7 Months

I am taking part in “The Write Tribe Festival of Words 1st to 7th September 2013". I hope you enjoy today's fictional story.

      Katie usually enjoyed the brisk walk with her co-worker along the river at lunch time.  Normally it was invigorating and recharged her to face the rest of the day.  Not today.  Today her mind reeled as much as her stomach rolled.  Would Claudia ever shut up?  She had no idea what she was talking about and at this point was too overwhelmed to care.  She smiled feebly and nodded, only half listening to the constant chatter.  She had her own problems and she was not ready to share with the class and honestly Claudia was so engrossed in herself she didn’t seem to notice anyways.   She had to figure out what to do first.  How in the hell was she going to explain this one?  God knows, she should be hungry.  She hadn’t eaten a thing since that bagel at breakfast and by the feeling in her gut that had been a big mistake too.

    As they entered the crowded deli, their most frequent haunt of late, the smell of fresh fish invaded the air.  It was Friday after all and fish was always the special.  Normally, she loved the deli’s fish and chips platter.  The deli did a thriving business and was popular with the office workers that populated the buildings downtown.  Today, a thin sheen of sweat broke out on her face as she took in the aroma.

     “Katie, what do you think?” Claudia asked.   Oh shit, Katie thought.  What the hell had she been talking about?  Confused and embarrassed she racked her brain.  They were already nearing the counter and the girl behind it looked at her expectantly her way ready to take her order.  The world tilted and the need to vomit now overtook her.  She raced for the ladies bathroom at the back of the restaurant slamming the guy waiting in line behind them in the balls with her purse as she fled.  She heard his sharp intake of breath, but the need to vomit was too great.  She couldn’t stop.  He was on his own.

       She flew into the bathroom, dropped to her knees gripping the porcelain bowl and vomited what seemed like a month’s worth of meals into its depths.  Gingerly she flushed the stool, and collapsed beside it.  It was at that precise moment she accepted the physician’s news to be fact.  Despite the fact it had all come to pass because of one night of pure insanity fueled by alcohol, like it or not, in approximately 7 months she would be a mother and her life would be forever changed.