Before I could say anything, the woman at the front called out: “Virginia Hanover?”
“Stay here, Mom,” I said, hurrying up to the front. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure she was still seated as I approached the desk. “Hi. I’m Virginia Hanover.”
“The lab has your results.” She slid a stapled stack of papers across the counter. “If you have any questions, you can wait for the doctor.”
I scanned the top sheet, which had a summary of the results.
Negative.
Negative.
Negative.
Negative.
Negative.
“I don’t have any questions for the doctor,” I said with a smile. “Thank you!”
“Test results?” my mom suddenly said from over my shoulder. Her eyes widened. “Ginny!”
“Mom, I can explain,” I said, leading her away.
“You are active?Sexually?”
Several people glanced at me. I felt my cheeks redden.
“Will you keep your voice down?” I led her over to a corner of the waiting room where nobody was sitting.
“Why would you need to do this?” she asked, gesturing at the results in my hand.
“I’m 23 years old, mom…”
“You have a boyfriend? Is that it?”
I didn’t know what else to say, so I seized on that excuse like a life preserver. “Yes! I have a new boyfriend, so I wanted to get tested. Just to be safe.”
“Oh, Ginny!” She wrapped her arms around me. “I’m so happy! You have been too single too long, I have been telling you!”
“Mom, people are staring…”
“Sit, sit, tell me all about him,” she demanded, pulling me down into a chair. “What’s his name? What does he do? Is he handsome?”
I smiled painfully. “I wish I could stay, but I need to get back to work. I only have ten minutes left on my lunch break.” I held up my phone to show her the time…
…which is exactly when Kai texted me back.
“Kai…” she said, squinting at the screen. “Is that your boyfriend?”
“Yes! Kai!” I said, putting the phone away as quickly as possible.
“Kai. Such a fun name. Exotic. What was he saying to you? Something he wanted to pound?”
Oh my God, this isn’t happening right now.
“Pound cake!” I said, thinking quickly. “He likes to bake, so he’s making me pound cake.”
“Oh, I love pound cake! A man who bakes. He can spoil you—and you’ll get fat!”