Friday, May 25, 2012

Morning Sickness

I woke up the next morning after I heard my phone vibrate for a second. That had to be a text. I first looked at the time-it was nine thirty. I then proceeded to check the text. There were two of them-one from Fred and the other from Mike.

Fred’s text started with the usual-he asked if I had a good night sleep. He also asked if I could spare some time off today for some picnic at a nearby park. He finished off jokingly by asking me if I bought the dress that I had admired from the day before. The second text which was from Mike asked me if I could also spare time for the picnic. I wondered what these boys were up to!

I pulled the blankets over and walked over to the bathroom. I was so pressed. As I was still doing my business, I heard a thud on the door followed by Ann shouting on top of her voice to hurry up. Confused, I finished up quickly and opened the door. She rushed in, knelt over the toilet seat and then threw up. I didn’t know if it was wise for me to leave her alone or try to help her. I then figured she would need water so I walked over to the kitchen and got a glass of water. She finished the glass in one gulp which forced me to pour her another. After some time, she seemed to get better.  This was definitely morning sickness as a result of the pregnancy. I pitied her.

I helped her to the living room and sat her on the couch. I decided to cook for her breakfast. She seemed weak and tired already. I heated up some coffee, cooked some eggs and prepared some fruits and gave it to her while I dashed to the bathroom for a quick shower. I later joined her and had breakfast.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yea, thanks for the help back there.” She replied while stretching out her arms.             

“You welcome. By the way, has Mike talked to you this morning?” I asked. “I have received a text from him asking me if I could join them for a picnic.”

“Actually it was my idea. I thought it would be good to catch up and have some fun so I called them up early in the morning and asked if we could go. It also would be a good time for me to talk to Mike about everything without much pressure.” She replied.

“Wow, seemed you really thought about it.”

“Actually, it was just a random thought.”

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Of Weight Gain


 Ann had cooked some mashed potatoes and beef stew so we sat down a little bit later and ate it together. 

“So when are you getting back to work?” I asked.

“I’ll report back on Monday morning. I only have this weekend free.” She replied.

“At least you had some time to relax. I can see it did you good!” I said while smiling at her.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked.

“Ann, since you came back you have been glowing all over. I can’t help notice but you gained a little bit of weight too.”

“Yea, guess so.” She said while taking some of food.

“Is everything alright?” I asked.

“Yes. “

“Are you sure?” I asked again. “You know you can tell me anything?”

“You have to promise me not to tell anyone.”

“I promise.” I said quickly.

“I’m pregnant.”

“What?”

“You better believe it.” She said still eating her food.

“Oh my God! Ann, stop joking!”

“Do I look like am I kidding?” she asked sounding angry.

“No but am surprised. So how long are you?”

“I’m about eight weeks.”

“Does anyone else know about this? Mike?” I asked.

“No. I haven’t told him yet. It’s not something that we planned and I am afraid of his reaction.”

“I understand. So what are you going to do about it?” 

“I don’t know but it seems I can’t hide it anymore. Most people have noticed the weight gain including Mike. I just have to tell him.”

I kept silent for a while not knowing what to tell her. Her situation reminded me a lot about my case a while back. I was caught up in the same situation and I had no idea what to do but I ended up terminating it. Although I don’t regret the decision, it was really a hard choice to decide on.

“Hey, what are you thinking about?” Ann asked while she tapped my shoulders.

“Sorry, my mind had just wondered off. I think talking with Mike would be the best thing for both of you.”

“Yea, I guess so.”

“You can talk to him tomorrow. It’s a Saturday and he is free most of the time.” I suggested.

“You are right. I’ll call him up and set up something.” She replied.

I picked up the utensils and helped by cleaning up the kitchen. I then took a shower after finishing with the cleaning. I was really tired from the day’s work and just wanted to rest. As I was about to sleep, I remembered the gown I had bought just a few hours ago. I quickly woke up and hang it on the closet. It still looked beautiful although it was wrapped up. I smiled and closed my eyes.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Impulse buying

Gosh! 

I had returned to the shop after work to inquire about the dress only to be hit by a price that I didn’t expect.  The gown was worth at nine hundred and sixty dollars! It was way over my budget. I had earlier made up my mind to keep it simple without the whole hullabaloo about the wedding dress but this dress made me change my mind.

The shop assistant was really nice and asked me if I wished to try on the dress. I couldn’t say no so I quickly made my way into the dressing room and slipped into the dress. Guess what? The dress fitted me perfectly! It needed no alterations. I stepped onto a platform that was placed in front of the mirror and checked myself. I looked beautiful! The silk material framed my figure perfectly with the straps holding it up exposing a small part of my cleavage. The ivory color matched my skin tone perfectly. The front part didn’t have much detail except a small silver band that framed the waist in. The backside was a bit lower with some crystals going all the way down to the train. I tried on a bracelet and a matching earing which completed the whole look.  This is good! I felt like calling up Ann and telling her about this but figured I could wait until I get home.

In addition to the jewelry, the total came to nine hundred and eighty dollars. I didn’t know if I was making the right decision but I gave the assistant my card and bought it all. It was long since I treated myself and this would be the perfect excuse. I picked up the package after changing and left for my place.

I found Ann on the balcony eating some fruits. She immediately noticed the package and became excited.

“What is that?” She asked standing up.

“My dress.”  I said while smiling at her.

“Can I see it?” she asked pulling the package away from me.

“Okay, okay. Let’s go to the house first.”

I showed her the dress as soon as we entered the house and she let out a scream.

“Oh my Lord! This looks like a wedding dress.” She shouted.

I nodded.

“You already bought the wedding dress and you didn’t think to tag me along?” she asked.

“Sorry, it was a random thing. I couldn’t resist it.”

“It’s so beautiful. I could have bought it too.” She said trying on the bracelet. “This is funny. We have a wedding dress ready and we haven’t yet figured when the actual wedding date is.”

We both laughed.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Delirious


We spent the next thirty minutes enjoying the pizza while talking mostly about work. His department was experiencing some issues with the server.  They have been busy trying their best to restore it back to order since morning but they haven’t been so lucky. It seems that I was so busy that I didn’t notice about the slow internet connection. 

We started walking back to the office after we were done with lunch. I suggested we use a different route to the office so we took the backstreet where it was less crowded. It was then that I noticed several small stores that had a sale on household stuffs to clothes. Since we didn’t have time, we did some quick window shopping. On the fourth shop, one thing caught my eye. There by the window, a beautiful ivory gown with silver straps was hang on one of the mannequins. It was beautiful! I have to have it!

Fred seemed to notice this because he laughed out loud.

“Are you serious?” he asked.                                                         

“What?” I asked back.

“Are you seriously thinking about the dress?”

“What do you mean?” I asked him knowingly too well how the conversation was going.

“Are you thinking of getting the dress for the wedding?”

I laughed out loud. “Kind of.”

“I thought you said that you are not those type of girls who get delirious on wedding stuff.” He said.

“But this is beautiful….” I started.

“Yea, yea, yea. So are you going to get it?” Fred asked smiling.

“Maybe. Speaking of which, when are we going to go over to my parents place?” I asked.

“Ooops!  Had even forgotten about that! Maybe next weekend? I may be free although I have to confirm with the office schedule.”

“Next weekend would be perfect for me. Just confirm with me when we get to the office so that I can call them up.”
 
Time was running out so we rushed back to the office. I made a mental note to go back to the shop after work so that I could check the price. I started work as soon after with a cheeky smile across my face.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

All Smiles


Dinner went on smoothly for the rest of the night with the company of my dear friends. I didn’t want to leave but I had an early morning for work so I had no other choice. Ann accompanied me back to the flat and we got a chance to talk on the days we were apart from each other. She told me of how they enjoyed the festive season with her family. She really looked happy and well relaxed.

I didn’t want to appear mean by saying it loud, but I noticed that she had gained a little weight. She had gained a couple of pounds especially on her backside and her waist area. Guess the few weeks of her leave had done her good. Good for her!

At the house, I helped her unpack a few clothes she had in her bag and helped her get to the shower before we slept. I did a little silent prayer to God thanking him of everything before I dozed off.

Back to work, things were not looking up. I first of all organized a short meeting with the staff and informed them of the funeral. I asked them what we could do for the HR and most of them came up with really good suggestions. We decided to buy a card where all of us could write something to pass our condolences. About six guys in total agreed to attend the funeral on behalf of the company. This was because the company had a small van and could only carry six guys. Fred and I were part of the team to attend the funeral.

I emailed the suggestions to Mrs. Wright who was not in the office today and she got back to me a few minutes later approving of what we had discussed. She also gave me the go ahead to take some cash for any purchases to be made. I still had a tone of work so I asked the receptionist to organize with a florist to order some flowers ready for that day since we had no time.

Lunch hour arrived quickly today so I texted Fred and asked if we could catch up for lunch. I was really feeling hungry and a little drowsy so I needed the break. I took the stairs and found Fred waiting for me by the newspaper vendor.

“Hey.” He said giving me a kiss on the cheeks.                                             

“Hey baby.” I replied.

“Can we try a different joint today?” He suggested taking my hands.

“Okay. You have somewhere in mind?”

“Not really but we can look around.” He said.

We turned to the left and down the street. Most of the restaurants in this part of the street were high end so we choose a pizzeria food place just down a couple of blocks. Seeing the pizza on the ovens made my tummy turn with envy so I quickly ordered Hawaiian Pizza with some cola. Fred was busy looking for a place to seat so I later joined him while waiting for our order.