One Night In Reno

Kate shoved the chicken from one side of the plate to the other, hoping her boyfriend didn't notice she hadn't eaten a bite. She listened to him talk about his day, his test, his friends. She tried to focus on what he was saying, but found it difficult. She still hadn't told him. She wanted to and knew that he had every right in the world to know what was going on behind his back. She had hidden it for as long as she could, doing everything in her power to ensure he didn't figure it out. She hated keeping it from him, hated lying to him.
    She could barely remember how it began. It seemed like such a long time ago. It had happened after she left his place one afternoon. She was on her way home and her phone rang. She was shocked at the number on the caller ID, sure she had been done with that number a long time ago. She had hesitated for a second, knowing that calls like this only brought trouble.  With shaking hands and a racing heart, she answered the phone.
    The voice asked her how she was doing. She told him great. He didn't seem to believe her. He asked to see her, told her it was imperative. She politely declined. Bad memories loomed where he was. He begged, pleaded. He needed to see her. It sounded important. She acquiesced. What began as one simple meeting soon turned into multiple meetings- once a month turned into once every two weeks, then once every week, and now twice a week. Things were spiraling out of control and she was watching as her life fall to pieces in front of her.
    "I've been keeping something from you and I think you know that."  She wondered why those words had suddenly poured out of her mouth. He stopped talking and settled back into his chair. She could tell he wanted her to continue on, explain to him what was happening. She took a deep breath. "I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid of your reaction. I never meant for things to happen this way. I'm so sorry I've waited so long to come clean..." "I don't want to hear that you're sorry," he interrupted, "I just want you to come out and say it.” Her eyes brimmed with tears as she struggled to get the words out.
    “I have cancer.”

Author's Note

Have at it!! Lol.

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

The anticipated answer," I'm pregnant" would've been better news, of course, but not as satiable. Your writing is quite good, and I only saw two very minor things that might be improved. 1) in the interest of reducing passive language, you could remove the "had" here--"She had hesitated for a second..." 2) and reword this--"spiraling out of control and she was watching as her life fall to pieces in front of her" to read "spiraling out of control and she watched as her life fell to pieces in front of her"