She jumped, startled as Chris wrapped his arms around her waist. “What are you thinking about, baby?” he asked.
“Nothing. It’s so stupid.” She turned her head, smiling at him. “Will you take me to work?”
“Sure.”
He led her out of the house. She looked back, yearning for it. Chris talked about what he’d do. Rachel ignored what he had to say. It didn’t matter about the work needed to complete the house.
When he pulled up outside of the bar, she leaned over to kiss him. She was going to brush lips together. He cupped the back of her head, plunging his tongue into her mouth. She relaxed against him, moaning.
Arousal coursed through her at his touch.
“I’ll see you after work, okay?”
She nodded. “Have fun signing the documents.”
Rachel left him, walking into the bar. It was busy like it was every other lunchtime. David greeted her, and she held a finger up, escaping to the staff’s bathroom. Opening the first stall, she threw up everything she’d eaten in the last couple of days.
“Wow, gross. Erm, not cool of me to say that, but here,” David said, pressing some tissues into her hand.
“Thanks, you don’t have to stick around.”
“Do you need to go home?” he asked.
“No, it’ll pass in a few minutes. Just give me a little room, and I’ll be fine.” She stopped speaking as another wave of sickness claimed her. Throwing up into the toilet, Rachel closed her eyes, wishing Chris was with her.
Can’t tell him. Not yet, not ready to tell him.
After several minutes passed, Rachel pressed the tissues against her mouth and took deep breaths. When she knew it was over, she stood and faced her boss.
“Holy crap, you’re pregnant.”
She passed him to lean against the sink. “Are you going to fire me?” she asked.
“Do you know for certain if you’re pregnant?”
She shook her head. “It only just dawned on me today while looking at stupid houses. What the hell am I going to tell Chris?”
Why was she talking about this with David? He didn’t even know her that well.
Feeling sick, she stared down at the sink. She wasn’t going to vomit anymore.
“Go to the pharmacy at the end of the street. Get one of the kits and come back here. I’ll cover the bar. Please, get yourself looked after before I start freaking out some more.”
Rachel wanted to tell him no, but she needed to know the answer for herself.
Leaving the bar, she checked to make sure Chris wasn’t parked somewhere making a phone call or anything. She headed in the direction of the pharmacy. Once inside the shop, she looked through the aisles and couldn’t believe she was looking for pregnancy test kits. Finding the shelf, she took three boxes with each box containing two kits. Six tests should give her enough to get started on.
The woman kept smiling as she rang up her order. Why did women have to look so happy about this?
You’d be happy if you knew what Chris would think.
Shaking off her thoughts, she walked back to the bar, wishing time would just stop. So far, her time with Chris had been going wonderful, apart from working together, which hadn’t gone well. A child would interrupt that, and she didn’t even know if Chris wanted another child. Hurdles seemed to be throwing themselves at her over and over again. First her feelings with regards to her dead sister, then working with him, and now this. Okay, so not many hurdles, but one after the other felt like a lot.
David followed her to the bathroom. Another member of staff was seeing to the bar.
“You don’t have to come with me. There’s no way you’re watching me pee,” she said, glaring at him.
“I’m not the one taking the tests, Rachel. You are.”
He closed the stall as she went to peeing on the sticks. She actually liked his company, and her hands shook while peeing on the sticks. “I hate this,” she said, talking to him.
“I know. Does Chris have any idea?”
“No. He lost a daughter in that plane crash.” She stopped, biting her lip to keep herself from talking. “I don’t even know if he wants a family. We’ve never talked about it at all.”
“Didn’t he want whatever made you happy?” David asked.
“Yeah, but I’ve never mentioned a family.”
“Then you’ve got a lot to talk about.”
She rolled her eyes and left the stall. After the required time, Rachel almost passed out. Every test she took was positive.
Why couldn’t her life be easier instead of harder?
****
Chris had the keys in his hand and was waiting for Rachel to finish work. Tomorrow was his last day at the hospital. Usually a party was thrown to say goodbye to the person leaving. Chris made sure no one wanted to say goodbye to him. The women knew their place. He’d gotten so angry at the thought of losing Rachel he’d taken it out on all of them. Things he once let slide in the workplace, he now made sure to let them know about, and he did not let their mistakes and incompetence go unpunished.