I Was Told It Would Get Easier(80)

“Shouldn’t we get a cab?” I asked. “Wouldn’t it be quicker?”

She laughed. “Nope, on Friday evening the quickest way to get across town is not a cab.” She headed off. “Let’s pray there are no subway delays.”





27





JESSICA


So, Emily and Chloe went off to do something downtown, leaving me with Amanda and Rob.

“Are they up to something, do you think?” I asked Amanda as we heard the door close downstairs.

“Almost certainly,” she replied. “They usually are.”

“Well, I didn’t think so,” I replied, “but Emily surprised the shit out of me this week.” I told her about the cheating.

She laughed. “Man, I look back at high school and laugh at how easy we had it, don’t you?”

I nodded. “Yup. I don’t remember pressure like they have, or even that much interest. Going to high school in the nineties was pretty straightforward.”

“I didn’t even have a computer until college.”

“I didn’t have a cell phone until college.”

“I didn’t have sex until college.”

I coughed. “Uh . . .”

She laughed. “Well, you beat me there. But our kids grew up in a literally changed world from us. When they say, It’s not like it was when you were young, they’re actually right. Very irritating.”

Rob came in. “Hey, do you guys want to smoke pot and play video games?”

I turned to Amanda. “He’s joking.”

She shook her head. “Nope. This is the one drawback of him spending all his time around young people. He thinks he is one.”

I threw a soft cushion at Rob. “Dude, get a grip.”

He laughed. “Age is just a number, Jess. You’ve followed the rules all your life, why not break down this once?” He waved a little pen-looking thing at me. “It’s not smoke, it’s vapor. You won’t even cough.”

I suddenly felt my reservations melt away. “Why not? This has been a challenging week. But I am not playing video games. Whenever I watch Em do it, I get motion sickness.”

Amanda grinned and took the vape pen from her husband. “That’s fine, you and I can sit here, eat chips, and make fun of him. It’s great, I do it a lot these days.”

“Okay,” I said. “And maybe it will help me work out what the hell I’m going to do with myself after Emily leaves.”

“Or even before,” said Rob. “If I’ve learned anything in the last year or so, it’s that it’s all very well to look before you leap, but you shouldn’t look for too long.”

“Are you stoned already?” said Amanda, laughing. “You sound like a fortune cookie.” She stood up. “Speaking of which . . .” She headed into the kitchen.

I inhaled deeply, proving that smoking is like riding a bicycle; your body remembers even if you don’t. Then I settled back for a quiet, reflective evening of intelligent conversation and emotional clarity. Or eating my body weight in cookies and laughing at everything, whatever.

It’s not like I’m going to need to do anything this evening. Emily isn’t even here. I pointed at my friends. “You must promise never to tell Emily about this, okay?”

Rob exhaled and nodded. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”

“We’re not in Vegas.”

“Exactly.”

It was after the second round of pot that I suddenly realized I’d never turned my phone back on after I’d turned it off in the hotel room. I probably should have left it off, to be honest, but my stoner brain was very confident.

It started buzzing the minute I turned it on.

“My god,” said Amanda, “it’s possessed.”

“Seven texts from John, four from Valentina, and two from Ostergren.” I looked at my friend. “Shall I throw the phone away and tell them I was robbed?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “You’re thousands of miles away, they’ll never know.”

The phone rang. I answered it instinctively. “Uh . . . yes?”

“Jessica, it’s John.”

“Hello,” I replied carefully. I heard a noise—Amanda was picking up the vape pen again. I frowned at her.

“Ostergren’s acquisition is going through, and he’s demanding both you and Valentina on his account.”

I thought hard. “Is Valentina a partner yet?”

“No.”

I hung up. Then I giggled. “That may have been a mistake on my part.”

Amanda stared at me. “Did you just hang up on your boss?”

“Yes. He was asking for it.” My phone rang again. John. “Hi, John. Is Valentina a partner now?”

He was sputtering. “Jessica, did you just . . .”

I hung up again.

“You’ve lost your mind,” said Amanda, raising her voice. “Rob, take off that ridiculous headset, Jessica has lost her mind. She’s too high, we need to make some coffee.”

Rob shook his head. “It won’t help, it’ll simply add a layer of hyper over the top of the stoned. Can I go back to my game?”