𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 ʲᵒʰⁿ ˢʰᵉˡᵇʸ

- 𝟎𝟎𝟓

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤
-𝟎𝟎𝟓-
𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟗

Valerie sat on the bed with her legs dangling over the edge. Her face had gone pale and her blood ran cold. "Are you sure?" She asked the woman.

"Listen, love, I know you're young and unmarried but I won't utter a word to anybody. Carrying a child can be hard." She explained. Valerie stared down at her knees and began feeling like she couldn't breathe. "What.. what can I do?"

"To get rid of the child would be a risk to yourself as there is no safe way to do this with how far along you are."

"And how far along am I?" Valerie questioned. The woman wiped down the countertop. "At least six weeks," she guessed. Valerie pulled her cardigan over her shoulders and tucked her hair behind her ears. "Okay.. thank you." She didn't want to spend another moment in there.

Over the past week, John had been avoiding Valerie like the plague and she didn't know why. All of a sudden it was like he didn't know who she was. Yes, he could only see her when he wasn't working but there had been two occasions where she was at the Garrison when he was. And not once did he even look at her.

Everything seemed off. And it was like torture to Valerie. She missed being in the comfort of his arms. Even when it was just for a little while.

Valerie was quick to return home as the sun had now risen and she didn't want to risk being seen in that part of Small Heath. If she was seen, anybody with a brain would know why she was there in the first place.

Deep down, she knew who the father of the child was. Because unfortunately.. or in some cases it was fortunate, work had been slow for Valerie and John seemed to be her main customer.

-

"Val, what's wrong?" Maria stood at the foot of the dark haired girls bed as she sat with her knees up to her chest. She said nothing. "Valerie, come on, you can talk to me." Maria urged.

Valerie looked up at her with teary eyes. "I'm pregnant." She croaked.

Marie's eyes widened slightly and her lips parted. "You're.. what?"

"I'm pregnant." Valerie repeated. Maria climbed onto the bed. "No I heard what you said. Do you know who the father is?" She asked. Valerie nodded once. Maria grabbed her friends hands in a reassuring way. "Will you tell him?"

"He'd never marry me." She cut Maria off quickly. "So i'm stuck. My child will be a bastard. I can't have an abortion."

Maria tutted out of sympathy. "You can talk to him, surely? He can't be that cruel that he won't want to be there. For you and the baby." She suggested.

"I can try but a man like him would never want to commit to a girl like me." She refused.

"There's no harm in trying, Val."

Except there was harm in trying. To tell John about the baby would be to risk a heartbreak she didn't even know was possible of happening. Valerie had grown attached to the Shelby man. And she hated herself for that. One thing she had learnt from being a prostitute was to never ever grow attached to a customer.

"I can't work like this anymore.. not with a baby growing inside of me." Valerie said. Maria looked at her with sympathy. "I can speak to a few people and see if there's somewhere else." Maria suggested.