The room slides to the side, and I catch the edge of the counter to steady myself. I can’t afford to faint. Not here. Not with a weapon on me.
“There’s a room in the back with a few changes of clothes,” he says, his nostrils pinching slightly as he stares at my outfit. “I’m sure we can find you something more suitable to wear.” Then he nods at the box again. “As soon as you’re finished.”
“I’m on the pill.”
The memory of Caylon entering me, no protection, sliding inside me, the garbled gasp as he came, pulls all my focus for a second. I’d question how anyone could know that but lately people have known a lot of things about me they shouldn’t.
Don’t be an idiot. Even if he knocked you up, a test won’t show that. Not yet.
That’s a fairer point. I can’t remember exactly how long it takes from my health class, but it was at least a week or two, maybe more. I pick up the box and march towards the room indicated, pulling at the door.
“Leave it open.”
“Why? You enjoy listening to girls peeing?”
A hint of a smile plays at the corner of his lips, then he shakes his head. “Leave the door open.”
I set the box on the floor, carefully lowering my pants in such a way the gun is hidden. I have to tense my muscles to keep my legs still while I read the box and take out the plastic stick, afraid if I stir even an inch, the material bunched around my calves will shift and reveal its contents.
My face flushes as I pee on the stick, aware that the man in the next room can hear everything. When I finish, I balance it on the corner of the vanity, trying not to let any of the wet bits touch the Formica.
Once everything is back in place, I feel better. I wash my hands and use a tissue to take the stick through to the next room.
“Just leave it here,” he orders, tapping the glass coffee table. “Do you want to check out the clothing?”
I shake my head. “Can I ask your name?”
“It’s Stefan.”
A few pieces slot into place and I relax slightly. “You’re Caylon’s boss?”
He nods. “How much has he told you about me?”
The trap mouth yawns open in front of me, but I have enough presence of mind to edge around it. “Nothing much. I just remember your name. We’re not…” I shrug, chewing on the side of my thumbnail and staring at the floor. “I’m not interested in that stuff.”
“Okay.”
I steal a few glances under my lowered lashes. Now I’m getting used to his size, he seems pleasant enough.
Why? Because he’s not beating you to a pulp right this minute?
Sure. Plus, all he’s done so far is set me free and take me to a much nicer house than the one I was being kept in.
“Aren’t you going to ask my name?”
“Emily.”
A quiver hits my stomach, and I put my palm flat against it until it settles. Nobody calls me that. My mother when I was little but on my first day of high school, I went home and announced it was now Em and I wouldn’t answer to anything else.
Except one person calls me that. A man who I wouldn’t dare to set straight. He could call me Mildred and I’d still answer.
“Why are you making me take a pregnancy test?”
Stefan’s eyes rest on my face for so long I fidget beneath his gaze. Then it switches to the stick. He picks it up and I can’t read it from my angle. I can’t read it, but his face remains blank while his jaw bunches.
“Here,” he finally says with a note of resignation. “That’s why.”
My hands shake so much that when I take it from him, it drops to the floor. “Sorry,” I mutter, bending to pick it up and almost bumping my head against the underside of the coffee table.
