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"The Results"
Lauren sat in the plain, white waiting room. It was a typical waiting room with a table full of magazines at each end of a line of hard chairs. The receptionist at the front, who was answering calls and talking to the people waiting in line, was wearing a black skirt with a navy blue cardigan. She wore her hair up in a bun with her fringe pinned to the side. Lauren looked around the waiting room and watched everyone coming and going while she waited for her name to be called out by the receptionist. She read about three magazines, the last of which she put down on the table next to her. Lauren glanced at some other magazines, but nothing sparked her interest. She then looked at her silver watch, a birthday present from her best friend, Kenzi, and realized that she had been sitting in the waiting room for more than two hours. The worst part of waiting had to be sitting next to a woman and her two unruly children. The son was screaming, which echoed throughout the waiting room, and his dark-haired sister had been sticking her tongue out at her ever since Lauren's arrival.
Lauren grabbed her phone from the pocket of her black woollen coat, which showed off her skinny figure. Although her light blonde hair was down with loose curls, her fringe slanted towards one side of her face. Lauren liked her fringe; she thought it complemented the shape of her face, made her look sophisticated, and gave the impression that she was high up on the social ladder. She gazed at her phone and saw that she had no messages. At least I know that my family and friends care, she thought sarcastically. She was about to play a game on her phone when she heard her name.
"Lauren Lewis!" the receptionist yelled.
"That's me," Lauren said, quickly standing up and returning her phone to the pocket of her coat. Her black heeled boots echoed through the hallway as she made her way to the doctor's office. Before entering, she flicks her hair back and wipes a hand down her coat, smoothing out the creases. She opened the door and took a seat in the patient's chair near the doctor who was sitting facing the computer. Lauren took a deep breath while she crossed her legs and placed her handbag on the ground near her feet.
"What's the news, Doc?" Lauren said breaking the silence.
He turned around in his chair to face her. He was wearing the thickest glasses she had ever seen and he looked older than she had expected. He was completely bald and the light above him, gave his head a shiny appearance. The room was small; it only had the bare necessities. A bed covered with a plain blue sheet was by the door and a sink was at the end of the bed with a small space, allowing enough entry to the cupboards below and above the sink.
"I am really sorry, Miss Lewis, but it's not good news," said the doctor as he leaned back in his chair.
"Just get on with it!" was Lauren's reply, which came out a little harsher than she had intended.
The doctor sighed and turned back to his computer. "You have a tumour deep within your brain. It is inoperable, and there is nothing we can do. I am really sorry, but we do have places that can help you with this." He was speaking with his back to her the entire time. It must be hard for doctors to tell their patients that they are dying and there is nothing they can do about it.
"Where is the tumour? In my brain, I mean," Lauren asked, pointing to her head. She unfolded her legs and leaned forward to get a better look at his computer screen, just as the doctor pushed back his chair, hitting her leg. He got up and pulled out a model from the cupboard above the sink. The old doctor slowly sat back down, holding the model of a brain in his frail hands. Lauren watched him patiently as he pulled the model apart and held a section of it in one hand, showing her that it was near the parietal lobe.
"So it's nearly in the middle of my brain," Lauren said, looking awfully shocked.
"Yes. Right near your parietal lobe. That's why you're getting so many headaches and sometimes you have trouble reading, Miss Lewis. You might also have trouble understanding even the simplest things."
"So, what do I do now?" Lauren was breathing heavily and deeply; her breathing was becoming irregular as she tried not to panic with the news.
"Well, as I said before, we have places where you can stay. The tumour is about the size of a golf ball, but where it is in the brain, it's not operable and chemotherapy will not help you. I am sorry, Miss Lewis. "
Lauren just sat there, taking in all that the doctor was saying to her. She looked around his tiny office and then back at him. He put the model of the brain back in the cupboard and then began to print some documents.
"Would you be available to come back every two weeks?"
"Yes, I can." The papers indicated the times and dates for when Lauren was to return to his office.
"If you can't make it to any of these appointments, just ring the receptionist."
"Ok." Lauren then left without another word. She drove directly back to her apartment.
When Lauren got home, Jeanie, her chocolate-brown dachshund, welcomed her excitedly. Jeanie jumped up and Lauren caught her in her arms.
"How are you, Jeanie?" Lauren asked, as she rubbed the back of Jeanie's neck and put her back down. Kitty, Lauren's tortoise shell white cat, was sitting on the window sill, keeping guard, she seemed to be peering far below. She was more the dog in the apartment.
Lauren removed her black wool coat and hung it on a hook near the front door. Her home was only a two-bedroom apartment with an open-plan kitchen, living room, and dining room. To the far right was the master bedroom and en-suite. As Lauren headed to her bedroom, Jeanie followed, her small feet noisily scurrying along the tiled floor. Her feet stopped making noise once she stepped onto the carpet in Lauren's bedroom. Lauren threw her black handbag on the bed and then entered the bathroom, with Jeanie still following her. Lauren looked at her reflection in the mirror. She didn't know how to feel. She was angry and sad and was not sure if she wanted to cry or scream. She just started thinking about how long she had to live. She was more shocked and scared than she had ever been in her whole life. She then decided to have a nice relaxing bath. The white-tiled bathroom was reasonably big with a bath to the right, a basin in the far right corner near the bath, and a massive mirror in the middle of the wall opposite the tub. She turned the bath taps on and went to find candles. She put them all over the bathroom and lit them with a matchstick before turning the water off. She then returned to her bedroom to undress, watched by Jeanie, who had taken up her usual position on Lauren's bed.
"What are you looking at?" Lauren asked, tossing her shirt at Jeanie. She wrapped herself in her red silk robe and grabbed the book she had been reading. She re-entered the bathroom, removed her robe and placed her legs in the bath. The water was hotter than she expected, but she liked it hot. Slowly and carefully, she guided her skinny body into the bath so as not to get her book wet. She opened the page to where she'd left off and started reading. She'd already read the book about six times since buying it. She read a couple of chapters and put the book down, stared into space and started to cry. Everything seemed to suddenly hit her all at once.
Lauren laid in her king-size bed. The lamp on her bedside table was on as she looked around her bedroom. Jeanie was lying at the end of the bed and Kitty was curled up in her basket at the door. Lauren had a pen and notepad in hand and she began writing down the things that she needed and wanted to do. Marriage was out of the question. Lauren was the kind of woman who planned her life—marriage at the age of 25, two or three children by 30, and then 'happily ever after' with a sexy, rich man. Lauren was now 27 with no children, no husband, and living in a small apartment with a cat and a dog. Now she definitely wouldn't have children or get married to a very rich man. She chuckled to herself as she thought about the silly dream she'd been trying to achieve. Lauren returned her attention to her pen and notepad. Writing a will was at the top of her to-do list. Finding a suitable home for her cat and dog was second. She wrote down a few more things and then turned the lamp off. She lay on her side, looking at the other half of her empty bed, wishing that someone was lying next to her. She soon closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Lauren woke up with the sun peeking through the curtains on the right side.
Being on the 6th floor has its disadvantages, she thought. Lauren got up and went into her kitchen. She boiled her kettle and got herself a coffee cup. She got the open can of dog food out of the fridge and grabbed Jeanie's food bowl, which was in the laundry room. Lauren took the glad wrap off the wet dog food and put some in the bowl. Jeanie was by Lauren's feet with her head off to the side, looking cute and adorable.
"Go get Kitty's bowl and then you will get your food," Lauren said, watching Jeanie scurry off to the laundry. Jeanie came back with the purple bowl for Kitty. Kitty's bowl was bigger than Jeanie's head and she looked funny carrying it. Jeanie placed the bowl near Lauren's feet. She picked up the offered bowl and put the other bowl down in front of her grateful dog. Lauren put the dog food can back in the fridge and got Kitty's food out. Lauren finished making herself a coffee and giving Kitty her food. Kitty came and ate her breakfast while Jeanie was still licking her bowl clean and making sure there was no food left.
"Take your bowl back to the laundry."Lauren stood there and watched her dachshund's little legs run off to the laundry. Lauren smiled and drank her coffee. She looked at the calendar on her was March, Monday and a brand new week of work. Lauren worked for a little cleaning company. She was a maid and at the moment she was working for Mr Niall and was one of the best maids in New York. She sat at her dining table and finished drinking her coffee. Jeanie sat at her feet and growled.
"I know," Lauren said. It was a tradition ever since had Lauren gotten the little dachshund. Jeanie always had the leftovers of her coffee. Lauren looked over at her cute, furry friend and smiled. Jeanie was on her hind legs begging.
"Fine." Lauren had one more sip and put the coffee mug down on the floor. Jeanie's nose disappeared and Lauren could hear her licking up the small amount of coffee from the bottom of her cup. Lauren got up and organised what she was wearing for the day. She was going to have a shower, but realized she had a bath yesterday and decided to have one later that night. Lauren got out her house cleaner uniform, white and black. She showed off her legs with nice black pantyhose. She wore black flat sneakers. She tied her hair back in a simple, low ponytail. Her hair had natural loose curls, which made her ponytail look messy at times. She went back out to the dining area where Jeanie had finished with the coffee mug. She put the mug into the sink and made sure the laundry could be accessed if the dog needed to do its business. She grabbed her thick coat and left the house.
Before going to work she picked up two coffees. The coffee guy always knew what she was getting so she never had to wait. The guy always made the cream into a heart shape. Lauren left her car in the underground car park and walked the rest of the way. She only did this because she knew that the coffee guy liked her. He always had, since she moved here four years ago. He was nice but was not her type. Lauren waited for her friend outside of work.
"Morning, Lauren," Kenzi said, grabbing her coffee from Lauren's hand and giving her a hug.
"Morning," Lauren returned.
"So what did the doctor say yesterday? The news must not have been that bad or you would've called me," Kenzi said with great enthusiasm. Kenzi has black hair but she usually does something different to it every day. This time she had a blonde streak running through the silky black. She had a skinny figure, just as skinny as Lauren but was shorter in stature. Her eye colour was usually blue-green, but changed colour when she was in a different mood. Kenzi was the kind of person to put a smile on your dial. She was always bubbly and never looked down or sad. Her bubbly personality was how Lauren and Kenzi met. They started talking on a train and then became best friends.
They both entered the door and took the 3 flights of stairs instead of the elevator. They entered the main office and went to Kenzi's locker. Lauren didn't want Kenzi to worry about her just yet so she didn't tell her what really happened.
"You're right, Kenzi. There was nothing wrong." Lauren wished she hadn't told her that she had a doctors appointment, but Lauren didn't think at the time. When she went to her locker, Frankie was in it.
"Sorry, Lauren."
"Not again," Lauren said. She rested her coffee in the box that held all of her things. She went to Kenzi's locker and put the box near Kenzi's feet.
"He did it to you again, didn't he?"
"Six times in the past two months,"
Lauren took her coffee out of the box and put it near Kenzi's on top of her locker.
Lauren took off her woollen black coat and hung it around Kenzi's.
"I've had enough. I am going to talk to Mr. Stilton about this. I am sick of it!" Lauren stormed off and didn't even knock on his door.
His secretary came running after her. "Miss Lewis, you can't go in there!"
"Too bad, I am." She growls.
"Miss Lewis," Mr. Stilton said, standing up from the chair quickly.
"I have a bone to pick with you," Lauren said, pointing her finger at him.
"I have someone who you might like to meet, Miss Lewis." He held his hand out towards her. Lauren had not realized that someone was there and she didn't pay any attention to them. Her boss took his seat and looked at the person still sitting behind Lauren. "This is a very important person, Miss Lewis. I would highly advise you not to be so rude."
"You want to talk about rude, Mr. Stilton? You have been moving my workplaces ever since I started here. I haven't stayed at one house for more than a month." Lauren stood there with her arms folded underneath her breasts.
Her boss's brown hair shined in the spring sun coming from the window. He would have been a really good looking man if it wasn't for the big mole on the left side of his cheek.
"Miss Lewis, if you may, I will explain something to you and I think the women behind you could help."
"To help you stop moving and disrupting where I work all the time?"
"No, Miss Lewis. Just sit down, please."
As she sat, Lauren looked at the women sitting behind her. She looked like a very rich lady. Her dark, brown hair was loosely curly, hanging down her shoulders, her fringe pinned back. Her face held no expression and she just watched me. She was captivating, and Lauren felt safe and in danger in her presence. She wore a leather jacket, tights and boots that reached mid-length of her calves. Lauren was staring and she knew it, so she turned back to her boss.
The boss stood up from his desk again. "Miss Lewis, this is Miss Bo Dennis. She wants to hire staff from this company and I was just telling her what a polite staff we have."
Lauren felt humiliated. She had just been rude to the world's richest women. "I'm so sorry, Miss Dennis I didn't mean to be so rude, I do apologise."
Bo did not smile. She looked quite angry with a side of boredom.
"Anyway," the boss continued, "I think Miss Dennis would like to consider something with you."
"And what is that?" Lauren asked, shifting in her seat. She could feel the woman's gaze on her.
"Why don't we get some coffee or tea Mr. Stilton?" Bo asked. Lauren nearly choked on her own saliva. Bo voice was the sweetest, calmest voice she had ever heard and it caught her attention. Her voice made her feel like she was a woman who knew what she was doing.
"Yes. Yes, let's do that," Mr. Stilton said, calling in his secretary.