The Dr Pepper Prophecies Read online

  The Dr Pepper Prophecies

  © Jennifer Gilby Roberts 2002 - 2013

  All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author.

  For Ffion and Elizabeth, even though I

  wrote this before I met either of you.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 1

  When Harry Met Sally.

  I just do not get that movie. I mean, how can two people be good friends for that long and not realise that they’re meant for each other? How?

  If I’d been a character in that film, it would only have lasted half an hour. I’d have got them together, easy.

  I’m sitting in my uncomfortable, economy class seat (they like to call it World Traveller, but no leg room and a screaming baby in the next aisle makes it economy in my language) eating the contents of a packet that may contain nuts.

  It's a packet of peanuts. I never would have guessed.

  I’m flying back to London from New York after a weekend with my friend Susan (who lives there), during which I learned that I’m too short, too fat and must pay more attention to grooming. Definitely not a city to go to if you have low self-esteem.

  I am not scared of flying. Will, my best friend in the whole world, is afraid of flying. He went on one flight when he was thirteen, they hit a tiny bit of turbulence (to hear him tell the story, you’d think Godzilla had got loose and shake the plane like a maraca) and he’s refused to ever get on another. I’m the only one who knows that – his evil girlfriend, Natalie, just thinks it's severe motion sickness.

  What I get on planes is bored. Hence why I’m watching this movie. Which is about to end.

  And now I’m crying. For absolutely no reason. I mean, not that I never cry at movies. I do. But not this one. I must be pre-menstrual.

  Automatically I bend down to my bag and slam my head on the seat in front. I let out a short, violent exclamation that results in the mother of the screaming baby in the next aisle giving me an accusing look.

  'Do you mind?' she says haughtily. 'There are children present.'

  Of course I don’t mind. What’s a blinding headache and a few less brain cells?

  'Sorry,' I mutter.

  I try again to get into my bag, nearly breaking my neck since the person in front of me has pushed his seat back. The only way to do it seems to be to spread my legs and pull the bag up between them. I really wish I’d worn trousers, because the jammy bastard who got the window seat is now leering at me.

  I dump my (fake) D&G bag on my lap and unzip it. I scrabble around in the five tons of stuff I have in there (to tell the truth, I’m not absolutely sure that half of it’s even mine, despite what I told the people at customs) until I locate my diary. I open it to today and then flip back through the pages looking for the little blue hearts. Don’t ask me why I started marking my periods like that, because I have no idea. It must have been right at the start, when they were still a novelty.

  I can’t find any. Where the hell are they? Blue hearts, blue hearts. I’m flipping further and further back through the dates. Someone’s just encased my insides in dry ice. How long has it been?

  Blue heart. Okay, blue heart. Breathing. Staying calm. Slowly I start counting forward. One week. Two weeks. Three weeks. Four. Five. Six. Then today.

  I slump back in my chair, thumping my head again on the back of the seat. But I barely notice. I’m too busy having a heart attack. I can’t breathe, my vision’s going cloudy. I swear there are shooting pains in my arm.

  I’m pregnant. I, Melanie Caroline Parker, am pregnant. I’m a single mother, I’m a statistic. My mum will have a stroke, my dad will disown me. I’ll have to wear navy dresses with white collars and eat baked beans so I can afford nappies.

  Martin will leave me.

  Why did I think that? I don’t know that. Okay, so we’ve only been going out for three months and he’s really focused on his career and when my nephew was born he wanted to send my sister a condolence card. What does that prove?

  He’s absolutely going to leave me.

  I could do it on my own. My flatmate Beth loves kids. And Will’s always saying how much he’d like a nephew. Beth’ll make gourmet baby food and teach it proper pronunciation and she has so many books around it’ll probably read before it can speak. Will will be its father figure. It’ll grow up just like him. A computer geek who can recite episodes of Red Dwarf word for word.

  I am so not ready for this.

  **

  Okay, I’ve had five minutes of panic. The guy who was leering at me now thinks I’m about to throw up, because I’ve been leaning back with my eyes closed and a tortured expression on my face. I’m thinking clearly now.

  I might not be pregnant. I have been late before. I even skipped one period altogether when I went on that stupid crash diet after GCSEs. What I need is a pregnancy test.

  Somewhat inconvenient then that the plane won’t even land for another three hours. And Martin’s picking me up at the airport. They really should sell them on the plane.

  Okay, I’m thinking. There are other ways to tell if you’re pregnant, aren’t there? Like…okay, I know I read somewhere that you have vivid dreams when you’re pregnant. And I did have a great one last night. Colin Firth, the lake scene in Pride and Prejudice.

  But then, who hasn’t had that one?

  Nipples. Your nipples go dark brown or something.

  Except I can’t really get my breasts out on a plane.

  Or can I?

  I go to get up and nearly gut myself with the seatbelt I’d forgotten I’d put on. Now the window seat guy thinks I’m running off to be sick. I sit down again, jarring my spine, take a deep breath and try again. Undoing my belt this time.

  I walk unsteadily to the toilet. In fact my knees feel a little weak. It’s low blood sugar, that’s all. Or maybe food poisoning from the failed cloning attempt they gave us for lunch.

  I’ve slipped into denial now. I’ve always liked denial. The sky is always blue and there’s never a queue at the post office.

  Or the toilet. I bet someone’s trying to join the Mile High Club. I never applied for membership. I don’t like using aeroplane toilets, let alone want to have sex in one. They’re dirty and the lighting makes you look terrible. Plus, is there actually space?

  I finally get into one. I lock the door, pull my top up and my breasts out. Then I study them very carefully. They look normal to me.

  Of course, it might just be too early for it to show.

  What else? There must be something else. Morni
ng sickness – don’t think so. Dizziness – low blood sugar, low blood sugar. C’mon, I watched all those medical dramas. Think.

  I have it! If you’re pregnant, your cervix turns blue!

  Well that’s a fat lot of use, isn’t it? I can’t exactly get a quick look at my own cervix.

  Or can I?

  I mean, theoretically, all I need is a mirror.

  It might work.

  And it’s not like I have anything better to do.

  I pull off my knickers and hike up my skirt. Hmm, in fact, I’d better take it off. I dump them both on the toilet seat.

  First hitch, mirror is on wall.

  Finally, gymnastics comes in handy.

  I get one foot up by the wash basin and keep the other on the floor. Then I sort of tilt myself so I can see. It’s not working. I can’t see the right bit of me.

  I get onto the toilet seat, put my leg up again and try that. That’s better. I’m kind of in the right place now. I try to see.

  Nope, no good. Can’t see anything. Need a smaller mirror. And maybe a miner’s helmet for my finger.

  It was never going to work. I’ve gone mad, haven’t I? Post traumatic stress disorder.

  I try to get down. I catch my foot on the tap. Oh shit, I’m falling!

  Ow.

  My butt hurts. And I hit my head on…

  Oh, God, no.

  The ‘call for help’ button.

  **

  I jump up like the floor’s made of hot coals. Oh, God, I’m naked from the waist down, alone in an aeroplane toilet and any minute the Mary Poppins of air stewardesses will be knocking on my door. I’m starting to hyperventilate.

  No! Can’t waste time. Must get dressed. Fast.

  I grab my knickers. They’re inside out, but I yank them on anyway. Then I grab my skirt. I’m in a cold sweat. I put it on back to front. Crap! They’ll see me. They’ll take pictures. Maybe they’ll even have a video camera. I’ll be the star of every party they have for the next decade. I’ll be recognised on planes. I’ll have to get plastic surgery.

  I can’t get my shoes on. Why am I wearing shoes with buckles? Why did I buy shoes with buckles? Why didn’t I realise that this might happen one day?

  Got it!

  I’m dressed. I’m okay. They didn’t come.

  I sit on the toilet seat and hang my head between my knees. I’m okay. I’m calming down.

  Why didn’t they come? I mean, I could be seriously hurt, couldn’t I? What if I’d collapsed with deep vein thrombosis? It’s total negligence.

  What am I saying?

  I get to my feet again, take off my knickers, put them on again the right way out and fix my skirt. Then I take a deep breath.

  Crisis over. All’s well. I’ll just take a pregnancy test when I get home. It’s not like the result’s going to change, is it?

  I check my hair and reach for the door lock. Please don’t let there be someone waiting outside.

  I unlock it and fold it open. No one.

  Safe.

  I step out, trying to look like nothing unusual has happened.

  The next thing I know, I’m grabbed and pushed against the wall.

  'You have to help me!' the man gasps. He’s all pale and sweaty and he’s breathing really fast. He gulps. 'We have to get out. It’s not safe. We’re all going to die.'

  I’m dizzy again. My knees are shaking. This is it. The plane’s been hijacked and I’ve just spent my last few minutes of life trying to see my own cervix in an aeroplane toilet.

  'Help me!' he pleads again, clutching my arms harder. 'We can get the doors open, jump out.'

  Jump out? We’re at thirty-something thousand feet. We’d suffocate before we even had a chance to fall to our deaths.

  My vision is getting patchy and my balance is going. What’s happening?

  'Help me!' someone says, somewhere in the distance.

  Everything goes black.

  Chapter 2

  A face slowly swims into focus above me. A really dark, scary face, with a black bandana round it.

  I scream.

  'Don’t kill me!' I shriek. 'I didn’t see anything. I don’t know who you are. Please can I have one last phone call before I die?'

  'I haf no intention to kill you,' the face says. 'Please calm yourself.'

  'I can’t calm down,' I gasp. 'I’m too young to die. I’m not ready, I’ve barely done anything. I haven’t even paid off my student loan yet, I haven’t had time.'

  Another face joins the first one. A blond stewardess with a face full of Botox.

  'This man is a doctor,' she says. 'You fainted.'

  I move my eyes from one to the other. I still don’t think I can move my head.

  'Hasn’t the plane been hi-jacked?' I say stupidly.

  I think she’s trying to smile. It looks painful. 'No,' she says, 'you’re quite safe.'

  'What happened to Scary Guy?' I ask weakly.

  'He’s with some other members of the flight crew. I’m afraid he has a fear of flying and you walked into the middle of one of his panic attacks.'

  My ears are buzzing and everything has a yellow tinge. It’s weird. I haven’t fainted since the school trip to France when I was eleven. I’d forgotten what it feels like.

  'How are you feeling?' Doctor Guy says.

  I’m lying flat on my back outside a toilet. Obviously, I feel peachy.

  'Okay,' I say.

  'You faint often?'

  'No.'

  'You eat much?'

  'No, not on planes.'

  'Maybe you haf not enough sugar in your blood.'

  The stewardess is nodding sagely. She looks like one of those plastic dogs with their heads on springs you see in the back of cars.

  I have a sudden desire to tell them, to say it out loud. A problem shared is a problem halved and all that.

  'I’m pregnant,' I say. And then I burst into tears.

  **

  It was so the right thing to have said.

  Ten minutes later I’m installed in first class. I even have one of those sleeper seats. I’ve already tipped it back and forward three times. The other passengers are exchanging ‘nouvelle riche’ looks, but I don’t care. Nothing short of a miracle will get me a second chance here and I intend to make the most of it.

  They were so nice! One little word and it’s like I’ve announced I’m made out of…I don’t know. China, rose petals, chiffon. I bet they think I’d sue them if I miscarried. Finally, an upside to the litigation lunacy!

  I think Scary Guy is around here too. Maybe in business class. I’ll have to buy him a drink. Strange idea really, thanking the guy who made your life flash before your eyes.

  The only tiny drawback is that I can’t exactly take advantage of the open bar. But then, I guess you can’t have everything. I'm not much of a drinker anyway – chocolate is just as good and doesn't even give you a hangover.

  I tilt the seat back again and close my eyes. I can’t wait to tell Beth about this. She won the flights in a competition and didn’t want them, which is how I could afford to go. I work as a clerical officer – which is what they call office juniors who are over twenty-one – for an insurance claims office. No money, no interest and no prospects, although my sweet friend Julie does bring in home-made cookies every Friday. Not exactly a stunning career.

  Which was inevitable really. I got to university two years late (glandular fever = GCSE retakes, then I changed courses halfway through the sixth form), then I had a mad moment and applied to do economics. I barely understood a word for three years, so obviously I didn’t do very well. I don’t know what possessed me to choose that.

  Okay, actually I do. I picked it because my dad said I couldn’t possibly do it and I decided to prove him wrong. Unfortunately, I failed. Well, not quite. I got a third, but it seems to amount to the same thing.

  So I’m stuck being bored five days a week. Except that tomorrow, Martin will be starting work with me. He’s going to be my line manager, which is a lit
tle weird really, but I’m sure we’ll be fine. At the very least, it’ll give me something else to think about at work.

  I open my eyes suddenly. Oh yes, I have to tell him about the baby.

  Or do I?

  I mean, I’m not sure yet.

  I haven’t done a test or anything.

  I shouldn’t give him a shock like that when I’m not definite. Especially not when he’s so nervous about starting his new job. I won’t tell him. I’ll wait. I’ll do the test to make sure and then I’ll tell him next weekend, when he has time to adjust. Maybe the one after.

  Or maybe the one after that.

  **

  By the time we land I’ve convinced myself that it’s better to wait. And while I have my passport checked and collect my baggage, I burrow further into denial and decide that the actual chances of me being pregnant are negligible. Nothing to worry about.

  I trundle down the arrivals alley, pushing my trolley and pretending there’s a chauffeur waiting for me as I scan the crowds for Martin.

  I spot him, wearing a smart blue shirt I’ve never seen before, checking his watch. I check my own. We’ve actually come in early.

  'Hi,' I say, as I get to him. 'I’m back.'

  I go to put my arms around him, but he immediately takes my trolley.

  'Good,' he says. 'Ten minutes left before the parking fee goes up.'

  Now, I know I’ve only been gone for the weekend, but I expected a warmer welcome.

  'Don’t I get a welcome back kiss?' I ask.

  I think it’s a pretty reasonable request, but Martin get this ‘Now?!' look on his face. As if I’d asked that he recite the Lord’s prayer backwards in Norwegian.

  He does kiss me, but it’s a quick ‘I guess I’ll have to’ kiss, not a ‘I’m so glad you’re back’ kiss.

  Then he starts pushing my trolley towards the exit. 'Chop chop, can’t waste time,' he says, running a hand through his hair. Or, really, running a hand across his scalp, because the hair that was floppy is now about half an inch long.

  'You cut your hair,' I say. He never told me he was getting it cut. It’s all spiky. He looks like a pre-teen hedgehog.