“Sure. That way I can get my part done and do some work whilst you do your part.” Enid says nothing, but I watch as she crosses her arms and stares at her long fingernails.
“So, Preston, would you like to start and tell us about how you met?” I ask awkwardly.
“I certainly would. I remember I was at a party. It was held by one of my friends named Theodore Gillig. We had gone to college together at Harvard. His father was on Wall Street, and his uncle was an attorney who was hoping to be on the Supreme Court, and at that time, I thought that I might want to go to law school.”
“You think this is more interesting than me and my story? No one wants to hear about your days thinking about being an attorney.”
“No one wants to hear about you waking up in the morning and deciding what you want for breakfast.”
“Well, no one wants to hear about you at Harvard and your exploits with Theodore and Jeremiah.”
I press pause on the recording and speak up before this becomes some sort of elderly, posh catfight.
“I have an idea,” I say quickly. “What if I interview both of you separately, and then I can come up with discussion questions for you together? That way, neither one of you is interrupting the other.” I pause, hoping they’re not going to get mad at me, but they both stare at me, nodding slightly.
“I was thinking that maybe—” A sudden knock on the door makes me pause, and we all turn toward the entrance, where I see Amethyst standing there. Today, she’s wearing a floral dress and huge earrings that look like sunflowers. For once, I’m not upset by seeing her.
“Hi. I was just looking for Enid. My third eye told me you were in here,” she says. She looks over at me and beams. “Gina. Gina, you are looking like a queena.”
“Good morning, Amethyst,” I say, and she beams at me.
“Enid, I’m sorry to disturb you, but I don’t know if you remember that the writing group was getting here early and the meeting is about to start, and as you are our gracious leader, we could not start without you.”
Enid looks flustered. “Oh my. I absolutely forgot about the group.” She looks over at Preston. “Darling, do you mind?” She stands up and walks to the door before he can answer. I continue sitting there.
“I suppose I’ll interview Preston first,” I say to nobody in particular.
“Gina, are you coming?” Enid stops by the door, standing next to Amethyst.
“Sorry, what?” I look at her in surprise.
“Are you coming?”
“Oh, I was going to interview Preston first and then?—”
“Let’s go to the writing group.”
I look over at Preston, who has already opened his laptop.
“I guess I’ll interview you later, sir.”
“Certainly, certainly,” he says, typing away. I stand up and walk to the doorway. Amethyst and Enid start walking ahead of me down the hallway, and I follow them, slightly confused. As they head into the living room, I see that there are only a few of the writing group members there. “Do you mind if I grab a drink quickly before I join?” I call out. Enid nods, and Iturn back around and head to the kitchen, my heart racing as I see Hunter standing by the doorway, looking at me. There’s an inquisitive expression on his face, and I just stare at him.
“You’re just going to look at me?” I say as I head into the kitchen, and he follows me.
“I was curious if everyone knows about you,” he says in his deep, throaty voice that makes me think of whiskey and sex.
“What are you talking about?” I ask, turning around to stare at him.
“Does everyone know that you’re a stalker?” He gives me a wicked grin.
“I’m not a stalker.”
“Then why are you here?”
“What do you mean, why am I here?”
“Why are you here is a simple question, is it not?”
