I did not sleep much last night because all I could think about was what disease I might have. What a messed up life I have. I spent most of it crying.  Megan’s going away today, even though she does not want to. She stayed most of the night in here with me, holding me as I cried.

“Morning, sunshine,” Mia says as she knocks on the slightly open door.

“Morning, Mia.”

“Right, get your arse out of bed so I can paint your toe nails before I leave, like I promised,” Mia demands.

I laugh and slide around in bed. “I’ll get dressed then be down soon, Mia,” I inform her.

“No, PJ party, come on.”

I nod and follow her down the stairs. I do not want to be around people right now. I keep looking at the clock. It is another hour till the doctor’s office will be open for me to ring to sort out everything.

“Morning,” Mark says as he walks past me into the kitchen holding an empty cup.

“Morning, mine’s a coffee,” I say cheekily.

“Oh, really.” He smiles.

I can see why Megan fell for him. He is so sweet. “What colour are we going for?” Mia asks as she sits herself down on the front room carpet.

“Sexy red, of course,” I state.

Alison always told us to wear red nail polish because men love that look on women. I am going to take her word now that I am single and need to look good. I sit down on the sofa.

“Morning, hun,” Megan says as she yawns.

“Morning, I’m sorry,” I state.

“Don’t worry. Mark’s driving.” She tilts her head towards him.

“Coffee all around,” he says as he passes cups out to us all. “What would you like for breakfast? Please do not all shout at once.”

We sit there looking at each other then all shout, “Bacon Butties!”

“Okay, I get the picture,” he says, giving Megan a little kiss on the check before leaving us to it.

The hour seems to fly with breakfast and nail painting keeping me busy. I head up the stairs back to my room and grab my mobile. I take a deep breath and call the doctor.

“That was a quick call,” Megan says as she walks into my room.

“Yes, I have to go to the hospital drop-in. It will be quicker, and I will get the results back in five days instead of seven.”

“That definitely sounds better for you.” She pauses. “Do you want me to take you down before we leave?”

“No, go. I will work it out,” I state.

I quickly throw on some black leggings and a long, tight purple top with a round neck. Perfect. That will do. The sun is shining today. It is going to be a nice, warm day. Hopefully, I can get in and out of the hospital quickly.

“Jenny.” Megan pauses. “You do realise you need to get in touch with the man you slept with,” she adds.

“What if I’m all clear? Then I don’t.”

“But if you’re not, he could get ill or pass it on.” She points out.

“Okay, I’ll ring him.” I shrug my shoulders. I had not even thought about notifying Warren.

“Right, we are going now,” Megan says, coming towards me giving me a big hug.

It takes at least another ten minutes and a lot more hugs before Megan finally leaves. Before saying her final goodbye, she makes sure I know where everything is and informs me that if I say I need her she will come straight back. What a lovely friend she is. I head back over to the bed, sit down on the edge and lift the pillow to find Warren’s card.

Quick. Do it. The faster you do it, the less it will hurt. I try to calm myself down as I dial the number. One ring. Two rings. Three rings.

“Hi, it’s Jenny from the other night,” I state. “Can we meet up? We need to talk.” I pause to listen to him. “Yes, that’s fine. See you then.”

I gather my things and head downstairs. Warren’s meeting me at work in half an hour. I am about fifteen minutes away and without a car, so I will have to call a taxi. I look through my mobile to find a taxi to book quickly. Right, that’s everything done. I just need to get this over with. The taxi is only going to be five minutes, so I make a swift check to ensure I have everything, lock up and head outside to wait.

“Hi, can you take me to Saint Georges Street?” I ask the taxi man as I climb in the backseat.

There are only five buildings on the street, so I will walk down to work. I reach into my bag and pull out my mobile. I see a message from Rich.

Chad has it too.

I shake my head, holding back tears. I do not want to know about that man. If it takes so long for the results to come back, he knew before I caught him in bed with Chad that he might have it. Why did he do this to me?

Oh Great

I scroll down my mobile to see if I have any more messages. I smile when I see one from Megan.

Hun, miss you already. Please let me know how you get on. Mia has left some turquoise nail polish on the fireplace for you. She thinks you will look amazing with it on. Xx

Thank her for me please. I’ll give it a go. It might work well with that turquoise dress I bought the other week. Miss you too. XX

I am happy for these distractions to take my mind off possibly hurting Warren even more with the news I need to tell him. I want a stiff drink. Shame I cannot have one for a while yet. I might pick up a nice bottle of red wine before I head back to Megan’s tonight anyway and drown my sorrows while looking for somewhere else to live.

“Here you are, Miss,” the taxi man says. I smile, pay and climb out. I had been in my own little world and had not even noticed we had reached my destination.

I walk along the path to the building where I work, taking a seat on the small wooden bench that has “Forever and Always” engraved on the back slate.