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“I’m sorry your boyfriend’s a dickless weasel.”
Olivia had been the best thing about moving to Los Angeles. The two of them had been friends online for six years before they’d wound up living in the same city. They’d both been obsessed with the TV show Sherlock in college, and had spent hours on Tumblr picking apart the episodes, reading fan fiction, and swooning over Benedict Cumberbatch. That two-year hiatus after the cliffhanger ending of “The Reichenbach Fall” had been agony, but it had cemented their friendship. Their Sherlock obsessions had faded in the intervening years, but they’d remained friends as they each moved on to other interests—although they hadn’t met in person until Penny moved to LA a year ago. She never would have survived her first few miserable months here if it hadn’t been for Olivia.
“Are they still out there?” Penny asked.
“No, they got their coffee to go and left.”
Thank goodness for small favors. At least she wouldn’t have to hide in the bathroom all night while Kenneth and his other woman lingered over their drinks and gazed lovingly at each other.
“Why does this always happen to me?” Penny asked, dabbing at her eyes. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing’s wrong with you. You’re awesome.”
“Well, something about me sure seems to make men want to cheat on me, because it keeps happening over and over again. Do I give off some kind of pheromone that says please cheat on me?”
Olivia tried to push the door open wider, and it bounced off Penny’s arm. “Come out and wash your face.”
Penny shook her head. “I don’t want to. I want to stay here and be miserable.”
“I know you do, but it’s a toilet, Pen. It’s gross in here. Come out and be miserable around people who love you. Cynthia’s getting a bottle of your favorite wine for the table and I’ll buy you a chocolate cupcake.”
“I can’t eat a cupcake, I already had a cookie.”
Penny was strict about her sugar intake and the Antidote cupcakes were humongous. One of them was like a week’s worth of sugar.
“You just found out your boyfriend is a cheating asshole. You can make an exception this once and eat a damn cupcake. You know you want to.”
She did want to. Even though she knew it would just make her feel even worse later. Part of her wanted to feel bad though. A gluten stomachache would really drive home just how miserable her life was.
Penny came out of the toilet stall and washed her face at the sink. The crying had left her pale skin bright pink, which brought out the green in her hazel eyes. Her mascara had smeared, making her look like the Winter Soldier, but Olivia produced a makeup remover wipe from her purse and helped her clean it up. Olivia’s purse was like a mini Rite Aid. She always seemed to have whatever anyone needed at any given moment: ibuprofen, lip balm, concealer, antacids, a granola bar. If you needed it, it was probably in Olivia’s purse.
Once she was presentable again, Penny followed Olivia out of the ladies’ room and back to the orange couch. Everyone had put their knitting away, and Cynthia was at the register talking to Roxanne, the manager. Caleb was at the espresso machine making a drink. His eyes flicked to Penny when she came out and then away again quickly.
“Honey, come here,” Vilma said, opening her arms. Olivia squeezed Penny’s arm and went to join Cynthia at the register.
Penny sank down on the couch and crumpled into Vilma’s embrace. She was the oldest member of the knitting group, a middle-aged schoolteacher with two teenage sons, and she gave excellent, motherly hugs.
“What an asshole.” Esther scowled under her thick brown bangs as she leaned back in her chair across from the couch. “Bringing that woman here when he knows you come here all the time. He deserves a kick in the balls.”
Esther had never been shy about expressing her opinions or standing up for herself. Penny wished she could be more like her. She never would have let a guy like Kenneth make a fool of her.
“It was like he wanted to get caught.” Esther’s best friend Jinny shook her head, tossing her dark straight hair over her shoulder. She was tiny, and Korean, and always perfectly made up, from her shiny eyeshadow to her coordinating nail polish. “Maybe he did. Maybe the guilt was eating him alive, and he was hoping you’d see him and put him out of his misery.”
Jinny was an optimist like Penny who always tried to see the best in everyone. But even though she was skinny and beautiful, she’d been cheated on by her last boyfriend too. Maybe the problem wasn’t Penny. Maybe the problem was men.
Except Jinny had a new boyfriend who was sweet and perfect and would probably never cheat on her. Esther had a boyfriend too, and Penny couldn’t imagine anyone daring to cheat on her. And Vilma and Cynthia were both happily married. The only single woman in the knitting group was Olivia—and Penny would be joining her in spinsterdom as soon as she had a chance to dump Kenneth.
“Or maybe he’s just an arrogant prick who thinks he can get away with anything and never suffer any consequences,” Esther suggested, leaning forward for one of the cookies Penny had brought.
Penny always baked homemade treats for knitting. She loved to bake, but she only allowed herself one sweet treat per day, so she gave away the spoils of her labors. Technically, you weren’t supposed to bring food into Antidote since they sold pastries sourced from a local bakery, but Penny had special dispensation since she was friendly with the manager and always brought extras for the employees.
“Wine’s on the way,” Cynthia announced, coming back with six wineglasses. She looked like one of the Dora Milaje from Black Panther with her close-cropped hair and tall, slender figure. Except Cynthia was a children’s illustrator who mostly wore long dresses instead of Wakandan armor.
“And one chocolate cupcake.” Olivia set it on the table and sat down on Penny’s other side, passing out forks and small plates so they could all share.
Penny sniffled and pushed herself upright. “Thank you.” The cupcake looked magnificent. Three inches of moist chocolate cake topped with generous swirls of silky buttercream icing and dark chocolate shavings. It was almost too pretty to eat.
“You’re drooling.” Cynthia flicked her skirt aside as she lowered herself into the empty chair on Esther’s other side. “Don’t just stare at it. Dig in.”
