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After the office, house-sitting was a piece of cake

That e spent two nights in the Sausalito house, and two nights in our own apartments I worked round the clock, while Sihts we spent across the bay he stayed the entire next day, hiking in the headlands, biking through the town, and by the weekend, he was asking ere heading over

I worked late Friday night while Si we packed our bags and left Our neighbors Euan and Antonio agreed to baby-sit for Clive; it didn’t seem fair to him to transport him all the way over there for just a few days If it see to enjoy it, then I’d considerthe perks of being Jillian Na streets up into the hills, with Siun

"Pretty sure Jillian wanted ri as I took a turn too fast

"Bullshit, she wantedmy foot to the floor as we took off into the breeze

We ran errands, hit the rill before Mimi and Ryan came over We’d decided to christen our first weekend with a quiet dinner, and since we couldn’t agree on whether to invite Sophia, or Neil, or both, we settled on just the couple we could count on not bu on the terrace, Miers as wethe bay with gray clouds and shrouding the city entirely Shivering a bit, I moved closer to one of the heat lamps that was stationed around each patio

"We have really pretty boys, don’t we?" Mi down on a carrot I looked at the of pretty boys, has Sophia seen Barry Derry since the wedding?"

"Nope, the curb got that one Good thing too--thatasleep in her chair, snoring

"We boring you, dear?" Ryan asked, buttering his buns

"Nope, just thinking about Barry Derry and his insurance ways," she piped back

Simon looked over at uy Sophia brought to the wedding," I answered, pulling Miuys following us with their uy? He tried to sellme all these statistics about air travel and why I really needed to ers

I poured rabbed a seat and a bun

"Did she ever agree to talk to Neil?" Ryan asked

Mi about Barry Derry was one thing, talking about Neil and Sophia was another conversation entirely One that never see the pickles

"Jeez, that’s cold," he responded, slapping a burger onto everyone’s plate "And if you don’tso, a little ridiculous"

"I do ot the ketchup?" I asked "And besides, why should she talk to hi"

Siree with Caroline; Neil is the one that needs to work for this here, not her Why should she bend? Who wants onions?" Mimi offered

"I’ll take the onions, and I think you both are being as ridiculous as your friend How can he work for it when she won’t even return his phone calls?" Si onions on the floor "Shit Babe, throw me that dish toill you?"

"Here’s your dish towel, and before you ask, here’s yourthe plates down a little harder than necessary "And for your inforo, she doesn’t have to return anything"

"Ergo? When did you beco I ever wanted in a burger," Si his patty "She should at least hear him out; is that too much to ask?"

"Do you even knohy she’s so hurt? Why she can’t get over that he cheated?" Mi the ketchup bottle so hard it squirted all over her plate

"Okay, can we stop saying cheated? He didn’t cheat, he just kissed his ex-girlfriend," Ryan interjected, taking a bite of his burger "Tha’s na cheeinh"

"Of course it’s cheating!" Mih No one talks for oneas serious as anyone could, with a burger that was stacked almost nine inches tall

We all bit Then chewed Siest He had nine inches, after all

"Now, can we discuss this like adults?" he asked

"You’ve got h He blushed, then licked his lips

"I can discuss this as an adult, if you two can ad my pickle spear at the boys

"If I can speak for Simon here, neither of us ever said that what he did wasn’t wrong We just don’t think he needs to be tarred, feathered, and driven out of town," Ryan said "He kissed someone--would you rather he fked so: he didn’t just kiss soirlfriend, from what you told irlfriend You didn’t tellto Simon

"I did too!"

"You did not"

"I did too!"

"Soanother bite of his burger

"You said it was an ex-girlfriend You didn’t say it was the ex-girlfriend," I snapped

"What’s the difference?" Siirlfriend just irlfriend is suuuuuch a bigger deal," she explained

I could see Si to soirlfriend," I told Miirlfriend is soain, you wish her well, but it doesn’t irlfriend matters: there’s a connection there, there’s shared history, she’s even irlfriend, ouldn’t be so pissed over The ex-girlfriend, yeah"

"Wait airlfriend, you wouldn’t be pissed?" he asked, ain

I closed uy would hear--no! We’re pissed if you kiss any ex, but an ex isn’t as big a deal as the ex An ex, the ex--big difference"

"Okay, please stop saying an ex I realize it’s grammatically correct, but it just sounds weird Plus it sounds like you’re saying annex The point is, you’re pissed because he kissed a girl he had a connection with--or at least you assuht?" Si hie of his own irl he alht?" Mi off her hands

"Christ, this is going nowhere fast Okay, so let me ask you this Which would have been worse: if he kissed this particular ex, or had sex with soain?" Ryan asked

"Depends," I said

"Rando her head

"I give up," Simon said

"Do you have any Tu ot mustard on your lip, Simon," Mimi said

• • •

They left Si plates back and forth to dry He went back outside to the patio; I stayed inside

Mimi texted me: