Space They Cannot Touch

29.

The niggling feeling hadn't gone away by the next morning and you spent all day trying to remember what it was that you'd forgotten. It was only after Lara had come up to you to ask if you were engaged and pregnant that you remembered.

"I'm engaged, but not pregnant". I think...

"Well congratulations! Where's the ring? How did he ask?"

"I'm, uh, saving it for a photo announcement. Would hate for the paparazzi to get a photo of it first. And uh, when we were in LA for the premiere". You were struggling to be polite, itching to check your diary, to reassure yourself that you'd had your normal cycle recently...

"Oh...well, I can't wait to see it!". Lara went back to her desk and you hurriedly pulled your diary out of your handbag, flipping through the pages to find when you'd last had your period. You were way more than your normal 28 days before you found anything...almost two months back...

"Shit" you sighed under your breath, pinching the bridge of your nose.

I can't be pregnant! I've got the rod...

You grabbed your phone and texted Dot.

Y: EMERGENCY. CALL ASAP

It took Dot 15 minutes to ring, and they were the longest 15 minutes of your life.

"What's wrong, what's going on?" Dot's voice was calm. She was always your go-to for any kind of emergency.

You checked that no one was paying attention to you before you spoke. "I need you to get me a pregnancy test" you muttered quietly into the phone.

"OH MY GOD!!! ARE YOU PREGNANT?! I'M GONNA CRY, I'M SO HAPPY!"

"Shut up! And no, I don't know, but I can't remember my last period and the last recorded one I had was over two months ago. And I can't go and get the test because I'm followed everywhere I go"

"Okay. Well, I hope you are cos I am dying to be an Auntie"

"Well I'm not dying to be a Mum, so please, please, please get me a test and be discreet about it"

"Okay, but how am I going to get it to you?"

You paused, trying to think. Dot lived over two hours away and there was no way she'd get here before the end of the work day. Plus you had the dinner tonight with the Holland's. 

"Are you free on the weekend?"

"No, I'm going to Edinburgh for the weekend with Matthew"

You groaned. "I really need the test sooner rather than later"

"Well, the earliest I can get it to you would be late on Sunday..."

"Okay, that'll have to do. In the meantime I'll just have to pray that I'm not"

"I'm going to pray for the opposite"

"Great. Thanks. Talk to you soon"

"Haha love you too, bye!"

You resisted the urge to face plant on your desk. Just keep calm, you're just stressed which is affecting your cycle. Stress can do that...right?

You spent the remainder of your working day subtly Googling pregnancy symptoms, how effective the rod was at preventing pregnancy, and whether or not stress can affect your period. The answer was yes, stress could affect your cycle, but also that yes you could still get pregnant on the rod. You didn't put much faith in religion, but you said a silent prayer for you to not be pregnant. You didn't need life to become any more complicated than it already was.