"What's that music you'replaying?"
I smiled at him. "They're calledThe Civil Wars. They broke up a few years ago, but I love theirmusic."
His head cocked. "Me too. They're sort ofbluesy."
I reached into the fridge and pulled out two sticks ofbutter.
"Would you mind if I were here a little longer? Installing the tub is giving me some trouble, and I'd like to press through until I getit."
I pulled down a bottle of wine from the top of my fridge and grabbed the corkscrew from the drawer beside me. "Not at all." I held up the bottle of wine. "I have all the company Ineed."
Martin's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Everythingokay?"
I blinked in surprise and pasted a false smile on. "Everything is great," I assuredhim.
He gave me a long look but didn't pry. Instead, he gave a short nod and headed back into the guestbathroom.
I sighed and uncorked the wine. I wanted to drink it straight from the bottle, but I was trying to pretend I was a lady these days. I snagged a wine glass from one of the top cabinets and poured an obscene amount of wine into myglass.
"There," I said, satisfied. "Dinner is served." I had carbs in the oven, fruit in my glass, I had some ham I could pull out and munch on which counted for meat, and some smoked cheese cubes I'd bought from the farmer's market last week. That was dairy. It wouldn't kill me to skip the vegetables every once inawhile.
The first glass of wine went down way too smooth. I poured a second and concentrated on making the buttercream. After that came the crushed cookie topping which was as simple as me putting a bunch of chocolate sandwich cookies in a large ziploc bag and beating the crap out of them with a rolling pin. By then I was on my third glass of wine, so I may have gotten a little bit aggressive with them, but I think I neededit.
Today had been a rollingshitshow.
The timer dinged on the oven so I grabbed my potholders and reached into take them out. I lightly touched the tops of the cupcakes and they sprangback.
"Perfect." I sat the pan on top of the stove, closed the oven door, and turned it off. I'd wait ten minutes and pop them out of the pan. They'd still need some time to cool, but I had wine and all the other stuff was alreadydone.
I took the bottle and the tray of munchies I'd made up and wobbled my way over to the television. Pouring myself a fourth glass of wine, I settled in for a little while to watch some reruns of Fringe. This show had plot holes big enough to drive a tanker truck through, but I still loved it and couldn't help but root forOlivia.
By the second episode, the wine had hit me full force. I stood and made my way carefully to the kitchen. It took me awhile to figure out how to stick the pastry tip in the bag I'd opened, but I got it eventually. I thought about maybe saving the icing for when I wasn't four glasses in, but I'd already made everything and the icing consistency wasperfect.
By the time I'd iced the sixth cupcake, I heard Martin coming out from the bathroom. He looked exhausted. I set the pastry bag down and waved at thecupcakes.
"Wantone?"
He held up a hand to wave me away. "No thanks. I'd better headhome."
"Nonsense," I slurred. I picked one up. "Chocolate Espresso cupcakes with a vanilla buttercream and cookietopping."
The hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Soundsgood."
I smiled sloppily at him. "Wine?" Iasked.
He glanced at the side table where the wine bottle sat. "If I had to guess, I'd say that bottle was pretty close toempty."
I pressed my lips together and tried not to giggle. "Bad day," I saidinstead.
He tilted his head to study me. "Want to talk aboutit?"
I shook my head furiously. "I might cry if I talk about it, and I've been crying too much. I'm even embarrassingmyself."
Martin took the cupcake from my outstretched hand. "Crying is a release of emotion. Holding it in makes things worse." He snagged another cupcake from the plate and handed it to me. "I'm harmless and unbiased. Tell me whathappened."
He led me over to the kitchen table, pulled out the chair for me, and steadied me when I wobbled a little. I slid in the chair and offered him a gratefulsmile.
"Do you know what Iam?"
