Should’ve felt me last night when I was pressed up against Harry at Guido’s. No. She couldn’t say that. Mara forced a smile to her lips. “Do I have to feel warm to not feel well?”
Did that sound defensive? You know, like I’m lying?
Astrid paused, her hand going to the signature butterfly barrette holding her dirty blond bangs off to the left side of her head, a self-conscious gesture she made when she was uncomfortable. She adjusted it and made a face. “Touchy much?”
Mara jammed her phone into the pocket of her lab coat and gave Astrid a look of apology. “Sorry. I’m just tired today.”
Astrid nudged her shoulder, shooting her a secretive smile, toothy and wide. “So guess what I know that you clearly don’t know, Crabby Patty?”
No. Why don’t you guess what I know that you don’t know instead? Here’s what I know that you can’t ever know. I turned my obsession into one of us. Then I stalked him to his house and tried to convince him being a werewolf is super cool.
Then I stalked him some more by hunting him down at the local witch doctor’s to convince him being a werewolf isn’t so bad for the second time in the span of five hours. And then my friend Nina came home with a zombie named Carl who eats vegetables, not people.
Instead, she just asked, “What?”
Astrid’s face scrunched up. “I said guess,” she ordered when Mara wouldn’t play the game to suit her.
Astrid was also demanding not just as a coworker, but as a friend. However, she wasn’t up to the game today. Mara scowled at her, squinting at the bright glare of winter sun from the atrium’s ceiling. “I don’t want to guess, Astrid!” The moment the words flew from her lips in a resounding echo, making the small clusters of people turn around, she clapped her hand over her mouth. Way to do covert, jackass.
Astrid’s eyes went round with hurt before she shrugged her shoulders. “Then don’t.” She turned on her heel and began to stomp off, her white Crocs making a dull thud on the floor.
Regret washed over Mara, prompting her to grab Astrid’s arm. “Damn. I’m sorry, Astrid. I am touchy today. I don’t feel well, and I didn’t sleep very well last night.” Truth. Chasing your fantasy man all over Buffalo was a sure way to lose sleep. “So I’ll guess, okay? You found a nonsurgical cure for small boobs, right? Phew. Just in the nick of time, too. Maybe bigger boobs are the answer to my manless problems?”
Astrid softened, giggling a low chuckle. “Harry’s out sick.”
“He’s not sick,” she was quick to correct until she saw suspicion on Astrid’s face. “I mean, he is not? Shut the front door! Really? Harry’s never sick.” She injected as much disbelief as she could into her words.
Astrid was all things Harry. Knowing Mara had an enormous crush on him, her small group of friends often teased her about it, but Astrid took her job, and Mara’s crush, very seriously.
She often reported things she’d heard, seen, thought she’d seen to Mara on a daily basis. Mostly, Mara humored her—today, when she was a liar whose pants were just shy of being on fire, she just wanted everyone to go away and leave her in her guilt.
But Astrid bobbed her head. Once more, Mara’s confidante in all things Harry. “I know! But he’s out today. Word is, he has a twenty-four-hour flu. I figured you’d want to know so you could make pretend chicken soup in your mind and make a pretend trip to his house to pretend to give it to him,” she teased.
“Ha-ha. Funny Astrid. We all know, for as long as I live, I’m never going within a mile of him—ever. It’s my own mental restraining order. Not after last year’s Christmas party. Never again. No, sir.”
Astrid seemed to take comfort in that just by the way she overall relaxed.
Mara often wondered if Astrid could keep her to herself and not have to share her with the other two girls in their hodgepodge of a group, if she’d finally realize that Mara was a loyal friend to her. If that would be enough to fill up her friendship cup.
“Well, anyway, he’s not here for you to watch over a cup of steak soup while you pretend you’re not really watching him.”
“Bummer that. There goes a perfectly good visual lunch, huh?”
Astrid stuck her arm through Mara’s. “It’s okay. You have me. I’ll share my steak sandwich with you. C’mon, let’s go find a table in the cafeteria. I’m starved.”
“Where are Leah and Ying? We were going to go over the results of those test samples during lunch for the new line of moisturizers Marty wants.”