p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I glance around the little waiting room while Mikal stands beside me at the receptionist's desk, signing herself in. /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"It's small, though not particularly crowded, and there's a TV playing /spanspan class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"Click/spanspan class="s1", off in one of the corners. /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"Mikal drops the pen she's writing with and brings her hand to her face and moaning, like she's about to barf again, so I start scoping the area til I find trash bin on the other side of me and grab it./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""No no no no no" I quickly hand the trash bin to her "in here, in here" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""I-im..." she trails off, trying to indicate that she's fine, before taking it from me and retching into it. I wince, slightly, at the sound of it. "You okay?" I ask, as if I don't know the answer./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She tries to nod, spewing the remnants of whatever she'd managed to keep down until now into the plastic bin. /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I take the pen before she can pick it back up. "Why don't you go sit down, and I'll sign you in?" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She nods, reluctantly. "I'm sorry..." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I give her a peck on the cheek "s'okay , go on. Go sit down."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"she takes the trash bin with her and finds a seat, some odd amount of chairs away from the TV, and sits down with it./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Well, I guess that answers my question of why you don't keep wicker trash bins around here." I joke to the receptionist while I sign the rest of Mikal's name and the time./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She chuckles at the remark and I return the pen, making my way over to a seat next to Mikal./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"Mikal's glancing up at the TV when I sit down. /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Feelin better?" I ask./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She shrugs. "Kind of embarrassed though..." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Don't be. You're probably not the first person to do that here, and you won't be the last." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She smiles a little. "You're just saying that." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Am not, why do you think they know not to have wicker trash bins?" I tease. /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"This one gets a laugh out of her. "There are other reasons to have plastic trash bins, Zia." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Can't you just let me try to make you feel better?" I chuckle./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She puts her arm around me. "You know you do, Z."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Do I?" I smile back at her, as if totally oblivious./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She grins. "Much." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She kisses me before redirecting her attention back to the TV screen, where Christopher Walken is showing Adam Sandler the ways of his literal universal remote control./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""You ever wish you could go back in time, Zia?"/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I look back up at the TV screen. "I mean, you can't change anything, the rewind feature is really just playback, so yeah. I guess I would."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""You wouldn't wanna change anything?" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I look around, to make sure no one's within earshot. "What? Like not offing myself?"/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She shrugs. "Among other things." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I shake my head. "No...no I wouldn't, cause then I wouldn't have met you."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She smiles, leaning her head on my shoulder. "Well, that's true." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I nod. "So, what would you change?"/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""I might chuck Eugene's tape down that hole." she chuckles. /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I laugh. "It's not that baaad."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""The fact that you have to say /spanspan class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"that /spanspan class="s1"bad means that it is /spanspan class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"that /spanspan class="s1"bad."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Oh does it?" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She nods. "Yes, it does." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Mmmnn...If you say so."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"It's small, though not particularly crowded, and there's a TV playing /spanspan class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"Click/spanspan class="s1", off in one of the corners. /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"Mikal drops the pen she's writing with and brings her hand to her face and moaning, like she's about to barf again, so I start scoping the area til I find trash bin on the other side of me and grab it./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""No no no no no" I quickly hand the trash bin to her "in here, in here" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""I-im..." she trails off, trying to indicate that she's fine, before taking it from me and retching into it. I wince, slightly, at the sound of it. "You okay?" I ask, as if I don't know the answer./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She tries to nod, spewing the remnants of whatever she'd managed to keep down until now into the plastic bin. /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I take the pen before she can pick it back up. "Why don't you go sit down, and I'll sign you in?" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She nods, reluctantly. "I'm sorry..." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I give her a peck on the cheek "s'okay , go on. Go sit down."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"she takes the trash bin with her and finds a seat, some odd amount of chairs away from the TV, and sits down with it./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Well, I guess that answers my question of why you don't keep wicker trash bins around here." I joke to the receptionist while I sign the rest of Mikal's name and the time./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She chuckles at the remark and I return the pen, making my way over to a seat next to Mikal./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"Mikal's glancing up at the TV when I sit down. /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Feelin better?" I ask./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She shrugs. "Kind of embarrassed though..." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Don't be. You're probably not the first person to do that here, and you won't be the last." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She smiles a little. "You're just saying that." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Am not, why do you think they know not to have wicker trash bins?" I tease. /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"This one gets a laugh out of her. "There are other reasons to have plastic trash bins, Zia." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Can't you just let me try to make you feel better?" I chuckle./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She puts her arm around me. "You know you do, Z."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Do I?" I smile back at her, as if totally oblivious./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She grins. "Much." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She kisses me before redirecting her attention back to the TV screen, where Christopher Walken is showing Adam Sandler the ways of his literal universal remote control./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""You ever wish you could go back in time, Zia?"/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I look back up at the TV screen. "I mean, you can't change anything, the rewind feature is really just playback, so yeah. I guess I would."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""You wouldn't wanna change anything?" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I look around, to make sure no one's within earshot. "What? Like not offing myself?"/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She shrugs. "Among other things." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I shake my head. "No...no I wouldn't, cause then I wouldn't have met you."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She smiles, leaning her head on my shoulder. "Well, that's true." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I nod. "So, what would you change?"/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""I might chuck Eugene's tape down that hole." she chuckles. /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"I laugh. "It's not that baaad."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""The fact that you have to say /spanspan class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"that /spanspan class="s1"bad means that it is /spanspan class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"that /spanspan class="s1"bad."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Oh does it?" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1"She nods. "Yes, it does." /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1""Mmmnn...If you say so."/span/p