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CHAPTER EIGHT

  Preparations

  March 10th, 2012

  Rachel snorted loudly when she awoke. There was hardly a morning that passed where she didn’t wake up confused and frantic, and she looked back and forth in an attempt to get her bearings. She wiped the drool off her lips and then looked at Stephen to see if he was still asleep.

  Her phone was ringing and the shrill pitch hurt her head.

  “Crap,” she said as she slid out of bed. The new, silk sheets were slick and she fell to the floor where she cursed again.

  “You all right?” asked Stephen without moving.

  Rachel bounded up, wearing only a pair of underwear, and pulled the cover off the bed to wrap around herself. “Where’s my phone?” Rachel was useless in the morning, and always had trouble figuring anything out before having her first cup of coffee. It took Stephen several months to get used to her manic morning routine, but now he mostly ignored her.

  Stephen was laying nude, face down on the bed, and pointed lazily toward the kitchen. “In there somewhere.”

  Rachel ran off and nearly tripped over Stephen’s discarded clothes. “Phone, phone, phone,” she said as she searched. “Aha!” It was on the kitchen counter beside an empty bottle of wine. The bottle was one of two that they’d finished the night before.

  “Hello,” she answered. The blanket fell off her shoulder when she tried to hold the phone against it. “God damn it.”

  “Did I catch you at a bad time?” asked the woman on the line.

  “Depends,” said Rachel. “Who is this?”

  “Alma, from the school and the restaurant yesterday.”

  “Oh, Alma!” Rachel tried to sound more cordial. “I’m sorry, I just woke up. I am, without a doubt, the worst morning person you’ve ever met. And to make matters worse, I’m pretty hungover at the moment. Sorry.”

  Alma laughed. “I understand completely.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  “Have you and Stephen left for Widowsfield yet?”

  “No,” said Rachel as she started to make coffee. “We’re heading out today. Why?”

  “Got room for two more?”

  Rachel dropped the scoop of coffee grounds. She needed to give her full attention to the phone call. “You want to come?”

  “My friend and I wanted to go, if that’s okay.”

  “Oh my God, yes. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. We’d be happy to have you. Stephen is going to be ecstatic to hear that you’re coming. We’ve been planning this for such a long time.”

  “Do you have room for both of us?”

  “I think so,” said Rachel. “Stephen just bought a shit load of equipment to take with us, but I think he’s planning on renting a van. I’m absolutely positive we can make room for you and… Who was it you were bringing?”

  “My boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, kind of boyfriend,” Alma struggled to encapsulate the relationship. She finally just said, “Paul.”

  “Sounds good. We’ll take you any way we can get you.”

  “I want to discuss some stipulations about me coming though,” said Alma. “I’m still a little nervous about the idea of airing all of this for the world to know. I’d prefer to have final say on whatever you say about me or my past, and whatever footage I’m in.”

  “I’m sure Stephen will agree to that. You’ll have to talk to him about it, but I’m sure he’ll be okay with it.”

  “Okay then,” said Alma. “What time do we leave? Oh, and what sort of clothes should I bring?”

  “Tell you what,” said Rachel. “As a thank you, why don’t you let me take you out to buy some new clothes? We’ll make a date of it.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” said Alma.

  “No, I want to,” said Rachel. “We’ll get you something nice to make you feel good being on camera. Trust me, the right clothes make all the difference.”

  “Okay, you’re the expert.”

  “Do you still have my card?” asked Rachel. “Of course you do, otherwise you wouldn’t have this number. You see the address on the card?”

  “Yes.”

  “Meet me there at ten, if that works for you.”

  “Sounds good to me,” said Alma.

  “Great! I’ll see you in an hour then.”

  Rachel squealed in delight and spun in a circle with the phone held above her head. The blanket fell to her feet, but she was too excited to mind. She bounded into the bedroom and leapt on the back of Stephen’s legs.

  “Guess what!”

  “Oh Christ!” Stephen put his head under a pillow and covered his ears, clearly a victim of their celebration the night before.

  Rachel put her phone on the bed and started to spank both of Stephen’s butt cheeks independently. “Get up, sleepyhead. Butt bongos, butt bongos,” she gleefully continued to slap him like an instrument.

  Stephen swung the pillow back at her haphazardly and laughed when he asked, “What’s gotten into you? How are you not hungover?”

  “I am, actually, I think I might still be a little drunk. I don’t know, but that’s not the point. I’ve got great news. Huge news!”

  Stephen started to turn and pushed her off the back of his legs. She bounced on the bed beside him and he slid partway over her, as if trying to pin her down with a sleepy wrestling move. However, when he realized she was partially nude he perked up.

  “Are you running around the house naked?” he asked, though he didn’t seem to mind.

  He groped her, misinterpreting her morning surprise, and she pushed his hand away. “Stop it.”

  “What?” He tried again.

  “Oh my God, stop it. We don’t have time. Someone’s meeting me here in an hour and I’ve got to get ready.”

  “An hour?” asked Stephen. His eyes were barely more than slits and he had a goofy drunken grin as he lecherously stared at Rachel’s breasts. “That’s way more time than I need.”

  “Aren’t you even a little curious who’s coming over?” asked Rachel as she relented and let Stephen play with her breasts.

  “Sure,” said Stephen for her benefit as he started to lick around her nipple.

  “You’re horrible,” said Rachel, although his attention had started to arouse her.

  “Yeah,” said Stephen as he kissed his way up her neck.

  She closed her eyes and enjoyed his foreplay. She’d learned to enjoy it whenever he took the time, which wasn’t as often as she would’ve liked. He climbed over her, already erect, and opened her legs. Rachel pushed his shoulders up as he had his lips suctioned to her nipple, and forced him to look at her. “Alma’s coming with us to Widowsfield.”

  Stephen’s eyes grew wide and a boyish excitement overtook him. “Seriously?” He sat up straight, seeming to lose all interest in intercourse.

  “Yes, that’s what I was trying to tell you. That’s who’s coming over. I’m going to take her out to buy some clothes before we head out.”

  Stephen put his hands on his head and looked like a child on Christmas. “This is great! Rachel, this is huge!”

  “I know. That’s what I was trying to tell you before you started trying to do me.”

  “What made her change her mind?”

  “I don’t know,” said Rachel. “She just called and said that she’s willing to come as long as we let her boyfriend come too.”

  “She can bring the philharmonic for all I care.”

  Rachel chuckled. She liked seeing Stephen this excited. “She wants to have final say on what footage airs, and what we talk to her about, but we were going to give her that anyhow.”

  “Sure, that’s fine by me.” Stephen got off the bed and started to gather his clothes.

  “Hey,” said Rachel as she lay on the bed, watching him get dressed. “What are you doing? You’re just going to get me all ready to go and then leave me cold?”

  He looked at the alarm clock to check the time. “Don’t you have to get ready?”

  She gave him a derisive grin. “I’m pr
etty sure we can fit in the few minutes you need to finish up here.”

  “Few minutes?” He crawled back onto the bed and over her. “Baby, you’d better get ready for at least, like, five minutes of heaven.”

  Rachel laughed and then squealed as he dove over her and started to bite playfully at her neck.