“The hell you are.” My hands curled into fists. I had a desire to punch the Barbie right off of her face. “You nearly killed him, you crazy fucking bitch!”
“He’s alive, isn’t he?” She sounded bothered by that. If there wasn’t a bar between us, I would have jumped on her again. Claire, seeing that the situation was getting heated, got up and walked around to me.
“Hey, Elaina. Let’s cool down some. Okay, hon?” I nodded while I glared. “I understand why you’re upset, but we all have to get along and trust each other.”
“I thought I lost him,” I said through a clenched jaw, mostly because if I said it with an unclenched jaw, I would have broken down again.
“I know. We were trying to decide what we were going to do for food today. Since the power is out, we were thinking about raiding the fridge and freezer. Henry has a grill on his deck. Maybe we could use it?” Claire pointed out the sliding doors just off of the kitchen that led to a cute little deck I hadn’t really noticed before. She rubbed my arm. She was looking for my permission.
“Let me go ask him what he wants to do.”
“We aren’t going anywhere.” She flashed me her warm, loving smile. I grabbed Henry some water, and rummaged until I found the aspirin. Then I headed back to the bedroom.
***
“You two need to cool it.” Claire was looking right at Sophie.
“Pffft. She has her knickers in a twist. She just can’t get over my relationship with Henry. I mean, really, look at me and then look at her.” She chuckled.
“Get over your relationship? What is there to get over?”
“Henry and I!” Then she winked at Claire.
“How dare you? I would spit in your face if I didn’t have manners,” Claire growled. Sophie cackled. “What is your malfunction?”
“She is obviously jealous.”
“I don’t think she’s jealous.”
“Threatened then. I mean, I can’t help it if Henry and I had a thing,” she put up air quotes, “before he came to the States.”
Claire’s jaw dropped. “Wait. You and Henry had a thing and you aren’t just besties?” Claire air quoted two times, mocking Sophie. “I’m willing to bet she has no idea about your thing. And I’m pretty sure he has better taste than that.”
“He was an amazing lay. He really knew exactly what buttons to push to make me scream. Mmm...” It was obvious that Sophie was thinking about an intimate moment. Claire made a face like she had eaten a teaspoon of bitter. “Anyway, he was my protector at the complex.” She leaned back on the stool, like she was reminiscing about the good old days. “I just hope she’s good enough for him. He loved to please me, if you know what I mean.” Sophie winked at Claire again, and she shuddered.
“Ugh. Grow up.” Nate and Nick just stood there, watching the exchange. Claire looked over at the two of them. “Nobody mention this to her. Got it?”
“Ha!” Sophie laughed again.
“Yup,” Nick said and Nate chimed in right after.
***
“Hey, lover. How are you feeling?” I walked back in the bedroom, trying to put my best smile on and not let on about my interaction with the hooker.
“I’d be better if you got along with Sophie.” I looked down. He must have heard us.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I helped him sit up, and handed him the water and aspirin. He took a couple sips and lay back again. “Are you hungry? They are trying to figure out food. Since the power is out, they want to use the grill.”
“I don’t want anyone lingering outside for a lengthy period of time. Let them know they can have whatever they want, just stay inside.”
“Do you want anything?”
“Surprise me.” He smiled.
I left for the kitchen, feeling a weight pressing down on me. Everyone stopped and watched me open the fridge. I pulled out everything that would spoil, mostly fresh fruits, vegetables, and cheeses. Henry ate healthy, for the most part, although he had a pretty bad sweet tooth. He loved sweets of all sorts, especially candy and baked goods. He was always right there with me, gorging on sweets during my times of need.
“Eat up, but don’t use the grill. He doesn’t want anyone outside for an extended period of time.” The hooker sighed. I did my damnedest to ignore her, but I turned around and smiled. I cocked my head to the left a bit.
“I’m sorry, Sophie. Does that not suit your needs?” I grinned, mocking her. I was working really hard to get along with her, for Henry’s sake.
“It suits me just fine. Thank you for your concern,” she mumbled.