The Game Changer by Marie Landry

was in bed with her, sprawled on top of the covers with her dress hitched up so it barely covered her behind, and one shoe-clad foot dangling over the end of the bed.
    They’d stumbled into their apartment around four in the morning, after having the taxi drop Angelica at her place. Olivia had told Melody she wanted bacon and eggs, and while Melody went to check the fridge Olivia disappeared into the bathroom. When Melody discovered they only had two eggs and no bacon she went to tell Olivia and discovered her in a heap on her bed.
    Melody tried to wake her up to get some water into her, but Olivia was already in that hard and fast sleep of the drunk, where a person wouldn’t notice if the circus arrived in their own living room. Resigned to having to deal with a hung over Olivia the next day, Melody changed into her pajamas and forced herself to down a glass and a half of water so she wouldn’t wake up dehydrated and aching.
    Now the lump that was Olivia groaned again and turned her head toward Melody. “Bacon,” she muttered, her eyes still closed.
    Melody chuckled. She wondered if Olivia thought only a few minutes had passed, and was still waiting on her 4am breakfast. She glanced at the clock and was surprised to find it was almost 11:30.
    “How are you feeling?” Melody asked quietly. She wasn’t sure why, but she was feeling a bit smug at the fact that she was twenty-eight, had drunk at least half her weight in booze the night before, and didn’t feel too rough. Maybe she was still drunk, and when the alcohol wore off completely she’d feel the effects.
    “Like death,” Olivia croaked, her eyes still closed. “Why did you let me drink so much last night?”
    “ Me ?” Melody cried, then clapped her hand over her mouth when Olivia cringed and stuck her face in the pillow. “I wasn’t the one buying drinks, Miss O’Dell.”
    “Yeah, damn that Julian,” Olivia said, her words muffled by the pillow.
    Melody chose not to point out the fact that Julian had only bought them two drinks, while Olivia had been plying them with alcohol for a good three hours before that.
    “I need something greasy,” Olivia murmured. “Where’s my bacon?”
    “At the store,” Melody told her.
    That got Olivia’s attention. Her face emerged from the pillow and she opened her eyes, squinting against the sunlight. “What?”
    “We don’t have any. I never eat it, and you only eat it when you’re hung over, so there’s none in the fridge. You didn’t get any while you were buying all your cooking supplies, then hide it somewhere, did you?”
    “No,” Olivia moaned, her voice cracking. Melody pointed to the glass of water she’d left sitting on the bedside table next to Olivia. Olivia heaved herself into a sitting position, made a face when she took a sip of the tepid water, but then downed the contents.
    “I can make you something else,” Melody said. “We have a fridge full of food.”
    The obstinate look on Olivia’s face told Melody the answer before Olivia spoke. “It has to be bacon,” she said, her voice still rough and her eyes tired slits as she looked at Melody. “I’ve tried everything else, but bacon is the only hangover cure that works for me. They even did a study, you know.”
    “Did they ?” Melody said, not even bothering to ask who ‘they’ were, because she was sure Olivia wouldn’t know.
    Olivia nodded wisely. “They proved that something about the grease in bacon helps with hangovers. So it’s not just me.”
    “It’s not just you, but I have a feeling it’s going to be just me who has to haul my ass out of bed, get dressed, and go down the street to Lion’s for bacon,” Melody grumbled.
    Olivia beamed at her. “I love you?”
    Melody didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh, so she did both. “And lucky for you I love you, too. If you didn’t look like a zombie right now, I’d tell you you’re out of luck.”
    “ Zombie ?” Olivia cried. She looked down at herself and