Up & Out - Ariella Papa [128]
I keep wondering if Lauryn’s going to make some other amazing career change, like studying monkeys in Costa Rica or something. She’s had coffee with Jordan this morning. She’s happy, so I guess it went well.
Ben got Jordan a job as a bartender at Knuckle Sandwich after Tommy, and then Lauryn, asked me to put in a good word. It seems to be working out.
“Have you used all your wedding presents yet?” Beth asks when the video is over. Kathy got a ton of shit.
“Everything except the crystal shot glasses you guys got me.”
“Did somebody say shot glasses?” Lauryn asks, tossing her heavy cardigan off her shoulders. We laugh. The shot glasses cost way too much.
“I guess there’s no hope of that, huh?” I ask.
“Why not? I’ll get them.” She gets up and goes into the kitchen. This will be telltale when she doesn’t do the shot. We will be able to confront her about the bun in the oven. There will be no escape from our interrogation. We will know the exact moment the sperm hit the egg.
She comes back with a tray balancing the shot glasses, bread, the Brie and a bottle of Stoli Vanilla. There are four shot glasses. We each grab bread and Kathy pours out four shots. The rest of us are looking at one another, trying to figure it out. Maybe she’s bluffing. We watch her, confused.
“Cheers,” she says, and holds up her glass. Slowly, we clink, and then down our drinks, and so does Kathy.
“Kath,” Beth says, horrified.
“Kathy,” Lauryn squeaks.
“What?” Kathy asks.
“You’re endangering the life of the child,” I say.
“If we’re pro-choice it’s just a fetus,” Beth says, suddenly politically correct. “But really, Kath, what gives?”
“Ever hear of fetal alcohol syndrome?” Lauryn asks.
“What are you guys talking about?”
“Aren’t you preggers?” I ask. I can’t take it.
“No!” She laughs.
“Why no wine?” Beth asks, still trying to trip her up.
“I wasn’t in the mood.”
“You’re not knocked up?”
“No. I wouldn’t be eating Brie, either, if I was.” She shakes her head like it’s the silliest thing she’s ever heard. But I find it interesting that she knows what she can and can’t eat. “Do you want another shot?”
“Did somebody say more Stoli?”
Sometimes I wonder how I ever became so tied to these people. What was it that we ever had in common? Was it all just coincidence? Was it just that Lauryn’s last name starts with a D that made us sit near each other in first grade? What chance put Beth and I together as college roommates? What if Beth hadn’t answered Kathy’s introductory e-mail? What was it that kept us tied together? What still keeps us?
I don’t know all my friends’ secrets and they don’t know mine. Maybe all the weirdness has just been a phase. But who knows? Maybe it’s only just begun. Maybe we’re getting to another phase.
My friends can always surprise me and I may not agree with everything they do. On nights like this, doing shots, eating cheese, I don’t really care. I can just settle in and just enjoy being with all these women. Somewhere I know that if I need something serious like a hug or something shallow like hearing that I’m prettier than my ex’s new girlfriend, I believe they’ll be there. Whatever it is that keeps us together, we’re here. And I think if we need each other, we’ll be there, even if we can’t always hang out like we used to. Our friendship is a constant cycle and it will evolve. If taking the bad means getting the good, I’m down. I’m in.
UP & OUT
A Red Dress Ink novel
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0424-9
© 2003 by Ariella Papa.
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