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Being told to chill by a fifteen-year-old really isn’t something I like. “Lauren,” Jess says, seeing my reaction. “Maybe just, rein it in?”
I know I’m guilty of it, but Jesus if the eye roll Lauren then gives me isn’t the single most annoying thing I’ve seen today. I tilt my head to one side, my eyes wide in disbelief. “Right, what are we watching?” I ask again trying to distract myself, my tone firm.
We all take more mouthfuls of food as Jess scrolls through Netflix. “How about this?” She stops on something scary.
“No,” Lauren and I say in unison.
“This?”
“God no,” I say.
She quickly backs out of putting on a reality TV show. “How about this? We all love men who can dance.”
“Yeah, those of us who are old enough.” I widen my eyes again.
Jess throws the remote at me. “You choose then, seeing how I’m the picky one and can’t decide.”
“Fine,” I muse. I scroll until eventually I feel the plate on my lap has cooled. “Urgh, why is this so difficult?” As I say it, there’s a light knock at the door.
“Who’s that?” Lauren asks.
“That’ll be Mollie.” I walk to the door as Lauren darts for the remote. When it opens, I notice Mollie looking more worn out than usual. “Hi. Come in.” I step back, making way for her.
“Hi,” Mollie says as she steps inside, freezing on the spot. “Crap. I completely forgot you’d have company. You should have said you were busy.” Her eyes flits between Lauren, Jess and me.
“Mollie, the only thing we’rebusydoing, is trying to decide what to watch.” Jess smiles.
“You’re welcome to stay. There’s more food in the pan if you’re hungry?”
Mollie smiles sheepishly, but steps forward as I close the door behind her. She removes her coat and her shoes, kicking them off by the door.
The small act reminds me of when I first came to this house. How clean and tidy Dean always kept things. I wonder what he’d make of shoes simply strewn across the floor. What would he do if he found them like that? Then a small smile raises because I know exactly what he’d do. He quietly pick them up, arrange them neatly, no words or fuss.
“Madison?” Jess says.
I look at her, then back to Mollie. Clearly I’ve been asked something and should be giving an answer. “What?” I ask.
“You zoned out there. You okay?” Mollie asks.
I smile as best I can. “Fine. Did you want food?”
Mollie’s face scrunches slightly. “Is there enough? I don’t want to put anyone out?”
I look at her deadpan. “It’s stir-fry, you’re not putting me out at all.” With a smile, I plate her up and hand it to her. “There,” I say also passing her a fork. “Drink? I don’t have wine unfortunately.”
“Boooo!” Jess calls from the other room cutting me off.
I search through the cupboards, spotting a lousy bottle of beer. “Or there’s this?”
“That looks good to me.”
We’re chatting and talking about everything and anything, our empty plates left on the coffee table in front of us. None of us are watching the TV, except Lauren. If you count the few timesshe lifts her head out of her phone, as actually watching.
“So, where does your husband work, Jess?” Mollie asks looking down at Jess’ wedding ring.
“He’s not actually working at the minute. He’s decided he needstime to figure out what he wants.”
I look at Jess and see the confusion in her eyes. I feel for her.
