Pregnant Pause [H.S]

Chapter 1

Life

I never feared ringing telephones before I worked in an office. Over time, it became habit to pick up on the third ring. The first ring could be imaginary – hunched over a desk in a cubicle all day, one tends to have a mental playlist of ringtones on constant repeat filtering in from other cubes. Picking up on the second ring gave the impression of eagerness. By the third ring, however, the call was unavoidable. One didn't appear overeager and underworked on the third ring, nor could one pass it off as imaginary or unimportant.

Dropping my pen and pinching the bridge of my nose as I blinked away my tired eyes, I lifted the handset of my office phone.

"Harry Styles from Myriad. How can I help you?"

"Turning on your mobile would be a start.

Releasing an anticipatory breath, I let my shoulders slump in relief. The voice on the line was one I'd recognize anywhere.

"Hi. Sorry. I was in a meeting."

"Until now? It's dinnertime!

"Yeah," I replied, massaging my temple with one hand while the other held the phone to my opposite ear. Leaning back in my desk chair, I continued, "We have new software launching next month and we're behind on... everything."

The incomplete spreadsheets open on my desktop and the highlighted papers strewn about every surface of my cube spoke of unproductivity and disorganization.

"Sorry, bunny," Fitz said, her light voice brimming with sympathy. Even though she was half a city away, I could almost feel her giving my shoulder a squeeze. She clapped once on the other end of the line, her short-lived sympathy miraculously transformed into excitement. "I have something to tell you.

"What's that?"

She paused. "When will you be home?"

Normally I didn't allow myself moments of respite in the office, but after a long and terrible day, the voice of my girlfriend was exactly what I needed to hear. I leaned back even further in the chair and ran a hand through my hair, letting it rest behind my head as I propped my feet up on my desk and crossed my ankles.

"Dunno. Not for a couple hours."

"Oh." Her disappointment was painfully evident, and I grimaced. "But it's Friday. Can't you cut out at a normal time for once?"

I briefly shut my eyes, ignoring the burning sensation under my lids from staring at a screen for too long. "That means more work on Monday," I pointed out. "What's your news?"

"I'll tell you later."

"Why not now?"

"I want to see your face when I tell you."

I frowned. "It's something big?"

"Yes. And awesome."

Sighing contentedly in my lazy position, I hummed into the receiver. "Tell me now so I can get through the rest of the day."

"No. I know you're staring at a screen and making calculations in your head – you're not even listening."

"I am listening," I insisted. "My eyes aren't even open."

"Just because I can't see you, doesn't mean I can't tell when you're lying."

For all her self-assuredness, after a year of dating, Fitz had yet to grasp how much I enjoyed the sound of her voice. She unwound me, though she didn't see it.