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I completely froze. Natalie seemed to be completely unaffected and picked up the next strawberry herself.
“I wish they had a chocolate fountain. Those things are the best,” she said.
“As long as people don’t double dip,” I said. “That’s my main fear.”
Natalie shuddered.
“Thanks for ruining chocolate fountains for me. Why would you do that?”
“I’m sorry?” I said.
“You’re absolutely not sorry, but that’s fine. I don’t hold a grudge.”
I gasped. “Ouch, low blow.”
“It’s not my fault that I’m more enlightened,” she said in a haughty tone.
“Your…face is enlightened,” I said, attempting an insult and completely failing.
“Is that what you really want to go with?” she asked, laughing.
“I’ll think about it and let you know later,” I said, sipping more champagne. I wanted to get tipsy on this last night. No reason not to.
The strawberries were gone, so we moved on to the little chocolate bomb cake they’d also given us, attacking it with forks.
“Are we still going to hang out when we get back?” she asked.
I batted her fork out of the way to grab a bigger bite of cake. “I guess so. Obviously I have to work, but I have weekends free.”
“That sounds great,” she said. “Hopefully I’ll be able to get something so I’ll also be working.”
“Yeah, you can come hang out with me and Paige and Linley and Esme. Sometimes Linley’s boyfriend is there too. You’d like him, he’s a phlebotomist who enjoys woodcarving.”
Natalie raised her eyebrows.
“Is that last thing a metaphor for something?” she asked.
“No, he really carves things out of wood. See?” I pulled up his social media page to show her.
“Oh, wow, he’s really talented.”
That was what everyone said. Linley had asked him to carve her a pangolin and he’d done it. Adorable.
“He’s a good one. I really like him for Linley.”
“I still can’t picture Esme and Paige together, but I guess I’ll get to see them for myself,” she said.
“I was always over at their place before I moved. You can come to my place, if you want.”
I knew exactly what it was like to want to have your freedom from your parents while you were living with them.
“Thanks. I’m probably going to be mostly ignored in favor of Gretchen, so I’m hoping to fly under the radar.” That was another thing that had bonded us together: neither of us was the favorite child.
We drained the last of the champagne and I was warm and floaty. When I had a few drinks, I tended to get pretty affectionate. I touched Natalie’s hair.
“Remember when I used to play with your hair?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said, turning her head. Our faces were extremely close. I could see the tiny little scar on her nose she’d gotten when she’d fallen off her bike. I’d been with her. It had been one of the scariest moments of my life. So much blood. I’d thought she was going to die.
