Nowhere Girl ~ John Lennon/The Beatles

Chapter Twenty Six: Life Plan

The drive to the restaurant from the doctors office was silent, but not awkward. Robin half expected Kay to be crying, but if anything getting it confirmed just made her steel her emotions off.

Robin had sat in the office with her while Albert sat outside in the waiting area, though Robin wished she'd stayed outside too. She wished she'd not had to hear the horrible way the nurse had spoke to her friend, as if she was the most sinful person alive. To lecture her about morals, the Bible, as if society was going to singlehandedly collapse because of Kay, it all felt absurd. It was a horrible confirmation about society's view of women despite so much progress. In the end, things hadn't progressed quick enough, the perspective on women and virtue was still so historic, to the extent that even Robin felt like she was being horrifically judged despite not being in Kay's position.

"I'm glad you said that thing," Kay muttered eventually, breaking the silence, and when Robin glanced over to her she saw she was smirking slightly. "'You do realise she's only up the duff and hasn't actually murdered anyone?' I loved it, I wanted to say the same,"

"Yeah, well, remind me not to get pregnant and then go see that nurse, I don't think my morals could take it," Robin replied dryly, and there was a second of silence where she wished she hadn't said it before Kay snorted out a laugh. "Sorry,"

"No, it's fine, I think if I don't laugh about it I'll just cry,"  Kay shrugged, letting out a long sigh before glaring out of the car window.

Nothing else was said the whole drive, except for when Albert parked up outside the restaurant and Kay made them vow not to tell anyone. They got on with their working day as if their morning at the doctors hadn't happened, as if everything was the same, when in reality nothing was. Every so often as they were waiting tables Robin's mind would drift to the events of the doctors office, and whenever she saw Kay rush across the room or carry too many plates she wanted to run after her and take on her workload as well as her own. She wished she could somehow make her friend take it easy or sit down but as if to prove to herself that things weren't truly as different, Kay was working harder than ever.

"I was meant to be taking table three's order," Robin stated as she managed to get a moment with her in the kitchen while orders were being plated up. "You're going to knacker yourself up,"

"Oh heaven forbid, I'm already knocked up," Kay remarked, rolling her eyes before she cringed. "Fuck's sake,"

"Albert said you didn't have to work today, why don't you just go home and take it easy?" Robin suggested, lowering her voice to make sure no one else could hear.

"Nah, we've only got two hours left, plus I'll be alone if I'm at home," she shrugged, fiddling with the collar of her apron. "My sister's moving back in with our Mother, and going home will only remind me I'll get kicked out soon enough. The landlady won't let me stay if she finds out, and I can't afford anywhere else at the minute,"

With that, one of the chefs shouted to them to take an order to one of the tables, and so the two friends split, though Robin kept thinking about Kay's situation. She'd been working as a waitress for long enough that her body just fell into the motions, whilst her mind was elsewhere. She couldn't help but compare Kay's situation to the one her parents were in, the one that resulted in their rather unhappy marriage. She couldn't help but think about all the other young girls who got into her situation, the ones who's partners left them, the ones who were shamed by society. Robin couldn't quite imagine Kay taking any slander from anyone, she wasn't that sort of person, but what about Frank? From what Robin knew of him he was a good guy, she couldn't imagine him leaving Kay just because she was pregnant, but Robin was still a pessimist.

She knew for certain that Kay was already thinking about that part too. Not only was her landlady going to throw her out, but her boyfriend would probably leave her too. To have all that running through her mind as well as wait tables of entitled customers, Kay really was having a bad day.