by Simone Jaine
After explaining all this to Cherie her friend consoled her with a big hug.
“How would you stop a husband dominating you?” Jem asked, her question muffled in Cherie’s shoulder.
“My brothers would sort him out if I was unhappy,” Cherie assured her with a pat on the back before stepping back.
Jem mused over this information. Cherie had four older brothers. She knew that the oldest was a Hollywood stuntman, the next was in the SAS, the third a sky diving instructor when he wasn’t out hunting and living off the land and the fourth was a high school music teacher.
Yep, Cherie’s brothers could be an intimidating lot if they chose to be. She’d met the youngest and it took guts to keep teenagers in line. Having a ready source of piano wire probably helped.
Cherie gave her a playful nudge.
“At least you were both wrong about you being able to get pregnant.”
“I can’t get pregnant,” Jem repeated firmly.
“For someone so bright you can say some silly things,” Cherie replied unfazed. “Let’s look at the facts. Has this supposed sterility of yours been confirmed by a doctor?”
“No,” Jem said reluctantly.
“Point in my favour,” Cherie said. “Now with the way you’ve been happier than I’ve ever seen you, I assume you’ve been getting yourself some.”
Jem crossed her arms across her chest.
“I refuse to answer that.”
“So you’ll plead the fifth to that one.”
“It’s not even been a month since we got together,” Jem said reluctantly. “It’s far too soon.”
Cherie rolled her eyes.
“Think of all those teenagers who swore they only had unprotected sex once and are now called Mummy and Daddy.”
Jem glared at her.
“That leaves us with how late your period is,” Cherie told her, unperturbed.
“It’s not…” Jem automatically protested then blanched when she quickly calculated dates. “Okay, I’m a few days late but that’s probably due to stress. I’m sure it’ll come any time now.”
“How about you get a pregnancy test now and then you’ll know for sure in a matter of minutes. You can thank me by naming your baby after me if it is a girl.”
“And if it’s a boy?” Jem asked, just to play along.
“Name him Thor,” Cherie said after a few moments consideration. “I have a thing for Chris Hemsworth.”
Jem rolled her eyes.
“I’ll come with you to buy the pregnancy test,” Cherie offered then Jem’s watch caught her eye when Jem unfolded her arms.
“Oh damn it, I can’t. Martha needs me in a meeting as of a couple of minutes ago,” Cherie said apologetically as she raced for the door.
Slipping out, she stuck her head back in briefly.
“When the test comes back positive I’ll pretend Eben knew before I did,” she said before closing the door behind her.
Jem’s gaze remained fixed on the door for a few moments after Cherie left.
Drat. With everything going on I forgot to ask her what Eben had said to her about keeping me in the dark about him being gainfully employed.
She looked at the opened files on her desk and the bigger stack in her in-tray. Jem picked up her pen to start annotating the file in front of her then put the pen down.
I can’t be pregnant.
Aside from the physical impossibility which Cherie had now shed doubt on, she had her new job to look forward to. She just couldn’t see how she could manage being a new mother along with the demands of the new job.
You’re worrying over nothing.
Jem tried to distract herself by opening the lunch bag Cherie had delivered. She unwrapped the sandwich and the smell of curried egg hit her. She turned away before she started gagging.
When she could breathe a little easier she sat up and held her breath until she had rewrapped the sandwich and dropped it in the bin.
I could be a little bit pregnant.
Jem chewed her lip in indecision. Should she take the test?
Either way it’s better to know.
Decision made, Jem got up from her desk and grabbed her shoulder bag, forgetting she had dropped her purse into her desk drawer after buying chocolate for a school fundraiser from Greg’s daughter.
In the closest pharmacy to her work Jem browsed the aisles, looking for pregnancy tests. Finding them, she hadn’t realised there would be several brands to choose from so started reading the backs of the boxes to determine whether one would be more suitable than another.
Seeing a man in a baseball cap in her peripheral vision walking down the aisle towards her Jem quickly put the test back and grabbed for something more innocuous. He didn’t even seem to notice her as without browsing he selected the test she had been holding and moved quickly past. She was too busy being mortified by the large pack of super-thin for the ultimate ride condoms she had picked up instead to notice.
She replaced it back on the shelf, disgusted with herself.
You’re a grown woman, not a teenager. It is perfectly respectable for you to buy a pregnancy test if you want, or condoms for that matter.
Just wanting to get out of the pharmacy she selected a pregnancy test brand she had heard of and headed for the counter.
As the pharmacy assistant rang up the sale Jem hunted for her purse. And hunted. She upended her shoulder bag on the counter and was half way through shovelling things back in when she remembered that her purse was in her desk drawer.
“I’m sorry, I left my purse at work,” Jem apologised hurriedly as she finished returning the contents to her bag. “Could you put my purchase to one side while I go back and get my money?”
Without waiting for a response she turned around and crashed into the man behind her. He dropped the item he was holding and she hastened to pick up the box for him.
“I’m so sorry,” she began then stopped when she saw she had crashed into Mark who was wearing his favourite baseball cap.
He must have been the one to walk past me in the aisle. Great.
He seemed a little embarrassed to be seen by her and she absently read the label of the box and her eyes widened as she handed it back to him.
Pregnancy test? As far as she knew he wasn’t in a relationship with anyone.
“It’s a long story,” he said stiffly upon noticing she realised what the product was. “Why didn’t you buy what you came for?”
“I left my purse at work,” Jem admitted.
“How about I buy it to save you a return trip?” he offered and indicated to the pharmacy assistant that he was paying for both items.
“Why would you want to do that?” Jem asked a little suspiciously as the pharmacy assistant rang up the sale and accepted Mark’s card.
“Let’s just say it might make you more inclined not to pass on to others what you saw,” Mark answered then entered his pin number into the eftpos terminal.
“I hope you both get the result you want,” the pharmacy assistant said as she handed the individually wrapped boxes back.
I don’t know what result I want, Jem admitted silently as she nodded politely in response and waited for Mark to receive his receipt.
“I’ll give you the money when we get back,” Jem promised as they left the pharmacy.
“It’s on me,” Mark said generously.
“Why are you being so nice to me when I got the promotion you wanted?” Jem asked to break the silence as they crossed the road to the block where their office was.
Mark pointed at the paper bag she was clutching.
“If that test is positive then I get your job by default,” he told her.
“How do you figure that?” Jem asked as they headed through the automatic doors to the lobby.
“You’re going to want maternity leave. I can’t see that going down well considering the job you’ve been hired to do. It’s a key position and Martha and Nate won’t take kindly to you taking time off for an unquantified peri
od of time while everything is being established.”
“You are being presumptive even if I was pregnant, which I’m not” Jem argued as she stabbed the button by the lift doors.
Mark raised an eyebrow.
“Really? Then why the test? Why don’t you just be professional about this? Just accept the best man has won.”
“The best woman did win,” Jem asserted as she walked into the lift with Mark close behind her.
“If you are going to be difficult about this and not turn down the promotion I’ll have to mention this to Nate,” Mark threatened, indicating the paper bag she held tightly in her hands.
He took his cap off, stuck it in his back pocket and scratched his head. Watching him, Jem was reminded of Daisy wearing the cap.
“Louse!” she exclaimed.
“No need to stoop to name calling,” Mark growled.
Jem paused to figure out what he was on about then smiled to herself. The name fitted him on more than one level. The second level was obviously his head.
“I’m just calling it as I see it,” she replied loftily. “You do appear to be carrying a whole family of them on your head. Haven’t you figured out why you’re scratching your head so much?”
“It’s dandruff,” Mark denied.
“Since when does dandruff have legs?” Jem asked.
Mark’s fingers paused mid scratch. He withdrew his hand and examined his fingernails. Judging by his expression Jem decided he must have found one trapped under them.
“Aaargh! Get them off me,” Mark yelled.
The elevator reached their floor and Jem stepped off, surprised that the three professionally dressed people waiting for the lift didn’t get on as soon as the coast was clear. She turned around and saw Mark in the elevator chanting “No, no, no” while he frantically clawed at his head and flicked his hands out.
Yeah, right. That will remove head lice, Jem thought disparagingly. She turned back to the people waiting.
“It might be better if you wait for the next lift,” she told them solemnly. “I think they need to up his meds again.”
Jem reached inside the elevator and held down the open door button.
“Put your cap back on and go to the pharmacy for treatment,” she said slowly to Mark for the benefit of her audience.
She released the button and stood back to join their audience. Mark stopped chanting and stared at her, a wild look in his eyes. He snatched the cap from his pocket and putting it on seemed to calm him, just as the doors shut.
“At least they managed to talk him out of his tin foil hat. His cap doesn’t attract nearly as much attention,” Jem confided before leaving the people waiting by the lift with their mouths gaping.
Back in her office Jem sat in her chair, dropped her bag under her desk and looked at the package in her hands. The decision to take the pregnancy test didn’t seem as clear cut as it did before she left.
If she was, it would change everything. Mark might well be able to get Nate to put pressure on Martha to take away her promotion. Eben might think she was like the others who wanted a free ride and having his baby would ensure that.
Maybe it’s better if I don’t know before I leave, Jem thought.
She tapped the box against her hand then opened a desk drawer and dropped the box in.
If I am pregnant it’s a miracle and I want to keep my baby, Jem thought unreservedly as she slid the drawer shut.
Chapter 29
Eben tapped on Jem’s office door much later than he had hoped to. Cherie hadn’t been joking when she had made that comment about Nate and an abacus. He wondered how many hours someone must have spent to teach him how to work a cell phone.
“Come in,” Jem’s voice said with forced cheer through the closed door.
He pushed the door open, walked to the chair opposite her desk and dropped into it.
Jem looked up from what she was reading, saw him and glanced at her watch.
“Why are you still here?” she asked, surprised. “Lunch was hours ago.”
I had almost gotten over being mad with you but I’ve changed my mind, Jem thought. I have my future planned out and if you and your super sperm have got me pregnant it will be the best thing that has ever happened to me but it will ruin everything. And if I’m not pregnant I’m still mad, just because you have me wanting things I can’t have and I don’t even know which way is up anymore…
“Oh, that’s right, you were giving Nate another tutorial,” she said instead, recalling the reason for his visit to her work. “So has he got it yet?”
Eben grabbed the end of his tie and jerked it towards the ceiling then lolled his head to one side.
“I’ll take that to mean no,” Jem decided, biting back a smile.
Good. You deserve to suffer. I’ll have to ask Cherie to book you for another tutorial with him.
“It would be less painful to have a job bathing cats,” he said, straightening up and letting go of the tie.
Maybe I can get him to wash Drongo… file that for later.
“Cherie thought teaching a one legged chicken to tap dance a good analogy,” Jem offered.
“Actually I like that one better. How on earth did someone like him wind up in this business and better yet, make a profit doing it?” asked Eben as he undid his tie and stuffed it in his pocket.
“He was the money and Martha’s husband did all the work,” Jem told him.
“Surely he must have sabotaged the business being the way he is?” Eben asked as he undid the top buttons of his shirt and rubbed the front of his neck.
“From what I understand the company barely made ends meet until Martha took over when her husband died.”
“So how did it keep afloat until then?” Eben asked.
“Nate inherited a lot of money,” Jem responded dryly.
She closed the folder she had been reading from and placed it neatly on her desk.
“When do you feel confident Nate will be able to handle using the database?”
“How long is it until the Earth’s magnetic poles reverse?” Eben asked darkly.
Jem laughed.
The sound was something that gave him hope. Maybe it was time to confess what else he had been doing at her work.
“Jem, I want,” said Eben.
“I was wondering,” Jem said simultaneously.
They both stopped speaking and smiled at each other.
“You go first,” Eben offered.
“Ah, this is just something that came to mind,” Jem said, and fiddled with the pen on her desk.
“What is it?” asked Eben.
Why does she seem so nervous?
“Would you like to have your own kids one day?”
I would love to but I know you can’t have them. If I had to make a choice, I choose you, thought Eben.
“I’m happy to be an uncle and give my nieces and nephews back when I’ve had enough. I don’t want children of my own,” he lied. “Why do you ask?”
“Oh,” Jem said weakly and waved her hand, knocking the file to the floor. “No particular reason.”
There was an awkward silence while Jem fumbled under her desk for the file all the while thinking she wouldn’t take the pregnancy test until after she left the country. There was no point in ruining the time they had left.
“You know, Martha picks up things very quickly,” Eben commented to change the subject.
“Yes,” Jem agreed as she carefully placed her file on top of her desk. “Without her this company would have gone under when her husband passed away.”
“That’s why I decided to show her the new software features before collecting you yesterday for our date,” Eben said.
“What new features?” Jem asked.
“I’m glad you asked. I integrated our staff task application into the program.”
“What does that do?” Jem asked as she leaned forward in her chair to better listen.
“It does several things to track staff output. For example you
can type in a staff member’s name and see what they had been working on, at what time, for how long and what changes they have made to the data.”
Eben smiled at Jem and she sensed he was getting to the good bit.
“Martha was so fascinated by this she called up yours and Mark’s names to compare outputs. She was very interested to see that you had been doing long hours at night and had produced documents that Mark had presented as being his own despite the software showing he had only opened them long enough to read and had made no alterations.”
Jem felt a surge of triumph inside. Mark hadn’t gotten away with taking credit for her work after all.
“But that isn’t all,” said Eben. “As long as you’re logged onto our software it keeps track of what else you’re doing on the computer during work hours. Although we can’t back track and see what people were doing before our software was installed Martha has found it very telling of people’s efforts in the short time since.”
“In what way?” Jem asked, interested in what he had to say despite herself.
“She found that Mark logs on fewer hours than anyone else in the company,” Eben began.
“That’s not news,” Jem replied. “He’s forever off to play golf or have meetings with Nate.”
“Then you also know he spends quite a lot of his work hours perusing websites with addresses such as big and bouncy dot com?” Eben asked and grinned.
“Really?” Jem exclaimed and shot up in her seat in surprise. She grinned back at him.
Eben glanced to the doorway then leaned forward in his seat towards her.
“That’s not all I found out,” he said in a low voice.
“I don’t know what you could possibly tell me that could top what you’ve just said,” Jem replied in a voice just above a whisper.
“You haven’t spoken with Cherie today?”
“Nothing much more than hello, goodbye,” Jem said. Talking about stuff other than work doesn’t count. “I’ve been too busy trying to catch up with things. Martha wound up having to go out so I worked through my lunch break.”
Eben glanced at her in-tray which was about half the depth of what it had been the day before. She had been busy.
