Page 113 of Forbidden Harmony

“I’ve been passed out on cold medicine forthe past two days,” Addison said.

“My poor girl. Summer colds are the worst,”Harper said.

“They really are. But as awful as I look,I’m actually feeling better today,” Addison said. “My sinus headache is goneand I’m not sneezing every thirty seconds.”

“Where are you?” Harper said.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, where are you?”

“I’m in bed.”

“I can see you’re in bed,” Harper said. “Butit ain’t your bed. So, whose bed is it?”

“Why do you think it’s not my bed?” Addisonhedged.

“Addison Mabel Moore, I know what the wallbehind your bed looks like and,” Harper squinted into the camera, “I know yourquilt is a blue checkered pattern, not a plain gray. So, answer the question you’reso blatantly avoiding.”

“Fine,” Addison said. “I’m at Preacher’sapartment above the shop.”

Harper’s mouth dropped open. “The fuck youare.”

“It’s not a big deal,” she said.

“Show me his apartment,” Harper said.

“What? Why?”

“Just do it.”

Addison flipped the camera around and did aslow scan of the apartment before flipping the camera back to face her. “There,satisfied?”

“It’s a small place,” Harper said. “I likethe shag carpet and the avocado fridge… very seventies retro.”

“It’s a studio apartment,” Addie said. “Hedoesn’t even have a stove or a microwave.”

“Okay, I have some questions. First –where is Preacher?”

“Downstairs in the shop,” she said.

“On a Sunday? I thought his shop wasclosed on Sunday and Monday.”

“It is. He uses the washer and dryer inthe shop to do his laundry. And he said he had a sketch he wanted to work on.”

“Okay. Second – why are you at Preacher’splace?”

“On Friday I took the bus to Walgreens to pickup some cold meds and tampons, and Preacher was in the store. I had a bad feverand was feeling really awful and he…”

“He what?”

“He brought me back to his apartment. Hesaid I needed someone to look after me while I was sick. I thought he just wantedsex again, so I tried to leave Friday night after I’d slept in his bed for the day.I have my period and between that and this stupid cold, I am so not into tryingto be sexy, you know? But he said he didn’t want sex.”

“So, you’ve been staying with Preacherwhile you’re sick and have your period in his tiny little apartment since Friday?”

“Yes.”

“In his tiny apartment with only one bathroomwhere he might hear or smell you doing certain unsexy things in said bathroom?”Harper said.

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