The Adjacent Room [h.s]

Chapter 36

'Harry, I always have time for you. Please tell me you know that.' I choke. If anything, it feels like he's the one who doesn't have time for me.

'Just doesn't feel like it.' He whispers, rolling back onto his side so his back is facing away from me. 'It's fine, she needs you. Just go.' It takes all my power to not just call Charlotte back and tell her I have more pressing matters to attend to, but I don't know why she needs me and she sounded desperate. I'm being pulled in two different directions and I know which one I want to go to, but Charlotte needs me right now.

'Tonight, I'm all yours.' I decide, attempting to come up with some sort of solution and trying to make light of the situation. His statement that I never have time for him is the furthest thing from the truth possible, but if that's how he feels, then I'll make it clear that I always have time for him.

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'Sophie! I haven't seen you in ages!' Charlotte says, pulling me in for a hug. The last time I saw her in person, Charlotte's hair was a rose gold, and now it's a brownish red and she's overly cheery considering her panic on the phone with me half an hour. The roads are already fairly busy in L.A, and Harry's habit of looking for paparazzi everywhere we go has now been instilled in me. From what I can see, there's no paparazzi in sight which is a major relief.

'Get to the point, I left Harry for this.' I laugh, accepting her hug. On a surface level, I'm sure Charlotte would take my comment as me just wanting to spend time with Harry, but to me there's a much more vulnerable meaning behind my words.

'Sorry, right. Please do not tell anyone this, not a soul. Not even your lovely boyfriend, nobody can know.' She says, pausing to brace herself for what she has to say next. 'I think I'm pregnant. My period is late, and honestly I haven't been..smart lately.' She whispers, careful that no passerbys hear her admittance.

'You might be pregnant? Who's the dad? Mitch?' I ask, torn between laughing in shock or crying in shock. The last guy she had a thing with, from whom I've been told about, is Mitch.

'No! Definitely not! It's a guy I've been seeing for a few weeks, nothing official yet. His name is Thom.' She admits, cheeks going red.

'Why didn't you tell me about this Thom?' I ask, pulling her through the door to Walgreens.

'You're flat out. You look frazzled every time I FaceTime you, Sophie. I'll tell you all about him after this is over.' She laughs, looking up to read the signs in the store. She's significantly calmed down since our interaction over the phone, and part of me wonders if I'm really essential here. I can't stop thinking about Harry, and I silently wish more than anything that I was with him.

'Sorry, busy.' I say, repeating the same comment to a different person for what feels like the thousandth time. 'Tell me these things, I always have time to hear about your love life. I assume we're here for a pregnancy test?' I feel bad that she noticed how out of it I've been lately, so much so as to not update me on her life.

'We are, yes.' She nods, pulling me down the aisle that I assume has the pregnancy tests. 'Fuck, there are so many people in here. It's before 7, why the hell are so many people in a Walgreens so early in the morning? This is so awkward for me, now it feels like I've got an audience.' She whispers, humoured but seeming to be genuinely panicked.

'I could ask you the same thing. A girl getting a pregnancy test is not particularly exciting for anyone, nobody is looking at us.' I laugh, her grip tightening on my arm the further down we go into the aisle. Eventually, I spot the pink and blue Clearblue box, and pick it up. 'How's this? 5 tests..you'll want to be certain and do a few, and they're digital ones which is probably easier.' I laugh, examining the package.