Chapter 10

"Look, please go and see a doctor. You could be really sick!" Spike was sitting anxiously in Lynda's visitor's chair later that day as she studiously ignored him. "Please! For me!"

"For you?" she asked, finally looking up.

"Yeah, for me," replied Spike. "How's a guy expected to look his best when his mirror time is being infringed on? This bathroom hogging has got to stop!"

"You do have your own flat," Lynda reminded him, returning her glance to her work.

"That's true. But yours has got something wonderful that mine lacks," he replied. Lynda rolled her eyes.

"Spike, that is so cheesy. Even for you." Spike looked offended.

"What's cheesy about a full-length mirror?" he asked. "The one in my flat only shows my head and shoulders. I gotta climb on the toilet just to check out my bottom half! And I'm sure you'll agree, Lynda . . ." he leaned forward conspiratorily, "My bottom half should be viewed in all its splendour, complete and attached to my top half!"

"I'll gladly detach your bottom half if you don't let me get some work done," replied Lynda. Spike sighed and got up.

"Okay, okay. I'll leave you to it. But promise me you'll see a doctor?" he said.

"I'm feeling a lot better actually," said Lynda brightly. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it was a bug."

"Maybe. I guess I'll bug off then!" replied Spike and left her office. Lynda watched him return to his desk and waited until he turned his back before bolting immediately to the Ladies.

"Don't worry too much," said Sophie cheerfully from the mirror as Lynda eventually staggered out of the bathroom cubicle. "It'll soon pass. My sister was exactly the same with her first."

"Your sister is in publishing?" asked Lynda, confused, her one-track mind focused purely on the first edition.

"No!" laughed Sophie. "First baby, I mean. The morning sickness? It will pass soon. You know what she swore by? Digestives."

"Digestives? Baby?" A look of horror crossed Lynda's face as Sophie's words dawned on her. She left the bathroom quickly and headed straight back into her office, leaving a bemused Sophie behind.

Breathing heavily, Lynda sat down at her desk and then immediately jumped up and pulled down the venetian blinds that blocked her view of the office floor. At first, she had been reluctant about separating herself and not being amongst the thick of things but having space to herself was definitely what she needed at the moment.

"Spike," she said aloud. "I need to talk to Spike." She picked up the phone but the thought of actually saying the words out loud to Spike's face made her freeze. Leaving the safety of her office at this stage was also not an option. She stared blankly at her computer screen for a moment.

"Email!" she said and for once in her life, blessed the new technology.

She created a new email and began typing. Keep it brief, she thought. After hitting Send, she breathed a sigh of relief. It felt better getting it off her chest. Going over to the window, she pulled up her venetian blinds to discover every head in the office staring at her with shocked expressions. A new sickening feeling, different to the one she had been experiencing settled into her stomach. She scurried back to her machine and frantically began clicking randomly, eventually opening her Sent Messages folder.

To: All Staff

From: Lynda Day

Subject: none

Spike, we need to talk.

I think I'm pregnant.

Lynda dropped the venetian blinds again and sank into her chair.

"Damn!"