Page 59 of Obsessive Love

"We still don't really see or speak to each other. He's really busy with all of this Garcia business going on, so we don't really spend much time together. We had quite a long conversation the other week, though. After that, I realised that he's actually not that bad of a guy."

"What was the conversation about?" she asks, sitting beside me.

"Nothing important," I mutter, not wanting to speak about how my husband basically gave me permission to get with his brother, who is seemingly obsessed with me and has been for years.

She narrows her eyes at me as I gulp down the rest of my drink and then get up to make myself another.

As I'm pouring the champagne into my glass, I hear the chime of the doorbell and I release a relieved sigh.

"Please tell me you have a ton of chocolate, Auntie Lou. I need a gallon of it," Jess grumbles as she enters the kitchen, dressed in pyjamas with sunglasses on her face and her hair tied up in a messy bun.

My mother and I look at each other in shock as we watch my cousin plod across the room and then groan as she seats herself in one of the chairs.

"I think I can find some chocolate in here somewhere, darling," my mother says, patting Jess' hand and then hopping out of her seat to go and raid her cupboards.

"What's up with you?" I ask, sliding one of the champagne flutes over to Jess.

"Mother Nature hates me."

I laugh at her statement and take a sip of my drink.

"Mother Nature hates us all, otherwise she wouldn't cause us this pain every month," I state.

Jess drinks some of her mimosa and then nods, agreeing with me.

My mother walks back over a minute later with a bag of Maltesers and some M&M's, slinging the bags onto the breakfast bar.

"I thought I'd get both of your favourites out considering you both must be struggling at the moment."

I frown and shake my head, watching as she takes a seat next to Jess, who's ripping open the bag of M&Ms.

"I'm not. You can save the Maltesers for another day."

Jess stops stuffing the colourful, chocolates into her mouth and my mother puts her glass down as they stare at me with bewildered looks on their faces.

"What?" I question, looking between them both.

"You're not on your period?" Jess asks.

I shake my head.

"No, I'm-" I pause as I begin to connect the dots in my head and my brows furrow as I stare at Jess in front of me. "I'm not on my period," I mutter, glancing between the two women sitting in front of me.

"I only came on this morning," Jess says, shrugging as she begins to shove more chocolates into her mouth again.

"That doesn't help, Jess," I hiss, starting to panic. "I'm always on my period the week before you. We're synced up. We have been for years."

"Chill out. I'm sure you'll come on soon."

I stare at her wide-eyed, shocked by her nonchalant replies whilst I'm standing opposite her, close to having a full-blown freakout.

My mother rests her hand on mine, and when I turn to her, she looks at me with a faint smile on her face.

"Is it possible that you're pregnant, Soph?" she asks, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Of course not," Jess scoffs. "She hasn't had sex with Jericho. I'm pretty sure they haven't even kissed each other."

"Oh, okay," my mother says, looking slightly dejected. "Well, it must just be stress then."

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