Shay reached for the bottle of Makers Mark and poured a glass neat for herself. “She’s on a date. New guy.”

“Ah, Bruno. I forgot about that,” Chantel said thoughtfully.

“His name is Bruno?” Shay sounded amused. I had to agree the name was interesting.

“Yep. He’s a school teacher. High school algebra. She met him getting coffee.”

I couldn’t imagine Fiona with a teacher. She seemed too glamourous, but the juxtaposition made me smile. Or it was the vodka making me smile. The bite of donut was not soaking up the little bit of vodka I had consumed. I leaned back against the sofa and pulled my knees up, resting my drink on my right knee while I ate the rest of my donut with my left hand.

“Jasper showed up, there was yelling, you ended up being intercepted by Fiona at Stone’s request, Stone left you a letter the following morning, now he’s gone and you’re here. That’s the summary I got. Want to talk about it?” Shay stuffed a tiny sandwich in her mouth.

I thought for a moment then tilted my head. “No. I would rather forget.”

“Fair enough,” Chantel said. “Let’s talk about what you’re planning to do next.”

Talking that through wasn’t a bad idea. I had no one else to talk to and needed to figure things out. I sipped more of my drink and licked the sugar from my finger left by the donut before responding. “I think I’ll find an apartment outside of town. Rent is more affordable there. If I don’t keep my job with Geraldine I will have to find work somewhere else. I’ve been putting money away so I should be good for a few weeks.”

Chantel sighed. “Damn. I was hoping you’d stay and fight with him. He needs to have a fucking reaction to something instead of not giving a shit. I get so tired of that bored expression of his.”

“He’s been good to me and helped me when I was completely lost. I don’t know why he left really. Unless I was asking for explanations for more than he wanted to tell me. In the end, it was his choice. Regardless, I can’t stay here and force him to stay away.”

“I don’t see why not. We like you better.” Shay smiled at me while she chewed the sandwich she just popped into her mouth.

They didn’t really know Stone. My assumption is that no one did—not even me. He was hard to get close to, but no matter what mistakes he’d made I knew there was goodness in him. Even if he had some twisted issues resulting from an abusive childhood. I had seen him be kind when he didn’t have to.

“You haven’t seen him with Geraldine. I can’t describe the way he takes care of her and he’s always there when she needs him. I know he loves Geraldine. He also went out of his way to help Jasper when I know Jasper didn’t deserve it. Stone’s got a good heart. He’s just careful with people. There’s a lot of hurt and damage inside him.”

Chantel poured herself more vodka. “He’s an idiot. You see all that when no one else can see past the elitist uninterested expression he always wears on his gorgeous face. He should have kept you. He needed to keep you. All the other women in his life were with him for this,” she held her hands out as if the room was why they were with him. “All the shit he has. His money. His name. And of course, his talent in the sack.” She winced and gave me a sad smile. “Sorry. But I’ve heard the talk.”

Shay snorted. “Sure you have.”

I didn’t want to know if Chantel had been with Stone sexually. That was the last thing I needed to picture. Her perfect body was intimidating. “Don’t be a bitch,” Chantel said to Shay.

Shay shut up and I was relieved. Then I drank some more. My body began to feel loose and warm as the liquid started working its magic. I laid my head back on the sofa behind me and sighed.

“He is rather amazing. I didn’t have much experience with sex before him but even I knew that wasn’t normal. It was earth shattering.” My tongue had started wagging of its own free will apparently. I didn’t care. It was true.

“And the vodka has taken effect just that quickly. Give her another donut.” Shay laughed.

Before I could say anything else, a donut was in my hand. I didn’t even look at it as I stuffed a bite in my mouth and chewed, smiling. The donuts were good. Calories and Chantel’s perfect butt didn’t seem important anymore. I’d rather eat the sugary goodness than have her body. At least right now I would. Tomorrow morning, I would likely feel differently. That thought made me laugh.

Opening my eyes, I studied the chandelier’s twinkling lights above us. It probably cost more money than I had made in my short life. It was beautiful. Elegant. “Do you think Stone has ever studied that chandelier before? Like really appreciated how pretty it is when the lights are on and all the crystals glitter from the light.”

“Uh, no. Unless he has been sitting where you are drunk off his ass,” Shay replied.

“It really is something. Do y’all think Marty and Fiona will ever hook up again?” Chantel changed the subject and I turned my head to look up at her on the sofa. She was fixated on the chandelier lights now.

“I think they still fuck regularly,” Shay replied.

Chantel gasped. “Really?”

“Yup.”

“I guess my asking him out is a bad idea then.” She sounded disappointed.

Shay shrugged. “Not my business.”

We all sat in silence for a few minutes. My thoughts were on Stone. Chantel’s were on Marty and I wasn’t sure who Shay was thinking about. I drank more and with each sip felt life become easier. Like I was floating on a happy cloud.

“I keep having sex with Mack,” Shay blurted out.

I couldn’t say I was surprised by this. “Good.” My response was heartfelt even though it might not have sounded that way.

“Everyone already knows that,” was Chantel’s response.

“Damn,” Shay muttered.

I started giggling. Chantel joined me and Shay laughed out loud with the two of us. Our laughter got louder as the world became hilarious suddenly. The more we saw each other laugh the funnier it seemed. My side hurt from laughing. Tears were rolling down my face and I was okay—at least for now. I would have face the pain again. But tonight, it felt great to laugh in the face of everything that had happened.

Beulah

I WOKE UP TO MISERY, but it wasn’t the kind I had expected. My hands gripped the edge of the toilet as I heaved for the third time. A cold sweat covered my body. I sank down onto my knees and dropped my head into my hands once I was finished. I would never drink alcohol again.

Laughter coming from outside the door couldn’t even get my attention. I didn’t want to move. My head was pounding so badly that if I did move I’d likely end up hanging my head over the toilet again.

“Lightweight, you should have eaten more.” Shay’s all too chipper voice was annoying. How was she not hanging over her toilet? She drank more than the three of us combined. I would ask her if I could speak and not revive my nausea. But even that was difficult. “Here,” a cold wet washcloth appeared in front of me. “Use that and spread out on the cold marble floor. I’ll bring you some water.”

I took the cloth and covered my face, curling up on the floor like she suggested. This was like a terrible stomach virus. However, I’d caused it. At least with a stomach virus you were an innocent victim. It was impossible to feel sorry for myself when the horrid state I was in was my fault.