Under His Protection

“Laura are you alright?” Michael dragged her out of her reverie, the alarm In his eyes were palpable now. “What are you thinking about? What is wrong?” He asked her.

She tried to give him a reasuring smile when deep inside her she felt she needs that kind of smile to herself, ” iam fine really, there is nothing to worry about. Sit breakfast is almost ready”

“Are you sure?” Michael asked unconvinced, his eyes were busy assessing her appearance. Laura hoped she could convince him that she was truly fine, ” maybe you should take off today from your work, you have been working tirelessly for weeks now, I think you should rest even if for a day. Look dark circles are starting to form under your eyes”

Laura consciously placed her hand in her eyes and looked away from him, ” I…. Michael….”

He held her hands in his, starring deep in her eyes, ” say you will take a break from work today, please? Don’t work so hard and look after your health, it makes me worry so much when you are unwell my love”

Laura knew she was defeated, thankfully she was not that busy at the boutique this week, maybe this might be a good time to take a test and find out if she is pregnant.

“Am I really pregnant with Michael’s child?” She asked herself silently as she glanced at him secretly, ” how should I tell him now? She heard him groan, ” you are doing it again!”

“Doing what?” She inquired lightly, the onslaught of her stomach finally settled down, she resisted the urge to place her hand in her still flat stomach.

“You are spacing out again Laura” Michael said, his eyes filled with annoyance, ” are you sure you don’t want to share anything with me? I believe you are hiding something from me Laura, I can feel it”

Her heart charged in her chest, she tried her very best to calm it, ” You are being ridiculous Michael, I have already told you iam fine”

“Truthfully?”

She nodded beaming at him like an idiot,” yes and iam Happy to inform you that I will listen to your advice and take a break from work today”

“Really?” The relief in his eyes was almost laughable, he was like a child receiving his Christmas gift early, ” that is good to hear my love”

“But I need you to get some files in my boutique, I need them” she said with a laugh, she had already formulate her plan on how to buy the pregnancy test kit without Michael by her side.

Michael groaned groaned looking at her with a frown in his handsome face, ” didn’t you just say that you will…..”

“I know” she cut him off with a chuckle, he was really caught between reprimanding her and put up with her demand, ” I just need to make a few phone calls, that is it”

“Can’t your secretary do that?”

She shook her head regretfully, ” personal matter”.

Michael stared at her for a long moment, ” Are you sure you will be alright here while I go out to get your file from your shop?”.

“Of course” she vexed out to sound not too eager, she tried to give him a winsome smile, that kind of smile that silently tell someone you-can-trust-me-you-know.

There was probably something about Laura expression that convinced Michael when he took a deep breath and surrender, ” alright, I will get you the file, I just have to change”.

“What about breakfast?” She asked his retreating form, Laura still doesn’t know if she could eat anything for fear that her stomach would get upset again once she put food in there. Michael didn’t bother to answer her and went straight to the bedroom she shared with him.

After few minutes he was already dressed, before he left the apartment he extract a promise from her that she would take a test in the bedroom while he was away and asked if she needed anything in particular she wanted to eat so he could buy it before coming back, she smiled at him telling him not to bother.

Michael nodded and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before he took his leave, Laura waited for few minutes before grabbing her wallet and the apartment key making her way to the nearest pharmacy just around the corner of the street, she needed to be quick before Michael would come back with the file she told him she needed.

Half running and half walking along the street Laura finally made it to the pharmacy in record time, her heartbeat so loudly in her chest and she could swore that the woman behind the counter could hear it.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Good morning” the kind woman greeted with a cheerful tone and a ready smile on her pretty face, ” what can I do for you?”

“Pregnancy test kit please” Laura answered with a tight smile on her face.

“Do you have a brand in mind miss?”

Laura bit her lips, ” give me at least three different brands to be sure”

The kind woman just smile and got the thing that would probably seal Laura’s fate.

Laura hid them in the pocket jacket when the woman gave it to her, she was afraid they people outside the street would see her carrying such a thing, it might be a big deal back in France if people see her carry such a thing but here in NYC it is totally different, people barely know her here.

She made her way back to the apartment, she wanted this home resting to be done before Michael arrives, Laura slowly unlocked the apartment and went straight to the bathroom to have it done as possible, she sat on the toilet finding it hard to summon her pee to come out, feeling furstrated by the delay she went to the fridge and gulp the whole bottle water and waited for the result.

Finally she felt her bladder was full, immediately she went to the bathroom and fill the disposable kit with the pee, once she was done, it felt like a scientist putting a drop of pale yellow liquid on the three pregnancy kits. This was probably the longest thirty seconds of her life as she waited for the result.