Lindsey’s apartment building had been shut down for the foreseeable future because of a dangerous black mold infestation. For now, she was sleeping on Faith’s couch. With the housing market in the city as competitive as it was, Lindsey was struggling to find a place within her budget. She wasn’t exactly broke, but money was tight.
Faith’s reply came through. Great! We’re going to celebrate the fact that we’re roommates again.
Lindsey grinned. She and Faith had lived together during art school. They’d had plenty of fun together. Not to mention that they’d gotten up to plenty of trouble.
Lindsey looked up from her phone and glanced toward Mr. Grant’s office. He was standing by the window, staring straight at her.
Crap. Lindsey stashed her phone in her drawer. She’d better get back to work. She dialed the next phone number on her list.
“This is Lindsey from Prime Life Insurance. How are you today?”
Lindsey fished the spare key to Faith’s apartment out of her handbag and unlocked the front door. She dragged her suitcase inside. “Faith? I’m here.”
There was no answer, but Lindsey could hear the shower running. She walked into the living room, set her suitcase down, and eyed the old, gray couch that was now her bed. Lindsey had crashed on it several times before. At the very least, it wasn’t too uncomfortable. And Faith sometimes stayed overnight with the family she worked for as a nanny, so she’d given Lindsey permission to sleep in her bed when she wasn’t coming home for the night.
Lindsey opened her suitcase and rummaged through her clothes. She wanted to change out of her stifling work outfit, but she had no idea what Faith’s plans for the two of them involved. Lindsey hoped it was nothing too crazy. It had been a long week, and she was feeling drained.
Faith entered the living room, dressed in sweatpants and a tee, her dark curly hair tied back in a messy bun. She flopped down onto the couch. “All moved in?”
“Yep.” Lindsey sat down next to her. “Thanks again for letting me stay with you. I promise I’ll be out of your hair soon.”
“Take your time,” Faith said. “It’ll be fun to be roommates again. It’ll be just like old times.”
“I’ll try not to cramp your style when you bring guys home. Or girls.”
“I’ve given up on guys. Girls are much more fun.”
“It must be nice to have that choice,” Lindsey said. Faith’s sexuality, according to her, was that she ‘liked pe
ople’ and that was that. She never bothered to put a label on it. Lindsey envied that about Faith. She always seemed so self-assured.
Lindsey looked Faith up and down. “What’s with the sweatpants? I thought we had plans tonight?”
“We do,” Faith replied. “We’re staying in and doing what we used to do on Friday nights when we lived together.”
“You’re not serious, are you?”
Faith nodded. “There’s some fruit and a bottle of vodka on the kitchen counter. I bought the cheapest bottle I could find. We’re making punch and staying up all night.”
Lindsey didn’t know whether to smile or groan. It had been a long time since they’d gotten drunk together, and for a good reason. It usually ended in disaster. But wasn’t Lindsey just thinking about how boring her life was? Maybe a little excitement was just what she needed.
“Okay,” Lindsey said. “Let’s do it. But we’re ordering dinner first. We don’t want a repeat of the first time we did this.” That night, they’d both learned the hard way why drinking on an empty stomach was not a good idea.
“Sure,” Faith said. “There’s this amazing Thai place a few blocks away. And they deliver. Dinner first, then punch. I’ll order food, while you get started in the kitchen.”
“Deal.”
Lindsey got up and went into the kitchen, tying up her long auburn hair on the way. She began to gather the ingredients for their signature alcoholic punch. She and Faith had come up with the recipe in their freshman year. The two of them had been this wild, inseparable pair in college, and their punch recipe had been responsible for more than one crazy night. Since then, they’d outgrown partying, but Faith still retained some of that free-spiritedness. It was another thing Lindsey envied about her. No matter what life threw at her, she seemed to take it in her stride.
An hour and a half later, they were sprawled out over the couch, the coffee table littered with empty takeout boxes. They had started drinking while waiting for the food to arrive, and Lindsey was starting to feel it.
Faith refilled her glass, then looked at Lindsey’s empty one. “Want some more?”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re trying to get me drunk,” Lindsey said. It was already too late for that.
“I just want to see you have some fun,” Faith said, drawing out her words like she always did after a few drinks. “You’ve been so mopey lately.”
“Yeah, well everything sucks right now.”