While they were talking about having too many interesting things to do, Randy and two of his friends walked up to their circle.

Randy whispered, “Can I have a beer?”

“Can I have a cigarette?”

They traded.

“You should try some of David’s growler,” said Randy.

Megan shook her head. “Never mix, never worry.”

“They’re both beer,” he said.

Megan turned to him and said very quietly, “This is killing me,” and then she walked out of the kitchen.

When it was time to wind things down, Megan was sitting on the couch with the guy from the bathroom line. Megan spotted Carrie and said, “Hey, Carrie! Come over here. Hey, this is the girl I was telling you about with the llama. Hey, Carrie, come show this guy the picture of you with the llama.”

“Um, I really have to go,” said Carrie.

“She’s got this picture of herself with a llama the size of a young woman trapped inside of an enormous stuffed llama,” said Megan. “And she’s embracing it with one arm and she’s smiling at the camera.” Megan mimicked Carrie unfavorably. She made a peace sign.

“That sounds cool,” said the guy.

“She and her boss got it off of an untouchable.” She whisper-yelled the word “untouchable.”

Megan said a few more things.

“Time to go home,” said Randy, helping her up from the couch.

Megan’s purse clanked as they walked down the sidewalk.

“Why is everyone such a fucking asshole?” she asked.

“What do you mean? Who’s an asshole?”

“Why is everyone I said.” Megan’s knees buckled. She palmed the ground. “I hate Carrie. She repulses me.” Randy hoisted her up by the arm, the way people do with toddlers.

“Come on, she’s not repulsive. I can see how she might be kind of intimidating. She used to intimidate me a little.”

“I didn’t say intimidating, I said repulsive. Intimidating would imply that there was some reason I should feel inferior to her, but I don’t feel inferior because her life is a lie and she’s got no heart.”

Randy laughed a little. “Ok.”

“She’s got no heart!” she bellowed.

“Ok,” said Randy.

Megan straightened herself, rolled her eyes, chuckled, and said, “Soooo typical, sooo typical,” not knowing quite what she meant.

FOUR

The next morning the alarm went off at 7:30. Randy pushed Megan to the edge of the bed with his foot.

“You know, I think it’s probably ok for me to get a few more hours of sleep. It might even be dangerous or unethical for me to go to work like this,” she said.

“Get up,” said Randy.

“The cruelty, the inhumanity,” Megan mumbled.

She swung her torso upright and pushed herself off the bed and walked to the bathroom, placed towels around the base of the clawfoot tub (all original!) to absorb the leaks, and then turned on the faucet.