Four
Four hours was enough time for the hormones to wear off. Enough time for Rose to start asking herself of she’d made a mistake. And, apparently, enough time for Duncan to whip up a batch of Mojitos. There were a lot of things that having a gay best friend weren’t good for. Sex was one of them, but she’d had enough of that for a day.
Mixed drinks, though, he could do. And maybe Rose shouldn’t have had any, but damn it, it had been a long day, and she was only having one, and she had plenty of milk pumped already so there was no problem with having a little indulgence. Right?
He let her sit down with her glass before settling down into the couch opposite her.
“Alright, so. Spill.”
“Spill what?”
“Why do you think I made these drinks? You think I’m the one who needs a buzz? Hardly. I can tell just looking at you. Like a sixth sense. Rose is feeling funny, my little voice says.”
“Funny? Ha, ha.”
“Not that kind of funny, you impossible ass. You know what I meant.”
“Yeah, I know what you meant.”
“Then why are you arguing with me?”
“It’s my job,” Rose said, sighing. “Apparently.”
“Says who?”
“Who else is going to argue with you? Not your little boy-toys, I’ll tell you that.”
“With that ring of yours and a flannel shirt, I’ll be pulling them in hook, line and sinker. I’m telling you. They’ll be thinking, oh, I’m tempting away this manly straight man. It’ll be great.”
The drink was crisp and sweet and went down easy. The burn after wasn’t a surprise, but it had been so long that she wasn’t entirely ready for it. Like running into her boss had been. At the very least she finally caught his name: Bryce Kilpatrick.
“Well, that’s it, then. I’m arguing with you because you’re a manly married straight man.”
“It’s all an act, I tell you.”
“You really want to know what happened?”
“Yeah, I want to know. I figured I’d have to pump a little more alcohol into you before you’d tell me, but you bet your tight little tush I want to know.”
“I ran into him today.”
“Ran into who. Him?”
“Him, him, yeah.”
“Okay?”
“Apparently, Michigan Chemical wasn’t doing that well.”
“I’m not seeing what you mean.”
“Apparently, not well enough that Bob decided he wanted out. And someone else was more than happy to pick up the slack for him.”
“Your guy?”
“My guy.”
“What’s the story, then?”
Across the way, Duncan crossed his legs and leaned back and waited for Rose to regale him with the entire story. As if there was no question that she would hold nothing back. And, she supposed, there was no reason that she ought to.
“He thinks I cheated on you. With him. Today.”
“Interesting. A bold choice.”
“Yeah.”
“So he decided that he’s going for round two?”
“I don’t know. It felt like he was going for round one.”
“Ouch.”
“Well, I mean. At least he thinks I’m attractive, I guess.”
“Way to look at the silver lining. Truly, you’re an inspiration to cock-riders everywhere, Rosie.”
“I told you—”
“Not to call you that, I know. And then I called you Rosie anyways. It’s a fascinating circle of life.”
Somewhere in the house, Violet woke up. Rose set her glass down and rushed up the steps. If she took more than a few moments, then Vi was going to wake up Sarah, and then she’d have two hungry babies on her hands. At four in the morning, that would be infinitely preferable, and in those cases, it seemed like the babies could sleep through a bomb falling.
But during the day, when life would be easier with only one at a time, they slept like cats. She grabbed the baby girl, picked her up, and started moving down the stairs. More slowly this time. Duncan met her halfway with a bottle that she’d left out for specifically that purpose.
The little girl in her arms took the bottle nipple with a vague curiosity, and then after a moment seemed to decide that milk was milk after all, and she wasn’t going to complain. Rose walked down slow, keeping the bottle positioned. One day, Violet could hold her own bottle. But that day wasn’t quite here yet. One day. Soon.
“So? What’s the story?”
“The story is, for now at least, no story. I have a job still.”
“You know, Rosie…”
“Don’t.”
“I’m just thinking.”
“Why don’t you just tell me what you’re thinking?”
Violet pulled away from the bottle and started pawing at her breast. Rose could feel the alcohol going to her head already, and she’d barely had a third of the glass.
“No,” she said softly, and put the bottle’s nipple near Vi’s mouth again. The baby took it for a moment, gave it a tentative suck, and pulled away. So it was fussy baby tonight. Good timing.
“I was thinking, you’ve been talking about this guy since you knocked boots with him the one time, you know?”
“And? No, come on, Violet, just… just take the bottle, okay? For mommy?”
“And if you wanted to pursue him…”
“What? You’d be willing to step aside? How gallant, Duncan.”
“I’m just lookin’ out for my girl.” He leaned in and poked Violet gently in the tummy. She gave a shriek that might have been amusement and tried to squirm away. “And you, too, I mean.”