Joey

Joey leans against the apartment wall, one hand cupping her belly and one hand holding a limp old cigarette. It was the last one in the pack when she quit smoking, as soon as she found out she was pregnant. But she held onto this last cigarette, and a couple of times a day she comes out to stand on her back deck and just hold the unlit cigarette, and for a few minutes tries to believe it's going to be okay.

It probably isn't though. Her apartment has a bed and a hotplate, nothing else. She hasn't been able to save for much else, not since everything happened. An air conditioner, that's her dream. A cold glass of water from the refrigerator, that's what she wants, not just lukewarm from the tap.

"It's going to be okay," she tells her baby, dragging her fingers down her sweaty belly. In a couple of months, Joey will be a mother. Her body seems to think she's ready now, the way her breasts feel tight and heavy. They've been so swollen lately, but she can't seem to give them release. Her nipples are hard, pushing against the orange tube top and leaking. Another stain to try and wash out. She sighs and lifts a hand to wipe at her eyes, but Joey suddenly drops the old cigarette. It falls to the deck and she attempts to lean over and pick it up, but her belly blocks her completely.

Great. The one thing she had to look forward to, and now it's unreachable. Joey begins to cry, softly, hoping her baby won't hear her distress.

Someone else has though. Her handsome neighbor, the one that works from home. She just met him last week. Joey turned around to see him standing at his door to their shared deck. She can feel the cold from the air conditioning inside the apartment sweeping past CraveU user and Joey worries she's going faint.

"I - I'm so sorry, can I…come in for just a minute? It's so hot out here, and not much better in my apartment," she whispers, her blush rising from her belly to her cheeks.