The Kind of Hoax That Leaves a Lump in Your Throat

Coral managed to get an appointment the following Friday morning, and then was leaving that afternoon to go to Paris for another shoot. I got home from work that day at about four and she was sitting on the sofa staring into space.

She didn’t seem to acknowledge the fact I’d come home and just continued to look deep in thought. It was only when I sat down next to her that she snapped out of it.

“You alright?” I asked quietly. “How’d it go?”

She was silent for a few seconds, and my worry was growing with every one. She finally looked at me and I saw the fear in her eyes.

“My life is over” she whispered and then looked away again.

“Coral what’s happened?” I asked and put my hand on her arm.

“I can’t even say it”

“Coral please, im really worried. Just tell me I’ll help you with whatever it is I promise” I pleased. There were a million possibilities running through my mind at the point. Her life was over? What, was she going to die? I shook her lightly and she looked at me dead in the eyes.

“Im pregnant”

She said it like it left a bad taste in her mouth. There was no emotion there though; it was flat and lifeless, like she had no emotion left... I on the other hand was the exact opposite.

“Pregnant, but how?”

“Well you see violet, when a man and a woman-“

“Im not an idiot coral” I said, but I was just glad she was sort of acting herself. “Have you told Sonnie?” I asked and her head dropped slightly before she shook it. “Well you kind of need to.”

“I’ll call him now” she said, reaching for her phone, but I got there first.

“You can’t call him, you nee to go and see him”

“But I have to leave to go to the airport soon”

“You sure that’s a good idea, you know, going to the shoot in your condition? I mean your gonna have to tell them”

“Yeah and then I’ll be jobless cause im fat” she huffed and stood up.

“You could do modelling for maternity clothing” I suggested but she shrugged.

“Yeah well that’s if I even keep it”

It only came out as a whisper and I don’t think I was meant to hear, but I still did.

“Coral you cant do that”

“I can do what I want, it’s my body”

“Yeah, and that baby is half Sonnie as well. You can’t just get rid of it, think of all the women who would love to have a kid but cant.” I said standing up. She looked so broken and lost of I wrapped my arms around her, and she held me back fiercely. “You’ve been given a gift coral; you can’t just throw that away. Besides, auntie Violet has a nice ring to it.”

“But im so scared” she said into my shoulder, “I can barely look after myself and it’s come at the most stupid time, I mean I’ve only just started out modelling, I need as many shoots as I can and now I wont be able to do any because I’ll be all massive”

We pulled apart but I still kept my arm around her.

“I know you’re scared, but I’ll be here, and Sonnie will be and Zahra. You’re not alone. And you’re still young; you’ve got plenty of time to become the next Kate Moss” she smiled lightly and I rubbed her arm. “Now go see Sonnie” I said and she nodded before pulling me into another hug.

“Thank you” she whispered and I just held her tighter. A car horn beeped outside and we pulled apart. “That must be my cab. I’ll go see Sonnie first, I’ll see you next week” she smiled and I helped her carry her bags out.

Zahra had gone to Oakley’s after work so I was home alone for now. This was when I missed josh the most. We would probably only sit and watch something crappy on TV, or talk about what we’d done that day, but at least he was here.

I couldn’t be bothered to make dinner so I poured myself some cereal and flicked through the channels. I settled on watching some film that had only started a few minutes before.

I finished my cereal quickly, and even though I felt greedy I went and got a second bowl. The film was about halfway through when the doorbell went. Zahra wasn’t supposed to be back for a while and I was wondering who else it could be.

On the other side of the door was a very disgruntled looking Sonnie. I invited him in and he went straight to the sofa. I followed silently, wondering how I was gonna play this. I took the seat next to him and quickly turned the TV off.

“So, what’s up?” I asked and he just breathed out and shook his head.

“You can drop the act, I know you know” he said.

“Sorry” I whispered and he just ran his hands through his hair.

“It was like she couldn’t get away from me fast enough after she told me. I know she’s scared, but so am I”

“This is just how she deals with things. She’s a very closed person, she always has been”

He breathed through his nose and then looked at me. “Maybe this is a sign” he said firmly.

“What do you mean?”

“Well you’re having problems with josh, and it looks like coral and I have entered choppy waters. Maybe someone’s trying to tell us we should have never split up” he said leaning closer to me and his voice was determined.

I was trapped between him and the arm of the sofa with no way of getting out. He turned so he was facing me, and his body was getting closer to mine. He looked crazed and desperate and I had no idea what to do or what to say to him to make him stop. His hand reached out and he placed it on my leg and his face got closer to mine.

“You feel it too right?” he asked he said, his breath hitching slightly.

Of course I didn’t. I pushed him back instantly, my face flushing and guilt swimming through my body.

“Ive never stopped loving you violet” he whispered “we were so good together”

“No Sonnie, stop” I said, finally finding my voice. “This isn’t gonna fix things okay?” I pushed him back more and he complied, sitting back as he was before.

“Im so sorry, I just don’t know what to do” he said, holding his head in his hands. I felt sorry for the boy and wrapped my arms around him. I suddenly got flashback of when Sonnie and I were together. We we’re in my room and he told me that everything he loved has left him in the end. I was one of them, and now he was scared that coral would do the same.

“She just needs time Sonnie. She’ll be back for you I promise” I whispered but he didn’t respond. We sat there for about 10 minutes before he moved.

“Sorry about before, I just…” he trailed off and sighed. “I was desperate. And im sorry for coming here, I didn’t know what else to do”

“Don’t worry about it” I smiled slightly. “I’m sorry too. But we should probably keep it between us yeah?”

“Yeah” he smiled and then stood up. “I’ll get out of your hair now. Thanks for being here”

“Well I do live here” I joked and he just smiled “this is gonna be hard Sonnie, but I’ll always be here, for the both of you”

“Thank you” he said and gave me one last hug before leaving.

I went and sat down again and then my phone went off. Looks like I wasn’t having a very relaxing evening. I fished it out of my bag and saw I had a text.

It was from josh.

My heart rate picked up at the sight of his name and I opened it with a shaky hand.

Just wondering if you wanted to meet up Sunday?
Let me know :) x

It felt like my body was going to shut down and it took all of my will to try and think of some reply that didn’t sound to desperate. Then again I did really care at that moment. He wanted to see me and that’s all that mattered.