Elly had always felt that the best mornings started with the best breakfasts. This is why, on the day of the dreaded consultation, she began the day with homemade raspberry and brown sugar oatmeal. She followed this with a shot of vodka. The studio, which Elly had immaculately cleaned the day before, was empty save for the single table in the middle of the room. She went to the cooler and started pulling for the arrangement that would sit on the table during the meeting. Hmm, she thought, what says “you wrecked my life?” A crackled vase, broken, like her. Blood red roses, symbolic of Lucia’s fiery hair, along with dusty miller to frame the outside of the arrangement like creepy intrusive fingers. Fuchsia nerine lilies added a bright splash of betrayal, and vibrant yellow costus French kisses added a distorted, misshapen feeling to the vase. She topped it all with dark brown branches, their decaying berries adding a tart, sickly smell. She placed it in the middle of the table, and laid down the contract, with three sharpened pencils on the side of it.
Snarky Teenager came in the front door, unlocking it and then flipping the sign to open. She stopped when she saw the flowers on the table. “That is the ugliest arrangement I’ve ever seen. Did you make that blindfolded?”
Elly smiled grimly. “It was how I was feeling.”
“Yikes,” breathed Snarky Teenager, hanging her black trench coat on the coat rack. Her white lace sweater dress barely covered her upper thighs, and there was nothing between that and her heeled brown leather boots. For once, Elly was glad for her near-nudity - perhaps Lucia would be threatened by this younger and more vibrant woman. Snarky Teenager burped loudly and took a large sip of tea. Not likely, Elly thought.
There had been massive preparations for today. Four chairs sat at the table. Elly had placed both Sunny and Snarky Teenager between her and Lucia, hopefully allowing her as little contact as possible and putting Lucia well out of punching range. Snarky Teenager was to do most of the talking, under the guise that she was undergoing training for final consultations. Elly was hoping to do as little conversing as possible, and she was going to attempt to direct most, if not all, of her questions to Sunny. The consultation was to last no more than an hour, and Elly had called Sunny that morning and informed her that they had another meeting beginning at noon. There was no water or cookies on the table, no cute cards or favors. This was business, and Elly wanted to get it done. She looked at the clock. 10:30. They would be arriving in a half hour. Her adrenaline pumped wildly, and her stomach writhed like a wild animal.
That morning she had forced herself to cry, hoping that it would get out any tears that threatened to fall during the consultation. Facing herself in the mirror, eying the haircut that looked much better when Kita did it, Elly told herself that no matter what, she would not lose control of the consultation. That was key. She had to maintain the control, both over her emotions and over Lucia. I can do this, she told herself, standing in front of the store. I have control.
Snarky Teenager’s voice boomed across the store. “Oh. My. GOD! Is that a hickey?” She pranced up to Elly, pulling at her collar. “No way, that is totally a hickey.”
Elly looked at her, wide-eyed. “Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no.” She raced over to the small mirror next to her desk. Sure enough, just above her clavicle was a large dark mark. She closed her eyes and saw Isaac nuzzling deep into her neck, his hand clutching the curve of her hip. He was an incredible kisser, and even though nothing truly intimate had happened, Elly had lingered on every breath and caress.
Snarky Teenager stood behind her and poked her long finger against the hickey. “Are you going to cover it up?”
Elly smiled. “No, I don’t think so.”
“That’s not very classy, considering Sunny will be here.”
Elly fell violently out of her daydream. “Sunny. Yes, that’s right. I probably should cover it up.”
She ran up the stairs to her apartment, pushing Cadbury back from the door with her foot. Her heart hammered nervously in her chest.
“Hi, good boy, Mommy needs a turtleneck.”
Cadbury let out an overblown sigh and went back to sleep in front of the door. Elly clawed at her closet. Where was it? She knew she had a flattering black turtleneck in here somewhere! Racing to her laundry basket, she dumped the entire thing upside down, sending clothing and underwear flying all over the floor.