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I swallowed the pills with the water she’d brought.
She sniffed the air. “The place looks better. Have you been painting?”
“The super.”
“Well, it looks a lot better. Now, what happened with you and Evan?”
I rolled over. “I don’t want to talk about.”
Then I heard her say, “Hi, Gwen. This is Rachel. We’ve got a situation. It’s Alexa, and she really needs help, I think. We’re shorthanded at the deli, and I have to get back… That would be great… She and Evan broke up is all I got out of her… No, nothing more… Yeah, pretty shitty, and she’s been drinking… I don’t think so. She hasn’t been staying here, so you’ll probably have bring over the ingredients… I’ll leave the key with the lady across the hall. Thanks. Talk to you later.”
She put a hand on her hip. “Gwen’s headed over. I expect to get a full report on whatever Evan did so I can get his brother to kick his ass.”
* * *
Gwen wasn’tany nicer when she arrived. “Time to get up, sweetie.”
I gave her the same answer I’d given my sister. “No.”
“We’re going to do this the right way. Take a shower, then you explain things, and we have a pity party, the two of us. We’re doing the party here, because you don’t look ready to go out in public again yet. Then tonight you get to wallow, if you want, but only after fixing your attitude by watching a good rom-com.”
“I’m not done wallowing right here.”
She yanked the covers off, catching me by surprise “First order of business is a shower.”
I didn’t move, playing the immovable object to her irresistible force.
“If you don’t get up, I’m going to bring the water to you, and you can bathe in bed.”
I rolled out of bed, not because she’d threatened me, but because I didn’t want to abuse my new mattress. “Why is everybody being so mean to me?”
“Because we love you, and you need it.” She wrinkled her nose. “Puke last night?”
“Maybe, but I made it to the toilet.”
“Here’s a hint. Pull your hair out of the way next time.”
Maybe a shower was a good idea.
I stayed under the water until it ran lukewarm. It did feel nice, but more importantly, the longer I stayed in here, the longer I avoided talking about Evan. Thinking about him made the hole in my chest raw.
Eventually I wrapped my hair in a towel, cinched up my bathrobe, and left the sanctuary of the bathroom. “Wow.” It was all I could say when I saw my little table set with burritos and mimosas for two.
“I figured you didn’t want to go out to brunch, so I brought brunch do you.” She pointed. “Straight from the bistro. Our normal breakfast burritos, maybe a little soggy by now, and mimosas, virgin of course. Chelsea’s in Europe, so it’s just you and me until she gets back.”
“I don’t really feel like eating anything.”
She held up my partial bottle of tequila. “If you drank this much alcohol last night, you definitely need food and liquid. Now sit your ass down, sweetie.”
The virgin mimosa did taste good going down. As soon as I finished it, she topped me off with some from her glass.”
I was halfway through the burrito when she put down her fork. “Stop stalling. I’ve seen two year olds eat faster than you.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I insisted.
She tapped her fingernail against the tequila bottle. “This bottle says otherwise.”
I should have hidden it.
