Thin Walls

Chapter 6

"I was thinking maybe we could do it in that big room in the City Town Hall?" I suggested. Robin frowned, clearly not enthused.

We'd been planning on celebrating our three year anniversary for a while now, but this was the first time we were sitting down to discuss it all. I was quite looking forward to it, though I still had to wait a month. It had been a while since I'd given a party and I wanted to see all my friends together again.

"I thought we could do it on the roof of our building," Robin replied.

I furrowed my eyebrows together. We'd talked about celebrating it in the evening and at night, so it would be quite cold outside. I wasn't looking forward to having shivering guests.

"Isn't that a little cold? I think we should save that for a warmer night," I said, hesitantly.

"No, it'll be fun," Robin said. "It's beautiful outside at night. People will just have to wear an extra layer."

I realized there was no fighting this, so I just nodded and accepted defeat. Perhaps it would be fun to have a party on the dirty, old roof that had absolutely nothing appealing

"Who do you want to invite?" I asked. He started naming some of his friends and people he worked with. Every time he mentioned them, I realized just how little time we spent with each other's friends. I think the last time I saw Robin's best friend was about six months ago, though they work together every day.

"Okay," I said. "I'd like to invite Ruby, Ashley, Graham, Belle, Zelena and Emma."

He shook his head. "I don't want Emma there."

This discussion, I was going to win. I was okay with freezing to death on our party, but only if Emma was allowed to come. I wasn't going to stop treating her like a friend, just because Robin didn't like her job. He'd just have to grow up.

"And I don't want a party on the roof, but we're making compromises. I like Emma, she's very kind, and I don't want to exclude her because you don't like her job."

Robin didn't seem like he was okay with compromising. He wanted things his way, something I completely understood, but I wanted Emma there.

"A party on the roof is fun. Having a sex freak on our party is not."

It'd actually surprised me that he hadn't mentioned her business at all when she left our home, last week. He hadn't said anything to her during dinner, irritating me immensely, but he hadn't judged her afterwards either. At least, not out loud. But that judgement was all coming out now.

"Emma is not a sex freak."

"How long have you known about her occupation?"

I bit my tongue, careful not to say that I'd visited the shop before I knew who was the owner. Robin would not like that. I smiled and shrugged.

"Since the beginning, I guess," I said. "But it doesn't matter. She is so kind and understanding and I'd like her to be my friend."

Robin shook her head. "No. Someone who devotes their life to sex is not someone I want to have on my party. It's filthy and unhealthy, and I won't stand for it."

I wasn't sure if he realized that he'd called it "my party" and not "our party". Sometimes I wondered how Robin saw me, what he thought of me. Whether he saw me as his partner who he loved or as his mindless trophy that he could show around.

"Is she the reason you suddenly started talking about it?" he asked, sounding unamused. I shook my head and looked at the pack of cigarettes on the table. My hand grabbed the small box and popped one out of it.