‘Don’t apologise! It’s not your fault. We’ll do them another time. The important thing is we need to make you feel better. How are you doing now?’ I knew I’d only asked her a few minutes ago, but I needed to know that something was working so if it wasn’t I could think of getting something else.
‘Still got the cramping, but it’s just how it is.’
‘Is it this bad every month?’ I asked.
‘Sometimes worse.’ She sighed.
‘Do you want to try the heat pad? Or a bath!’ I said, remembering another suggestion I’d seen when I’d searched online whilst walking to the supermarket.
‘Baths do help, but I only have a shower.’
‘I’ll be back.’ I jumped up, then rushed downstairs to find Glenda again. ‘Are there any rooms with baths here?’ I asked her.
‘Um, yeah. We have a honeymoon suite that does. Sounds fancier than it is, but the punters seem to love it.’
‘I’d like to book that, please.’ I pulled out my wallet.
‘Wait, you want to book the room, just to use the bath?’ Glenda frowned.
‘Yes,’ I confirmed. ‘Sarah’s in pain and she said that baths help her, but she only has a shower in her room, so I’d like the suite so that she can have a bath when she needs to and feel better.’
Glenda stood there. Rooted to the spot, gawping at me like I’d just sprouted three luminous green heads.
‘Wow. I… I’ve… that’s the first time I’ve ever had that kind of request. If Sarah’s in pain, she can use the bath for free. I can’t charge for that,’ Glenda said.
‘No,’ I growled. ‘You’re running a business. You have overheads that need to be covered—water, heating, electricity, cleaning. I wouldn’t ask you to do that for free. And she might need to have more than one bath. I want her to be relaxed. How long do you think I should book the suite for? A week? That’s how long periods last, right?’
‘Oh, um, well, every woman’s different. Usually the pains are not for the whole week. It’s usually much less.’
‘Let’s do it for a week to be on the safe side. Do you have availability?’
‘Er, yes, but I can’t… I’d feel terrible taking that money. Sarah’s part of the community now. So are you, and we take care of our own. Please. She can use the room for the next day or two. It’s sitting there empty and I want her to feel better.’
‘Fine, thank you, but take this.’ I reached in my wallet and pulled out three fifty-pound notes. ‘That’s the only cash I have, but I can go to the bank tomorrow and get more or pay by card? But hopefully that’ll cover the cleaning and utilities. If she needs more than a couple of days, tell me the cost and I’ll cover it in full.’
‘That’s really not necessary, I?—’
‘Glenda,’ I said firmly. ‘I insist. Now can I have the key, please? I need to run Sarah a bath.’
18
SARAH
Itook a bite of the banana that Ben had got me and sat up straighter in bed. I was feeling a lot better. And it was all thanks to him.
Ben had burst in here like my knight in shining armour, then taken control of the situation like some kind of period pain slayer.
Bringing the paracetamol and glass of water was enough on its own. I was in so much pain at that point that even opening my eyes felt harder than balancing a ten-tonne weight on my little finger.
It was like my belly had been put inside a meat grinder. The pain was excruciating at the best of times, when I had everything to hand, like my hot water bottle, ibuprofen and all of the other things I used to help. But this was my first period since I’d moved here and I hadn’t got myself organised.
If Ben hadn’t come looking for me, I don’t know what I would’ve done.
As I glanced at the base of the bed and saw all the boxes, I smiled.
Wow.
He’d literally bought the entire period products aisle. There were tampons and pads of every shape, size and absorbency from different brands. This was enough to cater for a dozen periods, never mind one. And that was saying something, because sometimes my flow was so heavy I had to change every hour.
