Well, I'm posting. I had a lousy day - my dog in California had to be put to sleep today. Those of you who were paying attention might remember that my cat died on Mother's Day last year as well. Sad, sad sadness.
So I'm posting to cheer myself up.
Yeah.
Here you go.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves;
Or,
Looking for a Prince in a World Full of Frogs
Chapter Twenty – The Courage to Embrace the New
The last Saturday in October stopped being “cool” or “brisk” and had moved on to being merely cold. Plain ol’ boring run-of-the-mill cold. Liz was shivering just from the breeze floating in through the doorframe of the front door of her building before she’d even stepped outside.
Yep, it was gonna be an interesting winter.
It had now been five days since Liz had last seen Serena; they hadn’t crossed paths since the past Monday when Liz had caught her sneaking in. They’d talked on the phone once, and Serena had left a note for her on Wednesday when she’d gone to the apartment to pick up some clothes and some toiletries, but other than that, Liz was beginning to realize that this is what it felt like to live alone. It wasn’t so bad; at least she didn’t have to watch hours upon hours of ‘Law and Order’ … though she did end up watching one or two episodes just out of habit. But if things were going to continue the way they were now, Liz knew she might have to find herself looking for a new roommate. And since Serena was the only roommate she’d had since she was twenty, that seemed a rather daunting undertaking.
And so, by the time Saturday came around, Liz found herself in desperate need of some sympathy, and she knew just the place to get it. She took her long wool winter coat out of storage, found a green lace scarf and a matching green hat, donned her leather gloves and began the trek through the Philadelphian tundra towards South Street.
Liz could feel some of her tension loosening as she neared Joe's store. Somehow the place always managed to make her feel comfortable ... well, not including the first time she'd gone inside. But there was something about the place that made it feel like a second home to her, and right now that was exactly what she needed. She happily skipped up the steps to the door, pushed it open to the chimes of the overhead bells, and ... stopped short in her tracks at the crowd assembled inside. Standing together in a circle amidst dust-covered furniture and junk were Max, his sister, Ben, Serena, Maria, and another man and woman Liz recognized as also being members of the band. From the looks on their faces, she immediately knew that she'd walked in on something.
Max looked over his shoulder when he heard the door open, wondering who could possibly be coming in so early on a Saturday morning. He gasped out loud when he saw Liz there, looking bewitching with her green hat and scarf, her cheeks blushing from the early winter frost. He turned around to face her. "Hey," he said.
Liz scanned the strange and familiar faces in front of her. She could sense the many different reactions that each of them had. The sister's eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched; that was okay, Liz didn't like her either. Serena looked at her with none of the excitement that Liz would have hoped she'd have at seeing her again; instead, she seemed concerned and sympathetic. Ben too looked worried, and slightly apprehensive, which Liz put down to the fear of meeting the best friend of the girl he was dating. Maria too looked saddened and concerned; the other two looked at her with curiosity that could have been almost gleeful if it hadn't been for the dark cloud hanging over all of them. "Uh, what's going on here?"
Max took a deep breath. "Joe is gone."
Liz's chest suddenly felt heavy. "What?" she cried out in a grieved voice.
Serena immediately knew her friend's assumption and rushed to reassure her. "No, no, Liz," she ran forward and took Liz's arm. "Not that kind of gone."
Max cursed himself for scaring her like that. He stepped forward and handed a piece of paper out to her. "I found this taped on the door to the apartment upstairs." Liz took the paper from him and read it to herself.
Dear Max,
Moved to Lancaster, joined a nudist colony (don’t tell Phil).
Try not to sell the store while I'm gone.
- Joe
PS Don’t forget to feed my cat.
PPS Where's my Fender?
Liz had to read the note several times before her mind could wrap itself around the words.
Meanwhile, Isabel started taking charge. "I still say we drive out to Lancaster and get him."
"Oooh, no," Kyle said. "No way am I going anywhere near a naked Joe."
"He's not in Lancaster," Ben said, locking eyes with Max in a silent discussion. Max nodded his head.
"What do you mean, he's not in Lancaster?" Isabel nearly screamed. "You read the note! You know what it says!"
"Isabel, there's nothing in Lancaster but Amish people and an outlet mall. He's not in Lancaster," Max impatiently told her.
"Plus, that county's so Republican it's practically on Bush's Christmas card list," Serena piped up. "No way would anyone out there allow a nudist colony."
"That's what the note said!"
"The note is WRONG, Isabel!" Max yelled. "Joe's not in a nudist colony. He took off for someplace where he doesn't want to be found. That's why he wrote what he did. It wasn't meant to be taken literally."
Isabel’s cold demeanor cracked a little bit. “But why?” she said softly. “Why would he do that?”
Max ran his hands through his hair. He hadn’t meant to snap at her, but damn, for an intelligent woman, she really could be rather dumb sometimes. “I don’t know, Is. All I can say is that if he pulled a stunt like this, he just doesn’t want to be found right now. There’s nothing we can do about it.” He sighed. He really wasn’t good with this sort of thing. Needing an escape, he started walking towards the stairwell. “I’m going to go look around upstairs.”
Isabel sniffled. “Why wouldn’t he want to be found? We’re his family.”
Tess walked up to her to try to give her some comfort. She wrapped her arms around Isabel’s waist – the height difference between them was so great that it would be too ambitious to reach for her shoulders. “It’s okay, hon,” she said soothingly. “Joe can take care of himself. He probably just needed a vacation or something. Can you even remember the last time he took a break from this place?” Isabel shook her head as she struggled to keep the tears inside. “Any of you?” Tess asked the others, who all looked at each other awkwardly. “There you have it. He probably needed to do something that was just for him for a little while. He’ll be back.”
Max’s heavy footfalls sounded down the stairs. “Well, if he really did join a nudist colony, I’d say he’s going to be a bit overdressed. About half his clothes are missing.” As he reached the bottom of the stairs, a dash of black and white shot out from behind him, almost causing him to trip and fall. “Ah! Shit!” Max had to grab onto the wall to regain his balance. “Stupid fucking cat,” he muttered.
Paul The Cat flew like lightening over to where Liz and Serena were standing. Liz bent down and stretched her arms out, and he bounded into them. She held him tightly to her. How long had he been alone? He seemed starved for company, pressing his head against her cheek as she ran her hand up and down his spine. He let out a blissful purr.
“Anything else missing?” Maria inquired.
Max forced his gaze away from Liz and Paul. How’d the damn cat get so lucky? “A few small things. Nothing too significant. Except …” Max looked back up the stairs, trying to remember.
“What?” asked Isabel.
“I think his computer’s gone.”
“He took that honkin’ dinosaur with him?” Kyle asked disbelievingly.
“Not that one. He got rid of it earlier this week. Bought a laptop. Got wireless installed in the place and everything.”
Everyone but Liz and Serena cried out in dismayed tones, almost simultaneously, “Joe got wireless?!”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Isabel admonished.
“I didn’t think he knew what wireless was!” Maria gaped.
“I didn’t think he knew what the internet was!” Kyle clamored with a laugh.
“Me, either,” Ben concurred.
“Joe and internet porn,” Tess smiled, then shuddered. “Ooooh, the imagery!”
“Ew!” Isabel howled. By now they were all talking over each other until Max roared, “QUIET!!!!”
Everyone silenced. Paul was so surprised at the shouting, he leaped out of Liz’s arms, finding refuge hiding behind her legs.
“Thank you,” Max clipped, his control regained. “Now, we’ve got to figure out what to do with the store. Isabel, is there any way to put off the tour?”
Tour? Liz’s mind jumped into alert mode. Everyone seemed to have forgotten that she and Serena were there. She looked at Serena, who still had a hand on her arm. Her face was calm, even … serene. Ben must have told her the truth already. Good. Now she wouldn’t have to kill him.
Isabel shook her head. “There’s nothing we can do about that. The tickets have already been sold, openers arranged, hotels booked, endorsements made. We’re locked in November through February.”
“We can’t leave the store that long,” Max worried. “If anything goes wrong, there’s no one here to take care of it.” Isabel looked like she wanted to say something, but held back. “What?” prompted Max.
“We could … always … tell Dad.”
“No, Isabel.”
“But Max, he lives right here, and—”
“No!”
“Max, you’re not thinking ab—”
“Isabel,” Ben interrupted, “the note specifically says ‘don’t tell Philip’.”
“Actually,” pointed out Kyle, “it says ‘don’t tell Phil’.”
“Yeah, why does it say that?” Tess asked. “I thought your dad hated being called ‘Phil’.”
“He does,” answered Max.
“Oh.”
Isabel tried to make her point again. “I still say we tell Dad.”
Max looked around. “All in favor?”
Silence reigned.
“All opposed?”
Four voices said in unison, “Nay.”
“Motion failed. Philip Evans doesn’t hear a word about this.” Isabel looked ready to protest again, but Max cut her off. “Not a word.”
“So what are you guys going to do?” Maria ventured. “I mean, I can drop in from time to time, but I can’t be here every day while you guys are gone.”
“I know,” said Max. “I guess we’ll have to find someone to take over the store for a little while. I mean, even if it’s only open three or four days a week, it has to keep generating some revenue. And even I don’t know how Joe does all the accounting for this place, or if he has a separate bill for the apartment upstairs, or what.”
Isabel tried to be helpful. “I guess we could offer free room and board. The apartment upstairs is furnished. It’s not ideal, but it might make it easier to find somebody.”
“I’d be willing to put up some money for the person to spend. That way, it’d be like paying a salary. Plus, after the bills for the store are paid, they could keep the leftover profits. But who knows what the income and expenses and profit margins are on this place?” offered Max.
“Yeah, but do we really want a stranger taking over Joe’s store and living in Joe’s apartment?” Ben wondered. “I mean, even if the store is only a few days a week, it’s not like there’ll be anyone here to check with if something goes wrong, or to make sure the guy’s honest. None of us wants to come back from tour and find the place stripped bare.”
“Not to mention, if there’s any sort of emergency at all, there’s no one on site who really knows what they’re doing,” Maria pointed out.
As they talked, Liz looked around this store that she had come to love. Paul started walking around and between her feet, rubbing up against her happily. Liz thought about her hellish week at work, and all the awful weeks before that. She was overworked, underpaid, and too exhausted at the end of the day to pursue the things she really wanted in her life. Up till now, she hadn’t had any other options if she wanted to keep having a roof over her head and food in her stomach. But now, she found herself saying … “I’ll do it.”
She said it so softly at first, only Serena could hear her. “What did you say?”
Liz looked at her. “I’ll do it.”
The others heard her now. “What was that?” Ben asked.
“I said, I’ll do it.”
Serena was flabbergasted. “Liz, are … are you sure?”
Liz turned to her again. “Our apartment is month-to-month, and you’re practically living at Ben’s already. No,” she said when Serena tried to deny it, “you know you are. I don’t want to look for another roommate. You’ve spoiled me.”
“Well,” Serena shrugged her shoulders as if that the spoiling was to be expected.
Liz turned to Max. “You’re serious about paying a small salary?”
He nodded, “Yes.”
Liz thought about it out loud. “I can quit my job and get medical coverage for eighteen months. After that … well, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. I could freelance more and supplement my income that way.” She looked back at Serena again. “I could really do this.”
Serena smiled genuinely. “You really could, Liz.”
Liz turned back to the rest of them. “I’ll do it.”
Max met eyes with Ben, Maria, Kyle and Tess, and saw acceptance and even encouragement in all their faces. Finally he turned to his sister. “Isabel?”
Isabel kept her expression neutral as she looked from Max to Liz, then back again, finally nodding her approval.
Max faced Liz again. “It’s yours.”
Paul the Cat, as if understanding what was going on before him, leapt back into Liz’s arms.
Liz hadn’t felt so free since she’d graduated college.
~*~*~
“So,” Ben said as he walked up to Serena. “Looks like you’re homeless now.”
“Looks that way,” she smiled.
“I suppose this means you’ll be wanting to move in with me,” Ben slid an arm around her waist.
“Hmm, hadn’t really thought about it.” Serena picked at some imaginary lint on his dark green long-sleeved shirt.
“Guess it’s no big deal, then.” He sucked her earlobe into his mouth lightly.
“Guess not.” Serena struggled to keep the moan out of her voice.
“It’s not like you’ve said you’ve wanted to.” Ben began leaving butterfly kisses on her neck.
“Not like you’ve offered.” She slid one hand under his shirt and around his waist.
“Not like you’ve hinted.”
“Not like you’ve hinted that you wanted me to hint.”
“Not like you’ve hinted that you wanted me to hint that I wanted you to hint.”
“This could go on for a while,” Serena pointed out. Ben started laughing. “What?” she said.
He pulled back. “That was way too easy. A week ago you would never have given in so soon.”
“Yeah, well, I haven’t gotten much sleep this week, thanks to you. I can’t argue with my usual stamina.”
“Good thing you’re not moving in, then.”
“That’s right.”
Ben leaned in, cupped her jaw, and gave her a long, deep kiss, taking the time to savor her taste. When he felt her struggling for breath, he ended the kiss. “When can you be packed?”
“Next weekend.”
“Perfect. And baby?”
“Hmm?”
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with your stamina.”
~*~*~
“So just let me know when you want to move in, and I’ll make sure to have an extra set of keys ready for you then.”
“I’ll need help moving my …” Liz began uncertainly. Oh dear Lord, what had she done?
“We’ll move you in,” Ben reassured her before she even finished her sentence.
“We will?” Kyle guffawed.
“Yes,” Ben stated in a tone that left no room for questioning. “We will.”
“Damn right you will,” said Serena.
“Hey! Aren’t we doing you the favor here?” Ben smiled at her, holding her hand under the table the group was sharing at the Melrose Diner at 15th Street and Snyder Avenue.
Serena squared her shoulders and tilted her head upwards. “If you want me there when you come home every night, the least you can do is sweat a little for the privilege.”
“I already do,” Ben pointed out. That comment earned him a slap on the chest from Serena and a few lewd comments from Kyle, who was rewarded with some choice words from Tess himself.
One half of the table – Ben, Serena, Tess and Kyle – were all smiling, happy couples with a comfortable ease and an intimate manner. They made a startling contrast to the other four members. Max found himself stuck between a sister who was clearly upset and unhappy with the day’s events (and it wasn’t even eleven o’clock yet), a personal assistant that he hadn’t entirely forgiven for her breach of protocol, and a woman that he barely knew. Normally, the latter wouldn’t bother him at all, except that this woman wasn’t swooning all over herself. Which, unfortunately, left Max with the short end of the stick conversation-wise.
“So, uh, when do you want to move in?” ‘Nice opener there, Evans,’ Max thought to himself. ‘Real smooth.’
“Well, as soon as possible, I guess.” Liz honestly hadn’t thought about it seriously, but she supposed that if she was going to give her two weeks’ notice to the office on Monday, it would be better to get moved sooner rather than later.
Max looked up. “Hey Ben! Kyle!”
“Yeah?” they turned to face him, neither too pleased to have their attention taken away from the woman on their respective arms.
“What are you guys doing for the rest of the day?”
Ben looked pointedly at Serena and grinned. Kyle said, “I like his idea!”
“Hey!” Tess exclaimed.
“I meant with you, baby.”
“You guys wanna help move Liz into Joe’s place?”
“Today?!”
“Liz,” Serena said sadly, “today?”
“Oh, well, I …” Liz had been thinking of more like next weekend. Today … today was so soon.
“Right, of course,” Max wanted to hit himself for being so stupid. “You’re not even packed or anything. How about tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?” Liz parroted. “But … we have to give at least one month’s notice to our landlord.”
“So you give him notice. Doesn’t mean you still have to live there.”
Isabel watched them both with a clenched jaw, not at all sorry when her cell phone started to ring and she had to excuse herself from the table to answer it.
“Hey Liz,” said Serena, “I got an idea. How about tonight we buy, like, five bottles of tequila and sangria and we have a little party while we pack everything up? Come on, it’ll be fun!”
“Tonight?”
“Yeah, come on! We can buy gallons of bubble wrap and boxes and make a girl’s night out of it. What do you say?”
“Hey, can I help? I wanna have a girl’s night!” Tess smiled widely. She hadn’t had many girlfriends growing up. Most of the girls she’d known had been either unbearably insipid, or were convinced that Tess was out to steal their boyfriends. It was very unfair; after all, it wasn’t Tess’s fault that she had blonde hair and blue eyes with a petite waist and a C-cup, and talented besides. But since meeting Serena that morning, she hadn’t once felt any of the maliciousness she usually encountered from other women. And if Liz was her best friend, that was recommendation enough for now.
“You don’t wanna spend tonight with me?” Kyle asked, pursing his lips and making a convincing puppy-dog face.
“You need to save your strength. You’re moving Liz into Joe’s apartment tomorrow,” Tess justified.
“And we gotta move Joe’s stuff down to the basement,” Ben pointed out.
“Sure!” Serena agreed. “Maria?”
“Oh, um,” Maria looked down into her coffee cup. “I don’t think I can make it.” From the way she conspicuously avoided looking at Liz, the latter suspected that she had some plans with Michael.
“Well, come by if you can,” Serena invited. Isabel returned to the table. Hesitant, but not wanting to be rude, Serena looked up at her. “You want to come, too?” she asked, feigning enthusiasm.
“Can’t,” Isabel looked pointedly at Max. “That was Mom on the phone. She wants us to come over for dinner tonight.”
Max sighed. “I don’t imagine you told her I was having a lobotomy?”
“No.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Max,” Isabel sat down with an exasperated thump. “They’re our parents. We’re leaving down until after Christmas. You can spend a few hours with them.”
“Two,” Max grumbled. “Two hours. Then I’m out.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Fine!”
“Fine.”
“Hey, guys,” Ben came to the rescue of his friend, “Did you know I can touch my nose with my tongue?”
“Ladies and gentlemen, my boyfriend,” Serena deadpanned.
~*~*~
“I don’t want to be here,” Max grumbled.
“Suck it up,” Isabel told him sternly.
“I don’t want to be here!”
“You’ll live.”
“I don’t want to be here.”
“Max, they’re our parents. Get over it.”
Max sighed. “Ring the damn doorbell.” Isabel complied. The door was gracefully opened almost at once, and the maid smiled, welcomed them, and offered to hang up their coats. Max pushed a small button on the side of his watch, and the digital face lit up with the numbers 2:00:00 before beginning its agonizingly slow (or, so it seemed to Max) countdown.
The maid led them into the living room, which had large bay windows facing eastward towards the front yard. Without thinking, Max walked immediately to the polished wooden bar against one wall. “What can I get you?” he asked his sister.
“White wine.” Max found a glass and an opened bottle. He pulled out the stopper and poured a glass, then handed it to Isabel over the arm of the couch where she had taken a seat. Then he went in search of the vodka for himself, pouring a healthy amount into a tumbler and adding a few cubes of ice. “Really, Max,” Isabel sighed. Muttering a curse, Max poured his concoction into a larger glass, and added some Canada Dry.
A tall middle-aged woman with blonde hair sailed into the room wearing an impeccably tailored skirt suit in a classy charcoal gray. “Hello, Isabel,” she said pleasantly as she leaned down to kiss her daughter.
“Hi, Mom.”
Diane Evans then walked over to her son and kissed him on the cheek. “Hello, Max.”
“Hi, Mom. How are you?”
“I’m doing well. How are you?”
“I’m fine.” Max sighed for a moment. He thought about Ben and the way he was with his parents. The Campbells were an extremely small, tight-knit family, and whenever Ben had the chance to see them these days the exchanges were loud, rambunctious and heart-felt. The brief words Max had just exchanged with his mother seemed empty by comparison. And yet, Max knew that in about five minutes, emptiness would be preferable to what likely awaited him when his father joined them.
“Where’s Dad?” asked Isabel.
“He’s on the phone with a client. He should be back soon.”
‘Yip-pie,’ Max thought.
“So Isabel, what happened to that young man you were seeing?”
Max checked his watch. Four minutes and thirty-eight seconds they’d lasted in the house before their mom had asked about their love lives. Diane had started hassling her children on this matter after they’d turned twenty-five, in an effort to try to have grandchildren before she was sixty. She was now four months past her fifty-sixth birthday, and in her opinion, time was running out.
“Jesse?” Isabel asked, mystified. “Jesse and I haven’t seen each other since August, Mom. I told you that.”
“Oh, well, I thought perhaps the two of you might have gotten back together. You know you two were so close …”
“We went out on three dates, Mom.”
“Well, you never know. Max, dear, what about you?”
“What about me?”
“Are you still seeing the young woman I always see on television? The one with all the leopard print?”
“Pam?”
“Is that her name?”
“Yes, that’s her name.”
“How is she doing.”
“I actually haven’t seen her for a few weeks.”
“Is everything all right between you too?” Diane asked, worriedly.
“I don’t know,” Max answered in some bizarre fit of honesty. He would have to remember to make a doctor’s appointment before he went on tour. Preferably someone with a deep knowledge of Freud.
“You don’t know? Have you asked her?”
“No, I haven’t asked her. We’ve both been busy lately.”
“Dear, you know you should make time for the special people in your life.”
“Well, you’ll be glad to know I have plans to get myself cloned in the near future.”
“That’s not funny, dear,” she said gently.
Max could almost feel the temperature in the room drop about twenty degrees. He turned towards the open entrance from the other side of the house, closer to where his father’s office was. Sure enough, there stood his father, making a daunting picture with his tall stature, large frame (larger than Joe’s) and wearing a dark blue suit.
“Philip!” Diane exclaimed. She walked over to him and put her hand on his arm. “Everything okay with Henry and Jo?”
“They’ve got some problems with their tenant,” he said with a dark overtone. “I told them they could come over for dessert to discuss it.” Max had to hand it to his dad; for all their differences, he was available for his clients with whatever they needed, whenever they needed it.
“So,” Philip asked, “what’s for dinner?”
“Braised lamb shanks, garlic roasted potatoes, brussel sprouts, butternut squash soup.”
Max turned to his sister. “Think it’s autumn?”
“Your mother worked hard cooking this dinner, Max.”
“You guys have a private chef. Mom just gave out the menu.” Isabel shot him a withering look. Max sighed. “It all sounds delicious.”
The room lapsed into a potent silence. After a few minutes, Max noticed his mother giving his father a similar look to the one Isabel had given him moments ago. Well, well. Looked as if the Evans women were in a conspiracy.
“So,” Philip cleared his throat, “how’s business?” He looked as if he’d swallowed an entire orchard of lemons on that last word.
“You mean, the band?” Max clarified. “It’s good. We’re going on tour in a month.”
Philip groaned. “This is how you want to earn a living? Traveling around the country in a bus?”
“I earn my living doing something I love, and that I’m talented at.”
“You could have been talented at lots of things, if you’d only given them a chance.”
“I didn’t want to finish school, Dad,” Max told him, seeing straight through his father’s thinly veiled comment.
“How do you know that? You barely even started!” Philip raised his voice.
The maid came in and announced, “Dinner is served.”
“Wonderful!” Diane said, a little over enthusiastically. “Let’s all go and have a nice, civilized” she glared once more at her husband, “meal.”
Max looked at his watch as the rest of his family filed out the door towards the dining room. Still one hour, forty-eight minutes and sixteen seconds to go.
‘Oh, shucking fit,’ he thought.
~*~*~
Dinner consisted of several more sparring matches between Max and his father, all interceded upon by either his mother or sister. He tried to keep it civil, if only for their sakes, since family dinner wasn’t exactly the right place to rehash old business. But when Philip made a comment that Max would never have dreamed of starting a band if it hadn’t been for his slacker, lazy, hippie older brother, Max flew from the table with a barely concealed distaste, scarcely taking the time to excuse himself. He walked quickly outside to the veranda, where he kicked the wall several times in frustration, each time emitting a heavy cry. This day was just becoming too much. Between Joe’s disappearance, and the store, and … Liz, his nerves had been on edge since long before he’d stupidly agreed to attend this dinner. What the hell had he been thinking? He wasn’t going to get his father to change his opinions about Max’s life choices.
But, damn it, he wanted to. Because maybe if he could just get his father to see that he wasn’t all bad, maybe there was still some hope. Maybe he could convince a couple of other people, too.
Not that he had anyone in particular in mind.
Muttering a string of curse words, Max looked at his watch for about the thirty-seventh time that evening. He’d made it through one hour, nine minutes. In other words, drinks, appetizers, salad and entrée course. Maybe he’d get lucky and his father’s clients would show up early, and he could excuse himself from this disaster.
His cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Max pulled it out of his pocket and stared at the name displayed on the front screen. After debating with himself for a few seconds, he flipped it open and answered the call. “Hi, Pam. Yeah, I know I haven’t called you back in a while. I’m kinda dealing with some shit here.” He paused to listen as Pam spoke. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. See you in an hour and a half.”
As he hung up the phone, Max couldn’t help but think that having plans with one’s – for lack of a better word – girlfriend shouldn’t make one feel so … disappointed.
~*~*~
A pile of books crashed to the floor at Serena’s feet. “Oops!”
Liz put her arms around her stomach and laughed. “You … you arrrww so,” she howled, “so dwunk!”
“Uh, Liiiz?” Tess put her hand on her shoulder. “I zink we’re aallll drunk.”
“Nu-huh. Not mee!” Serena smiled.
“Yeah. Right. Gujob wizza books dere,” Liz said.
Serena put her hands on her hips. “I’m perfectly fine!” she proclaimed with a concentrated effort.
“Pick up zose books and puthem in the box,” challenged Liz. Serena succeeded in bending down and picking up four books before they fell on her foot and she went crashing, all five-foot-eight inches of her, to the floor. “Das whadday thought.”
“Oh, fuggedid. Whadr da boys fer eff notta pack up ar stuff fer us?” Serena picked herself up from the floor and dropped onto the couch next to Liz. She immediately spread out and put her head in Liz’s lap. “I’mma gonna miss you.”
Liz smoothed her hair with her hand. “I’m gonna miss you, too, Ser.” Serena wrapped her arms around Liz’s waist. Liz bent over so that she could wrap her arms around Serena’s waist as well.
“How long’ve ya guys lived togetha?” Tess asked from her spot on the papasan chair, feeling a little bad for interrupting the moment.
“Five yee-ahs,” answered Liz.
“Since we wah twenty,” Serena added.
“Juniah yee-ah o' college.”
“Wow.” Tess was awed. Five years was a long time. She hadn’t lived with Kyle for half that length of time, and sometimes it already felt like an eternity to her.
“Yeah,” sighed Serena. She snuggled more deeply into Liz’s lap. “Hmm, I’m sleepy.”
“Whaddime is it?” Tess yawned.
“Umm, …” Liz strained around to see the clock on the counter between the living room and the kitchen. “Two-thirdy.”
“How much havee had to drink?” Tess asked. Liz shuddered at the thought – the last time she’d gotten up to go into the kitchen, it had looked like an Attack of the Fancy Red Plastic Party Cups. Lime rinds, empty bottles of various kinds of alcohol, and of course used cups littered the area. The floor was covered with small paper Winnie-The-Pooh cups that had at one point held the strongest jello shots that Liz had ever ingested.
“I lossss count.”
“Okay.”
Liz took in a deep breath. Serena looked up at her. “Wassa matter?”
She shook her head. “Whatha hell have I gotten m’self into?”
“Whadya mean?”
“Dis mornin’ when I wok up, I had a job an’ an ‘partment an ma own life. Now, I dun’ even rec’nize that life anymowa.”
“Lizzie … you still got an apartment an’ a job. Iz just diffwent.”
“Yeah,” chimed in Tess. “It’s just daunting now ‘cause it’s so sudden.”
“Za woman speaks sense,” said Serena. “Izz gonna be okay. You’ll get used ta dis, too. An’ it’ll be better ‘cause you won’t hafta put up with those assholes atcha office.”
“Ser!”
“Iz twoo. You don’ lak ‘em.”
“No, but I don’ like dis guy, eeder. An’ now I’m puttin’ my whole life inis hands.”
“You don’ like Max?” Tess asked. Liz shook her head. “Daz too bad.”
“Why?”
“’Cause he likes you,” Tess said in all seriousness. “He trusts ya. He woodna let you move into Joe’s place if he didn’t like you.” Her head rolled back on the sofa chair. “Aw gawd, I’m drrrrunk.”
Liz unconsciously chewed her lip as she thought over what Tess had just said. Max liked her? Evil, Narcissistic, Misogynistic, Paul-The-Cat-Hating Stranger liked her?
Oh, God.
“Sewena,” Liz tried to shake her friend awake, but Serena was fast asleep in Liz’s lap. “Tess?” Liz looked up, but the blonde too had fallen asleep in the comfort of the easy chair.
The last thought that Liz had before sleep claimed her too, was that, clearly, the world had gone insane.
~*~*~
TBC
Had you guys fooled with the whole 'nudist colony' thing, didn't I?
