Tell It Like It Is
Chapter 6
Lizzy stood in front of the cabinet, staring blankly at the cereal boxes before her, and only thinking mildly about the fact that cereal boxes even exist because, to be honest, cereal boxes were the farthest thing from Lizzy's mind at that moment.
That is until she sighted Anya's box of Capt'n Crunch. Then she was snapped right back into a normal world where cereal boxes don't just exist but exist to bring joy and cheer to small children and twenty-something women who have serious issues.
She quickly grabbed the box and poured it into the largest bowl she could find then drenched it with the remaining milk from Corey's jug.
It's the simple things in life, she thought as she heard the phone ring from the hidden depths of her apartment.
Corey stomped into their tiny kitchen and scowled, clutching the phone to her chest to muffle whatever she was about to say. "Lizzy it's your new best friend on the phone," she said bitterly then slammed the phone down onto the table which caused Lizzy's Capt'n Crunch to jump in their bowl.
Lizzy slowly picked it up. If it was someone that could possibly make Corey that mad in the five seconds since Corey had answered the phone then it is safe to assume that Lizzy wouldn't love to talk to this person. "Hello?"
"Oh Lizzy! I'm so glad you're home. I thought maybe you'd be out, since it's Saturday and all, but I'm glad you're not."
Not many people Lizzy knew would actually seem excited by Lizzy's lack of a social life on a Saturday night (it'd been a tough week) so it was safe to assume that the woman Lizzy most wanted to suffer was on the other end of the phone. "Melanie?"
"Yes. Who else would it be silly?"
No matter what Melanie Slaide believes, Lizzy does have friends, her best of which was holding up her recently emptied jug of milk with a very evil glare on her face.
Lizzy chose not to comment on her egocentracism. (Which is Lizzy's new word.) "What can I do for you Melanie?" She had to make a mental note to not call her the "evil sea witch." It really was quite a fetching nickname for her.
Lizzy could practically hear her fake smile over the phone as her voice slid through the reciever. It was such a oily sound that it felt as if snakes were slithering into Lizzy's ear. "Well I was just talking to little 'ole Georgiana and she thought it would just be the best thing in the world, and I totally agree with her, if you and I were to have some 'out of the office' time together! Doesn't that just sound fabulous?"
To Lizzy that didn't sound "fabulous" and "little 'ole Georgiana" was about to get the ass kicking of her life. "Er I guess… if you really want..." For someone who was never nice to anyone she didn't have to be nice to, Lizzy sure was being accepting of Melanie.
Denial told her it was because she thought that would be the best way to torture the woman. Her real thoughts told her it was because she had Will.
Corey sat at the table and watched Lizzy in an awkward state that is very rare to catch Lizzy in.
"Perfect!" Melanie squeaked through the phone. "When are you free?"
Lizzy paused. Whichever night Corey would be free to tag along and rescue her. "Which night?" she said into the phone as she silently shot Corey a plea for help.
Corey sighed and returned her look with a "you'll owe me your first born child" type of look then whispered, "Tuesday," because she knew that on Wednesday morning Lizzy had a big meeting with some sort of television executive and therefore the perfect excuse for an early night.
"How's Tuesday?" Lizzy asked into the phone.
"Any night that's good for you and Christian is great for me!" the phone replied brightly.
"Christian?" Lizzy asked slowly.
The phone giggled and Lizzy had the overwhelming urge to hurl it at the wall. "Well of course silly! Georgiana mentioned him and I'm just dying to meet your boyfriend!"
She spoke as if she was highly convinced Christian didn't actually exist. The truth was for Lizzy he didn't exist as a boyfriend, just a random guy she sometimes invited over when she was lonely.
But Lizzy would never in a million years let Melanie Slaide know that. "Christian would love to be there!"
"Excellent," the phone sang back. "Tuesday night it is!"
Lizzy hated that everything she said was so damn perky and bright. Everything about this girl was regulated for customer satisfaction.
"Can't wait," Lizzy replied trying desperately to mock her brightness but it came out sounding strangled. No one can fake if like Melanie.
Corey just shot her a "you're in too far over you head" look then put her milk jug beside Lizzy's cereal bowl with a note on it in sharpie that said, "You owe me milk!"
"Ok I'll just have to call Will to make sure he can come but if there's any conflict I'll just call," Melanie said quickly and Lizzy had trouble catching the full impact of her words until a whole ten seconds after Melanie had hung up on her line and Lizzy was still clutching the phone.
Lizzy stared at her bowl of saturated, soggy cereal and suddenly felt sick. She couldn't eat that now. Melanie had even drained her of her love of cereal.
"You okay there babe?" Corey asked sweetly rubbing her back as Lizzy pushed the bowl away from herself.
Lizzy shook her head. "Will's going to be there. I can't face him."
Corey sat in the chair beside her and tried to smile reassuringly. "Yes you can. You've already seen him once. That's the hard part."
Then Anya wondered into the kitchen in an immaculate black dress (which, with one less inch of fabric wouldn't even be called a dress) and immediately growled. "Lizzy you ate my cereal!"
She then wandered over to the table and peered into the full bowl of Capt'n Crunch. "There's still cereal in here," she said slowly then noticed that Corey was holding onto Lizzy's shoulder. Personal contact with Lizzy was only permitted under special circumstances. "Who died?" Anya asked blankly.
Corey shot her a look. "Don't you have a date with a stockbroker or something?"
Anya brushed the comment aside, rich date or not, she'd stay if Lizzy needed her to. "What happened, Liz?"
Lizzy tried to manage a feeble smile. "I'm fine," she muttered.
"No she's not," Corey said for her. "She just accidentally agreed to a double date with Will Darcy and his fiancé."
Anya's jaw clenched. "Cancel it. Tell him you're dying or something."
Lizzy and Corey turned to look at her. Anya was a very Zen oriented person. She never got angry. She never snapped. And she never lied. That would be bad karma.
"She can't do that," Corey replied eventually. "Then they'd know they got to her."
"It's not a competition," Anya replied. "If she doesn't want to face her cheating ex-boyfriend and his bitchy fiancé then she shouldn't. Pride be damned."
Corey rolled her eyes and started to argue, but before she got a word in Lizzy stood from the table and grabbed the phone, then left the room.
"See she's going to cancel as we speak," Anya said proudly as she grabbed her little, shiny purse she'd set on the table and swung it around.
"Don't be stupid," Corey replied as she stood and put the box of cereal back on Anya's shelf, while writing a sticky note to buy more milk. "She's obviously going to call Christian and make sure he can come."
The truth was, she wasn't doing either of those things. Instead she was sitting cross-legged on her bed and punching a regulated set of numbers into the phone.
"Eddie?" she asked the phone. "Is Erin there? I really need to talk to her."
The phone responded with compassion. "Yeah, Lizzy. She's been hoping you'd call soon."
Lizzy tried not to sniffle but the noise she made as she tried to hold it back resembled a sniffle more than she'd hoped.
Immediately the girl on the other line of the phone sighed. "So I guess that means you heard about Will."
Ok. Now 100 is like such a magic number! I would love to reach 100 and be the happiest person that ever has lived.
Are you guys ready for the next chapter? Ok then you'll review. :D