Chapter 3
The sound of retching greeted Libby as she opened the door of Saturnine's apartment. Skip ran up and started to jump on her, but she gently pushed him down and hurried toward the bathroom. When she got to the door she saw Saturnine hunched over the toilet.
"Jesus Satty. What did you eat?" Libby bent down and began to rub her friend's back. "We have three days until the exhibit. Are you going to be okay for that?"
Saturnine spit into the toilet bowl and flushed before she answered. "I think I'll be okay. Something just didn't agree with me. I'll be fine."
Saturnine stood up. Libby stood up with her and went out to the kitchen to make a pot of tea. She knew that it would make Saturnine feel better. After a moment of thinking whether she should give Saturnine food, she decided to make a piece of dry toast. Libby had put the bread in the toaster just as Saturnine was coming out of the bathroom. Looking up, Libby noticed she looked pale.
"You should really cut back on those sardines," Libby joked. Saturnine's least favorite food was sardines. She gagged just at the smell of them.
"Oh, ha ha," Saturnine responded dryly.
There was a short pause as Saturnine sat down at the small round table. What she said caught Libby off guard.
"Did you know I used to like him?" Libby gave her a questioning look. "Riley. I used to like him in highschool."
"No way!" Libby squealed. "For how long?"
"Well, ninth through eleventh he was just my best guy friend. In senior year he just sort of... I don't know...Blossomed?" Saturnine gave a weak laugh. "That makes him sound like a girl whose lost her virginity." She sighed. "What in God's name am I going to say to him?"
Libby walked over to the table and sat down next to Saturnine and got back up immediately to tend the whistling kettle. "When you see him every thing will come naturally. You won't have a single worry. Unless, of course, he can't take his eyes off your boobs." Saturnine gave another small laugh just as the toast popped. Libby put the toast on a napkin, took it over to Saturnine, and finished making tea. "You do look marvelous in that dress, you know." Saturnine smiled. They both sat there enjoying the silence and calm. After a few minutes Libby said, "The tea should be set now. Let's have a cup or two."
"Or three," Saturnine chimed in.
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Saturnine was awakened by a soft whining at the foot of her bed. Looking up, she saw Skip sitting halfway between her bed and the door to the hall. He quickly got up and rushed to her and she sat up to escape the incessant licking that was sure to come. Groggily, Saturnine got up, put on some shoes, grabbed Skip's leash, and took the poor dog outside.
Saturnine wished she had grabbed a jacket before leaving. It may have been summer, but Philadelphia can still be rather chilly at five thirty-seven in the morning. She looked down to see Skip finish peeing. He began sniffing at a pile of another dog's poop when she pulled the leash.
"Do you want heart worms?" she asked him. She waited a while longer and when it was clear that he was going to do no more, she and Skip went back up to her apartment. When they reached their home, Saturnine let Skip off his leash and went to make a pot of coffee. She turned on the TV just in time to catch the last few minutes of the early morning news.
"And tonight is the night that historians and museum officials have been waiting for." Saturnine's attention was fully directed at the screen. "Tonight will be the private showing of Benjamin Gates's treasure, which he discovered with the help of colleagues Abigail Chase and Riley Poole."
"Colleagues?" Saturnine mused aloud. "Riley was never a history buff. He was always into computers." She let herself wonder about how Riley helped Benjamin Gates while she went to finish preparing her coffee.
"Well," she thought, "at least I'll have one thing to talk to Riley about."
E/N: I finished writing chapter 4 in my notebook today. I just need to edit it and I'll have it up soon! I hope you enjoyed chapter 3!