Paradise City

It had already been one week.

I would say that I was used to Dean being gone, but it really only got harder with each passing day. He had made the promise to call me each chance he got. At first it was maybe twenty minutes a day, and then ten, and then five. It didn't take long at all for our phone calls to become texts here and there. It had only been a week, that wasn't even close to a dent in a two month stint.

The good news was that the receptionist at Violet's hair salon had to quit because she was moving for school, so Violet offered me the job. Well, she more showed up on my doorstep with an Edible Arrangement, some Reese's Pieces, and an Ella Fitzgerald record. Then she said, 'my receptionist quit so I need you to come work for me'. I never saw myself working at a desk, especially not at a hair salon. But Violet needed me, and she was the only friend I had here; I wasn't going to let her down.

If it hadn't been for her, I would've spent the next seven weeks infusing myself with the couch. Probably pigging out on some really unhealthy food, and watching TV, just like old times.

"Why are you so emotional?" She asked me as we sat down on a picnic table outside of a Tropical Smoothie on our lunch break. "He's going to come back, I mean... He's left before, so why is it hitting you so hard now?"

"I don't know, I guess I feel like because we were arguing, it feels like he's been gone a lot longer." I shrugged, pushing away my lunch.

"You're not hungry?" Violet asked, pulling a piece of chicken from her sandwich before popping it into her mouth. It was the smell of the Swiss cheese that had turned me off of the sandwich in front of me. I was so sure I wanted Tropical Smoothie, too.

"No, I'm starving. I'm just not in the mood for flat breads."

"What are you in the mood for?" She asked with a mouthful.

I shrugged again. "I've been craving chili fries lately."

She made a face. "Hey, you want to come out with me and Kyle later?" I didn't really want to. "It'll be good for you to get out. Time flies when you're having fun, you know?"

I doubt I'd be having fun, but when it came to Violet, I couldn't say no. It wasn't that she'd make me feel bad about it later, it was that she was just so sweet, that saying no to her physically made my heart hurt. "Sure."

The rest of the day dragged on. It was hard for me to be costumer service oriented when I kept my eyes glued on my phone screen, waiting for it to pop up with a message. I knew that if I could just focus on the task at hand, my day would probably move along a lot quicker, but the want to talk to him was so great that it was hard to concentrate on anything else. I had already mis-scheduled three people because I was so distracted. If I wasn't careful, I'd end up getting fired after my third day.

The more time that passed, the more I thought it would be a good idea for me to go out; get my mind off of him for a minute. Maybe get completely trashed and leave him a couple whiny voicemails.

When I finally got off, I got home and took a quick shower; threw on an easy dress and heels. Nothing too flamboyant, I didn't want to be uncomfortable in case I had to stay the night at someone's house because I couldn't make it home. I got really excited when my phone vibrated, but it was only Violet texting me the directions to her house. I sighed loudly and tossed my phone back on the bed and finished my make up.

Violet's house was a petite cottage on the outskirts of town, about thirty minutes out. It was quiet, and her neighbors were at least a half mile down on either side of her. There were about fifty wind chimes hanging in the front of her house, and permanent Halloween decorations. I knocked on the door a few times until Kyle answered. His jaw dropped, eyes roaming my figure from head to toe.

"What?" I asked.

"Violet didn't tell you?" He replied.

"Tell me what?"

Without answering, he offered for me to come in and disappeared off down the hallway. It smelled like cupcakes and apple cider, my stomach churned immediately. Tiny, orange lights lined the walls along with perfectly aligned polaroid pictures of her life. They seemed to be in a timeline from when she was little, moving along towards the present. There were a bunch with Kyle and Toby, and her cats, and another man who I'd never met before. I assumed it was her long-time boyfriend. In the living room, she had floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with all kinds of books and movies; mostly slasher flicks and old Disney films. The most fascinating item, though, was the gramophone that sat on a corner table by the window.

When I came to the kitchen, Violet was messy haired and wearing a bright pink apron, spreading frosting on a fresh batch of cupcakes. She was no where near dressed to go out, neither was Kyle in his sweats.

"I probably should have mentioned that we weren't going out out. Thursday night is Family Game Night. It's kind of a tradition." She said upon seeing my attire. "It's totally fine though, I've got some clothes you can wear."

"So we're not going out to get trashed?" I asked feeling a little let down.

She shook her head. "I tried inviting you to Wine Night Wednesday last night, but you said you were busy." I totally wasn't busy. Unless you count crying over Ryan Gosling's beard in The Notebook as busy.

"Maybe if you would have mentioned it was Wine Night Wednesday." I mumbled under my breath as I surveyed her kitchen and all the homemade pottery that decorated it. Her hours definitely spoke volumes about her personality.

"We do have cupcakes and hot cider!" She said, trying to make the situation better. "I'm really sorry I should have told you."

"It's fine." I replied, but my tone made it sound like it wasn't fine. She gave me a look. "No, really. I'm sorry, Vi. You know I've been in a mood all day." I really didn't know what was wrong with me today. It wasn't like me to be so down.

It was probably best that I didn't get drunk, because I would have probably done something I regretted. Besides, I was having fun playing The Game of Life, and Yahtzee, and Sorry. I might have lost every time, but it was fun being competitive among friends. Violet had her camera out, snapping polaroids of us. After she shook them out, she'd run and post them up on her picture wall. Then after we got bored of games, we ordered a pizza and all cuddled up on the couch for a movie. Violet, of course, settled on something scary. I practically devoured the pizza after barely eating all day.

I must have fallen asleep during the middle of it, because I woke up with Violet's head resting on my hip and Kyle's legs were stretched out over Violet. The title menu on the DVD was repeating. It was still late or either very, very early. I stood up as gently as I could without waking anyone, but as soon as I came to my feet, I was taken over by the sudden urge to throw up. I darted to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet.

"Cal, are you okay?" Violet rushed into the bathroom. I groaned in agony as I hugged the toilet, emptying the contents of my stomach. Let's just say pizza, cupcakes, and cider didn't taste as good coming up as they did going down.

"Yeah," I replied as I wiped the tears from my cheeks and my mouth. "It must've been something I ate."

"Here," She said, handing me a paper cup with water to rinse my mouth along with a cap full of mouthwash. The harsh smell of mint almost made me nauseous again.

"I should probably get going." I told her.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for inviting me, I really did have a good time. Sorry I wasn't more fun. I don't know what's going on with me." I was almost never sick. Even growing up, it was always James who got the flu and not me. That boy had an immune system like a child in preschool.

She walked me to the front door. "Well if you can't work tomorrow, let me know."

I nodded, and Violet spread her arms and invited me in for a hug, but I declined. "I'm sure it's just a 24 hour bug, but if I'm sick, I don't want you to catch it."

She waved goodbye as I backed out of her driveway. The drive back to my apartment felt like it was three hours long. I was exhausted, nearly falling asleep at the wheel every few minutes. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Dean's number, it went to voicemail after a few rings. I glanced at the time, he was probably on the road. Probably sleeping. I shrugged it off. He couldn't talk all the time, but it was a little alarming that today was the first day I hadn't heard a word from him.

I went straight to his apartment, stripped out of the clothes Violet had let me borrow, and pulled on one of his t-shirts. My stomach growled loudly, but I was afraid to eat anything for fear that I'd throw up. It growled again, practically pulling me into the kitchen. Dean didn't have much to choose from. A box of Cheerios and some Doritos. I settled on the healthier choice, pouring myself a bowl of cereal. Once I was finished I crawled back in Dean's bed and set my alarm for work the next morning. Hopefully I'd be feeling a little better by then.

The next morning, I woke up with an awful headache. It felt like I hadn't gotten a single minute of sleep, and my head was throbbing. I swung my feet over the edge of the bed and stood up, but once again, I was taken over by a wave of nausea. I made a beeline to the bathroom, my stomach emptying itself again. The heaving of being sick made my head hurt even worse. I texted Violet, letting her know that I was still sick and couldn't keep anything down, but that I was still going to come in for work. If it got any worse, I'd just come home.

"How are you feeling?" She asked me when I got there.

"Like the plague. I'm tired, I have an awful headache, and I can't eat without throwing up. It's awful. I've never been sick like this. I think I've only been sick once in my life, and that's when I got this fever when I was a kid."

"Have you taken anything? I've got some Advil."

"I already took some Aleve. If nothing else, it'll take my headache away."

"Have you called Dean or talked to him?" She asked.

I shook my head. "I tried calling him last night, but he didn't answer. I figured when I woke up this morning there'd be a missed call or a text or something, but there wasn't. He's busy, I probably shouldn't be bothering him anyways. I'll be fine. I don't really want to think about it."

She nodded and dropped the subject.

Throughout the rest of the day, I ended up feeling a little bit better than I started out. My headache didn't go away, but it did become tolerable. I was able to eat a salad without getting sick. I put all my energy into making sure I was booking the right appointments and that the costumers were happy, the day ended up going by a lot faster than yesterday.

"Hey Cal?" Violet asked, coming up behind me. She knelt down to lower herself to me and lowered her voice. "You wouldn't happen to have a tampon, would you?"

"No, I don-" I stopped short, a sudden realization coming over me.

"You okay?" She asked, her eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

No no no no no no no no no, I thought to myself. That couldn't possibly be right. I had never had a late period in my life that couldn't be explained by a change in diet or exercise, and even then they were only a day or two late, and I wasn't sexually active then, so I couldn't have possibly been... No, I couldn't be. Two months late? Give or take a few days. That couldn't be right, diet and exercise couldn't explain that.

I couldn't be pregnant. Well, I could. I most certainly could. It's not like Dean and I used any form of protection. I never counted on ever losing my virginity, so of course I wasn't on the pill. I held my hands in my head, cursing myself under my breath. How could I have been so stupid, I asked myself.

"Callie?" Violet's voice snapped me from my thoughts. "What is it?"

"I've got to call Dean." I said.