Happy Birthday Read Online Free PDF Page B

good about,” Ellen reminded her. “Most people don’t have successful restaurants at thirty. I’d say you’ve done pretty well.”
    “Thank you,” April said quietly, as Ellen removed the moxa and started with the needles. She stopped after a minute and took April’s pulse again. She had an uncanny knack for sensing anything that was off balance, and she was rarely wrong.
    “Are your periods screwed up again?” she asked after doing two more needles, and April smiled. Hers had been irregular for years. It was one of the ways the stress of her work manifested itself. Sometimes she didn’t have a period for several months. She was on the Pill, to try and stay regular, and to cover the occasional “slip,” although she didn’t have many. But she didn’t want to take the risk. And she hadn’t had a sexual “slip” in quite a while.
    “I haven’t had a period in two months,” April said without concern. “Whenever I work a lot, I don’t get one for months. I’ve been pushing pretty hard. We added some new things to the menu last month.”
    “Maybe you should check it out,” Ellen said casually as she did needles on April’s upper arms.
    “You think something’s wrong?” April looked surprised.
    “No, I don’t,” she reassured her, “but your pulse is funny. I keep picking something up.”
    “Like what?”
    “When was the last time you had sex?”
    “I can’t remember. Why?”
    “I’m probably crazy. And I know you’re on the Pill. But maybe you should take a pregnancy test. Did you miss a Pill or two the last time you had sex?”
    “You think I’m pregnant?” April sat up, looking shocked. “That’s ridiculous. I slept with a guy I don’t even like. A food critic. He was cute and smart. I plied him with our best wines to impress him, and had too much to drink myself, trying to be friendly. The next thing I knew, I woke up with him in my bed in the morning. I haven’t done anything like that in years. And the bastard even gave us a bad review. He said the menu was childish and overly simplistic, and I’m not using my training or my skills. He was a real jerk.”
    “I don’t think not liking a guy is considered birth control,” Ellen said calmly, as April lay down again, looking disturbed.
    “Now that I think of it, I only missed one Pill. I was so hung over the next day, I forgot, and I had a sore throat. I hope he got it. I had strep.” She remembered it now, although she had given herself a pass for the indiscretion and had done her best to forget. She almost had, but it came back to her now, with Ellen’s questions.
    “Were you on antibiotics?”
    “Yeah. Penicillin.”
    “That can knock the Pill out of commission. I think you should check it out.”
    “I’m not pregnant,” April said firmly.
    “I’m sure you’re not. But it never hurts to check.”
    “Don’t freak me out. Today is my birthday,” April reminded her, and they both laughed.
    “I’m sure it’s nothing,” Ellen reassured her, but it was too late for that. April was already stressed about it.
    “So am I,” April said firmly, trying to convince them both.
    They talked about other things then, but Ellen reminded her of it again when she left. April didn’t want to think about it, and she was sure she wasn’t pregnant. She had no symptoms, other than the period she often missed anyway. She was still annoyed at herself for sleeping with him. Mike Steinman. It had been a stupid thing to do. She was old enough to know better, but he had been good-looking and intelligent. It had happened over Labor Day weekend, at the beginning of September, two months before. She hadn’t allowed herself to think of him since.
    She walked past a drugstore on the way back to work, and she felt stupid for doing it, but she walked in and bought a pregnancy kit. She hadn’t worried about something like that in years. She had had a scare once in Paris, but fortunately she hadn’t been pregnant. She was sure she