The real reason Jennifer wanted to walk was the corner drugstore two blocks from her apartment. She knew she didn’t have to actually take the test. She could just put it off and wait for her virus to pass, but she hated lying. She told Sally she would do it, so she would.
Dammit.
What if she really was pregnant? What would she do with a baby, carry it on her back at the diner? Not likely. Bring a crib for the baby to sleep in while she worked? Their manager, Mr. Thompson, would never allow something like that. No, it had to be the flu, because pregnancy couldn’t be an option.
At the automatic door, Jennifer shored herself up before going in.
The store seemed especially bright this time of night. Brighter than normal. And unusually quiet. Of course, she hadn’t expected it to be packed, but the eerie brightness and quiet overwhelmed her. Then she heard it. The same tinkling laughter she’d heard earlier that evening.
Jennifer ducked into one of the aisles. She just couldn’t handle seeing Rebecca again tonight. Especially considering what she had come in to buy.
“Alan,” she heard, “not here! People might see us. Let’s just grab the protection and let’s get going.”
Jennifer heard a muffled timber as Alan spoke next, followed by a squeal and more of that laughter. Please go away, Jennifer prayed in between the men’s socks and car fresheners, please go away.
“Ma’am,” a man called from behind her. “Can I help you find something?”
Jennifer straightened. “No thanks, I’m just looking.”
“Well, we don’t allow loitering, so you’ll need to make your selections and leave.” The man gave Jennifer a dirty look as if to say I’m watching you.
When the coast was clear, Jennifer forced herself into the “feminine” aisle and quickly found the right shelf. “Easy to use, results in three minutes,” Jennifer read off the back of one box. “One line for negative, two for positive. 99% guarantee.” This was exactly what she’d been looking for. Then again, almost every box said the exact same thing.
She paid the man and hurried from the store. Outside she felt as if every eye focused on her. As if every person on the sidewalk that night knew exactly why she’d been in the drugstore, and knew exactly what was in her little white bag. Jennifer bee-lined it for her apartment. But she couldn’t stop thinking about Rebecca and Alan.
Once inside her building, she paused on the second floor. She wouldn’t tell Mark about seeing Rebecca with another man, but if she was pregnant she’d want him to know. He said Ruth was his grandmother; she’d know how to get in touch with him. And if it just so happened he and Rebecca had broken up, well, what harm would there be in seeing him again?
Dashing quickly up to her apartment, she deposited the bag on her couch before heading back downstairs. She didn’t want to get her hopes up, but excitement tickled the corners of her mouth as she thought about seeing Mark again. She’d never returned his clothes. In fact, she’d slept in that shirt on more than one occasion. Even refused to wash it at first—she hadn’t wanted the smell of his cologne to disappear with the laundry water.
Squaring her shoulders, she knocked on the door. Too late, her mind raced to the idea that it might actually be Mark inside the apartment instead of Ruth. She glanced down at her clothes. Dirty and diner smelly. At least she had a coat this time.
Noises inside told her someone was coming. Plastering on her best smile, she swallowed past the pounding of her heart as the doorknob turned.
Then frozen horror iced her veins as Rebecca came into full view.
“May I help you?” she asked.
Lie? Truth? “I-I was looking for Ruth. I needed to return something to Mark from when he was here.” She stumbled over her words as an explosion of emotion ricocheted through her brain.
The young woman’s face paled. “You know Mark?”
“I, um...”
From inside the apartment Jennifer heard, “Beck, baby, I’m waiting. All tied up, and where are you?”
Stepping into the hallway, Rebecca half shut the door as an urgent look crossed her face. “Please don’t tell Mark. Or Ruth. Please. I know you don’t know me, but he would be so disappointed. He took an extra shift this weekend and asked me to apartment sit. He doesn’t need to know this, really. I promise, I’ll get Alan out of here, just please don’t tell Mark.”
The urgency in Rebecca’s eyes told Jennifer all she needed to know. And the pain as her heart broke made it impossible to speak. She nodded in agreement and turned away.
Rebecca reached out and touched her elbow. “I’m not a horrible person,” she said. “I just get lonely sometimes. I won’t do this again. Please don’t tell.”