Page 75 of Ruck Me

Chapter23

AOIFE

Exitingthe conference room with my laptop hugged tight to my chest and a smile tugging at my lips, I felt an immense sense of pride at the first official project I’d completed as a full-time employee. Sure, I’d felt like throwing up the entire time I delivered my presentation, but I’d managed to keep my nerves in check long enough to make it through. But now as I walked past the kitchen and got a deep whiff of someone’s curry lunch, my belly clenched and bile filled my throat. Slapping a hand over my mouth, I ran to the women’s toilet and rushed into a stall, barely making it intime.

When I came out, Brienne was leaning against on the counter. “You okay?” she asked, her eyebrow raised.

I swiped the back of my hand across my mouth and made my way to the sink. “Yeah,” I answered, drinking down a handful of cold water. “I thought I was over this stupid bug, but apparentlynot.”

“You sure you’re not pregnant?”

“Don’t be an eejit,” I shotback.

Brienne’s eyes dropped meaningfully to my chest, taking in the cardigan I’d thrown on this morning clinging to my curves

“Remember that conversation we had about how I envied that you could get away without wearing a bra?” Her eyes rose and captured mine in our reflections. “Not to be a perve about it, but your tits are bigger than they were a couple of weeks ago.” She laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Unless you’ve had a boob job, which I don’t think is the case, you’re pregnant, Aoife.”

“I can’t be pregnant,” I whispered, all the color draining from the face. I shook my head at my reflection--as if doing so would make a difference in what I saw looking back atme.

Brienne placed her hands on my shoulders. “Please tell me you’re on birth control.”

I nodded mutely. I’d gone to the clinic the second I’d decided to sleep with Eoin. I could be stupid at times, but not that stupid. “People gain weight when they go on the pill, don’t they?” I asked hopefully. Maybe that’s why I had all these new curves?

“How long have you been taking them?” she asked, looking down at my boobs again.

“Four months.”

She closed her eyes and exhaled. When she opened them, she stared back at me with pity. “That would have happened months ago, when you first went onthem.”

“I can’t be pregnant,” I said again, my voice cracking.

Brienne dropped her hands from my shoulders and took a step back, her gaze sympathetic. I shook my head back and forth, my movements growing frantic. “No, no, no, no,” I uttered over and over again. “I am not pregnant.”

“Calm down,” Brienne said, grabbing my arm and dragging me to the door. Opening it, she peeked out. “First thing’s first. We need to get you atest.”

I stilled. Yes, that’s what I needed to do. It would prove Brienne was wrong.

“Most everyone’s in a meeting still so we can sneak out and no one will even know we’veleft.”

“I can’t leave. I’m supposed to meet with David in 30 minutes to go over the presentation.”

Brienne pulled her phone out of her back pocket and started typing. Shoving it back in her trousers, she said, “Not anymore. I just told him you’re sick and I’m taking you to the clinic.”

“You didn’t!”

“Sorry, Aoife, but this is more important.”

“It’s not,” I cried. “I need thisjob.”

“You’re not going to get fired for leaving early because you’re barfing. You just killed yourself putting together a presentation David should have done himself and he knowsit.”

“That’s why I threw up,” I exclaimed. “It’s just the stress of this project and everything else that’s been goingon.”

And yet even as I offered these excuses I knew I sounded like a woman with a severe case of denial.

“Come on,” she said, pulling me toward our cubicles. I stood there, numb, watching Brienne throw my things into my bag. “You ready?” When I didn’t answer, she stepped closer. “It’ll beokay.”

“It won’t,” I whispered, my voice breaking.

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