Deryn didn’t curse, as there was no point. But her conversation with Paloma rang in her mind. ADHD. Was this another sign? She kept reading about it online: procrastination, inability to start tasks, being either super early or very late, wearing the same type of clothes every day because choosing was hard. She looked up into the open closet where a sea of dark jeans with holey knees stared back at her. Yeah, like she’d even have anything to choose from. Was buying the same type of clothes a sign of ADHD? She’d have to research that one as well.
She’d also have to send Paloma flowers. For her victory. Were red roses too on the nose? Deryn unlocked her phone and googled the meaning of flowers. When she caught herself five minutes later on Wikipedia, reading about the tulip fields in the Netherlands and their impact on the soil, she blinked and opened the calendar app.
Make an appointment with GP. Ask for ADHD assessment referral.
Deryn threw the phone on the bed, pulled on the only pair of black jeans that had no holes in them, and refreshed her perfume. She fiddled with her hair in the bathroom, trying to push the shaggy mess back from her face, only to have it fall back over her eyes. She needed a trim.
She very carefully opened the calendar app again and made another notation to book an appointment with a stylist, and soon.
“There. I have full control of my life now. Use apps! Paloma will be so proud…”
Paloma, who had made a point to avoid her since New Year’s Eve. Deryn pretended to understand. Sex…was a complicated beast on the best of days. What they had shared as the clock struck midnight? Phew… It was so much more than just sex… And so, Deryn pretended not to be hurt and still spent sleepless nights trying to figure out how to feel…less. Yes, that would be the word she’d use.
She pointed a finger at Mirror Deryn. “Just feel less, okay? Paloma, your sisters and your aunt. Less. Not more.”
The second the words left her mouth, and she looked at her reflection, finger pointed at herself and all, she had to laugh at how ridiculous she was.
“You’re a meme, Deryn Crowhart.”
“Meow.”
Sooty jumped on the sink, and they stared at each other in the mirror. The cat narrowed her eyes. Deryn did not think it was an adoring squint. Sooty reserved those for Paloma.
“Do you have anything to add, cat?”
Sooty narrowed her eyes further.
“So you’re judging me?” Deryn asked, then blew her hair back from her face. “I am talking to a cat.”
Said cat made an annoyed sound and lifted her tail, jumped off the sink, and marched out of the bathroom. Deryn felt very foolish.
Her salvation from acting in an even more foolish manner came in the form of a text message, and seeing the name on the display immediately triggered those pesky butterflies.
Paloma: It’s crowded here at Dragons. Ceridwen just arrived and told me you and Seren are with Victoria, and she will draft you to help her with the food. So that’s what I’m relaying to those who ask. Also, people keep asking.
Deryn typed up three different responses, deleting each one. Then she sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands.
“Why am I like this?”
Since there was no possible answer to her question, she stuck to a simple reply.
Deryn: People are nosy.
She jogged downstairs to the sounds of Victoria chiding Seren over something, but as Deryn entered the kitchen, they both stopped talking immediately.
“I gather I was the subject of your spirited discussion?”
“No discussion. Seren is a doofus. No news there. Let’s go. First Twin, give your sister the keys. You can walk; you’ll be late to the party as it is. You have to close the coffee shop.”
Victoria actually tapped her foot a few times, and Seren threw Deryn the keys to her Jeep and shook her head.
“Don’t ask. Good luck with this one. She’s on a roll.”
Deryn caught the keys one-handed.
“Speaking of rolls…” Victoria droned on all the way to the empty restaurant, closed early for the day to allow everyone to first vote and then to celebrate or commiserate.
They walked through the front door, passing through the dining room, and Victoria beelined straight to the walk-in freezer. The unit occupied a prominent place in the building, and Deryn remembered that her aunt had had to drop a considerablechunk of change to fortify the basement underneath to make sure its weight was properly supported. Not to mention the twenty grand for the unit itself. Still, for a Michelin-starred spot, it was worth it. The freezer worked like the well-oiled machine that it was. It was also huge.
