An Invoice

Before Jane started. "Yes, I'm an idiot too, honestly. Look at me Clara, I let an irresponsible Buffon dump my ass like this. Now, I'm battling with a pregnancy and no father figure present. I literally cast all my emotional burden on you, stressing the living hell out of you and making stupid demands that I shouldn't. I'm...." Her voice faltered, and the first sound of tears hit Clara's ears. "I'm pregnant and miserable. I'm stupid and I don't even know if I'll be a good mother."

Clara immediately regretted the words she said before. 'what happened to not arguing with a pregnant woman.' She mentally scolded herself. "No baby, no..no...no, you are not. You are an amazing human. What you're doing, not a lot of people can do it, and that alone, makes you a good mother. Trust me, even I cannot do what you're doing. I get jealous of you at times."

Jane chuckled happily. "It feels good to hear you say that." She barked a loud laugh that rattled in Clara's ears. "Well, I still hope you won't have anything with Victor. Because his kind neighbor told me that the last time, the slut refused to leave the house even when she saw you confronting Victor."

"Don't call her that."

Jane waved her spoon in the air again. "What do you want me to call her, pig?"

"Nothing," Clara told her, and meant it. "Don't call her anything."

"Oh, but I think she deserves a few choice words."

"Victor's the one who cheated. She just took advantage of a good opportunity." Said Clara.

"You know," Jane began. "I have taken advantage of a whole lot of good opportunities in my life, but I've never chased after someone's man."

Clara closed her eyes, willing her friend to stop. She did not want to have this conversation. There was another pressing issue on her mind.

She had a case that might be taken up by the Nursing council if the hospital fails to prove her innocence. She could loose her license of practice even. Victor was at the bottom of her worries right now. If only Jane knew, she would have been sorry for her as well. But Clara kept it to herself. Jane was better off not knowing.

Jane made a great show of scraping her plastic spoon around the cardboard cup as she wiped it clean. She sighed heavily, as if her day had just taken a turn for the worse. "Can I have yours. It doesn't seem like you want it, since you haven't even opened it."

"No." Clara replied, picking up her cup of ice cream and opening it.

"I'm pregnant, Clara" She squeaked.

"That's not my fault."

She went back to scraping her cup, but this time around, it was louder then the first. To add to the annoyance, she started humming a meaningless rhyme.

Clara knew she was trying so hard to guilt trip her, and it did work because the ice cream she shoved into her mouth, got stuck in her throat.

"Here, you take it." She finally gave in.

"Thank you," Jane squealed.

Clara nodded and started the car immediately and they began heading home, leaving the filth of Nova behind.

"Maybe we can get some more for later." Jane suggested. "And you will have to be the one to get it though. I don't want those people at the counter to think I'm a pig," she smiled sweetly, batting her eyelids "I think the lady at the counter is allergic to pregnant women."

"Your level of sarcasm needs to be studied." Clara chuckled. "Just say you pissed the lady off."

Jane blinked innocently. "Yeah, you know, some people are just sensitive."

Just as they were about taking a turn home, their car was flagged down by a young lady that looked rather terrified. Clara slowed down and wind down her window slightly. "What's the problem miss?" She asked the lady, who seem to be crying at this point.

"Do you have a phone Ma'am." She sobbed. "There is a body, I saw a body over there." She pointed at the clearing beside the road.

"What, is the person dead?"

"I don't know, I didn't touch the body. Please call the police." The girl sobbed.

Clara picked up her phone and called the first person that came to her mind, her mother's best friend, Ignas. A renowed police officer in Bramhills. She started getting down from the car, while Jane held her back.

"Where the hell do you think you are going?" Jane yelled, visibly terrified.

"I want to see the body. Just wait here Jane. Don't leave car. Aunt Ignas is on the way."

She pulled the car door shut and looked over to the clearing in front. There was indeed a body lying there. She could see the legs from this side of the road. A sweat broke across her face, and she looked at the girl beside her who was now shaking in fear.

"It's okay dear, the police is on their way."