The End

Chapter 20: It's Negative

Sometimes being a celebrity had its advantages. This morning, was one of those times. Patrick woke to the ping of his email. He opened his phone quickly to see if it was the results. It was. He exhaled nervously and clicked the email.

The jingle of his cell phone alarm seemed equivalent to a loud explosion in the anxious silence. He looked to Ellen, "Ok," he nodded, "Time to look."

"I can't do it," she said shaking her head and clinging to the counter. "You do it."

He sighed a little, "Okay." Patrick walked slowly to the bathroom to read the test she'd left on the counter.

He quickly switched out of his email and dialed her phone number. His heart fluttering with each ring. "Hey," she answered.

"It's negative," Patrick said loudly from the bathroom. His tone seemed to be totally emotionless."

"It's negative," Patrick said happily. His tone filled with relief.

"Oh, thank God," Ellen's voice breathy with relief.

"I should go tell Jill," he said softly, "I'll call you later."

"Thank god," she said returning to his couch to sit down. Pent up emotion starting to spill out. Ellen rested her head against her hands. "I think we need to back off a bit."

"Okay," he nodded. He wasn't going to argue with her in this moment. Not after what they'd just gone through.

"It's just," she said gathering herself, "We could be working together for a long time, and you're married," she paused, "I don't want to be that woman Patrick."

"I get that," he nodded. He didn't speak for several minutes. Instead he just sat by her. Feeling all that had unraveled. "I don't want to be that man either," his voice was soft. "We can do better," he nodded looking her in the eyes. "I care about you too much to make you compromise." The words were leaving his mouth genuinely but their eyes had different intentions. The chemical pull between them stronger than ever.

The sound of the trailer door opening broke the spell. "Patrick," Jill said as she opened the door. Her expression fading into discomfort as she saw he wasn't alone. "oh," Jillian said, "I'm sorry, am I interrupting."

"No," Ellen spoke quickly. Her mind calculating if she had left any pregnancy test evidence behind. "We just finished running through a scene." Ellen picked up Patrick's script from the coffee table in front of her and tucked it under her arm.

Another harsh reality crashing in around him. He stood to greet his wife with a kiss on the cheek. Ellen was right. They weren't these people.

"I'd love to stay and chat but I have to get to hair and makeup." Ellen gave a friendly touch to Jill's shoulder on the way out the door. She leaned back in for a second to say, "Are you sticking around for a bit? I'll ask the crew to get you a chair on set?"

"I'm not sure..." Jillian was clearly still feeling awkward, "Maybe." She smiled in an attempt to be normal.

"Ok," Ellen nodded, "I'll mention it just in case." With a wave she said, "Nice to see you."

When Patrick found Jillian, she was drinking a cup of coffee at the kitchen island. He seemed to startle her because she jumped when he entered the room. "It's negative." He smiled.

"Good," Jillian stood to hug him. There was a sadness in her eyes when she pulled away from him.

"You okay?" Patrick asked.

He had made it to the coffee pot to pour himself a cup.

"I am," she said unconvincingly. "The whole thing just had me overthinking." She brushed off her feelings.