OCTOBER

Friends and the frying pan

Oct 14, 2016 Part 7

Weight: 119

Ate: nothing but dying for a blueberry scone

Drank: latte

Sex: Maybe no

Alice motioned toward the coffee shop. I licked my lips. In high school, I ate a blueberry scone here all the time.

My stomach growled. Perhaps this one time I could sin and then work it off. The goal for now was to make friends again.

So I nodded, but then Alice said, “We could talk about you and Peter.”

I rolled my eyes as my skin had a jolt to it as I said, “Old news.”

Vicki then batted her eyes at me and crossed her arms. “No. I want to know, too. What is going on between you and Peter?”

The scone wasn’t on the menu it seemed. I sucked on my bottom lip. Vicki would hear it from her brother anyhow so it was best to say everything was fine, so I let out a sigh though shifted on my feet. “Peter and I are not in a relationship.”

Alice’s lips pursed like she had any right to judge me as she asked, “You’re not?”

She pushed her long dark hair off her face and stilled as she hoped this was the end of this conversation. “No. We’re friends with benefits.”

Vicki’s face went white. Not good. I met his sister’s gaze and waited as she said, ”And you’re okay with that?”

Jennifer flicked her hair and bounced her face so she didn’t have a direct gaze as she said, “Of course. It was my idea.”

I turned and stared at Alice. She’d met Peter’s brother at the funeral and now they were living together. She clearly worked fast. Neither woman had any right to judge her.

Vicki asked, “Does he not want a relationship?”

Right. Vicki didn’t really know Peter or John. She’d  been “dead” for the past six years. The best defense was an offense as they said, so I hoped I could steer the conversation if my final answer wasn’t good for my old friends. “As I said, I don’t want one so it doesn’t matter.”

I waited and no one said anything. My face heated and I refused to ever, ever, ever explain more. So I lifted my eyebrow and said,  “I’m not the one who walked out of your brother’s bed today without a word. Why don’t we ask Alice what’s wrong with her relationship with John?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Alice hugged her waist which meant she was hiding something as she said, “My life isn’t working as it is right now. I’ve not solved one of my problems. I have to help my parents, and I’ve always wanted to be independent.”

Huh? At least I didn’t give away whatever I was thinking. I met Vicki’s gaze now and then Vicki turned her full force of attention to Alice. I relaxed as I made it out of the frying pan as Vicki said, “There is a time for independence and a time for your heart. What is it you want?”

And I was safe. Good. The last thing I needed was questions. Peter was going to be mine. 

 

The House of Morgan