Page 29 of All That Glitters
Veronica cracked up even harder. The frown on Debbie’s face as she contemplated ways to kill Tony was too comical to take seriously.
Just then, the phone rang. Veronica walked over and picked it up, still fighting to control her giggles.
“Veronica and Debbie’s phone sex hotline,” she answered. There was a brief pause as she listened to the caller. “Oh, hey, Tony.” Her eyes lit up with mischief as she glanced at Debbie. “Would that be the unsophisticated Debbie you’re looking for?”
Debbie’s head whipped around. “Is it him?” she asked, her eyes wide with fury.
Veronica nodded as a wicked grin spread across her face.
Debbie sprang from the couch like a charging rhino in a university sweatshirt. “Tell him he’s dead!”
“Better start running, Tony,” Veronica said into the receiver. This was already way better than anything on TV.
Debbie snatched the receiver from her hand and unloaded on her soon-to-be-deceased best friend in a long tirade of expletives. When she finished, she didn’t wait for his response. She slammed the phone down and stomped back to the couch.
“Not sophisticated, my ass,” she muttered, plopping down and grabbing another fistful of chips, crunching them with renewed vigor.
Veronica watched her for a moment, her amusement fading. “Don’t you think maybe you’re overreacting a little?”
Debbie chewed furiously. “Nope. I thought I was very composed and ladylike,” she said as several crumbs sprayed from her mouth.
“Right...” Veronica said, “if that lady was a drunk Marine in a bar fight.”
Debbie took a deep breath, the fury in her shoulders seeming to deflate as suddenly as it had appeared. “Okay,” she finally said. “Maybe that was a little overboard.”
“Ya think?”
“Alright. It was a lot overboard. It’s just that sometimes he can be so frustrating.”
“Sometimes?”
“Okay,” Debbie conceded, grabbing another handful of chips. “All the time.”
Veronica watched her for a moment. “So, what’s really going on here, roomie? Because I’m sensing some major subtext.”
“Like what?” Debbie asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
“Like maybe you’ve got a thing for Tony.”
Debbie nearly spat out her chips. “Did you miss the part about me wanting to kill him?”
“It’s all part of the subtext,” Veronica said, reaching for another slice of pizza. “So what is it, roomie? You like him?”
Debbie stared at the television, her expression unreadable. She hated how easily Veronica could see through her after only a few months of knowing each other. “No,” she said, with absolutely zero conviction.
Veronica continued watching her, knowing that eventually Debbie was going to break.
“Stop looking at me that way,” Debbie said, grabbing a throw pillow and holding it up to block her face.
“What way?” Veronica said, gently pushing down the throw pillow.
“That way,” Debbie said, pointing at Veronica.
“Oh. You mean my BS meter way.”
“Yes!”
“Not until I hear you say it.”
