Just Him ❤

111. Zurich.

After booking in at the fertility clinic's reception desk and filling out a couple of forms, Chloe sat waiting to be called through in a modern but sterile looking waiting room. The bright, pure white walls hurt her eyes, the chairs were white, the glass topped reception desk was white, the only shots of colour was from the (surprisingly new) magazines on the white low table and a big vase of red lilies that stood next to the magazines. She sat staring down at the dark wooden floor, mainly to give her eyes a break from all the white but also because it made her hair fall around her face, shielding her from Seb and allowing her to think. Sitting next to her in dark grey jeans and a black long sleeve t-shirt, she was aware of her handsome German's leg constantly jiggling up and down and also aware of the blonde receptionist who kept looking over at him, smiling and flicking her hair back over her shoulders while sticking her chest out. For once Chloe wasn't bothered by his new admirer, the woman had been a very welcome distraction, for a few minutes at least, from Stephen. She couldn't help shivering as his words, his scent and his unwanted touch crept back into her mind and she stared even harder at the floor. She felt ridiculously tired, keeping Stephen's sick proposal from Seb and pretending that she was ok when all she wanted to do was break down and let him comfort her was taking its toll. She was desperate to tell him, desperate for him to make it all go away and she'd barely slept on the flight home or in bed last night, instead she had laid next to him, silently and internally screaming for him to help her, letting her tears flow in secret, concealed by his sleep and the darkness of their room. The waiting room was quiet, so quiet that she swore she could hear her ears ringing and it was starting to drive her mad. She opened her bag, only then realising how tightly she was clutching on to it, and pulled out her phone. There was still no word from Stephen. She didn't even know where he was; was he back in England? Or would he be in Italy, waiting for her to arrive there tomorrow morning? Seb was going karting again tomorrow in Lonato, did Stephen already know this? Would he demand to see her? If he did, how the hell was she going to explain a night away to Seb? What excuse could she give him?

"Miss Houghton?"

"Hey, wake up." Seb nudged her. "You've been called twice now."

"Sorry, I was......"

"Miles away? Yeah I noticed." He stood up and held his hand out to her, like he almost always did. It was like he frequently needed that small bit of physical contact with her and it was one of the things she loved about him the most. "Stop worrying, you'll be fine." He tried to reassure her as she stood from her seat and he gave her a brief kiss before they followed the doctor into another room. He was sure that today would put an end to her worrying that something was wrong and that she'd come out of this place reassured that she had no issues with her fertility at all. She'd been so quiet for the last couple of days, ever since Sunday evening really, and he knew it was because she was starting to worry more and more the closer she got to the day of her appointment. Today she looked tired; more than that she looked exhausted, clearly this had been keeping her awake at night. Tonight she'd be able to sleep soundly, once he'd been able to catch up on the sex he'd missed out on, of course. She'd not wanted it at all yesterday, saying that she didn't want to affect any of the tests or scans she'd be undergoing today so he was more than ready to get her home after this and get down to some serious baby making. Chloe took in what was another white room as she sat down, at least the furniture in this room was black but all she could see was the examination bed and the ultrasound scanner beside it. The walls were lined with counter tops and cupboards and what looked a little like a big white wardrobe in one corner, which she knew was really a cabinet. Close by the black desk a bright yellow sharps bin stood out from the shiny off white flooring. She glanced at Seb, he gave her hand a squeeze as if to reassure her and yet again, she felt like the worlds worst person because all she could think of was that she was going to be forced to betray him in order to save her own reputation, Michael's marriage and to stop details of his health being leaked to the world. What if she did get pregnant and it turned out to be Stephen's baby? Her mouth fell open at the thought. Suddenly this room began to feel suffocating and the high pitched ringing in her ears got louder.