Bee
I will. I guess I’m just worried about them, like something unfixable happened between them. I don’t remember the last time they fought to the point of tears. I might have been, like, twelve.
Gretchen
Can’t you just…ask them? Ask them what’s wrong?
Bee
Working on that one. I think I’m just gunna go to TCP this afternoon. I brought home an arrangement, but maybe I should take it to them. And last time I got out of the house, it really helped.
I take a picture of the arrangement to send to her, but as soon as I do, I get the nagging feeling that this is a totally dumb idea.
Bee
Dude…I dunno. What if they just smile and nod, but secretly they think it’s ugly?
Gretchen
I’m rolling my eyes at you so hard right now. TAKE THEM TO HIM. He said he wanted to see something you’d made, right?
Bee
UGH. Why are you always right?!
Gretchen
Because I’m the best. Now GO GO GO!
There’s a text from Levi when I switch apps.
Levi
I’m seeing a maniacal side of you I didn’t know existed. It terrifies me.
Bee
I am no damsel in distress.
Levi
Now that I know, I won’t try to cross you. It might be dangerous.
Bee
Very, very dangerous. Also, I am coming to see you.
Levi
R U REALLY?!
Bee
Yes.
Levi
Sheesh, don’t get excited or anything.
Bee
Ha ha. See you soon!
If only he could see my smile, my cheeks flushed with red, and hear my swiftly beating heart.
My chest loosens as soon as I pull up to TCP, parking in the last empty spot. My hands, however, are still jittery as I grab the vase of flowers from the passenger seat and head inside.
There are more people in the lobby than I’ve ever seen at once, and they all look a little like parents waiting for the doctor to tell them the sex of their baby: both excited and terrified. Missy is at the front desk, appearing as lazy and disinterested as ever. Behind her are two Indian girls, one with thick, straight hair, the other with a short, curly bob. They don’t look like twins, but their mannerisms are so similar it’s uncanny. The one with the short hair is talking on the phone while the other goes through files, standing back to back, moving in tandem.
I approach the desk, tapping the counter to startle Missy into action. She clacks her manicured nails on the desktop and glares up at me. “What?” she snaps.
“Missy, come on,” I say, my words bouncing off the wall of her attitude.
She rolls her eyes. “Looking for Levi?”
“Yeah, actually, I am. And I brought these for the office.” I set the vase on the counter. “Can I leave it here?”
“Sure. Whatever.” Missy watches as I set up the vase to the side, near the window into the office.
“Is something wrong today?” I ask.
Missy lets out an exaggerated groan. “Yeah, my dad is a jerk.”
I wince. I know for a fact that I’ve opened up a can of worms I did not want to open. But it’s too late to close it now because Missy keeps going. “He took away my shopping privileges. How am I supposed to buy those Christian Louboutin crystal-embellished pumps on sale next week if he doesn’t let me have the card?”
I raise one eyebrow. (How the hell am I supposed to answer that?) “Um. How much are they on sale for?”
“Twenty-seven hundred dollars. Originally almost seven thousand! You do realize how important this is, right?”
I choke. As in, I actually choke. I turn away from her, hacking into the crook of my elbow to mask the sound. It makes sense now, why she’s here. To redefine the word important.
“What did I say?” Missy asks, over the racket I’m making. Everyone in the lobby is looking at me.
I might die.
A new voice interrupts, lightly but distinctly tilted with an accent. “Here, give her some water. Missy, please answer that phone.”
I take the water that one of the twins offers me, the one with short hair, and swallow it all in three gulps. The girl smiles up at me as my coughing subsides.
“I’m Suhani,” she says, holding out her hand.
I choke-laugh and set down the water cup. “I’m Bee.”
Suhani laughs with me. “Nice to meet you. Levi told us you would be in. Glad you didn’t die on account of Missy.” She whispers this last part as if we’re privy to some secret.
I laugh again, still shaking with aftershock coughs. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Thanks for the water.”
The other sister, who I assume is Nikita, comes through the blue door, followed by Levi himself. He’s shaking hands with another young woman (an applicant, I’m guessing) who looks incredibly sickly. She wipes her eyes (I see people doing that a lot these days) and at the last second, Levi pauses and pulls her into a hug.
Feeling intrusive, I look away until I hear the front door shut behind the woman and Levi calling my name.
(Cue: Breath hitch.)
“Hey!” He looks like he’s about to hug me, but then he stops short and raises an eyebrow. “Are you okay? Your face is…erm…red.”
I clasp my hands over my cheeks. “Um, I’m fine. Just…choked.”
“You choked?” He rubs the back of his neck, obviously confused. Nikita whispers something to him and he laughs. “I see,” he says. “Guess what, Bee?”
“What?” I say.
“Nikita and Suhani aren’t actually twins.”
They both whack him hard on the shoulder. At the same time. (Very twin-like.) This, of course, only makes Levi grin wider.
“We are, too!” Suhani says in a harsh whisper.
“Are not,” Nikita counters. “I was born December thirty-first at eleven fifty-three at night, and Suhani was born January first, twelve ten in the morning. We were born in different years, which makes me older by far.”
I laugh in surprise.
Suhani hangs her head. “It’s not fair. Not one bit.” Then she raises her head, meets Levi’s gaze, and her mouth sets into a grim line. “You!” she accuses, poking her finger into his chest. “You promised you’d never bring this up, again!”
Levi raises his hands in mock surrender. “It’s payback for yesterday.”
Crossing her arms, Suhani juts out a hip. “Oh, right. When I called you a noodle-headed chicken man?”
I almost choke again. “A what?!”
Nikita wraps one arm around her sister’s waist, her expression all innocence. “Actually, I think you said he was a cowardly grandmother.”
“Are you sure?” Suhani asks, practically gleeful over Levi’s confused expression.
He sighs. “Come on, just t—”
“Oh!” Nikita interrupts, raising one hand in the air. “I think I hear the phone ringing. I should get it because we all know Missy won’t.”
“And would you look at that,” Suhani mutters. “The fax machine is flashing lights at me. If you’ll excuse me, boss.”
Levi throws his hands up, looking hopeless and exasperated. “I can never win.”
“What the heck is going on?” I demand, trying to hold back a giggle.
“They like to say things about me in Hindi and then never tell me what they’ve actually said. It’s exhausting. DOES EVERYONE HERE ENJOY PICKING ON ME?” he yells.