“Veronica.”

Firstly, when I woke up I jumped out of my bed, and headed to the bathroom. I sat on the toilet as I thought about the past three months over and over again in my head. I have come to one conclusion. I am the happiest I have been in a long time. Charles was the only one for me. He has glasses, and dark brown hair that was about as long as mine. I have it pinned up always, and he always puts his hair up in a man-bun, like that YouTube video that’s floating around. He always wears skater clothes, and is the usual punk. I stuck the cup under my thighs, and started peeing. I guess that pint of orange juice came in handy after all. As I put the dropper in the pee, and then again on the white stick. The directions said to wait three minutes. So I began thinking about the past three months again.

Tuesday, July 5th, 2016.

I was to meet up with Charles after work tonight. Charles and Johnny brought me to work for my typical 10am to 7pm shift. A person might be thinking Johnny isn't a person, but he is to me. He has four legs, and a nose that can smell for miles. He is also a major cuddle bug at night. He just stuck his furry head out the window, and has his tongue sticking out. He’s so good, we never need a leash anywhere!

“Stay!” I shouted as I left the car and up into the three flights of stairs to my office. I work as an assistant at a law firm close to Portland. The boss man isn’t even here. He’s still on vacation for the holiday weekend. I don’t really know why I had to come in today, it’s just us assistants in the firm today. Stacy, Melanie and Veronica. Stacy has blonde short hair, and always wear clothes that are way too tight for her. Melanie is a brunette, and always dresses modestly. Veronica, who I like to call Nica, is a wild child. She’s barely legal, and her dad is one of the attorneys that works here. She has red hair from her eyes to her boobs. It’s usually a different shade of red every two or three months.

“So, Izzy, what did you do this weekend?” Stacy asked.

I mentioned back to her, “Oh you know, the usual. Took Johnny for a walk, and went to Charle's parents' house. What about you?” I added to be polite.

Veronica interrupted her, “Daddy took me to the mall on Saturday, and then we went out on the yacht Sunday afternoon till Monday morning. We watched fireworks, and drank tequila with his friends.”

“What are you even doing here Nica?” I replied.

“Daddy isn’t home. And my mom is in Florida. So I figured why not come to work.” Nica spoke. When Stacy could finally get a word in, she asked where Johnny went to the vets. I explained to her he went to a guy out of town.

I began filing Mr. Lambert's paperwork from last week. I put the most recent billing on top, and the past overdue billing on bottom. I made some phone calls to people who had missed payments, and then I arranged this week’s paperwork. He had six appointments the next day, and eight on Thursday. I arranged them from start to finish, and made some reminder phone calls. This process took me up to lunch. On my lunch break, I walked the pier and called Charles. It went straight to voicemail as always, and I figured he was playing his video game. He didn’t have to work that day. He was going to be picking me up after work that night. I couldn't wait. I also stopped back at Fisheye’s, and got myself a sandwich and hazelnut Starbucks iced coffee. The kind they keep in the refrigerators.

When I got back to work Stacy and Melanie were on their lunch break. Leaving just me and Nica. I chatted with her about this new guy she was seeing. He was "oh so charming." I asked what his name was, and she said Marshall. I thought that to be funny because Charle's dad's name was Marshall. I thought it must be a common name. She went on and on about how many tattoos and piercings he has. I went outside and got my iced coffee I had left on Nica’s car. I thought I would have a quick cigarette before the other girls got back. Nica didn’t care.

As I took a drag of the cigarette, I remember my phone is on ringer. I put the cigarette out, and headed back inside. Nica is on the phone with the infamous Marshall. I realize that she has him on speaker phone. He said a few things about getting lunch with his son Charlie. I thought that was another coincidence, but then I hear a dog barking in the background. Johnny. That’s my dog barking in the background of the speakerphone. And a voice yelling, ‘Come on Dad. It’s time to go!’ again... that’s my Charles' voice.

When Nica got off the phone, I told her we needed to talk.

She said, "I already know what you are going to say, and it’s fine. I know he’s twice my age, and married. It’s just a phase I am going through."

I thought at least she knows what she is getting into, but then I interrupted her, "Nica you can’t do this. You just can’t. That’s wrecking a marriage."

"What do you know anyways..." -blah -blah -blah- is all I heard. I kept Nica and my conversation to a minimum because the girls were coming back in.

I finished up the day’s work right on time at 6:50 p.m. I locked up the filing cabinets, and turned the phone lines to auto-voicemail. That’s something we do at night, and then it says “Thank you for calling Pierce-Lambert Legal Services, also the home of Jones and Century. Our normal business hours are from 9:00a.m. to 7:00p.m. EST. Please leave a message after the beep….” I then turned to see Nica, still sitting there. I thought whether or not to continue our conversation or not, but I figured I would just let it die out on its own. But, now I felt I was living in a secret life. I couldn’t tell Charles what had happened today. I vowed to myself, and Nica that I wouldn’t say anything, as much as I disagreed with her.

When I left, I asked Nica to lock up. She agreed she would. She was doing homework for one of her "college classes." I didn’t argue with her. At exactly 7:00 p.m. Charles’ car rode up. Except, Johnny wasn’t in the car, and Charles wasn’t driving. It was Marshall. I thought, this is weird.

“Hey, where’s Charles?” I asked bluntly.

“Oh, he’s at your house. He wanted to get some things done,” he replied.

“Well okay then.” I spoke back. And I got into the car. The whole ride to my house was silent. Dead silent. You could even hear a pin drop. When he pulled into the driveway, and switched cars, I didn’t quite know how to approach him again. So I just waved, and said "thanks."

Charles was in the kitchen cooking. I didn't know why he was cooking, as he’s a terrible cook. I entered the house, and left my shoes at the door. Johnny started barking, and waving his tail like crazy. Charles knew I was home then. “Hey Babe!” he yelled from the kitchen.

“Hey, why did your dad pick me up?” I asked.

“Oh, he said he wanted to talk to you about something, and I was cooking, so I said go for it.” He knew. Marshall knew that I knew. I tried not to think about it.

“Oh that’s alright, everything is fine.” I replied. Even though it clearly wasn’t. I wonder why Marshall didn’t say anything.

The night went as smooth as ever. Dinner was astounding. The movie he picked out was amazing, a sappy horror movie. Even the sex was great! Everything went perfectly until the phone rang around 11:40 p.m. It was Nica. I thought that was weird considering we both had to work in the morning.

“Hello?” I answered. “Izzy?! Izzy? Is that you?” The voice in the phone squeaked.

“Yes, it’s me. Why? What’s happening? It’s late!” I answered back.

“Izzy, I made a terrible mistake. Just terrible!!” She shrieked. What could be so terrible, I thought to myself.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. No reply. Nothing. The line went dead.

The next morning, Nica didn’t show up to work. I asked her dad where she was, and he said she didn’t come home last night. I began to get worried. I called Charles on lunch, and asked him if the phone rang for me at all this morning. He said it hadn’t. Although Nica’s dad probably thinks she’s just skipping work because she’s drunk, I didn’t. Two days went by, and the two days turned into weeks, and then months. They found her body that November.

Present Day

Two pink lines. I figure it must be a dud. I squirt two more drops on another stick. -What could I have done differently? Nica would still be alive if I had put a stop to this nonsense. Marshall was arrested three months after. Charles is still concerned as to why, and what happened. Nica’s dad had closed the office for the week. He was grieving. The police investigated me, and my boyfriend Charles. So far, we are both innocent to my views. I heard a rumor that Mrs. Lambert stuck her with a bat thinking she was an intruder. When come to find out she was only going back to the household for her camera. On the camera, they found multiple X-rated photos and films. It wasn’t just of Marshall either. Apparently Nica lived a secret life.

Three minutes had gone by again… I looked at the other test. Two pink lines again. Damn it.

“CHARLES!!!!” I screamed. He came rushing to the bathroom as if I was dying. Because truthfully, I felt so horrible that I was.

“What’s WRONG?!” He shouted.

“Look at these! What are we going to do with this?!” I asked.

“You mean to say, we are pregnant?” He said softly.

“Yes.” I replied. He jumped up and down, and hugged Johnny. He was so happy. I have never seen him this happy. “What do you want to name him or her?” I asked.

“If she’s a girl, I want to name her Veronica. And if he’s a boy, I would love to name him Kenneth after your father.”

I felt honored.