Different Circles

She took off her shoes and socks and then her jeans and laid them down on top of the suitcase. She reached into her shirt and unsnapped her bra and then did that maneuver that women do to pull the bra off without removing the shirt. She dropped the bra on top of the pants. Now, she just needed to pee and it was naptime.

She walked to the bathroom, lifted up the lid on the toilet, and then pushed her white panties down and sat on the toilet. As she started to pee, she looked down and saw that the crotch of her panties were stained with streaks of blood.

“Madre de Dios,” she muttered, frustrated. “Not again.”

It was not a huge amount of blood, just spotting really, but it was unmistakable. This was the second time this had happened in the last month or so. It was not her period. She was still taking her birth control pills out on the road—she always had, just to stay in the rhythm—so her period was very predictable. It generally started the day after she started taking the white pills in the monthly case instead of the pink ones. But she had finished the white pills and gone back to the next set of twenty-four pink ones nearly six days ago. And she had not bled while taking the white ones last time. That was rare but not unheard of in her experience, so she had not thought too much about it. The first time she had the bleeding she attributed it to road stress. That was probably what it was this time as well, but she was starting to wonder if she should call her gynecologist and discuss the issue.

She decided that she would put that off for now. After all, it was after business hours in Los Angeles now and she did not think a little spotting warranted an emergency phone call.

She finished up her pee and then wiped herself very thoroughly. She then went back to her suitcase and opened it. Inside was a box of tampons. She pulled one out, returned to the bathroom, and installed it in the usual manner. She then washed her hands and went back to the bed. She laid down under the covers and was almost immediately asleep.

When she woke up two hours later, she went back to the bathroom. A quick check of the tampon showed only a very light amount of blood. She changed it and then went back into the living room to order her dinner.

By the time her steak and baked potato arrived, she had pretty much put the ordeal out of her mind. There was wine to drink and mindless TV to watch. She was a little bummed that she would not be able to paddle the pink canoe tonight though.

“Really?” Meghan asked, her eyes wide at what had just been suggested. “You want me to come to New York with you?”

“That’s right,” Laura said. “If you’re up for it. If you would rather not, we will pay you extra to take care of Caydee while we’re gone. We’d rather keep her with us though, but that’s up to you.”

They were in the entertainment room of the house. It was Thursday and Jake was in Santa Clarita working with V-tach for the day. With the new hours they had set, he would be home just after five o’clock. Caydee was down for her afternoon nap. Elsa was in the kitchen, working on dinner. It was her double-sauced meatloaf and homemade macaroni and cheese. Both of them were drinking glasses of chardonnay. Laura had introduced the nanny to the pleasure of good wine a few weeks before and Meghan had embraced the beverage.

“How would we get there?” Meghan asked. “Would we fly in your plane?”

“No,” Laura said. “We’ll fly commercial for a trip like this. First class, of course.”

“First class? Really? I’ve never flown first class before.”

“I should warn you that it’s really hard to go back to coach once you’ve flown first-class,” Laura told her. “And you would have your own suite at the hotel.”

“My own suite?” she asked.

“Well ... kind of,” Laura said. “You see ... uh ... Caydee would be staying in your suite with you at night.”

Understanding crossed Meghan’s face. “Ohhhh,” she said knowingly. “Because you and Jake and Celia ... uh...”

“That’s right,” Laura said. “You know how it is with the three of us. We would like to get ... you know ... reacquainted with each other while we’re there. Having you mind Caydee in your own suite would be helpful to that cause. We would take care of her during the day—kind of the opposite of your current schedule—and, of course, we would pay you overtime pay for every hour of the entire trip.”

“For every hour?” she asked.

“For every hour,” Laura confirmed. “Now, of course, you are not obligated to do this. If you say no, that’s fine. We will not hold it against you. And if you do not want to watch Caydee full time while we’re gone, that is fine as well. We will still pay you your normal rate for the days and we’ll just take Caydee with us and make do. After all, we did it in Glacier Park. We can do it in New York.”

“No no,” she said quickly. “I’ll do it. It sounds like fun. I’ve never been to New York before.”

“Awesome!” Laura said. “We’re gonna have so much fun.”

I bet you are, Meghan thought with a little smile.