“I’ve got the Haribo, babe. Let’s go.”
I clear my throat. “Melissa, this is Callie.”
In Callie’s green-gold eyes, something dwindles. “Hello.”
“Hello,” Melissa says, mimicking her tone exactly. “What are you dressed as?”
Callie looks surprised, then at me.
Mortified, I shake my head at Melissa. “You’re the only one in costume.”
“I’d better get going,” Callie says politely. “Nice to see you.”
Melissa takes me by the hand and leads me toward the till, boots click-clacking against the lino. “Who was that bitch?”
“Hey.” I stop, drop her hand. “That’s a bit strong.”
Her face lifts. “Joel! I’m just messing with you. See what I mean about you being all tense and edgy?”
“You’re not exactly helping.”
“So who is she?”
“My new upstairs neighbor. She moved in when Steve left.”
“You know what you need?”
“To pay for this and go home? Preferably alone?”
“Ha. You love me really.”
No, I think.I really, really don’t.
•••
I’m sitting on the living room floor, back to the wall, pizza box next to my knees. Like always, I’ve ordered a large pepperoni to share at Melissa’s request. But she never eats more than two pieces, and I have to pick all the pepperoni off.
She crouches next to me, extracts a slice from the box. “Hey, you know we’ve been doing this nearly three years now?”
“That long?”
A skeptical smile. “As if you don’t remember the exact date you first laid eyes on me.”
I don’t, actually. But I do remember the occasion. A late-night exercise class, when I’d been going through a phase of thinking high-intensity spinning might be the answer to all my problems. (It almost was, in that I nearly dropped down dead halfway through the first session.)
Melissa meandered over to me afterward, all Lycra and swinging ponytail and makeup firmly in place. I was bent double at the time, doing my best not to throw up.
“New Year’s resolution?”
It was January, as it happened. But I didn’t really go in for things like that. “Just want to get fit,” I gasped.
“How’s it going?”
“Making progress.”
“Wow. How bad were you before?”
After a shower and a protein shake we went back to my place. I was surprised when she called a couple of weeks later, but so it went on.
