Olivia and Sam are standing at the kitchen counter, giggling together. Sam is actually holding Muffin. Really? I mouth “Ass” at her before turning back to the dining area. Rick and Karen have taken seats at opposite sides of the couch, so I slide into the chair next to Roxanne. Esmé comes back from the laundry and takes the chair on the other side of me. Standing, I push two of the empty chairs to the other side of the couch so that Mandy and Jackie will be as far away from my chair as possible. Roxanne raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything. Speak of the devil, here they come. Jackie’s just wearing a t-shirt and some sweats that I got at the thrift store. Mandy has crammed herself into a pair of shorts and a tank top.
“If she bends over too fast, someone’s gonna get a black eye,” Esmé whispers in my ear. Snorting in answer, I direct them to the chairs furthest away from me. Not that I’ll be sitting all that much.
“What happens when people need to sleep?” Mandy asks.
“There are air mattresses in the living room area, along with some battery powered pumps. Someone should go ahead and get those filled now so that when people want to sleep, they don’t have to worry about it.”
“I’ll do it,” Thomas says.
“I’ll help,” my ex offers.
They slide open the partition and disappear into the living room. Sam follows, closing it behind her.
“If anyone does need to sleep, there is a stack of blankets in the living room. I didn’t provide sheets. You’ll have to rough it.”
Mandy sniffs.
Turning to glare at her, Esmé says, “You should consider being grateful.”
“What business is it of yours?” Mandy stands up, throwing her shoulders back. Esmé jumps out of her chair as well. Stepping in between them, I hold up my hands, trying not to laugh. “There will be no chick fighting here, no matter how much you piss each other off.”
“Just as well,” Esmé mutters under her breath. “She’d kill me with one swipe of her boob.”
“There will also be no insulting people based on their appearance,” Roxanne says, loudly.
Huffing, Esmé and Mandy both slam back into their chairs. Roxanne sighs and Olivia makes a tutting sound from the other side of the kitchen.
The wind is really picking up now. I can hear the branches slamming against the house. There is a little bit of water coming in under the kitchen door. Kneeling to mop some of it up, I hear someone rummaging in the beer cooler. Looking around, expecting to see Sam, I see Mandy instead.
“That’s Sam’s beer, buddy. You might consider asking before you dive into it.”
“What? You’re going to let us stay at your party without letting us drink or eat anything?”
“You can eat or drink anything you want. I’m just letting you know that it might be polite to ask before you take, especially considering you didn’t bring anything to contribute.”
“I didn’t ask to be here. I was dragged here by Jackie.”
Turning my back on her, I continue mopping up the water. She’s still standing behind me and it’s irritating. “If you’re just going to stand there, get a towel and help me replace the wet ones!”
Sighing, she bends down and hands me several dry towels, relieving me of the wet ones that I have taken from the crack under the door.
She asks Esmé about putting the towels in the dryer. Putting them out of my mind, I concentrate on rolling up the new towels and shoving them in under the door. Roxanne leans over beside me. “Want some more plastic bags?”
“Maybe.”’
While she grabs the bags from the counter, I remove the towels that I’ve already placed. She kneels next to me to squeeze the bags under the door. “If we pack them in as tightly as possible, less water will get through,” she says.
“Really? I hadn’t thought of that.”
She elbows me in the ribs. Laughing, I lean in to kiss her on the cheek. We work quietly together packing every square inch of space with plastic bags.
“Where else could we have gone, Karen?” I hear Rick say loudly, over the wind.
“I don’t know. We should have stayed at our house.”
“Our house is going to be flooded,” he responds.
“I’d rather be there dealing with the flood than here with you.”
Pretending I can’t hear them, I continue poking towels in along the door. Roxanne catches my eye and I smile at her. “I’m glad you’re here,” I whisper.
Whispering back, she says, “Are you?”
“Yes. You’re the one beacon of normalcy in this group.”
Laughing, she stands up before offering me a hand. Dragging me to my feet, she smiles. “If I’m your beacon of normalcy, you’ve set your bar pretty low.”