Against the Wall by Pippa Glencoe

Author:Pippa Glencoe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pippa Glencoe

Ready to go in 15 she texted to Sloane. She refrained from adding: Despite the fact I’d rather curl up and die.

Miriam tucked her cell phone into her armpit so she could use both hands to jiggle the key in the lock, pushing the swollen wood of her apartment’s front door open with her left hip and nearly falling down as it swung open. In the humid air, everything, including the walls of her apartment itself, was uncomfortable and out of sorts. The door was too large for its frame, the walls perspired something that smelled vaguely of stewed cabbage and sun-baked trash, and her refrigerator groaned from constantly working to cool the only thing inside of it, a half-gallon of curdling milk. She felt as bent out of shape, stinky, and soured as all of it combined.

When her phone vibrated against the sticky skin of her arm, she checked Sloane’s reply: Perfect. That’s my ETA. The A was a little bitch tonight. It was ten mins late. The ducking piece of shit.

For a second, she considered begging to get out of hanging out. She could just as easily hand off Sloane’s purse or drop it off at her apartment tomorrow. But the revelation of Marilyn’s wedding ring and the other horrors of tonight were so fresh in her mind she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep until she picked someone’s brains about them over a beer (or half a dozen)—and who better than Sloane, who had the uncanny knack for cutting right to the meat of an issue? Besides, she was already on the subway ride over.

She texted back: Take your time. Not like I’m going anywhere. Let yourself in.

Tossing her phone onto her couch along with her purse and apron, she kicked off her sneakers and walked into her bathroom, eager to wash off the day’s accumulation of sweat and grease. She peeled off her uniform and underwear and stepped into the shower before the water had a chance to heat up—the icy water on her skin felt like its own kind of orgasm, refreshing and invigorating. It cleared her mind at least somewhat—enough to chew on what she had really observed tonight at the diner.

As she sudsed up her hair, she speculated on what was going on between Ryan and the blonde. Was he having an affair with a married woman? She wouldn’t put anything past him, but then surely Jopa’s father would know about Ryan through the boy. His relationship with Jopa meant it couldn’t be a one-night stand or something hush-hush.

And as for Jopa—what did he mean about Ryan not being his big brother? Unless… yes. That was it. He must have meant he wasn’t his Big Brother. She’d assumed at the bakery that Ryan must have been assigned to him through the organization. Somehow Ryan must have known this—maybe making that guess because she had seen his mail—and perhaps they’d even had a good yuck at her expense about it.

Miriam watched the suds cascade down her body and down the drain, and the epiphany washed over her along with them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.