A Matter of Will by Adam Mitzner

Author:Adam Mitzner [Mitzner, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503905139
Published: 2019-06-24T16:00:00+00:00

Sam Abaddon was someone who traveled in a suit and tie. Will, on the other the hand, was dressed like it was a Sunday morning, in jeans and a sweatshirt. He immediately regretted his sartorial choice.

Sam didn’t seem to care. He thanked Will for coming on such short notice, as if declining had actually been an option.

“I just put on some coffee,” Sam said. “Can I pour you a cup?”

Coffee sounded like manna from heaven. “Yes. That would be great.”

Despite the urgency in Sam’s message, he methodically attended to the coffee, recalling that Will took it with a little cream, but no sugar. He handed a mug to Will without pouring one for himself. Then he led Will into his living room, where he took a seat in one of the two armchairs. He gestured for Will to take the other. Will realized he had seen the same chairs in the Holly Hunt showroom.

“How was your shopping excursion with Evelyn?”

Will’s guard immediately shot up. He reminded himself that he’d acted completely appropriate with Eve. For the most part, anyway. He certainly hadn’t encouraged her, and he’d stopped her advances almost immediately.

But would Eve agree with that assessment? Would she tell Sam what had happened? Had she already done so?

“It was great. Furnished nearly my entire place. One day.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear that. Evelyn is quite a talented decorator.”

He was about to ask Sam why he’d been summoned when his phone rang. “Mind if I answer this?”

He assumed it would be Gwen, telling him that she was heading to the office. But it was Eve on the line.

Will had enough experience with the opposite sex to know that these phone calls took one of two paths: apology for drunken action or a request to “talk” about it, which more often than not ended up with the couple picking up where they’d left off.

In this case, the first was unnecessary, and the second was to be avoided at all costs. The more immediate issue, however, was that he didn’t want to engage Eve at all while within ten feet of Sam.

“Hi, Eve,” he said, looking at Sam while he spoke. “I’m actually with Sam at his place right now. What’s up?”

“Really? He’s back?”

Will hesitated. Had Sam not shared his travel plans with Eve? Was his return something he wanted to keep secret from her?

He’d already told her that Sam was back, though. Therefore, whatever damage he’d done by speaking out of school was already done.

“Yes. Just this morning.”

“Put me on speakerphone.”

“What?” Will said. He was stalling, hoping Eve would think better of what she’d just requested.

He then recalled that there was a third way these day-after interactions worked. You just pretended the previous night had never happened. Perhaps Eve actually didn’t remember because the alcohol had hit her hard. It was also possible that she remembered every detail but was content to keep it stored away as a secret moment between them.

“Put me on speakerphone. I want to say hello.”

“I’m going to put her on speaker,” Will said for Sam’s benefit.

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