AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Sorry again, Fran,’ I said. ‘Maybe the salmon didn’t agree with me,’ I suggested, desperate for an explanation.
‘Hmm. I was thinking, Soph,’ she said, leaning forward. ‘I don’t think it can be the salmon as a) you were ill before you got here and b) I also had the salmon and I’m fine. This is a top-notch restaurant, and they would have got the fish fresh today, so I doubt it’s down to them.’
‘Yes, but everyone reacts differently to food,’ I reasoned. ‘I’ve had issues with salmon before.’
‘Maybe. Or perhaps you’re getting your period?’ she asked. ‘When was your last period, out of interest?’
‘Oh no,’ I insisted. ‘I get stomach cramps and a bit emotional when I have my period, but I never throw up, so it’s not that.’
‘Sowhenwas your last period?’ Fran asked again.
‘Erm…’ I paused as I started to do the calculations. ‘Well, let’s see,’ I said as if launching a calculator and a calendar in my head simultaneously. ‘It normally comes towards the end of the month. Around the twenty-third or twenty-fifth, I think. Yeah, probably should have had it a few days ago, maybe, so it’s a little late as I’ve been rushing about and upset with it being the anniversary of Albert’s passing and everything.’
‘So it came as normal between Christmas and New Year, then?’ Fran probed again. ‘Y’know, seeing as you said it normally comes towards the end of the month. That means you would have been on at Christmas or just after if it was a few days late right?’
I sat there puzzled. Yes, that was right, but had I had my period whilst I was at my parents’ over Christmas? I started doing the mental calculations. Christmas Day? No, definitely not. Boxing Day? No, we’d gone to Granddad’s for dinner that day. Twenty-seventh? Nope. I was out shopping with Mum all day as she wanted to check out the sales. That was a painful experience.
Twenty-eighth? What did we do again? Oh, yes. Mum’s sisters came round. After that, on the twenty-ninth and thirtieth, I was at home making collages of hundreds of photos I’d taken over Christmas, which had taken ages. I would have remembered if I’d had to insert a tampon with all the spray glue I had over my hands.
Then it was New Year’s Eve, so I’d gone back to my parents’ for a family gathering, and I’d worn a pale pink dress. Something I would have been reluctant to do if I was about to come on or was in the middle of my period. I would have stuck to a darker colour just in case. It would be rare for my period to have started that late in the month, though.
And I certainly hadn’t had a period this month.
Shit.
Fran was monitoring my facial expressions, which had gone from confusion, to fear and blind panic in the space of sixty seconds.
‘You didn’t have a period last month, did you, Soph?’ asked Fran calmly. ‘I can tell by the look on your face…’
‘I don’t think I did, Fran, no,’ I admitted. ‘I had so much on, I didn’t realise.’
‘Are you sure you’re not pregnant?’ she blurted out.
‘No! Of course not!’ I insisted. ‘I haven’t had sex forages! Well, ages by mynewsex life standards, anyway. I’ve been focusing on work, and then I was off for the holidays and I’ve just come back from France.’
‘How long are we talking exactly?’ asked Fran.
I scanned my memory.
‘I don’t know. Maybe five or six weeks?’ I replied, shuffling around in the chair nervously. ‘Erm…perhaps not since the third week of December? Okay, let me think: I met up with Lorenzo during the first week of December and we were at it like rabbits the entire week and much of the week after, but then he was working longer hours, so we didn’t see each other as much. It’s hard to remember exactly. I’d really need to check my diary to be sure, but that’s my best guess for now.’
I saw Fran doing some mental calculations of her own.
‘Hmm. That would be about right, then, Soph. If you’re due between the third and fourth week of the month, then the first or second week of December was probably your optimum time for ovulation, as it’s normally about fourteen days before your period comes…’
I began to think about what she was saying. On the very rare occasions that my period was late, I would have dismissed this theory immediately as I hadn’t been having sex, so it would be a complete impossibility.
But, recently—well, pre-mid-December—I had been. And a bloody lot of it too. Plus I hadn’t been using condoms with Lorenzo after the first few times, so that alone would have put our number of unprotected sexual encounters into double figures.
I wouldn’t normally have done it without one, but we’d quickly run out, and he’d assured me he’d got tested before he came over to London and got the all-clear. Things felt serious and committed between us. I trusted him, so thought I’d be okay. The pregnancy thing hadn’t even crossed my mind. I’d just assumed my ovaries had passed their best-before date.
And if we were talking about early December, then there might also be a second guy in the frame: Charlie. I knew we’d definitelystartedhaving sex with a condom that last time, but now that I thought about it, I did remember being surprised when I had seen it on the bed beside him straight after we’d finished and remarking that I hadn’t seen him take it off. Had he removed it when I wasn’t looking? Perhaps that’s why he’d suggested we do it doggy style, so I couldn’t see him take it off? You hear about women trapping men to get pregnant. Maybe men did the same. Perhaps he wanted me to have his child so I’d stay with him, and that’s why he’d come with so much gusto…
I desperately tried to remember if I could see anything inside the condom to indicate that he had removed it after he ejaculated or if in fact he’d come inside me and the condom was empty? I was drawing a blank. At the time, I think I was too busy worrying about how to break the news of how I was feeling.
Shit. This wasn’t looking good.
Then again, like I said, think about my age. It’s not easy to get knocked up at almost forty, so I could be worrying over nothing.
