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‘I can’t believe you have a job trial tomorrow,’ Deb said through a mouthful of ice cream. Her cheeks were wet still, but her tears had slowed down. She began waving her hand in a fan motion on her lips. ‘Brain freeze!’ She squinted her eyes.
I looked down at her ice cream, then at the block of chocolate resting on the arm of the chair. God, healthy eating was tough. That chocolate was calling my name; just looking at it made my mouth water.
‘Slow down, then. You’ve eaten, like, half a tub. You’ll hate yourself in the morning.’
‘Oh, shut up, Naomi. It’s better than doing drugs.’ She sniggered. ‘What are you anyway, the health police?’
‘Oh, good one. Smooth.’ I laughed.
‘So, anyway, how come Patrick messaged you? Like, that’s really weird. Can you show me what he said?’ She grabbed the phone out of my hand and opened the Messenger app. My impulse was to snatch it off her, but then I thought,I’ve got nothing to hide.It still annoyed me, considering most of the time she’d have her phone hidden and I wouldn’t ask to see her texts.
She clicked on Patrick’s messages and scrolled from the bottom. Ice cream dripped from her spoon onto her dress. She furrowed her eyebrows, then widened her eyes as she got closer to the top.
‘Okay, yeah, he must really like your food. No surprise there.’ She handed me back my iPhone.
I put the phone on the arm of the chair. ‘I’m excited but really nervous. There’s so much pressure to perform well tomorrow.’
Deb shifted her eyes my way and let out a long breath. ‘Whendon’tyou perform well?’
‘Well, most of the time I try to, but, you know, everyone has off days, and I’m just hoping tomorrow isn’t one of those days where I make a fool out of myself.’
‘You’ll be fine, and since you aren’t eating any chocolate, I will have it all.’ This time, instead of breaking off a piece, she bit into the side of it, leaving a bite mark behind.
‘Oh, Deb, you’re hilarious, and you’re right. I don’t want any chocolate. I think I might have a mango later or more risotto.’Thanks for making it easier to resist.
‘Healthyyyy.’
‘Oh, I forgot to tell you.’ I got into a more comfortable position with my left leg crossed over the right.
‘What?’ Her tears had dried. I suspected the food must have helped numb her pain.
‘Daniel messaged me and tried to call me two more times today. He sent a text asking where the hell I was and told me I was ruining his business.’
Deb’s mouth dropped open, and she moved her head back in disbelief. ‘What? He’s become a nutjob. Do you reckon he’s mental or something? He clearly fired us, and now he’s asking why you didn’t come in?’ She paused for a moment, frowning. ‘Did he ask anything about me?’
I nodded in agreement, glad to see Deb showing signs of life again. ‘He’s gone truly crazy. Poor guy. I’d hate to be him. Not only is he a sexist control freak but he’s clearly a miserable bastard.’ I looked down at my sparkly silver toes and wiggled the one supporting my other leg into the shaggy rug. ‘Oh, and no, he didn’t mention you in the texts.’
The sound of Deb biting into the chocolate caught my attention, and I looked at the bite mark on the other side of the block.
‘I feel like the biggest fool admitting this,’ she said through a full mouth. ‘But the reason I slept with him was because I kind of had a crush on him, and I wanted to be naughty.’ She shrugged her shoulders. ‘You know I love my bad boys. The forbidden fruit of the dating world.’
‘Oh, ew, Deb. This particular fruit was forbidden with good reason: not only is he a disgusting pig, but he’s alsomarried. I’mstill really surprised, to be honest. You always used to pay him out and told me numerous times he did your head in.’
‘Yeah, but that happens. Look how you treated Sebastian. You made him wait for ages before sleeping with him, and I guess I’m a sucker for the whole “treat ’em mean, keep ’em keen” bullshit.’ She shrugged again.
‘No, that’s a completely different situation. Seb and I are both single and had genuine feelings for each other.’ Her bringing up Seb made me think of that dick picture he sent, and a wave of annoyance came over me.
‘Whatever.’ Deb looked down at her ice cream and realised it was starting to melt, so she got out of her comfy crevice and walked to the freezer. ‘Can I tempt you with anything while I’m here?’ I heard the sound of the freezer door being pulled open.
‘No, I’m fine.’ I stared at the chocolate block again, now half-eaten, resting on the arm of her chair.
She returned with a glass of pinot grigio in her hand and sat back down. ‘Now, what should we watch?’ She picked up the remote again.
I thought aboutGossip Girl, episode ten, and how I’d only gotten five minutes into the episode when Deb rang. Not that it mattered that I didn’t get to finish watching it because I had watched the whole series five times before. Come to think of it … Deb’s situation with Daniel was like Serena van der Woodsen and Tripp van der Bilt’s dalliance. He was a forbidden fruit, being married and all, and Serena knew this and still pursued him. Deb and Serena had a lot in common with their flirtatious natures.
The sound of chocolate getting bitten into broke my train of thought for the second time, and I looked down at my phone. Nothing. No action tonight.That’s a relief.
The light from the corner lamp shone a warm glow across the room as Deb scrolled through Netflix categories and let out asigh of frustration. ‘Definitely not watching a romance. Barf,’ she said.
