She is pregnant!
2279 Words
It started with tender breasts. Then the nausea. And the exhaustion.
She initially thought she caught a bug. Or maybe it was something she ate.
She never use to have any food allergies but the smell of any greasy food made her nauseous and once, she had to run to the bathroom and puked the moment she stepped into a fried chicken fast food joint. The smell of greasy fried chicken made her stomach roil in protest.
It went on for over a week.
She had to call in sick although her boss was not very pleased. She has been working as a personal assistant to the senior manager of an IT firm for a couple years ever since she graduated with a business administration degree. In the two years, she had never taken a day of sick leave. She doesn’t even take any extended holidays and extra days off, not even for Christmas or New Year’s.
Finally, she decided to drag herself to her usual physician to find out what was wrong with her. If it was food poisoning, all that daily vomiting and retching would have cleared out everything by now.
“Congratulations, Clarissa, looks like you are expecting,” her doctor told her after conducting blood and urine tests.
She stared at the doctor in shock. That was not possible. She has not slept with any man, not since that one night stand. And she remembered taking the morning after pill the next day.
Unless immaculate conception is a thing. Or the morning after pill didn’t work.
“But…that’s impossible,” she finally said.
Her doctor, who’s known her for so many years and is almost a friend, took her hands in hers gently.
“Is it Nick’s? You will have to tell him,” Dr Jane Cho said.
Clarissa shook her head.
“But….I took the morning after pill….how…how…” she said.
She could not believe it. She had a one-night stand for the first time and she got pregnant after that one night? How is that possible???
“And…it was only that one night…how is that even possible?” she added.
“Well, most women are fertile four to seven days a month and if you have s*x during those fertile days, the chances of becoming pregnant is very high,” Jane said.
“As for the morning after pill….are you sure you took it immediately on the day after?” she asked.
Clarissa nodded. She was certain she bought the pill.
“Anyway, you can make an appointment with a gynaecologist to find out how far along you are now,” Jane said.
The doctor looked at her dazed and shocked expression.
“You can terminate it since you are still in the first trimester,” she suggested gently.
“You mean abort it?” she asked, her hands automatically went to cover her belly.
Jane nodded sympathetically.
“That is an option or you can choose to have it adopted once its born,” she said.
Clarissa shook her head.
She didn’t know what to do.
It is definitely NOT Nick’s baby.
He had always used a condom.
Other than that, they’ve not slept together for weeks…maybe months…before she walked in on him screwing her best friend.
She thanked Jane and left the clinic in a daze.
She was sure she had taken morning after pill.
Or did she?
That one night stand was weeks ago…no, it was three months ago…she could barely remember what she did after that.
Although, the one whole night, and morning, of red hot passion with Mark or Max was hard to forget.
After he scribbled his number on the paper and handed it to her, he had and she did not call him after that.
She was tempted at times, especially during those cold lonely nights, but she decided not to call him.
She didn’t want to appear needy and desperate.
So, after he left her apartment, she took a shower and changed. Then she stopped by the pharmacy before heading to the park for a nice walk.
She clearly remembered buying the morning after pill and keeping it in her pocket to make sure she didn’t forget it.
It was the weekends after all and she always go for a walk in the park during the weekends.
Then, of all people, she almost bumped into Bella. The moment she saw her tanned and gorgeous former best friend, she turned around and ran the other direction.
Unfortunately Bella saw her and chased her down.
“Hey, hey, Ris!! Ris!!! Stop!!!” Bella had called after her, as if she didn’t do anything wrong.
As if they are actually best friends. As if she wasn’t screwing her boyfriend’s brains out on the dining table at his apartment just a day before.
“Ris!!!” Bella didn’t give up and annoyingly caught up to her and grabbed her shoulders.
“Didn’t you hear me shouting your name? Ris!” she gasped while panting.
Clarissa didn’t know how she was supposed to face Bella. Should she start accusing her of stealing her boyfriend…no, ex-boyfriend.
Instead, she settled with an icy silence.
“What is it Bella?” she had asked coolly.
Bella was dressed in a tight fitting workout clothes with her luxurious hair tied in a ponytail and her brown skin glistening in perspiration.
Heck, she even look good after working out.
She hated her.
She hated her tiny cinched waist. She hated her large breasts. She hated her gorgeous brown skin tone. She hated her for stealing Nick when she literally could have any man she wanted with her gorgeous latina features and drop dead sexy figure.
“What’s the matter Clarissa? Are you mad at me about something?” the other woman asked, her perfectly smooth face slightly puzzled.
“Oh not really,” she said. “I just thought we should stop being friends,” she added.
“But why? Ris? What’s going on? Why are you like this?” Bella demanded.
She sighed. She might as well get it done and over with.
“I know about you and Nick. You can have him. I may have been with him for 10 years but obviously, it meant nothing to him and you, I can’t believe that you of all people would sleep with my boyfriend, no, ex-boyfriend,” she said, calmly and in measured tones.
Bella was shocked.
“It’s a misunderstanding…there was nothing between Nick and I, I promise,” she protested, putting on an innocent act.
Clarissa laughed bitterly. It was so like Bella to put on her innocent face and pretend that she is this good, pure, innocent woman who was wrongly accused.
“Are you vying for an Oscar? You think I will buy your innocent act?” she asked.
“But it’s true Ris! I would never sleep with Nick, who told you that? Whoever it is was lying!” Bella continued to lie.
“Look, if you don’t believe me, here, call Nick, he will tell you that there’s nothing between us,” she insisted, pulling out her cellphone.
Clarissa couldn’t believe that Bella had continued to act all innocent.
“Fine, I feel it is better that we get it all out in the open anyway, why don’t we go pay Nick a visit at his place?” she finally said.
Bella was taken aback. She looked like she did not expect Clarissa to actually want to talk to Nick in person.
“Err…okay, now? How about later? I need to get back to shower and change, I’m all sweaty,” she said, as if trying to stall.
“Oh, it’s fine. I’m sure he loves you all sweaty, makes him more horny and all, ya know,” Clarissa shrugged and pretended not to notice the expression on Bella’s face.
“But…Ris…” she spluttered but Clarissa ignored her.
“Look, just get in the taxi and we go there together, NOW,” she said and hailed a taxi. Bella had no choice but to follow.
Once they were at Nick’s place, he had opened the door smiling pleasantly, as if it was just another social visit from his girlfriend and mistress.
“Hi girls, must be my lucky day to have two beautiful women here with me,” he said as he planted a peck on Clarissa’s cheek in greeting and nodded at Bella, although Clarissa didn’t miss the intensity of the look that passed between them.
“So, what brought both of you here?” he asked after they’ve all sat down at the living room.
Clarissa had chosen a seat with her back to the dining table. She did not need to be reminded of what she saw there just the day before.
“Well, I’m here to break up with you and to tell you and Bella, you can have each other, you deserve each other and I think a clean break is what we should do so from today onwards, we are no longer friends, we are not even acquaintances and if we do see each other in public, it is best we ignore each other,” she said evenly, looking at Nick and trying very hard not to cry.
It was amazing that she did not cry and her voice did not break, although she can feel her heart splintering. It was bad enough that is losing her boyfriend, she is also losing her best friend.
She has known them both for almost half her life. They were high school friends.
“What…me with Bella?…Ris…what are you talking about??” Nick asked.
So, he too has decided to put on an act.
She sighed. She didn’t want to join them in a charade of fake innocence.
She stood up and walked to the dining table and then leaned on the very spot where the cheating couple were screwing yesterday.
“I saw both of you screwing each other’s brains out yesterday, right here, moaning and groaning and f*****g so passionately,” she said, keeping her tone even and almost emotionless, refusing to look at their reaction.
“So, can we stop all this innocent act charade and tell the truth here? I saw both of you f*****g, you were cheating on me, I obviously deserve a better boyfriend and a better best friend who will not cheat on me,” she said.
“Nick, I gave you 10 years of my life and never once have you ever f****d me the way you f****d Bella, so maybe we don’t belong with each other,” she looked at the cheating couple finally.
At least, he had the decency to look slightly guilty. So did Bella. Finally, they have dropped their fake innocent acts.
“Ris, look, it was a one-off thing, it meant nothing, I love you, Ris, I don’t love Bella, it was a mistake” Nick finally said.
This did not go well with Bella.
“What do you mean it meant nothing??!! A mistake?? You don’t love me???!!! You said you love me every single time you wanted to f**k. You said you love my large breasts and how passionate I was in bed compared to her!“ she sputtered.
“You said you will break up with her when the time is right and now is the right time!” Bella was livid.
Now, Nick looked like he was caught in a dilemma.
“Look, I will make it easy for you both. I don’t want a cheating boyfriend and even though you’ve wasted 10 years of my life, I can definitely move on, I am sure there are better men out there for me,” Clarissa said.
“As for you Bella, I can’t believe that you would do this to me so we are also over, I don’t have a friend like you,” she added.
Then, before waiting for any of them to respond, she walked out with her head held high.
It was only when she reached home that she let the tears fall. She had spent the rest of the weekend crying, sobbing and feeling sorry for herself.
Both Nick and Bella had called her repeatedly and left urgent messages but she blocked both of them after the millionth message.
She did not leave her apartment, not even to get food and had binged on ice cream and whatever junk food she found in her cupboards.
Back at the present, Clarissa slapped her forehead in disgust. After the altercation with Bella and Nick, she had promptly forgotten about the morning after pill.
She did not take it.
“f**k me. This is all my fault. s**t,” she said.
She went to her bedstand where a creased and folded piece of paper was kept.
“Time to call the baby daddy then,” she sighed.
- Writer
