Pearl hated Tuesdays.
Mondays, surprisingly enough, she could tolerate. Usually because she stored enough energy and afterglow of relaxation from the weekend that the first day back was a breeze. Sure, she was tired, and sometimes she had to run errands after work anyway, but the job itself wasn't too bad.
Tuesdays were a different story. Because the last weekend was now far in the rear view mirror, the next one too far away to anticipate. The energy was gone, the relaxation another forgotten sensation.
And besides, there was work.
Today was a day much like any other. She sat punching numbers into the medical bills that came to her computer file. Most days, it was simple enough: she added figures and codes to bills and filed reports with state agencies.
She glanced out the window at the far end of the office. It was a sunny day (but cold, Pearl lamented) and she could just make out the blue-green smudge of ocean underneath the horizon. An eternal, somewhat mocking reminder that there was more too life than this.
She'd worked at this company for two years. It was a small insurance agency based out of Beach City, which mostly handled worker's comp and casualty claims. Its offices occupied two floors of Dewey Tower, the largest building in Beach City and the closest it had to a skyscraper.
She didn't dislike the work. Though their office was open, her desk sat at the back of the floor, where she could spend the day mostly by herself. At worst, it was dull and repetitive. But it wasn't particularly stressful or difficult, and Pearl didn't mind punching a clock every day. Her job gave her insurance, stable hours and, best of all, no weekends or customer interactions - something which had driven her insane at previous jobs.
But still, it was work. And it sure wasn't Pearl had imagined for her life, at this point. Mostly, she tried not to think about it.
"Pearl...did you file the bills from TriplePlan yet?"
Pearl turned and saw Fluoride standing over her. She was a pleasant old woman who'd been with the company for decades; she'd trained Pearl, and worked as her de facto supervisor. Nice, but a bit demanding sometimes.
"I haven't gotten to them yet," Pearl gestured. "I'm still doing the comp claims from January."
"Oh, okay. I don't mean to rush you..." she said, speaking in a slight, quavering stammer that belied her physical energy. "Just that the TriplePlan people are dumping all their claims on us this month."
"Holy shit!" a loud, nasal voice rasped from the other side of the room.
"As you can see," Fluoride remarked dryly, "Amber's getting hit hard around this time of month."
The tall blonde in the corner wrinkled her face. "You're damn right, Fluoride. I can't stand this goddamn...I'm sorry for the language. But really, these PremiumHelp people added the wrong code to all these bills..."
Amber looked enough like Pearl to be her sister; both were tall, thin and had similar facial expressions, though Amber had long, blonde hair that she usually wore up. Amber didn't seem amused by the comparison, though she didn't seem amused by much anything. She struck Pearl as utterly humorless, always grousing about something or other, usually work, sometimes the general misery of her life.
Pearl liked Fluoride and tolerated Amber. But she didn't really consider her coworkers friends, even the younger ones, closer to her age. Except maybe Bismuth, who was on vacation, and Rhodonite, the nervous tech support girl downstairs, whom Pearl only saw once in awhile. And even them, she never saw outside of work.
Maybe if you stopped complaining all the time, Pearl thought as Amber went on another rant, you would get some work done.
But that thought obviously hadn't occurred to Amber, who kept complaining about what idiots their clients were, and how she had to do all the work around here. Fluoride did a better job at pretending to pay attention, nodding her head politely and occasionally. Pearl's eyes glazed over after a minute and drifted back to her computer screen.
She punched in the codes on one or two more bills as Amber's rantings continued. Then caught notice of the clock - 11:34. Not quite lunchtime yet.
She sighed, until suddenly a thought popped into her head. She waited until Fluoride had drifted a little closer to Amber, then logged into Facebook.
She typed Amethyst Barnes into her search engine. It only took a minute to find her - her profile pic looked a few years old, showing her in a club with her hair (dyed purple then - she'd been blonde when Pearl knew her) messy and falling over her face, two unidentified girlfriends flanking her. A classic drunken club selfie.
Pearl rolled her eyes, hesitating for just a minute before taking action. She didn't know what to make of someone who, at their age, would still consider that an appropriate profile pic. Then she clicked the tab for friend request.
She didn't wait for an answer. Instead, she typed a quick message:
Hi Amethyst,
It's Pearl. Been thinking about our conversation the other night - I'd still like to catch up, if that's all right with you. Please let me know what date and what plan works best for you.
Regards,
Pearl
She sent it, just as Fluorite turned her heads towards Pearl. Pearl instinctively panicked, closing the web browser.
"See, we're distracting poor Pearl from her work," Fluoride said.
"That wasn't my intention," Amber huffed. "I'm just sick of these people sending us bills with the wrong codes or the incorrect amounts for the incorrect days. Why, just the other day..."
Pearl groaned out loud and buried her face in her hands. She didn't know how much more of Amber's Bitching Hour she could tolerate.
Pearl tried going to the gym when she could. She'd made a resolution to start going there weekly, for New Years, but only kept that for two weeks. Not her fault, entirely; the weather had been lousy and made leaving her apartment a nightmare. So, really, she'd gone twice since January 1st, and it was now the middle of February.
Tonight she arrived just after work, wearing a light blue top with a matching towel. She saw, to her chagrin, that all the machines were taken, and considered going home to relax. That might be best after a day like today.
But no, she decided. She needed to work out her frustrations somehow. And what better way than exercise?
Finally, after a few minutes a middle-aged man hopped off a bike, panting and dripping with sweat. He looked about ready to collapse right there. Pearl waited for him to grab his things - he didn't wipe off the seat.
Pearl made a face, recoiling from the sight. She sure didn't want to wipe that mess off herself.
"You can use my towel," the person next to her said.
Pearl looked over and saw a woman roughly her age, her hair jet-black in a short bob, her face olive-tan and her eyes sparkling blue.
She was startlingly beautiful. Pearl didn't bother looking at the white towel in her hand.
"Are you sure?" Pearl said.
"No problem," the other woman replied. "I always carry a back-up in case some slob doesn't clean up after himself." She gestured to a yellow towel beside her, handing Pearl hers.
"Must happen a lot," Pearl remarked, taking the towel.
"Oh, there's always some guy - I mean, let's face facts, it's always a guy - who just sits there and sweats like a pig and leaves us to deal with it. Maybe they're lazy. Maybe they think his magical butt puddle is his gift to womankind."
"Well, thanks," Pearl said, quickly wiping the seat and throwing the towel down next to the bike.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Pearl began to apologize, bending down to pick it up. Though the thought of all those sweat germs made her queasy. But the woman waved her off and began riding again.
Pearl just nodded and began riding herself. Occasionally sneaking an ill-concealed glance at her exercise partner's well-shaped legs.
Fortunately, the woman seemed completely in the zone, and didn't notice. Or care, at least.
After about forty minutes, Pearl had completely exhausted herself. She took several moments to catch her breath, then cleaned off the seat and herself.
She heard the woman next to her stop riding. Pearl looked over to see her approach. She was coated in a glistening layer of sweat, her dark blue outfit soaked around the arms, but otherwise she seemed remarkably unfazed by her ride.
"First time?" she asked, gulping down a drink of water.
"Not quite. I'm just not as regular as I should be."
"Hmm." The woman offered Pearl her water; Pearl shook her head.
"It takes a lot of practice," the woman said. "Like, I try and ride the bike two or three times a week. On top of my other exercises."
"You sound like a pro."
"Nah, not really. I work in, let's say a high-stress job and it's a good way to work out my frustration."
"Oh? What do you do?"
"I'm in politics."
That surprised Pearl. "Huh? You, uh, run for office."
"Not yet," the woman said. "Maybe someday. No, I mostly do behind-the-scenes stuff for local candidates. Canvassing, arranging campaign events, that sort of thing. I'm doing Billy Fryman's run for city council right now, to fill in Lee Lyman's seat."
"Fryman, huh? I didn't know he was running." Pearl knew the gruff, stocky man who owned Beach Citywalk Fries on the boardwalk well.
"So you see how good a job I'm doing," the woman joked. "I mean, he's basically running unopposed. There's a kook who lives outside of town who tries to run for something every year, but...even a shit town like this won't elect him to office. I mean, to give you an idea..."
"You mean Halverson?"
"That's the one. Ran for Mayor and got arrested for drug possession two days before the election. And he still got 24 percent of the vote!"
"Guess some people really don't like Nanefua."
"I guess. Or they just like to be contrarian. There's an old phrase from when Obama ran for the Senate in Illinois. His opponent was Alan Keyes, a Republican lunatic who didn't even live in Illinois, and he somehow managed 27 percent of the vote. There was a political scientist who studied the race but couldn't figure out why, and termed it the crazification factor. There will always be a small slice of people you'll never convince no matter what."
"Doesn't take a political scientist to get that," Pearl said. "It's just human nature."
"Yeah, I guess. But it makes me seem smart."
The two women stared at each other, suddenly enjoying each other's company. Until Pearl was struck by something.
"Have we met before?" she asked, studying the other woman's face.
The woman tilted her head. "Maybe? You do look sort of familiar."
"I'm Pearl, Pearl Avalon."
"Pearl..." The other woman thought for a moment. "Yeah! You know Amethyst Barnes, right?"
"Huh. Yeah, I used to..." Pearl said, not sharing about their reconnection. "We knew each other years ago."
"Ah, okay. I used to date her roommate a million years ago. We probably met around that time."
Pearl tried to jog her memory. She knew her now, but didn't know her name. And that was embarrassment.
"You're, um...Forgive me. You had a very unique name. It was...some kind of rock."
The woman snorted and chuckled. "I've never heard it put...quite that way! But you're not wrong."
"Sorry, sorry. Gimme a minute and I'll figure it out," Pearl said.
"Umm...Lapis?"
The woman nodded. "Bingo!"
"Lapis Lazuli! Oh, yes! I'm sorry. You'd have thought I could remember something like that."
"Well, I had blue hair back then," Lapis said. "I kinda grew out of that."
"Why? I remember it suiting you very well."
"Well, when me and Peridot broke up, it was kind of...I needed a change. And my hair was one of the easiest things to change."
"Gotcha."
"I take you're not seeing Rose anymore."
"Rose?" Pearl said, startled that Lapis remembered her. And at the woman's matter-of-fact tone.
"Umm, no. Not for...awhile now."
"Yeah. I know her kid, slightly. He and Greg, I think that's the dad's name, are still living in Beach City."
"Oh." Pearl didn't necessarily want, or need to know that information.
"Yeah, Greg worked on my last campaign. Wrote a jingle or two for us. He's a nice guy, but..."
She stopped herself.
"Anyway...it's nice to see you again."
"Same," Pearl said, still feeling a little flustered by the whole thing.
"Maybe we can, I dunno, get drinks or something."
"Oh! Well, I mean, I really don't drink, but...maybe coffee?"
Lapis chuckled. "Sure! My schedule's a bit packed, but the election's in a couple of weeks. I should be free after that. Or you can come hang out at Fryman's place."
"Hmm. I'll think about it," Pearl said, an empty half-promise she probably wouldn't follow through on.
"Or we could just meet here when you get a chance, and you can admire my hot, sweaty bod."
"Umm...what?" Pearl was taken aback.
Lapis chuckled and put her hands on her hips.
"Come on, you think I didn't notice those looks you were throwing me? I never would have pegged you for a creep."
"I'm sorry," Pearl apologized.
"No worries," Lapis assured her. "I'm just kidding around. Besides, I'm usually stared at by much less attractive people."
Pearl blushed and chuckled. "Erm...I'm sorry, all the same."
"Just learn to be a little more discreet," Lapis told her, tossing her towel over her shoulder.
"Well, whatever you decide...I'm glad we could talk," she continued.
Pearl nodded, watching Lapis walk off. And wondering if she'd just dreamed that whole weird conversation.
Then she saw Lapis pour her water bottle over her head as she left the gym, to the consternation of two men entering the gym. Pearl's face blanched.
I'll shower here, she decided.
Pearl had just arrived home when her cellphone vibrated. She looked and saw that she'd received a Facebook update.
Could be her Mom. Could be Amethyst. Probably her mom.
But she rushed to her laptop anyway.
She saw that Amethyst had accepted her friend request. And written a quick reply
"P - thanks for friending me! u dont have 2 b formal on here, u know? but i appreciate it all the same! how r u thursday nite?"
Pearl rolled her eyes at Amethyst's writing. Either she was mocking her, or she still wrote like a teenager at age 30. Or 29. However old she was.
She went to type a response, then noticed Amethyst's avatar seemed different.
Curious, she clicked into Amethyst's profile.
Amethyst had changed her picture! Just a few minutes before, it seemed. The wild party girl was replaced with a more formal-looking picture, almost studio-quality, of a plump young woman with straight black hair, wearing a dark purple blazer and earrings. She looked a little thinner than Pearl remembered, a lot neater, and her hair wasn't colored any more. (Maybe that was a theme? she thought, remembering Lapis.) But it was unmistakably her.
The smile was the dead giveaway; though it was a more formal look than Pearl remembered. There was still the mixture of welcoming mischief playing across her face.
That seemed...strangely reassuring.
Though the whole thing struck Pearl as odd. Had she changed her avatar just for me? To prove she's more mature, now? It was hard not to draw that conclusion.
Pearl didn't know whether to be flattered or unnerved. Regardless, she wasted no time in typing a reply to Amethyst's IM:
Thursday night it is! Let's get coffee, okay?
She sent the message and collapsed on her bed, still tired from the exercise, her mind still unwinding from work and her strange encounters.
Then she turned on the television, scrolling over to a crime show she liked when her brain needed junk food, and made herself some dinner.