It’s fine.
I glance at the screen and my stomach drops.
It’s positive.
I’m not sure where to go. I don’t know where Lyle lives (he told me he would show me his home last weekend, but I ruined that by throwing up at the movie theater), or where he works. I don’t want to talk to either of my parents. My father would be furious and my mother would be worried. Going to work is out, because my father would swoop down on me the moment I entered, demanding to know why I’d come into work when I’m apparently sick. I don’t have any particularly close friends that I’d want to talk to about this.
As such, I’m only a little surprised when I look up to see that I have found myself at Energy Plus Co. It’s one of the only other places that I’m familiar with, and there’s no one there that will either judge me or care enough to wonder too much about my sudden pregnancy. Maybe I can find Brandon and work some more on the contract if that’s what he wants to do.
I head toward the large building. Working is the perfect way to get my mind off this, I decide as I watch a sleek black car pull up to the curb. All I need to do is…
I stop.
“Lyle?” I ask.
There’s no answer; he’s too far away to hear my voice. He doesn’t even notice me as he exits the expensive-looking black car, sliding out of the seat and straightening his suit jacket. This is the first time I’ve seen Lyle in a suit. He looks neat and expensive. He leans in to speak to someone in the car. There’s a serious expression on his face that I’ve never seen before.
Why is Lyle getting out of a car in front of Energy Plus Co.? He never said anything about being connected with them before, which is odd considering I’ve spoken, at length, about my current job with them.
My feet carry me closer. I can hear the rumble of his voice now, and I step into a nearby alley, suddenly not wanting him to know I’m there. He’s been so secretive about his life. I haven’t pried at all. If he knows that I’m watching him, he might be mad.
More than that, though…I want to know what’s going on. Why is Lyle keeping it a secret that we’re working with the same company?
“Okay, thanks,” Lyle says, straightening. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”
He shuts the door of the car and turns around. A young man has left Energy Plus Co. and he approaches Lyle once he sees that he’s finished talking to the driver. He’s clutching a large folder.