“You want to come in with me? I could pee in the tub if you really need to go.”

“No, I’m good, thanks,” said Megan.

“Hey, man, I was just offering ok?”

“Yeah, I know, it’s fine.”

“You don’t have to act like an asshole about it.”

“Well, I don’t really think I’m being an asshole. I just don’t, uh, I don’t really have to go that bad.”

“Then why are you in the bathroom line? There are people who actually have to go, you know.”

Megan looked behind her and saw no one.

“I just think I can wait, that’s all.”

“What kind of accent is that?” asked the guy.

“What do you mean? I don’t have an accent.”

“Yes you do. Are you a liar?”

“I mean . . . I’m from Michigan.”

“You have a foreign accent,” said the guy, and then the bathroom door opened. “Ladies first.”

“No, really, go ahead,” said Megan. “Allow me to do this one thing for you.” The guy snorted. He was in and out in a minute. He didn’t wash his hands. When he got out of the bathroom, he held the door open for her and bowed a little.

Megan locked the door behind her, washed her hands, then pulled down her pants. There were no leaks on the bandage and she decided to leave it alone. She pulled her pants back up, finished her beer, and looked at herself in the mirror.

“Hello,” she said to herself before leaving. “Hello, darling.”

Amanda, a familiar face from school, was in the kitchen looking in the refrigerator.

“Hey, familiar face, I have beer,” said Megan.

“Phew!” said Amanda. Amanda was nice to Megan and she had an unpretentious look. Amanda was low-medium pretty, less pretty than Megan, which put Megan at ease, but more attractive than Megan because she bothered to groom herself. Megan observed that Amanda’s level of grooming was not too high, though, and then she felt guilty for gauging her comfort with Amanda by such idiotic standards. Megan reached into her purse and handed Amanda a beer.

“How many beers do you have in there?”

Megan looked in her bag and said, “Used to be 24, but now I’m not sure.”

“Hahaha, you’re nuts.”

“Oh, I’m nuts,” said Megan. “I’m a regular nut.”

“So, what’s up? How’s work?”

“Work is . . . I spend 32 hours a week with a woman who isn’t allowed to cut her hangnails for religious reasons. Vanity or something. We listen to lite Christian rock together all day. She forwards me photo threads of baby animals with affirmations at the bottom and she belches all the time.”

Amanda laughed and said, “Gee whiz.” Megan shrugged and offered up a cheers.

There was that kind of pause that happens when one person is trying to think of something interesting to say while the other person waits. Megan grimaced and said, “I’m not that interesting.”