Page 25 of A Break in Communications

When someone knocked at the front door, I groaned viscerally, my head in my hands, and I stood up, stumbling into the next room. “Get lost. Come back later if you want to annoy me for the documents.”

And as if I hadn’t embarrassed myself enough, it wasn’t Lucy’s voice through the door but Veronica’s. “Oh, shoot. Documents? Is there something I forgot? You should have texted me.”

Veronica—

Christ, I’d been so distracted by Lucy’s grimy face that I’d forgotten all about Veronica apparently making out with Kelcey.Did that part actually happen or was it just the fever dream? Did that party actually happen in the first place?

I opened the door, which was a mistake, because that scheming asshole had played her cards well—Lucy Masters, dressed up nicely in a plush white sweater and her red trousers, chic tan wool trench coat on over top, held up a shopping bag and waved at me with that smug smile she had, next to where Veronica just had random clothes thrown together. Of course, she could pull that look off, whereas I was here in pajamas having literally just rolled out of bed, and I didn’t want to know what my hair looked like. I was ready to see Veronica. I wasn’t ready to see Lucy.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Lucy said, her voice all saccharine sweet. My eyes betrayed me, flicking to her lips before I looked away.

“What are you doing here?” I said before I could think it through. Lucy laughed.

“Baby, we woke up together. You were so tired, I told you to go back to sleep while I got the things for breakfast. You don’t remember, do you?”

I almost gagged on her before I put the pieces together—Veronica here was as much a gossip as her apparent hookup last night, and if I started something with Lucy now in front of her then the whole world would know before nightfall.

I had told Lucy to come back tomorrow for the documents. I should have told her to come back never.

“Ugh…” I rubbed my forehead. “I’m so sorry… I normally never sleep in like this.”

Lucy stepped inside, and my heart jumped when she leaned in towards my cheek—not a kiss, but close enough to look like it was. Why—she was fine with grabbing me and making out with me before but now she couldn’t bring herself to kiss me on the cheek?

Ugh—as if I wanted her to? Jesus Christ, I was deprived. I hadn’t realized how bad I was. I needed to get back onto the dating scene, if I was thinking things likeaw, why didn’t Lucy Masters kiss me on her way into my apartment?

“I’m glad you got more sleep, baby girl,” she said. “You work so hard, I worry about you. Now, you and Vern stay out of the way while I make breakfast, okay, baby?”

Baby.Ugh. Whatever, I could match her energy. I shot her the biggest, sweetest smile I could muster, and I said, “You’re the best, babe. I’ll just be talking to Veronica for one second.”

“Oh, you will?” Veronica said, standing up taller. “What’re we talking about?”

I stepped out into the hall, dignity be damned, wearing what I was, and I shut the door and turned to her with my arms crossed, shooting her a look. “What the hell happened last night?”

“You invited me to your party, it was fun.”

“I explicitly did not. Is Masters… is Lucy making things up, or did you actually go hook up with Kelcey?”

She shot me a look equal parts bewildered and horrified. “Oh my god, you’re going to give me grief? You explicitly told me to go talk to her.”

Oh yeah… I’d forgotten about that. I rubbed my forehead. “I didn’t think you actually would… so you did?”

She scratched her head, speaking idly. “Yeah, she’s kind of dumb, but she’s cute, so it was fun.”

It was too early in the morning for this. It wasn’t early, it just felt like five in the morning. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Since when were you gay?”

She shrugged. “I’m not really gay or anything.”

“You—” I threw my hands up. “Are you for real? You made out with my coworker. Who’s a woman.”

She laughed. “Did a lot more than just making out—”

“Ew—Jesus, stop.”

She tried to suppress her smile, which only made it stand out more. “Invoking the Lord’s name in vain? At Christmastime?”

“Ha, ha, ha, very funny, Veronica.” Okay. My sister had fucked my coworker. That was fine. These things happened at holiday work parties. You know, when your sister showed up and your mom made best friends with your client. Christmas fucking miracle over here. “Okay—so youslept witha woman, which I don’t think I would categorize as heterosexual.”

“I mean, it’s just fun and stuff.” She scratched her head. “It’s not my first time. You remember Emily Lord?”

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