The Sun and the Moon [Wattys 2015 winner]

Chapter 5: Homework

My phone vibrated with a text.

Staying sane?

This was Hugo. I met him at the mental hospital. I LOVED the fact that I had a close friend from a mental hospital.  It lead to interesting answers to the question, "Where did you two meet?"

We were the same age and we clicked in therapy sessions and while going through the program.

He was beautiful, half Caucasian, half African-American, with greenish eyes and dark skin, tattoos, and serious biceps. His body was brawny and his personality was rough around the edges.  He was also bisexual, which meant that he was extremely sexual, at all times, with essentially anyone attractive and available.

And he was a felon, which made me laugh, because I was a lawyer but I was also prissy; I did not hang out with criminals, except him. It was just for some marijuana charges before he got his marijuana card.  Well, that plus selling to an undercover police officer in San Diego.  And some other, um, crimes.  I liked to tease him about it.  But we had a lot in common since he liked Harry Potter too.  Well, specifically, he liked Lee Jordan's character, and told me about it in intricate sexual detail.  Perv.

Never was sane, darling.

Recovery from my suicidal ideations was easier with a friend. We understood each other's issues and we understood that sometimes we just needed to talk with someone. So our friendship worked on a lot of levels.  He was one of the few who knew all of my secrets.

Me neither. Busy?

Oh, and he was always asking me out. Even though he lived with a woman, he was always on Tinder (and Grindr) and he was always trying to hook up with, well, humans, including me.

Yep. Trial. Will need to blow off some steam after though.

After I sent that off, I questioned it.  I couldn't go drinking with him because he was an alcoholic and I was not.  But of course he picked up on my text in a different way.

I can help you with that.

Flirt.  Still, I was used to fending him off.

Love ya darling but never.

Never say never.

#

I texted my friend Marie, the one who has been by my side since third grade.

Hugo flirted with me again.

I felt a bit like I was tattling, but I normally told her everything.  She knew how good-looking he was, but she also knew how flirty he was since he flirted with her, too.

That boy....

Then I realized I had not told her about Ryan.  That would need to be done in person, I thought.  I responded:

Yeah. Come play with me after trial is done? Need to drink.

Wouldn't miss it.

She certainly wouldn't, the party girl.

#

I spent the remainder of my week and the weekend preparing for trial. Our exhibit books were made, trial briefs marked, pretrial motions all taken care of, and I spent more time than I cared to preparing my client and other witnesses for their testimony. In the back of my mind was my homework from my therapist.  Was I really buying a vibrator this week? Break my rule of no toys?  Did that count as a toy?  It wasn't, like, a spanking bench.  Maybe I would just buy a book. So much for focusing on my trial.