Playing Along by Rory Samantha Green Page B

this moment I need you to stop worrying about me. You and my mother. I’m fine. There is absolutely nothing at all wrong. I am totally and completely fine,” and as Lexi reaches the end of her sentence, she feels the tears that have been slowly building over the last few weeks. They are unreservedly cascading down her cheeks, refusing any longer to be held prisoner. It’s a deluge. She can’t speak for crying.
    “Oh, God—I’m coming over!” says Meg in a panic.
    “You don’t need to come,” says Lexi between hiccupy sobs. “I really am fine. I just have a hangover, that’s all. Hangovers make me sad. I have to go to work now.”
    “Lex, I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
    “You’ll make it up to me? Does that mean you agree you were wrong?”
    “Not exactly. I had good intentions.” Aghhhh! Why was Meg so infuriatingly intransigent? Lexi wills the outburst to subside as she attempts to regulate her breathing.
    “No more blind dates, okay?” she pleads, sniffing sporadically. “I’ll accept jewelry.” She has managed to calm her tears, the remaining few dripping pitifully into her tea.
    “I’ll think of something even better,” says Meg in her reassuring voice, the one she uses with the kids when they have fallen over. “Now get to work, Lex. Take your mind off Bradley’s earlobes.”
    Lexi shudders at the memory. “Thanks for the visual.”
    “You’re welcome,” says Meg. “What does it say on that mug your mom gave you for your b-day,
Yesterday’s history, tomorrow’s a mystery but today is a gift?
”
    Lexi looks down at her tea realizing she is holding onto the very same mug. She thinks back to high school, how she was always the one consoling Meg, telling her to get back in the saddle, brush herself off, confront the next hurdle. God, she must have been irritating.
    “That’s the corniest thing ever, Meg.”
    “Better than the horniest thing ever, right?”
    “Ha ha. Can we just talk later?” says Lexi, pressing
end
on her phone before Meg has a chance to object. But as soon as she puts it down, it rings again, this time flashing Boris’s picture on the screen. Why on earth is Russell calling so early? She reaches for a Kleenex, wipes her nose and takes a shaky breath before answering.
    “Russell?”
    “Lexi, I’m so sorry, I know I’ll be seeing you in less than an hour but I just can’t keep it in any longer. I’ve just got to tell you—”
    “Tell me what?” asks Lexi, needing to get off the phone so she can continue to cry.
    “Tell you about my chance encounter yesterday evening with Mildred Cotton.”
    “Mildred Cotton? Do I know her?”
    “Not yet,” says Russell cryptically, “but you will.”
    “Please don’t make me crack a code, Russell, I don’t have the energy for it this morning.”
    “I was taking Boris for a stroll on the boardwalk last night, after you left. The wind had died down—it was a lovely evening. Anyway, he was in quite a chipper mood and before I know it he’s making advances towards this rather stunning Siamese, drinking in the view on someone’s veranda. I’ve never seen Boris quite so forward, curling his tail and purring up a storm.”
    Lexi is bemused. Has Russell really called her at this time of the morning to recount some lengthy story about Boris and a girl cat?
    “Russell, can this wait till I arrive?” asks Lexi, blowing her nose loudly into the telephone.
    “I’ll hurry,” says Russell, clearly oblivious to her fragile state. “You see, while Boris is charming the feline, her owner comes out onto the veranda. She’s just delightful. As coincidence would have it, we share the same vet. Her cat’s called Cherub—isn’t that unusual?”
    Lexi hopes her uncontrollable sobbing will kick in again. Anything to drown this out. She silently begs Russell to get to the point.
    “Anyway, Mildred, that was her name, asks me about myself and I tell her about Let The Green Times Roll. She’s noticeably impressed. It