What Are You Suggesting?

"You'll never guess what just happened!" Lauren exclaimed, throwing herself dramatically into a chair.  I raised my eyebrows curiously, because "dramatic" (which had never been her style) has been more and more normal since she started dating Alex, so I assumed it had something to do with him.  She looked at me expectantly, and I realized she was actually waiting for me to guess.

"If I'll never guess, you should probably just tell me," I replied.  It was Monday evening, and Lauren had just gotten home from work.  I had ordered pizza (two nights in a row, what's better?) in anticipation for our roommate night, and Lauren had been in charge of getting the wine, but I didn't see any.

She rolled her eyes at my refusal to play along and said, "I'm pretty sure Alex just almost said 'I love you' to me."

I cocked my head.  "You're...pretty sure that Alex just almost told you he loved you?"  She nodded furiously.  "And this is a bad thing?"  I couldn't quite tell.

"Of course it's a bad thing!" she exploded.  "What good can come of it?  You know what happens after people say they love each other!"

"They kiss?"

She narrowed her eyes at me.  "You're impossible.  I don't do this shit to you when you're being dramatic.  Do I?"

"You do, actually," I confirmed.

"Oh."  She looked puzzled and was silent for a moment, then she said, "Well you should have told me how fucking annoying it is.  Because it's annoying."

"It is!" I agreed.  "So I won't do it anymore if you won't.  Do you love him?"

She blinked at me, and she didn't say anything for a long time.  I was becoming mildly concerned that perhaps she was having an absent seizure when she finally said, "I don't know."

"Well, then I can see why you're worried about it," I said.

"Right!  Because what do I say if he does?" she asked.

I shrugged.  She glared.  "I'm sorry!" I said.  "I have no idea.  I wouldn't know what to say either.  I'd probably say it back or change the subject, but I'm not sure either of those is a good idea.  And don't say 'thank you'."

"Wow, thanks for all your help," she snapped, rolling her eyes.  "I forgot the wine in my car."  She stood and stomped out of the house, and I stifled a laugh.  Lauren had thought my boy problems were ridiculous for so long, it was nice to see that she wasn't immune to it!

When she returned with two bottles of wine in her hands, she looked much less annoyed.  She also didn't want to talk about Alex maybe almost saying he loved her. "Let's talk about everyone hanging out this weekend," she suggested instead.

"Good idea.  Do we want to go out?"

"I'm in the mood for Cards Against Humanity," Lauren declared.   We made some plans, deciding to have people over to our house on Saturday.  The pizza guy came while we were sending texts out letting people know.  After we invited everyone, we settled onto the couch with our wine, pizza, and Real Housewives.

"You know," Lauren mused, as I poured the last of a bottle of wine into her glass, "I'm pretty sure I actually see less of you now than I did when I wasn't living with you."

"I think that's true," I agreed.  "I think it's because we haven't been doing as many things together as a group now that everyone is coupled up."  When I had moved here, the only people in this group that were attached to anyone were Kendra and Christian.  Now we all were.  It was kind of crazy to think about. 

We briefly debated opening another bottle of wine, but decided against it.  We just talked, with the TV on in the background.  We could always find something to talk about, and that's what I loved most about us.

I was washing the wine glasses before I went up to bed when my phone rang.  Lauren brought it in from the living room and said, "It's Brody." 

"Can you answer it?" I asked, putting the second glass in the drainer to dry and grabbing a towel for my hands.  Lauren chatted with Brody while I finished drying my hands, then she handed the phone to me.  "Hello?"

"Something weird happened," he started.  That made me nervous right away. 

"What?" I asked anxiously.

"Well, it's not that weird.  But I finally went through my mail from when I was in Miami, and I got a sympathy card from Savannah." 

"From Savannah?" I exclaimed.  Lauren looked at me strangely.  "But...how did she even know?"

"That was my question," Brody said. 

"I wonder if Kendra still talks to her?" I asked.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lauren shake her head.  "Okay, Lauren says no.  That's really weird." 

I put my hand over the bottom of the phone and filled Lauren in quickly.  "What the fuck?" she whispered.  "So strange."  I nodded and said goodnight, then walked upstairs, still on the phone.  "Well besides that, how was your day?" I asked.

"Long," he replied.  "I didn't sleep well again, so I'm exhausted."   It was true, he had tossed and turned all night.  We talked for a few more minutes and then hung up so he could try to get some sleep.


The week seemed to take forever, and I didn't see much of Brody.  He was furiously trying to get caught up at work.  He spent the night a couple times but he really just came over, slept, and got up and went to work. 

In fact, he was at the office Saturday afternoon as Lauren and I prepared to have people over.  We decided to go all out, and had put together an entire spread with a taco bar, chips and queso, guac, and salsa, sangria, and tres leches cake. 

Kinsley and Cassie showed up just in time to help us put stuff out.  "Are James and Damien coming?" I asked. 

"James is working, but he said he might stop by later," Cassie replied.  Kinsley said that Damien was having dinner with his family, then heading over.  Kendra and Christian arrived next, then Alex, and finally Brody got there. 

"Hi," he greeted me, kissing me.  "I'm going to go change."  He went upstairs and came back in jeans and a hoodie.  He looked exhausted but still laughed and shoved Alex lightly into the wall when Alex gave him a hard time about not being around much.

Everyone got food and we ate before we pulled out Cards Against Humanity.  We played for nearly two hours.  About an hour and a half into it, Damien showed up.  Shortly after we finished, James knocked. 

I didn't miss the brief glare Brody shot his way before he turned back to the stack of cards he was putting in the box.  I gave him a pointed look and he sighed and said, "I know, I'll be nice."  I nodded and hugged James, directing him to the insane amounts of food that was left.  I stood in the kitchen and we caught up a little, since I hadn't really seen him since he had investigated my grandparents for me. 

"So, have you talked to them since you met them?" he asked curiously.

I nodded.  "I've talked to Nadine a couple of times, and I talked to Sarah once too.  It's still kind of weird, but they're nice people."

Brody had walked up while we were talking and he slid his arm around me.  "Thank you for helping Liv get some more information on them," he said in a friendly tone.  "I know it meant a lot to her."  I smiled at him. 

"I was glad to help," James said warily.  I could tell he wasn't sure what to make of Brody's politeness. 

Brody grinned at him, then turned to me and said, "I got a call.  I need to run in to the office, but it should be quick.  I thought I had everything I needed here, but I forgot some paperwork."

"Okay," I replied.  I  kissed him and he took off.

"He's still doing that shit, huh?" James observed. 

I shook my head.  "He's only on call certain weeks now, so it's way better.  This is his on call week."

"Don't you ever wonder what he spends all that time at the office doing?"  I hadn't noticed Cassie come into the kitchen, but her tone was innocent and curious.

I furrowed my brow.  "No, I don't.  I imagine he's working.  That's generally what people do at the office," I snapped.  James gave her a weird look.

She held up her hands in surrender and said, "Sorry, I'm just saying.  He has a lot of people in and out, sometimes it seems weird." 

"Cassie, what exactly are you suggesting?" James asked.  His tone held a hint of warning in it, and he was giving her a hard look. 

"I'm not suggesting anything!" she protested.  "Just wondering."  With that, she tugged James back into the living room, leaving me alone in the kitchen to continue to wonder what she was suggesting.