Stanton Box Set

I frown and nod. “Apparently I need one.”

“This is James Bond shit and, trust me, you are no Bond girl.”

I laugh. “You’ve got that right.” A little girl walks up to us while her mother orders.

“Hello,” Abbie smiles.

The little girl glares at us and walks off. Abbie hunches her shoulders and laughs.

“Getting clucky, Abbie?” I ask.

“God no,” she winces. “I don’t cluck, I fuck.” We all burst out laughing.

“What about you Bridge. How’s Jeremy?” She smiles and fake–bats her eyelashes.

“Perfect,” Abbie does cross–eyes and lurches to simulate throwing up. Hmm, I nod. How do you go from thinking a guy is playing up to being totally in love in the space of three weeks?

Bridget grabs my arm. “Oh shit, I forgot. What did Josh say about Ivy?”

I frown. “Who’s Ivy?”

Bridget rolls her eyes. “The frigging vet.”

I pull a disgusted face. “You mean Amelie.”

She nods, “Yeah, that’s her.”

I shrug my shoulders. “I didn’t ask him.”

“Why in the hell not?”

I blow out a breath. “At that point of our massive argument I was more worried about TC.”

“Oh shit, what did he say about her?” Abbie is seated on the front of the chair with bated breath waiting for my answer.

“I’m actually embarrassed to tell you.” I wince as I imagine their reaction. Too bad I’m not lying to cover his sleazy ass. “She’s a prostitute that he had sex with.”

“Fuck off!” Bridget snaps. Abbie’s eyes are the size of the saucers.

“No way.”

“Unfortunately yes.” The girls both sit in silence with frowns on their face. I sip my coffee, acting totally unaffected that my boyfriend uses prostitutes.

“And you’re ok with this?” I hunch my shoulders.

“Seriously, you need to change your job. You are so desensitized to this shit it’s frigging scary.”

Is that true? I smile to myself—of course it is. Every second male I see is a sex addict who frequents prostitutes. In fact I think prostitutes do a great service to the community. Imagine the rape crimes if unstable men had no other way of getting their needs met. I shrug my shoulders.

“As long as he is loyal to me now is what matters in this early stage of our relationship.”

Abbie rolls her eyes. “Who are you convincing—us or yourself?” I pull a sad smile and hunch my shoulders again.

“You’re right,” I whisper. “This is messed up but I don’t really know how to deal with this so I’m going with denial.”

“Idiot,” Bridget snaps.

“Totally,” I whisper.