Wages of Fear

For almost a week, there had been buzz in town about a new restaurant. So Ryan and Valerie were determined to have it checked out. They decided to invite their best friends, the Fisher’s, Ivy and her husband Jason. They, of course, agreed to have dinner at the new restaurant downtown. On walking through the door, they all immediately wore similar looks of admiration once they took in the pulchritudinous embellishments the restaurant had erected. 

 “It is up to the hype,” Ryan was the first to speak, still taking in the beauty of the restaurant, with the rest of them nodding in agreement. Everything was going well till Jane noticed something odd; Valerie kept excusing herself multiple times to use the restroom. Jane knew her friend was not one to be up so many times in a gathering, so Valerie’s behavior was definitely unusual.

 “Are you okay?” Ryan whispered, slightly leaning towards her.

 “Yeah,” Valerie responded sharply. Ivy noticed that her sister, Valerie was looking pale and had lost a few pounds too. She excused herself and followed her sister, Valerie on one of the occasions she took excuse to go to the restroom. She had never seen her sister look that way except the time they had lost their brother, James. 

“Sis, are you okay?” Ivy asked with great concern

“Yeah.” Valerie responded sharply Ivy expressed a worried look “Why would I not be?” Valerie asked, in an attempt to dismiss Ivy’s raised eyebrows and suspicion

 “I find it hard to believe that you are okay,” Ivy voiced out her disbelief

 “Well, I am.” Valerie replied impertinently

 “Has Ryan not told you once that you look very pale?” Ivy queried her sister as she felt perturbed

 “I am telling you this, like I have been telling him too, I am fine.” Valerie said, almost shouting

 “I still don’t believe you. Come to the hospital as soon as possible, let me conduct some tests for confirmation.” Ivy scolded Valerie.

Upon hearing this, Valerie was beginning to get irritated so she said as she rolled her eyes, “Here goes the doctor!”

 “I am not joking with you nor am I taking No, for an answer.” Ivy sternly spoke to her

 “Chill, I have heard you. There is no reason for you to be tensed up,” Valerie uttered, in an attempt to coax her sister

 “Well, I am because I can not afford to lose you too. You know fully well that you are the only sibling I have left.” Ivy spoke out loud and when Valerie heard this, she froze and kept mute for a while as she remembered how hard it was for the both of them to move on after James passing.

  “Okay, I will come to the hospital for check up,” Valerie whispered when she came back to reality

 “You had better! If not, I will conduct the tests at your home.” Ivy replied hushly

 “I said I will come. Could you please excuse me?” Valerie clamorously said  to her

  Ivy stormed out of the toilet to join the rest of them at the dinner table. Ryan noticed Ivy’s expression and knew instantly that they had a fight,

   “Are you good?” He quickly whispered as she sat down beside him

 “Yeah,” She looked at him and responded with a spurious smile. He didn’t believe it for a second but he figured it was best to give it a rest. After much rehearsed smile in the bathroom, Valerie returned to the table, just as she was about to have a seat Jane joked with a laugh, “I hope you are not pregnant,” 

 Valerie shot her friend a look as she replied quicker than normal, “Well, I don’t think so,” After Valerie’s response, Jane gave her a suspicious look and sipped her wine.

  “There’s nothing to brood about, it is probably something with the food that does not sit well with my stomach,” Valerie claimed, trying so hard to change the topic because deep down, she had a hunch of what the cause might be.

 “Okay, if you say so.” Jane said, still studying her best friend because she was never one to let things slide without having to confirm it by herself 

 At 9:30pm, they both bid goodbyes with Zach jokingly saying, “Too bad we are not as free as we were back in the day but it was nice while it lasted.” They all laughed in agreement and parted after another round of goodbyes. On the way, Ryan kept trying to initiate conversations with his wife. “Do you remember Mike from the office? He was caught—” Ryan tried to explain further but stopped when he noticed that she didn’t respond or show interest in what he was saying.

 “Are you okay?” He asked with concern, lacing his voice. He noticed she was barely even aware of her surroundings.

  Valerie was lost in thoughts. She also felt guilty because she had blatantly lied to her best friend, who would surely have her head once she found out the truth. After a while, she noticed the car was not moving and her husband was staring at her. She looked around then turned to stare at him for the first time since the trip started and asked, “What is the problem?”  

“You tell me.” He retorted, giving her a pointed stare.

“I don’t understand,” she responded in confusion.

“You haven't been yourself since this week and you didn't even touch your wine, you are not yourself. I know how much you love wines, Val. Is everything okay with you?" He asked with concern evident in his voice.

 “There is nothing to be worried about. I just had a long day,” She quickly said knowing fully well that it was not convincing enough but she hoped that he would at least buy it for the night.

 “I will let it slide for now because I know once you are ready, you will tell me. Right?” he said with a stentorious voice, looking at her.

 “Sure, ” she replied without hesitation Throughout the ride she pinched herself not to zone out even though all through their ride back home was quiet. As the days went by, it became clear to her that she was pregnant but at the same time, she was too afraid to jinx it or tell anyone. She decided to visit the hospital where her sister worked as promised. After a series of tests had been conducted, her sister came back with a gloomy face knowing fully well how Valerie had been adamant on having another baby. 

 “What’s wrong?” Valerie asked with great concern 

 “Does your husband know?” Ivy asked stentoriously   

  “Nobody knows I am here, what’s wrong?” Valerie asked, trembling because her greatest worry is about to happen.  Ivy paused for a few minutes to think of a subtle way to relay the news to her sister but all was futile.

“Stop! you are scaring me.” Valerie said in a cranky manner

 “Sis, you are pregnant.” Ivy asserverated  

“What?” Valerie asked her with fear

 “I am sorry sis but here is the result that proves it,” Ivy said with a disconsolate look, handing her the envelope.  Valerie snatched it away from Ivy’s hand and quickly scanned through the paper. After having to read it countless times just for confirmation, she immediately cupped her face, crying.