"Of course not. Paige is perfect," Eliza said bitterly.
When the check came, Eliza grabbed it.
"Hey, c'mon, I got you," Jeremy argued.
"No, no. I don't take any handouts," she snapped. It had been her decision to eat at Mount Fuji, even though the bill was equal to her full day's pay, which meant she'd basically worked eight hours for a few sushi rolls. "I don't expect a free ride."
They drove back to Eliza's house in silence, and when he dropped her off at her driveway, she slammed the door so hard it shook on its hinges.
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trouble in paradise
THE DISHES IN THE SINK HAD BEEN UNDISTURBED FOR A
whole week, sitting in tepid water, crusty and dirty. As Mara rinsed them off and began to stack them in the dishwasher, she wondered why Ryan never even bothered to try to make the place neater. All of his boxes were still unpacked in the living room, and the dozens of empty beer cans, dirty paper cups, cigarette butts, and empty vodka and gin bottles from the assorted parties added to the general detritus. He'd promised to clean up after each get-together, and Mara would have cleaned up herself except she had to be at work so early and she arrived home so late, there never seemed to be enough time to try to get the place in order.
She had to face it: Ryan was a terrific slob without a live-in maid.
Mara pulled the vacuum cleaner out of the utility closet and began to sweep, picking up pieces of paper and throwing all the empties into a big black trash bag. A small nagging voice in her head wondered if they had rushed into this too soon. Sure, they'd been together all year, but they'd hardly been in the same city for more than a few days.
The transition from long distance to close quarters was a rocky one.
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Ryan was so used to having people pick up after him. There was a reason why his room at home was always clean and his bed there was always made--it was called hired help. He didn't even notice that they were practically living in a trash dump. The other day she'd found a half-eaten bag of potato chips underneath the bed, along with an empty pizza box and a bong.
Not that she could talk--she wasn't the neatest person in the world--but at least she tried to put things away in their proper place. And what did he do all day? He was always surfing--either on the water or on the Internet. He could have at least begun to unpack.
Plus, all of Tinker's talk about what she and Ryan did at Dartmouth was really starting to grate on Mara. The other day, Tinker had come over to hang out, and every other sentence that had come out of her mouth began, "Me and Ryan used to . . ." The litany was endless: Ski trips. Keg stands. Greek Week. Rush parties.
Still, Dartmouth was where she wanted to be--especially because that was where Ryan was. She tried to put her doubts out of her head. She couldn't hold his messiness against him. He couldn't help it that he was used to living in a household with a staff of nine. It was the way he'd been raised. She had seen his room at the frat and shuddered to think what kind of mold had seeped into the beer-soaked walls. But for some reason, she had assumed that when they lived together, he would clean up his act. She had obviously assumed incorrectly.
She couldn't even be that mad at him, because whenever she pointed out how gross the boat was, he was always so cheerful
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and apologetic about it. Not that it ever amounted to actual cleaning on his part.
Mara pressed the lever and switched off the vacuum. The room didn't look any tidier. She sighed. It was the most she could do for now, since she had to meet Jacqui and Eliza at the premiere of the new feel-good Cameron Diaz movie in an hour.
She arrived a few minutes late and found Eliza waiting by herself in front of the theater. The red carpet was empty, since the stars had yet to arrive. A small group of photographers stood around chatting. A few of them took casual shots of Mara and Eliza to fill the time. Nothing reduced a person to celebutante status faster than the sight of a real celebrity. As soon as tousle-headed Cameron arrived, the photographers forgot all about Mara and Eliza. Not that either minded. They had both gone through the PR rinse cycle and had come out of it a little worse for wear.
"Where's Jeremy?" Mara asked.
Eliza shrugged, and Mara didn't push. It wasn't as if Ryan was there with her either. It turned out Jacqui was the only one who brought a date. She arrived holding hands with Duffy, the tall blond one with the Heath Ledger smile.
"What's the story?" Eliza whispered when Duffy excused himself to collect the complimentary popcorn and snacks.
"He's nice," Jacqui allowed, smiling.
"So is he the one?" Mara teased. "What about the other two?"
Jacqui shrugged. She'd asked Duffy on impulse since she had seen
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him first--bumping into him at the tennis courts that afternoon. Not that she was neglecting the other two--she was supposed to go parasailing with Grant tomorrow, and Ben had asked her to accompany him to a reggae festival in Quogue later that week.