“Hey, girl,” said Jillian. “Did you know they have individual Crystal Lites right by the water in the fridge section of Walgreens?”

“What is crystal light?” said Megan. Sounds like a kind of PCP.

“This is Crystal Lite, you nut,” said Jillian, reaching into the sack. She held the marker sized tube of flavored sugar up to her face and shook it. “It’s good.”

“What is it, sugar?” asked Megan.

“Yeah, kind of.” Jillian sat down and began to spread out her bounty. Megan tried to breathe and just let the universe be and not get involved and not worry about it and just mind her own business and do her job and stuff.

Jillian cracked the Evian, emptied two Crystal Lites into it and then shook the bottle. It really felt like she was making lunch or something. She set the bottle at a particular distance from her mouse pad and then put the Pop-Tarts and some of the cookies in her file cabinet drawer. This really feels like I’ve got a stash supply, she thought. She unwrapped the cookie and put as much of it in her mouth as she could and then started laughing.

What the fuck? thought Megan.

Hahaha, this cookie is hilarious for some reason, thought Jillian. Mmm, and so good. You know, I heard somewhere that, like, carbs and sugar and stuff can give you a power burst for work. She finished the cookie, washed it down with Crystal Lite, and then tested her theory.

“Oh yeah,” she said. This works great.

“‘Oh yeah’ what?” said Megan.

“Huh?” said Jillian.

“You just said ‘Oh yeah.’”

“Oh, you know me, I was just talking out loud.”

Now that’s how you tempt me, Jillian, if you want to know how to really tempt me, if you want to be some kind of a temptress for me.

But don’t say it.

Jillian started typing rapidly.

Don’t say that she means to say “thinking out loud,” that the expression is “thinking out loud” and that that’s what talking is, communicating or thinking out loud. Talking is always out loud.

Then Jillian started making reminder calls.

Unless it’s like money talks or body language.

“Oh, hi! This is Jillian calling from Dr. Schraeder’s office! Yeah! Hahahaha, yuh-huh, sure is! I’m just calling to remind you you have a, um, a colonoscopy appointment for next week. Oh yeah, well, we look forward to seeing you then, haha. Ok, you too!”

Jillian was using the baby voice and continued laughing after she hung up the phone.

Today is great. Jillian was still floating along. Talking to people is a lot of fun. “Megan, we are so lucky, did you know that?”

“What, you mean to be Americans or something?”