“Thanks,” I say, and mean it.
“Did you really quit Solo February?” she asks me.
“Yeah.” I sigh. I wonder if she’s going to pile on.
“People are being brutal to you online right now,” Pam notes. Now’s the time she can gloat. Sure, why not? I deserve it.
“They’re not being any more brutal to me than I’m being onmyself, actually,” I admit. “It was a stupid mistake. The guy I broke my solo vow for lied to me.”
Pam lets out a disgusted-sounding grunt. “Don’t they all?” She sighs. “Stupid men. Thom was a liar, too. He spent our mortgage money on a woman he was having an affair with. She was a college sophomore. Can you believe it?A college kid.Nineteen years old! Nineteen! He helped pay some of her tuition.”
“Seriously?” I had no idea.
“Yeah. It was my fault for trusting him to pay all the bills. We were one missed payment away from foreclosure. But I got everything back on track. Had to dip into my 401(k), though, after I kicked him out.”
“Oh, Pam. I am so, so sorry.”
“Well, you’ve been through the wringer, too. With Marley and now… this new guy.”
“Listen, about Marley…” I start.
“It’s not your fault.” Pam waves a stiff hand at me, to stop whatever I’m going to say next. “He’s just one more jerk, just like the rest of them.”
“Yeah.”
We smile weakly at one another, a Wikipedia of shared disappointments passing between us.
“Hey… about Larry,” she adds. “I don’t have anything against Larry, exactly, I just… I got bitten by a dog when I was younger. Never really got over it.”
“Oh.” Now I kind of feel like an ass. “I’m sorry.”
“I know I’m kind of irrational when it comes to dogs.” Pam shrugs.
“Larry really is a sweetheart. I promise. He’d never hurt you. Want to pet him?”
Pam glances at Larry’s snout through the cracked door, hesitant. “I don’t know.”
“Only if you want to. You can let him sniff your hand. I mean, you did lug up his fancy kibble.”
Pam glances at me and then at Larry. She reluctantly lowers her hand to Larry. He gives it a sniff, followed by a slobbery, full-tongue lick. She jumps back a bit.
“Ew,” she says, but she laughs a little as she wipes the back of her hand on her tights.
“He likes you.”
“Great.” Pam eyes Larry. But do I see… a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth? “Okay, well. This will pass. Soon, people will be angry at someone else, and they’ll move on, and this new guy, you’ll forget him and move on, too. You’ll handle it. Because we’re the kind of women who just handle our shit.”
She nods at me, and I nod back.
This might be the kindest thing Pam has ever said to me. And her encouragement came right at the moment I needed it most.
“Thanks, Pam.”
“Well, I’ve got to get back to my laptop. I’ve got a meeting. Have a good one.”
“You, too—and, uh, thanks,” I say, shutting the door as she trots back down the stairs. Well, will wonders never cease? Did Larry and I just call a truce with Pam? Huh. That was a surprise. I think she felt sorry for me, now that all theSolo Februarypeople want my head on a pike. Still, I’ll take the pity. She’s been through it and so have I, and maybe we are pretty damn tough.
I kick the door shut with my foot and rip open the box with Larry’s gourmet sample bricks, infused with only the freshest and most organic and expensive ingredients, cooked by somecelebrity chef for dogs, and packed with only the finest dry ice to keep it cool. At least, at long last, I can finally give Larry the treat he truly deserves. Larry trots over to sniff the box, but misses, again by about six inches. I pull out a vacuum-sealed brick, and wave it under Larry’s nose. He smells it, cautiously.
