Inseparable: A New Adult Erotic Romance (13 page)

As they went up the large curved staircase, Julie began to feel nauseous, but she didn’t want to say anything to Bonnie. Her left hand was pressing hard and low against her stomach, trying to settle the grumbling she felt. The house was located near the pharmacy where her friend Polly worked. Julie had already planned to go over at the end of the day to see if she could recommend something to relieve the nausea, even if it meant telling her about the situation she was in. Her best friend had to be the first one she told.

Julie smiled through her discomfort as she recalled how kind Polly had been when they met in third grade. The children in the class had made fun of Julie’s old, unwashed clothes, but Polly stuck up for her, inviting her over to play. She borrowed a swim suit and they played with a hose in the yard while Polly’s mom had quietly washed her clothes for her. Julie had spent years in their house after that, always so welcomed by the family that she never even felt jealous of the love Polly received from her parents.

When they both graduated high school, Polly had gone to a technical school to become a pharmacy technician. Julie was so proud when she graduated at the top of her class after two years, making enough money with her first job to move out on her own. There were times she wished she had taken Polly up on her offer to be roommates, but Julie felt too much responsibility for her Mom to leave her alone.

The playroom was just as Bonnie had described it. Julie sat her bags down to walk the area, estimating how she would need to adjust the proportions of her sketches to better fit the room. She decided to do the prince and princess mural first, pulling the step ladder to the wall between the windows. Bonnie chattered away as Julie got the measuring tape and pencil from her bag.

"I told everyone at the office about you. They all want to meet you now and can’t wait to see how this room turns out. Are you feeling any better?"

"Yes, all better," Julie said quietly, focusing on laying the grid out on the wall.

"Wonderful! If you don’t have any plans this evening, maybe we can grab a bite to eat when we get to a stopping point. I know a lovely little Thai place down here that I bet you would love."

Julie smiled, trying to be as polite as possible. "I’m sorry, Bonnie, I appreciate the offer, but have plans to meet a girl friend this evening. We’ve got a lot to catch up on. I hope you don’t mind."

"Oh, no problem, we’ll have plenty of time to go out. I was thinking about some other projects you might be interested in helping with. After our staff meeting on Wednesday, I’ll shoot you an email with the list. If you’re willing to play ball, I may be able to offer you a staff position." Bonnie was pushing hard, clearly missing the cues that Julie wasn’t interested, job offer or not. Julie just kept humming affirmations as she began to transfer her sketched plan onto the wall, doing her best to tune out Bonnie’s incessant chatter.

Julie felt a little better by lunch time, but didn’t want to waste time eating. The murals were fully sketched on the walls, with all the necessary adjustments in the scenes to make the best use of the space. When she finished the first mural, Julie had pulled out the acrylic paints and began to fill the roller trays with the base colors. Bonnie was undeterred despite being ignored, and continued to gush like a lovesick teenager. Julie put her to work rolling out the base colors on the walls to keep her busy.

The afternoon passed swiftly as Bonnie and Julie filled in the sketches, the colors making the characters emerge from the thin lines she had drawn. By the late afternoon, Julie was beginning to feel queasy again, but didn’t know whether to blame her situation or the paint fumes. When they locked up the house to leave Julie felt drained, and ready for a quiet night with her friend.

"Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. Are you sure you don’t want to try that Thai place? You could bring your friend if you want. I’d love to meet her."

"No, thank you, it’s just going to be us girls tonight. We’ve planned an old-fashioned sleepover with pajamas, pedicures and popcorn. We’ve both been looking forward to catching up for weeks, ever since I started dating my boyfriend." Julie tried to stress again the fact that she was already involved with someone.

"Oh," Bonnie said, reaching into her briefcase."I almost forgot. Would you sign this contract for me? It’s the same as the one I sent you via email." She seemed nervous as she straightened it out on the hood of her car, pulling a pen out of her purse. Julie scanned it to see if it was the same as the one she studied before. It had the same odd wording in the section that dealt with works-for-hire which had caught her attention before. Julie smirked to herself as she signed the contract.

"Well, then, I’ll see you tomorrow! This has been so much fun, I can’t believe how nicely it’s turning out. Sophie will just die when she sees it!"

Wouldn't it be nice if she did die?
Julie thought to herself. She just nodded, hoping her sudden smile at Bonnie’s surprise confirmation didn’t seem out of context.

***

T
he drive to the drug store was mercifully short, but the grinding sound when she turned the steering wheel had gotten progressively worse. Polly’s shift wouldn’t be over for a while yet, so she browsed around the store as she waited. She looked at the cosmetics, then continued down the aisle, suddenly conscious of the infant products she passed. The feeding bottles, powdered formula, jars of baby food, and diapers, all seemed to pull her attention and made her stomach feel tight. She mentally tallied the cost of the items, her eyes widening as she considered what it would take to care for a child.

It appeared that the store manager had a sense of humor because customers were forced to walk past all the baby items to get to the condoms, adult toys and lotions. She considered picking up another box of the large condoms Jack needed, but felt her lip quiver when she reached for it. She took a breath, pinched her lips and picked up a box anyway. She wasn’t sure how or when she would tell him yet, but didn’t want him to guess because she stopped insisting they use condoms.

She walked to the aisle with the medicines to treat nausea, but as she read the boxes she began to worry. Her baby would be affected by anything she took and she didn’t know which ingredients were safe. She noticed her hand resting protectively on her stomach again.

"My baby," she whispered. Her throat closed as she tried to breathe, making her swallow hard to force the tightness away. She may not have planned for this to happen, but was forced to admit that she was beginning to feel something in her heart for her baby. Whatever Jack decided to do, the baby was hers.

She put down the box she had been looking at and walked over to the vitamins, squatting down to pick up the generic bottle of prenatal vitamins. Her stomach felt better in this position, so she stayed reading the labels and trying to decide if they might be able to help with her nausea.

She saw a pair of white shoes out of the corner of her eye and heard Polly say, "Oh, Julie." Polly stood next to her in the aisle, her hand at her mouth.

"Yeah," Julie said quietly, affirming her guess, blinking back tears. She looked down to try and regain her composure as Polly knelt down next to her.

"It’s going to be fine, whatever you decide. I will be with you every step of the way."

The tears became sobs as Julie felt her last bits of control slip away, letting Polly guide her to her feet and into the employee break room. Polly hugged her when they got inside and just let her cry herself out. Eventually, Julie calmed and looked around for a tissue box. Polly got it for her, pushing her down to sit at the break room table.

"Talk to me."

"I screwed up. It was just one night. Well, and the morning, but he never... It was right after my period, so I shouldn’t have even been ovulating! Polly what am I going to do? I can barely afford to live now!"

"Have you told him yet?"

Julie shook her head, looking at her lap. "No, you are the first one I’ve admitted it to. Plus there is a whole story about him I need to tell you later."

"Well, regardless, this is your decision. No matter how you feel right now, you do have options available."

"I may not," Julie said in a small voice.

"What do you mean?"

She looked up at Polly with fresh tears in her eyes. "I think I love him."

"Your boyfriend?"

"No. Well, maybe." She rested her hands on her stomach. "He’s a boy. I know it."

"Oh, Julie, you can’t know that yet. How long has it been?"

"Five weeks today."

"Have you been to see a doctor yet?"

"No, I can’t afford it right now. I just need to finish this job. I’ll be able to fix my car and then I can probably afford to go."

"You don’t need to worry about that. I will take you whenever you want to go. This is important for lots of reasons, no matter what you decide. You could have a tubal pregnancy and be in danger, the child could have health issues that may influence your decision. You have to see a doctor, Sweetie. Even if we just go to the free clinic, you need to see someone."

"I’m not going back to the free clinic," Julie said, looking wary.

"What, you afraid someone is going to recognize the fearless fornicator? I doubt anyone will even remember you volunteered there. It’s been years."

"No, but I should have known... I just can’t go there."

"Let’s worry about that later. I’m off now, let me get my purse and jacket. Is it still cold out?"

"Not to me, but I’ve been running hot lately."

"I bet. Let me get your things so I can put them on my discount. One change, though, the prenatal vitamins won’t help with your nausea. You need to get some chewable baby vitamins to take for the baby. Believe it or not, the folic acid will make you feel sicker."

"How did you know I’ve been nauseous?" Polly just looked over her thin glasses at Julie and raised her eyebrows. "OK, OK, just get me what I need. I only have $20 now until I get paid."

"You can pay me back later."

Julie followed Polly to her apartment, pulling her overnight bag out of the car and walking with her inside. The apartment was neat and clean, with the fresh scent of coconuts. Polly had decorated with art and pottery she picked up visiting her family in Botswana.

"You know where everything is, make yourself at home. I’m going to shower and change out of my work clothes," Polly called back to her as she walked toward her room.

"Can I use your computer?"

"Sure, just don’t look at my history. It’s been a long dry spell and I’ve been spending time on questionable sites." Polly grinned and stepped into the bedroom.

Julie logged into her Gmail account. Jack wasn’t on yet, so she went to the kitchen to make some tea. Polly had introduced her to what her family called bush tea, but everyone else in the world seemed to call rooibos. The tea reportedly helped with tension and stomach problems, which made Julie chuckle as she made it. "Tea don’t fail me now."

As she poured the boiling water in the tea pot to steep, she heard the computer beep indicating Jack was online. Polly’s computer was able to do video, so she started up a video chat instead of sending an email. After a few moments, a jittery video of Jack’s familiar face appeared.

"Hey, you got an upgrade! Wait, where are you, that’s not the apartment?"

"I’m at my friend Polly’s house. We’re having a sleepover! We are going to paint our toenails and talk about boys all night."

"You know, my favorite pornos all start off that way," he said with a chuckle.

"Oh, we kissed one time, but it just made us laugh. She’s my best friend. After you grow up together like we did, you just feel like sisters." She felt almost normal talking to him again. The stress seemed to melt away as she looked into his eyes.

"So when do I meet her?" He seemed positively giddy, but looked a little worn and was definitely thinner.

"She’s in the shower now, so we have some privacy on my end if you want to talk. Or something." Julie wiggled her eyebrows and grinned.

"Did she just go in?"

"Let me shut the bedroom door. Just a sec." Julie got up and tapped on the bathroom door. "Polly?"

"Yeah, you need something?"

"I’m talking to Jack on your computer. Would you mind if I shut the bedroom door?"

"Go ahead. I’m washing my hair so I’ll be a while. Just put a towel on the seat if you’re going to get freaky," Polly said with a laugh.

"You’re a nut!"

When she sat back down, Jack was looking at something other than the video call. He was doing something with his touchpad and had a slight grin on his face. "What are you looking at?" Julie asked with a smile.

He must have minimized the chat program, because he quickly clicked and looked back in the center of his screen with a grin. "There you are! I missed you, so I had to look at pictures of you until you came back."

"Have you been working hard today?"

"Yes, Ma’am."

"Would you like your special treat now?"

"Oh, yes I would."

She found the next picture in the series on the folder in her Google drive. It was a shot of two fingers sliding between her lips leaving a smear of moisture along the edges. Her inner lips were being slipped out by her fingertips, the slick fluid making strings between them. Jack said impatiently, "What’s taking so long?"

She sent the link to him and leaned back in the chair to watch. His laptop was sitting on his bunk while he sat cross-legged in front of it. He was wearing a loose pair of shorts and his familiar undershirt, but his arousal was pushing the front of the shorts out quite a way. As soon has he saw the picture, his eyes widened. "Oh, wow." He pulled his loose shorts down under his balls and tugged his shirt over his shaft to conceal what he was doing. he began to stroke quickly, staring intently at the screen. "Oh, Julie..."

"That’s not fair," Julie said with a pout. "I wanted to see."

"You will," he whispered, his face turning red as his shirt bounced and twitched. When he got close, he pulled back his shirt for her to see. It was not like the slow, languid style he had used before. This was the kind of manic tempo she saw in pornos, but had never seen anyone do before in real life. His eyes squeezed shut as he held his breath, straining to be quiet as the first pulses pushed his seed out over his head and fist. He dropped the shirt again as he caught his breath, wiping himself with a tissue he pulled from under the computer.