“Awful!” Molly cries out.
“Did you fuck those guys?”
Molly swallows hard. “Annika, are you mad at me? I’ve been worried sick. I’ve been…”
Her chin quivers. I reach across the table and smile at her. I touch her left hand.
“I sort of just vanished, didn’t I?” I ask.
“Yes. You said you were going to the bathroom and then…”
“When did you realize something was wrong? Don’t lie either.”
Molly looks down. “I’m not a good friend, Annika.”
“Maybe I’m not the good friend.”
She lifts her gaze. “What do you mean?”
“I left and never told you,” I say.
“You… left…” Molly blinks fast and wipes the corners of her eyes. “What happened? Annika, your father has been calling me like crazy. At first, I lied. Just in case. You know? But then…”
“Wait. My father is actually looking for me?”
“Yes! He’s scared out of his mind! The last time I talked to him he made a comment about you being murdered.”
“Murdered,” I whisper.
“Yes! This isn’t like you. You know that.”
I gently nod. “I was celebrating. Doing my own thing, I guess.”
“What does that mean?”
“Molly, is this my hoodie? Did you not smell the hoodie?”
It takes her a second or two.
“Wait a second,” she says. “All of this is because of a guy?”
“Maybe I was just following your lead, Molly. Isn’t that what you always do? Find a guy and just go for it? Why can’t I do that? I was out celebrating. It was supposed to be about me. Right?”
“That’s fair,” she whispers. “I just… you never… and then you…”
“What?” I ask with attitude.
“You never fuck around like that! You vanished into thin air. And I didn’t know because I was too busy with those two guys. They turned out to be roommates and that was theirscam. The sex was okay.” She shakes her head. “Sorry, this isn’t about me. I didn’t know you were gone. And then I’ve been having horrible nightmares. What kind of person am I? What kind of friend am I?”
Still all about you, Molly.
“Anything else?” I ask.
“Yes. I want to know everything. What happened? It’s been days. You look… I don’t even known. You look tired yet rested. You look like you need a shower, yet you seem fine. You look like you’ve been fucked…” Molly leans against the table and almost spills her coffee. “You have been fucked. I know yourfucked face. The face you make after you’ve had sex. It’s like you want everyone to know.”
I take the lid off my coffee and blow on the warm, roasted smelling, caffeinated heaven and then sip it. I sigh with relief.
“Molly, I met you to let you know I’m alive and well,” I say. “That’s about it.”
