Page 5 of Time Served in New York
“She’s a nice lady!” Paula shouted from where she was sitting beside Maylee. “I’ve got your back, Blue!”
“I don’t think I can go on this trip,” I complained. “I feel weak suddenly. I’ve got a sore throat, and my stomach is killing me.”
“I saw you googling the symptoms of Ebola the other day, Blue. It’s not going to work.”
“Fucking doctors,” I mumbled.
“I call shotgun for the ride home,” Paula announced.
“Nope!” Jenn snapped. “You are not allowed anywhere near the stereo.”
“What does she do with the stereo?” Maylee asked.
“She’s a scanner. She never stops switching stations. It’s like a tic,” Jenn complained. “Makes me fucking nuts.”
“Let her sit up front with Blue,” I heard Brea suggest. “She’ll slap the shit out of her hand if she even looks like she’s thinking about touching the stereo.”
“I make the loan payment, I choose the tunes,” I explained. “Them’s the rules.”
“I’m not going to help you at all when we’re inside then,” Paula pouted as I parked the SUV in front of the store Frankie and Maylee had mentioned. “I’m going to tell the salesperson that you need special attention and can really only connect with a person if they’re touching you.”
“I’ll touchyou,” I threatened.
“Ladies, let’s practice our manners while we’re in here,” Frankie said in a sugary sweet voice.
“Oh, this is gonna be awesome,” Maylee said as she slid out.
“Assault charges that lead to more prison time are not on the shopping list,” Matalie reminded us.
I sighed as I ran my hands over my face. I heard someone slap the hood and opened my eyes to find all seven women standing in front of the truck waiting on me.
“Find the coats and then retreat to your happy place,” I whispered to myself as I got out. “You can do it. Channel your inner sweetheart.”
I guess Brea heard me because she laughed for a second before she said, “I don’t think they sell new personalities here.”
???
MAYLEE
I smiled at the attendant who’d delivered my champagne and held the glass aloft, waiting for Frankie and Paula to join me in a toast. “Welcome to the show, ladies. Let the games begin.”
Paula laughed before she took a sip. “I can’t wait to get these girls to the city. It’s gonna be awesome.”
“I looked over the itinerary Bernadette sent and saw that there should be some downtime for sightseeing.”
“There will be plenty of time,” Frankie assured me before she took another sip. She leaned forward and took a fresh strawberry from the tray the saleswoman had set on the ottoman in front of the couch where we were sitting and studied it for a second before she took a bite. After another sip of champagne, she said, “I have a list of places I think we should go. Bernadette’s been helping me.”
“I have a few suggestions,” I told the women before I giggled at the look of horror on Blue’s face. The saleswoman was showing her a selection of coats she’d brought out in Blue’s size, and I could tell just at a glance that none of them would do. “How long are we going to pretend that this is the only place with a selection of winter wear?”
Frankie laughed wickedly and then grinned as Matalie spun around wearing a floor-length red cape that was more suited for an evening gala than a day of sightseeing in brisk weather. “I say we have about half an hour before Blue starts twitching, and then we can go over to that ski shop Pandora mentioned.”
I selected a chocolate truffle from the selection on the tray and took a bite. “I have the perfect long red overcoat for Matalie to borrow. I believe I even have a houndstooth scarf.”
“I store all of my winter clothes at Ziggy’s, so he had someone deliver them to the hotel this afternoon. I’ve got at least a dozen coats for them to choose from, and there are gloves and scarves to match all of them.”
“Oh shit. We’re horrible people,” Paula mused when we heard Brea ask the saleswoman for the price of the coat she was wearing. Brea’s mouth dropped open in shock, and she stood there stunned for a second before she sucked in a deep breath and started coughing. “That’s fucking hilarious.”
Brea carefully took off the coat and handed it to the saleswoman before she said something to Matalie who was still twirling around in her cape. Matalie’s eyes got as wide as saucers, and she stopped so suddenly that the cape swirled around her legs, tripping her as she walked toward Blue who was trying on a dark gray overcoat.
