Elly woke up to a horrible smell. She brought her hands to her face, confused, smelling the earth and dirt that ran through the cracks in her skin. Where was she? What time was it? With a groan, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She was in her room, in her bed, fully dressed. Elly rubbed her eyes tiredly and grabbed her alarm clock. 11:00 am. Eleven?! Elly leapt out of bed, instantly feeling her legs go weak underneath her.
“Whoa,” she mumbled. “Slow down, cowgirl.” She sniffed her shirt. Ugh, most definitely the smell was her. She slowly unbuttoned her blouse and slipped off her work pants, letting them stay around her ankles as she limped to the shower.
She let out a low sigh of delight as the hot water cascaded over her sore shoulders and back. In the middle of working conditioner into her completely mangled hair, she inhaled sharply as the day before came rushing back to her. Keith. Lucia. Aaron. Elly stood shocked. Had that all really happened? Was she truly free of him? She rinsed her face in the cold water. I slapped someone. I slapped him! She danced around happily, stomping her feet in the tiny puddles on her tile floor. She sang into the water.
“Slap, slap, slap….”
Thirty minutes later, her mood had sobered as she prepared to head downstairs to a mess of enormous proportions. How long would it take to clean up? Five hours, maybe? She wrapped her hair up into a loose pony-tail (more like a loose nub) and headed down wearing comfy jeans and a dark blue v-necked t-shirt. Cadbury trailed along at her heels, whining happily to have some attention.
Elly stopped and scratched his head. “I know I haven’t been around very much lately. I’m sorry. We’ll go on a long walk today, I promise.” Cadbury seemed merely annoyed at such pithy penance. Elly gave a sigh and pushed open the studio door. “This is gonna be bad.”
It wasn’t.
It was…clean. There was no hint of the disaster that Elly remembered from the night before. The carpet was showing again! There were no flowers hanging from the ceiling like there had been some mad greenhouse rave! The place wasn’t exactly sparkling, but it wasn’t messy, either. Someone had been here. Elly raised her eyebrows, scouring her surroundings for any sign of life. Then she spied a post-it on the cooler door. She lifted it nervously.
This doesn’t make up for anything, but I had to try. Love, Isaac
Ugh…Isaac. Is there anyone left who doesn’t have a key to the store? Elly sat heavily at the table and put her head in her hands. This was something she had hoped not to deal with today. Isaac was truly an innocent; a sweet, self-centered man-child who wasn’t always in control of himself. Idiotic and sometimes devious; yes. Manipulative; no. Ridiculous; yes. Evil; definitely not. He was however, a fantastic kisser. That mouth…..Elly pressed her fingers against her lips, closing her eyes ever so slightly.
Before she descended too far into fantasy, there was a bang at the shop door. She jumped to her feet, trying to arrange her v-neck into the least ample breast revealing shape possible. Did I have a consult today? No, she would have never scheduled one for the day after this wedding. She moved back the dainty curtain, squinting into the light. Sunny Kepke waved demurely back at her, holding a plant.
Elly turned around quickly, her heart hammering wildly and she pressed her back against the door. Oh no. Did she know? Was she here to yell? To scream at the woman who wrecked her daughter’s trip down the aisle? Had Aaron even made it there? Was she going to sue her? Not pay her? Elly put her hand on her chest and tried to breathe deeply. Maybe she didn’t know. Maybe she was here to say thank you and pay you and be done with it. People didn’t bring plants when they were angry – right? Dear God, she mouthed silently, please let that be it.
She turned and opened the door, smiling uneasily.
“Hi, Sunny! Congratulations! What brings you here the day after the wedding? Aren’t you exhausted? I know I am.” Elly gave a lame, nervous attempt at a laugh.
Sunny smiled at her, lips pressed together. “Sit down, Eleanor. I need to talk to you.”
Elly felt her stomach drop, and she rested her hand on the table to steady herself. She took a deep breath and sat slowly, closing her eyes. Here we go, she thought, I deserve this. At least if she decides to hit me, it will be with old lady force. How hard could that be? Elly winced.
“Eleanor.” Elly opened one eye cautiously. “Look at me, darling.”