Rendered pale and limp by the result, Kimberly's body quivered, and she suddenly felt faint.
"Hey, I got you." Carol held her up when she noticed she was staggering.
"Let's go to the doctor's lounge." She said and slowly led Kimberly there.
As Kimberly followed Carol her whole body trembled with the force of the sob that was racking through her, and it was by sheer pride that she didn't want strangers to see her weeping that she held herself together until they got to the lounge.
The moment they walked through the door, Kimberly broke into a sob and Carol embraced her.
"What am I going to do, Carol? My life is over! I've ruined my life," Kimberly said as she cried while Carol patted her back and tried to assure her that her life wasn't over.
After Kimberly had exhausted herself with her tears, Carol led her to the chaise lounge in the room and made her sit down.
"Wait here while I get you a glass of water." She would have offered coffee, but she knew better.
As Carol stood by the dispenser waiting for the glass to be filled, a rueful sigh broke through her lips when she saw how devastated Kimberly was as she stared at the result.
"Here, drink up. The water will help you." Carol said as she sat beside Kimberly.
Kimberly bleakly stared at the glass, and after a long while of staring, she sighed as she slowly took the glass from Carol.
Carol watched with relief as she watched her drink from the cup. When she saw that Kimberly looked a bit calmer she sighed.
"So? What are we going to do now?" Carol asked quietly.
Kimberly shook her head. "The only thing I know for certain is that I can't keep it. There is no way I can keep it," Kimberly said her voice quivering with distress and anxiety.
"Why not?" Caroline asked with a slight frown.
"What else can I do? Keep it? You know that's impossible," She cried, her voice shaky and panicky.
"You first need to calm down. Don't cry." Carol comforted her.
"I can't keep it. My career will be over. You know how I got lucky not getting laid off after the company buyout, right?" She blubbered.
"I know, but I wouldn't say you were lucky. You were an asset they couldn't afford to lose. You would have been a partner at Brent already had the buyout not happened, and even now you are lined up for a good promotion. A big one at that." She reminded her.
"And that's the problem. I don't think I will get the promotion if they find out I'm pregnant." Kimberly told her.
"Why not?" Carol asked, confused at how her pregnancy would deny her such an opportunity.
"Firstly, there will be discrimination. Who would want to promote a pregnant lady over guys? They will believe I won't be as productive and efficient as the guys. Secondly, there's the maternity leave!" She said, a tight knot shooting up to her chest.
"Oh!" was all Carol could manage since she knew that Kimberly had a point.
"They will take me down, Carol. I can't afford to be pregnant now. I will be screwed." As a matter of fact, she was already screwed! Her face turned pale at the horrendous turn her life had taken.
Carol could feel every bit of her worry and fear, and she was stupefied about what to do. She shared Kimberly's panic. "You are not screwed, Kim. Do not say that." She pleaded, but her feeble tone had made no impact, not even on her, talk more of reaching out to a distraught Kimberly.
Kimberly loved her career. It was of immeasurable importance to her.
Unlike others, she had fought her way up from the bottom of the ladder at Brent, an investment company where she had worked but had recently been sold to another firm.
She had made a name for herself and has an amazing career ahead of her, so she understood her fear of losing it all for something she hadn't planned for, something that would change the course of her life forever.
Kimberly took another glance at the result before lifting her eyes towards her.
"Keeping this pregnancy will ruin me. Not just my Career, but my entire life."
"I understand what you mean, but you can't be so sure." She added, causing Kimberly to narrow her eyes towards her.
"What do you mean? Are you, by chance, asking me to keep the baby?" Kimberly asked tersely.
"Why are you only considering getting rid of it because of your job?" Carol retorted.
"Listen, they might just decide to offer you the promotion because you deserve it, regardless of the pregnancy," Carol said, trying to encourage her to keep the pregnancy.
"Even if that were to happen, a child is a lifelong commitment, one I'm not ready to make at the moment," Kimberly said with a shake of her head.
"There is never a right time to have a baby, Kim. No one really plans for this sort of thing to happen, but when it does you should make the best of it. Do you have any idea how many couple come in here wanting solution to their inability to have kids?" Carol asked, but Kimberly had no plan of letting her convince her otherwise.
"Maybe no one plans for such things to happen, but I do. Everything must happen at the set time, with preparations fully in place for it."
"Yeah, typical Kimberly and her fine line of practicalities." Carol said, and Kimberly glared at her, not appreciating the snide remark.
As displeased as Kimberly looked, Carol wasn't fazed by it. "Can you at least tell me why you think you can't make the necessary commitment to a child? You are 27, single, and very successful. You have all it takes to raise a baby. I've never seen anyone who is as dogged and driven as you. If anyone has what it takes to make this work, it is you."
Kimberly glanced out of the window at the clear sky ahead as her mind spiraled with thoughts.
"The chairman will be disappointed in me." She muttered as she glanced back to Carol.
"And I don't even know who the father is. There is my mom too. She will be disappointed, Carol. I can't be a single mom. My mom was a single mom, and she wouldn't want this for me. I can't—" Her voice broke as it caught with emotions.
"I can't keep this baby, Carol. Not with all I have at stake." And she had a lot at stake. Her life, her career, and her future.
She couldn't keep a baby whose father's first name was all she knew. No way.