div id="chapters" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"
div id="chapter-1" class="chapter" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"
div class="userstuff module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 613.71875px; float: none; word-wrap: break-word;" role="article"
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"A quick run to the local grocery store was a bad idea, like a meth-head shoot out bad./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Couldn't she just have her slushie and drink it too? Was that too much to ask from the world?/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Eve had hoped that when she left New York, newly dubbed as/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"persona non grata,/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"the work and shit that came with it would end. All the 'yeehaws','yeeyees', sunshine, and neighborly BBQs this town holds could power the tristate area for decades. Meaning that random armadillos and megachurches became her new normal./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Fucking Aurelio, man. Leave it to the mech to put in a final word with his abuelo for letting her buy his house while he moved to Jersey to stay with him. It's not like she was that desperate to move, she could have gone to Paris, Santiago, even Sweden. But one phone call with Matteo changed her mind./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: oblique;"Atlantic City, mi bonita, is the dream for an old goat like me. I couldn't leave a house I shared with the love of my life in better hands than yours, mija. I have a feeling this place will be perfect for you./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Summertime proved to be a pain in the ass for moving. In the small culdesac stood three houses, as the two outside ranch-style houses with immaculate yards were occupied the remaining one in the center, styled a light cream with green shutters and a "Just Sold" sign, had to be hers. She didn't have much, just a bugout bag and her lockbox. Aurelio was handling the rest of her stuff./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"In retrospect, moving to Texas was a terrible idea. Yes, it's a beautiful state, bless abuelo Matteo, BUT the people were/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"so/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"friendly and nosy. As a self-diagnosed antisocial agnostic bookworm that was pushing her to the limit. The quiet suburb outside of town was ideal for laying low, given the fact that she was practically the only single person there. A first class opportunity for the little old lady, Marilla, next-door to set her up with every dentist and chiropractor she knows. Not that she actually called them, a pizza and whiskey night alone was her type of night./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Maybe her type of night for the past year since she moved. Don't judge./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Pulling up the driveway, Eve put her baby in park. A 1965 Chevy Impala painted a dark metallic emerald. Winston was always a fan of the flashy classics, but in their line of work/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"flashy can be dangerous/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;". Hell, if John can get away with his black 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 then she can too./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Then again, flashy was dangerous. Take a look at her now, excommunicado and still single AF./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: oblique;"Still wasn't my fault. Wrong place, wrong time. She was just a kid, I don't do kids./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: oblique;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Taking a deep breath she slid her blue aviators on top of her messy black locks. Her boot heels clacked against the grey concrete sidewalk as she rummaged around her purse one-handed, a blue slushie held in the other, for the massive key ring to the house. The sun reflecting off of the neighbor's truck windshield blinded her for a second, leaving her vulnerable to tripping over the giant knee-high gnome that always finds itself in the same spot by the walkway despite her many attempts to put it curbside./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Marilla did have a suspicious smile when it miraculously popped back into the yard./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""Fuck me sideways! Christ." A skinned knee there and a blue stained shirt a moment later left Eve sprawled out half on the grass and half off the walkway./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Deciding whether or not to move, a shadow blocked out her view of the sun. It was her neighbor Carmen Daniels, the epitome of a beautiful woman who had it all- clear tan skin, long straight hair, the perfect house, a baby on the way, and the perfect, hot husband. God, she needs to get laid if she's fantasizing about a married couple./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"So not going there, even if he does have a killer accent and she looks hot in that sundress./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Fucking couple goals./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Wait, that came out wrong./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""Are you alright?" Laughing eyes and a pearly grin followed up Carmen's question, breaking Eve out of her daze, "I would offer a hand except, well you know," she gestures to her eight-month pregnant belly, "he might decide to pop out. Jack did warn me to be careful, he's in his overprotective dad phase."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""I'm fine, Jack Jr.'s fine. Jack Sr.'s fine." Eve sighs, getting up to lean on her elbows, plucking her wet shirt away from her chest, "I think… 2010 is/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"just/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"not my year. I mean,/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"what/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"am I/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanstrong style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"doing/span/strongspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"? Eating takeout when you don't pity-feed me, annoying Jack with my random chats, and POOR MARILLA! Wasting her hot doctors on me for calls I don't even answer. I'm a horrible person." Slumping back down on the ground, Eve throws her arm over her eyes. Ignoring the cold, melting puddle of raspberry blue ice./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Clasping both hands around her belly, Carmen frowns. It wasn't like her new friend to be so melancholy. Brooding- yes, only when she hasn't had a good night's sleep, moody- yes, only if she's not fed, but melancholy and ranting? This is 'a whole new bull' as Jack would say./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"She feels like calling Jack, Eve was one of the few people who GOT him. Like two peas in a pod those two, if Eve could grow a mustache telling them apart would be impossible. Some people would see it as a reason to be jealous or worried, but Carmen trusts Jack and trusts Eve. She could never relate to that part of her husband, the nightmares, the momentary flashback to some horror never spoken of, the friendly rivalry of best classic vehicles, and so much more./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Exhaling slowing, Carmen nods decisively. Deciding to handle this new mood in a similar vein to how Jack would. "How about we talk about it over a drink?" Seeing her friend's eyes widen and glance to her belly in a '/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"what the heck?' /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"way, she reiterates, "I mean, I've been meaning to buy groceries. Jack Jr.'s been craving some conchas."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""But I don't need groceries," Eve says dumbly./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" br /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Carmen holds up her shopping list she kept in her purse. "I do, chica. We can get you another slushie on the way. What do you say? It sounds like you need a girl talk and some food in you."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Carmen's eyes look so full of hope and concern, that Eve decides to suck it up and nods. Shaking out her sore limbs as she stands./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""Sure, but I'm driving. Jack would kill me if I let you drive alone that pregnant. Are you sure you don't need a carseat? Kid looks ready to start chestbursting out of you." Dodging a swat to the head, they make their way to the Impala./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"She tosses her empty slushie cup in the backseat and puts on her sunglasses as Carmen buckles up. Charles Aznavour's Parce Que Tu Crois sweeps through the air./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Raising one well-manicured eyebrow, Carmen looks to Eve in surprise./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Seeing this, Eve rolls her eyes and laughs. "What? I can't have a little culture? I can only take so much country music."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""You're just like Jack," she smiles, "most people assume he's a country diehard but he loves jazz. I never thought I'd have to compete with Ella Fitzgerald."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"They both let start laughing. Leave it to Jack to break the tension up with his charm even with his absence./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Driving with the windows down the scent of asphalt and wildflowers fill the air, unlike some people who have to fill the awkward silences with a conversation, the Daniels' couple basks in it. Their small glances and hand-holding say so much more./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I love you, are you okay?, I'm happy, you're the one for me./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Eve welcomes the silence, her head is always filled with what-ifs and memories of before. She was unsure why she decided to drop such a drama bomb on Carmen, she didn't deserve that. When she gets in that headspace, she becomes a homebody drowning her woes alone. Something she never lets her new friends see or know about. This time was different. John sent a message via one of their ciphers. Helen was sick. Cancer./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"One of her best friend's needed her and she wasn't there. She hated that. She hated the High Table, one mistake and she was done. No take-backs, no restarts. No more John, no more Aurelio, no more Winston, no more Bowery King, and no more Helen./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Her only family, gone./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"A tight feeling spreads across her chest and a tear falls down her cheek, something she hasn't felt since before the Bowery King took her in. Loss./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""Eve? Eve. Are you okay? I've been calling your name for the last two minutes." Carmen looks over worriedly, something is wrong, Eve never cries. She desperately wants to call Jack but doesn't want to worry him. He has an interview today with Statesman Whiskey Co., if anything she hopes he'll know what to do when he returns. These two have an uncanny understanding about how to handle certain things./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Shaking her head, Eve clears her throat, "Ahhhem, sorry, I was just thinking. Got lost in my thoughts." She points to her head, a fake smile on her lips that Carmen sees right through. She sits sideways as much as her stomach would allow and grasps Eve's free hand./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""Oh, okay. We'll if you want to talk, Jack and I are here for you. You know that right?"/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""Yeah, I do," she whispers, slightly squeezing her hand, " I do./span/p
/div
/div
/div
div id="chapter-1" class="chapter" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"
div class="userstuff module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 613.71875px; float: none; word-wrap: break-word;" role="article"
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"A quick run to the local grocery store was a bad idea, like a meth-head shoot out bad./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Couldn't she just have her slushie and drink it too? Was that too much to ask from the world?/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Eve had hoped that when she left New York, newly dubbed as/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"persona non grata,/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"the work and shit that came with it would end. All the 'yeehaws','yeeyees', sunshine, and neighborly BBQs this town holds could power the tristate area for decades. Meaning that random armadillos and megachurches became her new normal./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Fucking Aurelio, man. Leave it to the mech to put in a final word with his abuelo for letting her buy his house while he moved to Jersey to stay with him. It's not like she was that desperate to move, she could have gone to Paris, Santiago, even Sweden. But one phone call with Matteo changed her mind./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: oblique;"Atlantic City, mi bonita, is the dream for an old goat like me. I couldn't leave a house I shared with the love of my life in better hands than yours, mija. I have a feeling this place will be perfect for you./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Summertime proved to be a pain in the ass for moving. In the small culdesac stood three houses, as the two outside ranch-style houses with immaculate yards were occupied the remaining one in the center, styled a light cream with green shutters and a "Just Sold" sign, had to be hers. She didn't have much, just a bugout bag and her lockbox. Aurelio was handling the rest of her stuff./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"In retrospect, moving to Texas was a terrible idea. Yes, it's a beautiful state, bless abuelo Matteo, BUT the people were/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"so/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"friendly and nosy. As a self-diagnosed antisocial agnostic bookworm that was pushing her to the limit. The quiet suburb outside of town was ideal for laying low, given the fact that she was practically the only single person there. A first class opportunity for the little old lady, Marilla, next-door to set her up with every dentist and chiropractor she knows. Not that she actually called them, a pizza and whiskey night alone was her type of night./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Maybe her type of night for the past year since she moved. Don't judge./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Pulling up the driveway, Eve put her baby in park. A 1965 Chevy Impala painted a dark metallic emerald. Winston was always a fan of the flashy classics, but in their line of work/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"flashy can be dangerous/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;". Hell, if John can get away with his black 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 then she can too./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Then again, flashy was dangerous. Take a look at her now, excommunicado and still single AF./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: oblique;"Still wasn't my fault. Wrong place, wrong time. She was just a kid, I don't do kids./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: oblique;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Taking a deep breath she slid her blue aviators on top of her messy black locks. Her boot heels clacked against the grey concrete sidewalk as she rummaged around her purse one-handed, a blue slushie held in the other, for the massive key ring to the house. The sun reflecting off of the neighbor's truck windshield blinded her for a second, leaving her vulnerable to tripping over the giant knee-high gnome that always finds itself in the same spot by the walkway despite her many attempts to put it curbside./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Marilla did have a suspicious smile when it miraculously popped back into the yard./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""Fuck me sideways! Christ." A skinned knee there and a blue stained shirt a moment later left Eve sprawled out half on the grass and half off the walkway./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Deciding whether or not to move, a shadow blocked out her view of the sun. It was her neighbor Carmen Daniels, the epitome of a beautiful woman who had it all- clear tan skin, long straight hair, the perfect house, a baby on the way, and the perfect, hot husband. God, she needs to get laid if she's fantasizing about a married couple./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"So not going there, even if he does have a killer accent and she looks hot in that sundress./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Fucking couple goals./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Wait, that came out wrong./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""Are you alright?" Laughing eyes and a pearly grin followed up Carmen's question, breaking Eve out of her daze, "I would offer a hand except, well you know," she gestures to her eight-month pregnant belly, "he might decide to pop out. Jack did warn me to be careful, he's in his overprotective dad phase."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""I'm fine, Jack Jr.'s fine. Jack Sr.'s fine." Eve sighs, getting up to lean on her elbows, plucking her wet shirt away from her chest, "I think… 2010 is/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"just/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"not my year. I mean,/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"what/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"am I/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanstrong style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"doing/span/strongspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"? Eating takeout when you don't pity-feed me, annoying Jack with my random chats, and POOR MARILLA! Wasting her hot doctors on me for calls I don't even answer. I'm a horrible person." Slumping back down on the ground, Eve throws her arm over her eyes. Ignoring the cold, melting puddle of raspberry blue ice./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Clasping both hands around her belly, Carmen frowns. It wasn't like her new friend to be so melancholy. Brooding- yes, only when she hasn't had a good night's sleep, moody- yes, only if she's not fed, but melancholy and ranting? This is 'a whole new bull' as Jack would say./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"She feels like calling Jack, Eve was one of the few people who GOT him. Like two peas in a pod those two, if Eve could grow a mustache telling them apart would be impossible. Some people would see it as a reason to be jealous or worried, but Carmen trusts Jack and trusts Eve. She could never relate to that part of her husband, the nightmares, the momentary flashback to some horror never spoken of, the friendly rivalry of best classic vehicles, and so much more./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Exhaling slowing, Carmen nods decisively. Deciding to handle this new mood in a similar vein to how Jack would. "How about we talk about it over a drink?" Seeing her friend's eyes widen and glance to her belly in a '/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"what the heck?' /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"way, she reiterates, "I mean, I've been meaning to buy groceries. Jack Jr.'s been craving some conchas."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""But I don't need groceries," Eve says dumbly./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" br /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Carmen holds up her shopping list she kept in her purse. "I do, chica. We can get you another slushie on the way. What do you say? It sounds like you need a girl talk and some food in you."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Carmen's eyes look so full of hope and concern, that Eve decides to suck it up and nods. Shaking out her sore limbs as she stands./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""Sure, but I'm driving. Jack would kill me if I let you drive alone that pregnant. Are you sure you don't need a carseat? Kid looks ready to start chestbursting out of you." Dodging a swat to the head, they make their way to the Impala./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"She tosses her empty slushie cup in the backseat and puts on her sunglasses as Carmen buckles up. Charles Aznavour's Parce Que Tu Crois sweeps through the air./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Raising one well-manicured eyebrow, Carmen looks to Eve in surprise./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Seeing this, Eve rolls her eyes and laughs. "What? I can't have a little culture? I can only take so much country music."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""You're just like Jack," she smiles, "most people assume he's a country diehard but he loves jazz. I never thought I'd have to compete with Ella Fitzgerald."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"They both let start laughing. Leave it to Jack to break the tension up with his charm even with his absence./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Driving with the windows down the scent of asphalt and wildflowers fill the air, unlike some people who have to fill the awkward silences with a conversation, the Daniels' couple basks in it. Their small glances and hand-holding say so much more./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /spanspan style="font-family: inherit; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I love you, are you okay?, I'm happy, you're the one for me./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Eve welcomes the silence, her head is always filled with what-ifs and memories of before. She was unsure why she decided to drop such a drama bomb on Carmen, she didn't deserve that. When she gets in that headspace, she becomes a homebody drowning her woes alone. Something she never lets her new friends see or know about. This time was different. John sent a message via one of their ciphers. Helen was sick. Cancer./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"One of her best friend's needed her and she wasn't there. She hated that. She hated the High Table, one mistake and she was done. No take-backs, no restarts. No more John, no more Aurelio, no more Winston, no more Bowery King, and no more Helen./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Her only family, gone./spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"A tight feeling spreads across her chest and a tear falls down her cheek, something she hasn't felt since before the Bowery King took her in. Loss./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""Eve? Eve. Are you okay? I've been calling your name for the last two minutes." Carmen looks over worriedly, something is wrong, Eve never cries. She desperately wants to call Jack but doesn't want to worry him. He has an interview today with Statesman Whiskey Co., if anything she hopes he'll know what to do when he returns. These two have an uncanny understanding about how to handle certain things./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;"Shaking her head, Eve clears her throat, "Ahhhem, sorry, I was just thinking. Got lost in my thoughts." She points to her head, a fake smile on her lips that Carmen sees right through. She sits sideways as much as her stomach would allow and grasps Eve's free hand./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""Oh, okay. We'll if you want to talk, Jack and I are here for you. You know that right?"/spanspan style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;" /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;""Yeah, I do," she whispers, slightly squeezing her hand, " I do./span/p
/div
/div
/div