Monday, and Tuesday still to work on it. And that Tyler needed her.
When Marci was finally forced to tell Ronnie over text what should’ve been told
to her in person, that Tyler didn’t get the part, Ronnie capitulated.
Sadie opened
the door to her condo with a glass of wine in hand. “I was wondering what was
taking you two so long.” She handed the glass to Tyler and waved them inside.
“There’s more where that came from. Get in here.” Tyler and Marci followed
Sadie into the living room. Sadie shared this place with her fiancé, Rafe, who
was in England studying at the London School of Economics at the moment. In his
absence, Sadie had definitely taken over from a decorating standpoint. The
place was filled with bold splashes of primary colors. Sadie was very much into
color, couldn’t stand for things to be drab. In addition to her jewelry making
business, she’d taken up furniture design on the side. One of her pieces, a
coffee table she’d sawed in half lengthwise, sanded, painted, upholstered with
a bright blue colored fabric, and otherwise transformed into a bench, resided
in the living room opposite the couch.
Ronnie was
already there. She was in the kitchen, her more-than-generous cleavage spilling
out of her low-cut top, glass of wine in hand. She was frowning over the
directions on the back of a box of something.
“Sadie, only
you could botch insta-pasta.” Ronnie, who typically made her own pasta from
scratch, smirked at the box.
Tyler sniffed
the air. “I don’t smell anything burning. Yet.”
“Quiet, you
two.” Sadie breezed into the kitchen and poured two more glasses of wine. She
brought one out to Marci and took a sip from the other.
“What are we
having?” Marci asked.
“Shrimp and fettuccine
alfredo,” Sadie said.
“À la Pasta-Roni,”
Ronnie added.
“That is
absolutely not true,” Sadie said with mock severity. “It’s the grocery store’s
generic brand thank you very much.”
All of them,
including Sadie, broke out into laughter.
“With a side of
steamed vegetables,” Sadie added.
“You better let
me take care of that,” Ronnie said. “We don’t need anymore burn victims in this
crowd.”
Everyone turned
to look at Marci, and she stuck her tongue out at them .
She laughed along with them but was disconcerted by the fact that even that
slight and vague reference to Owen made her stomach flutter.
While Tyler and
Sadie caught each other up on gossip and Sadie attended to her cooking with
less than half her attention and quite a few sips of wine, Marci pulled Ronnie
off to the side.
“Something’s
going on with you,” Marci accused.
“What? Huh? No,
it’s not.” Ronnie twisted a lock of her dark brown hair through her fingers,
concentrating on the movement rather than looking at Marci.
“You’re never
around anymore. You act strangely when you are. You’re hiding something.”
“Hiding
something?” Ronnie gave Marci a look that implied Marci was talking crazy talk.
“I’m working extra shifts, okay? I have to get in study time whenever I can.”
“Why do you
need the extra shifts?”
“What? Well, I
mean, my Halloween costume ain’t gonna be cheap. Then
the holidays are coming up.” Ronnie hemmed and hawed and included a few more
vague rumblings about expenses that Marci didn’t buy.
“You’ve never
needed to pick up extra shifts like this before.” They’d lived together for
going on three years now. Ronnie had been very careful with money during that
time and even chided Marci on occasion for wasting it. It seemed strange that
Ronnie would be scrambling financially all of a sudden.
“What, you
watching my every move now? Taking notes on my life? Am I the star of some
documentary I’m not aware of?” Ronnie’s defensive tone made Marci all the more
sure that she was right about Ronnie hiding something.
“Are you
hooking up with Jeremy or something?”
“What?” Ronnie
stretched the word out to three times its normal
When Marci was finally forced to tell Ronnie over text what should’ve been told
to her in person, that Tyler didn’t get the part, Ronnie capitulated.
Sadie opened
the door to her condo with a glass of wine in hand. “I was wondering what was
taking you two so long.” She handed the glass to Tyler and waved them inside.
“There’s more where that came from. Get in here.” Tyler and Marci followed
Sadie into the living room. Sadie shared this place with her fiancé, Rafe, who
was in England studying at the London School of Economics at the moment. In his
absence, Sadie had definitely taken over from a decorating standpoint. The
place was filled with bold splashes of primary colors. Sadie was very much into
color, couldn’t stand for things to be drab. In addition to her jewelry making
business, she’d taken up furniture design on the side. One of her pieces, a
coffee table she’d sawed in half lengthwise, sanded, painted, upholstered with
a bright blue colored fabric, and otherwise transformed into a bench, resided
in the living room opposite the couch.
Ronnie was
already there. She was in the kitchen, her more-than-generous cleavage spilling
out of her low-cut top, glass of wine in hand. She was frowning over the
directions on the back of a box of something.
“Sadie, only
you could botch insta-pasta.” Ronnie, who typically made her own pasta from
scratch, smirked at the box.
Tyler sniffed
the air. “I don’t smell anything burning. Yet.”
“Quiet, you
two.” Sadie breezed into the kitchen and poured two more glasses of wine. She
brought one out to Marci and took a sip from the other.
“What are we
having?” Marci asked.
“Shrimp and fettuccine
alfredo,” Sadie said.
“À la Pasta-Roni,”
Ronnie added.
“That is
absolutely not true,” Sadie said with mock severity. “It’s the grocery store’s
generic brand thank you very much.”
All of them,
including Sadie, broke out into laughter.
“With a side of
steamed vegetables,” Sadie added.
“You better let
me take care of that,” Ronnie said. “We don’t need anymore burn victims in this
crowd.”
Everyone turned
to look at Marci, and she stuck her tongue out at them .
She laughed along with them but was disconcerted by the fact that even that
slight and vague reference to Owen made her stomach flutter.
While Tyler and
Sadie caught each other up on gossip and Sadie attended to her cooking with
less than half her attention and quite a few sips of wine, Marci pulled Ronnie
off to the side.
“Something’s
going on with you,” Marci accused.
“What? Huh? No,
it’s not.” Ronnie twisted a lock of her dark brown hair through her fingers,
concentrating on the movement rather than looking at Marci.
“You’re never
around anymore. You act strangely when you are. You’re hiding something.”
“Hiding
something?” Ronnie gave Marci a look that implied Marci was talking crazy talk.
“I’m working extra shifts, okay? I have to get in study time whenever I can.”
“Why do you
need the extra shifts?”
“What? Well, I
mean, my Halloween costume ain’t gonna be cheap. Then
the holidays are coming up.” Ronnie hemmed and hawed and included a few more
vague rumblings about expenses that Marci didn’t buy.
“You’ve never
needed to pick up extra shifts like this before.” They’d lived together for
going on three years now. Ronnie had been very careful with money during that
time and even chided Marci on occasion for wasting it. It seemed strange that
Ronnie would be scrambling financially all of a sudden.
“What, you
watching my every move now? Taking notes on my life? Am I the star of some
documentary I’m not aware of?” Ronnie’s defensive tone made Marci all the more
sure that she was right about Ronnie hiding something.
“Are you
hooking up with Jeremy or something?”
“What?” Ronnie
stretched the word out to three times its normal
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