Therapy
Seven
The girls finished shopping and had sat down and had something to eat, in a nice little restaurant on the outskirts of the shopping mall. They'd just returned home and were emptying the boot of Bella's car, hauling the bags in as they seemed heavier now than what they did three hours ago, when they were carrying them around.
"Fuck me, I'm fucked!" Paige exclaimed as she wiped her brow. "How the fuck did this even happen?"
"I don't know even know.." Bella replied, looking down at the bags in confusion. "It just seemed to escalate so quickly!" She fell down onto the sofa, stumbling over the bags. "Hey, how about we have some.. therapy.. of our own?" Bella chose her words carefully.
"What do you mean?" Paige questioned.
"Well, we bought plenty of face masks to last us another couple of years and we have plenty of new beauty products, and we have enough clothes now, so why not just treat ourselves tonight? We could have a fat night, like we always used to?!" Bella was getting excited.
"Oh my God, can we?!" Jumping up and down excitedly, Paige clapped her hands repeatedly. "CAN WE, CAN WE, CAN WE?" Paige started squealing.
"Let's go, amigo! Er, I just need to pop to the toilet first though, feeling rather bloated from that meal."
"Bella, you hardly touched anything on your plate."
"Yeah, I know and I don't know what's going on. Maybe the heat is messing with my head!" Bella scowled at the sun through the window. She waited for Paige to turn around before grabbing her handbag and running to the downstairs toilet. Locking the door, she opened up her handbag and pulled out the bag with the box in it.
It was the moment of truth.
Bella pulled the box from the bag and opened it up carefully, reading the instructions.
"For best results, use in the morning. Do not drink in order to make yourself need the toilet." Bella cursed under her breath. It was early evening, and she needed to know. Paige had mentioned getting some alcohol earlier and it had bugged her all day, because as much as Bella wanted to, she was scared. She hadn't had a period in what seemed like thousands of years. In fact, now that she thought about it, she hadn't had a period since the first week her and Alex first.. well, had sex. Because he'd never used a condom. They didn't even think about it at the time, and she hadn't had time to go to the Doctor and tell them that she was now, what they would call "sexually active".
She pulled the test out from the box and fiddled with it before removing the lid. "Fucking hell, have they given me a big enough target?!" She whispered, frustrated.
Bella inched her way over to the toilet, setting her handbag down on the floor carefully and preparing herself. "I cannot believe I am about to piss on a fucking stick. A stupid fucking stick that has the ability to fucking ruin my life. Well that's not fair. It wouldn't be ruined. Just made difficult. For fuck sake. C'mon man, pee!" She swore under her breath at her bladder, for resisting the urge to let go. But eventually, she did. She brought the stick out and replaced the lid.
Picking up the information leaflet, she read the instructions again. "Are you fucking kidding me right now? Five minutes? Really?!" Bella muttered, shaking the stick frantically before standing up and sorting herself out. She flushed the toilet and left the pregnancy test on the side. "Better leave it to fucking simmer." She glared at the stick, willing it to 'hurry the fuck up'.
Keeping an eye on her watch every now and then, she fixed her makeup and sorted out her hair, trying to find something to occupy her time for five minutes.
She was pretty sure the test would already tell her the answer, but she didn't want to look. She couldn't bring herself to, because she was pretty sure that she already knew the answer. It would explain why she had been feeling sluggish a lot of the time, and why she always felt sick when it came to eating. And why also, she wanted to eat things she never usually eats. Bella had already convinced herself it was the truth before the five minutes was even up. She checked her watch one last time and saw that five minutes had passed. Reaching for the stick and closing her eyes, she braced herself and took a deep breath.
It took Bella looking at the sign on the stick for ten minutes, for her to realise that she didn't actually know what it meant. She fished out the instruction leaflet that she'd carelessly chucked in her bag and read all the way through it, grunting in frustration as of course, the information she needed the most was in the last place she looked for it. Well, it wouldn't be in the first, would it? Who carries on looking for something that they've already found?
"C'mon Bella, just look at the God damn thing already."
She compared the instruction leaflet to the stick, holding them side by side.
"Well shit."
"Fuck me, I'm fucked!" Paige exclaimed as she wiped her brow. "How the fuck did this even happen?"
"I don't know even know.." Bella replied, looking down at the bags in confusion. "It just seemed to escalate so quickly!" She fell down onto the sofa, stumbling over the bags. "Hey, how about we have some.. therapy.. of our own?" Bella chose her words carefully.
"What do you mean?" Paige questioned.
"Well, we bought plenty of face masks to last us another couple of years and we have plenty of new beauty products, and we have enough clothes now, so why not just treat ourselves tonight? We could have a fat night, like we always used to?!" Bella was getting excited.
"Oh my God, can we?!" Jumping up and down excitedly, Paige clapped her hands repeatedly. "CAN WE, CAN WE, CAN WE?" Paige started squealing.
"Let's go, amigo! Er, I just need to pop to the toilet first though, feeling rather bloated from that meal."
"Bella, you hardly touched anything on your plate."
"Yeah, I know and I don't know what's going on. Maybe the heat is messing with my head!" Bella scowled at the sun through the window. She waited for Paige to turn around before grabbing her handbag and running to the downstairs toilet. Locking the door, she opened up her handbag and pulled out the bag with the box in it.
It was the moment of truth.
Bella pulled the box from the bag and opened it up carefully, reading the instructions.
"For best results, use in the morning. Do not drink in order to make yourself need the toilet." Bella cursed under her breath. It was early evening, and she needed to know. Paige had mentioned getting some alcohol earlier and it had bugged her all day, because as much as Bella wanted to, she was scared. She hadn't had a period in what seemed like thousands of years. In fact, now that she thought about it, she hadn't had a period since the first week her and Alex first.. well, had sex. Because he'd never used a condom. They didn't even think about it at the time, and she hadn't had time to go to the Doctor and tell them that she was now, what they would call "sexually active".
She pulled the test out from the box and fiddled with it before removing the lid. "Fucking hell, have they given me a big enough target?!" She whispered, frustrated.
Bella inched her way over to the toilet, setting her handbag down on the floor carefully and preparing herself. "I cannot believe I am about to piss on a fucking stick. A stupid fucking stick that has the ability to fucking ruin my life. Well that's not fair. It wouldn't be ruined. Just made difficult. For fuck sake. C'mon man, pee!" She swore under her breath at her bladder, for resisting the urge to let go. But eventually, she did. She brought the stick out and replaced the lid.
Picking up the information leaflet, she read the instructions again. "Are you fucking kidding me right now? Five minutes? Really?!" Bella muttered, shaking the stick frantically before standing up and sorting herself out. She flushed the toilet and left the pregnancy test on the side. "Better leave it to fucking simmer." She glared at the stick, willing it to 'hurry the fuck up'.
Keeping an eye on her watch every now and then, she fixed her makeup and sorted out her hair, trying to find something to occupy her time for five minutes.
She was pretty sure the test would already tell her the answer, but she didn't want to look. She couldn't bring herself to, because she was pretty sure that she already knew the answer. It would explain why she had been feeling sluggish a lot of the time, and why she always felt sick when it came to eating. And why also, she wanted to eat things she never usually eats. Bella had already convinced herself it was the truth before the five minutes was even up. She checked her watch one last time and saw that five minutes had passed. Reaching for the stick and closing her eyes, she braced herself and took a deep breath.
It took Bella looking at the sign on the stick for ten minutes, for her to realise that she didn't actually know what it meant. She fished out the instruction leaflet that she'd carelessly chucked in her bag and read all the way through it, grunting in frustration as of course, the information she needed the most was in the last place she looked for it. Well, it wouldn't be in the first, would it? Who carries on looking for something that they've already found?
"C'mon Bella, just look at the God damn thing already."
She compared the instruction leaflet to the stick, holding them side by side.
"Well shit."
I just read this story and its prequel and sincerely loved them both. You're an amazing writer, and these stories dealt with a lot of emotions, ranging from sad to loving and I just really enjoyed them both. You captured both of these themes really well. It took me a few chapters to get into the first story, but once I did, I was hooked and just kept reading until I finished this one. All within... two days I believe, I just couldn't stop reading it.
Even though it's been a few years since you've posted them, I just thought I would leave a comment and let you know I really enjoyed them. Great job with them. Just wanted to show people like me are still stumbling across them and enjoying them. <3
I'm bummed to see you haven't written anything else; if you ever choose to one day, let me know and I will for sure read what you have. You're a very talented writer and I would love to read more of your writing. No pressure though, lol.
1/12/17