Ridiculous: Mattory

12: Shallow Sophie

A/N: Chapter not related to the above sketch, but that's where I got the name from so I figured I'd share it anyway.

Mallory

Sometimes, I wonder if I'm being paranoid.

Luke hasn't shown his ugly mug since I slammed my front door in his face nearly a month ago. A few more inches and said door would have made his mug even uglier, I think with a burst of vindictive glee.

Maybe he really has given up, I think to myself as I browse the aisles of the nearest grocery store. There's a part of me, though, that's quite convinced I haven't seen the end of this.

"Mallory? Oh my goodness, is that you?"

Oh, no.

I look up from the rows of laundry detergent I'm examining and find myself face to face with an immaculately dressed blonde. "Sophie? Oh, hey..." I try to keep annoyance from creeping into my tone and hope I succeed.

Sophie gasps dramatically. "What a small world! Who would have known I'd meet my favorite cousin in some Utah grocery store! What are you doing here?"

"I live here," I say flatly.

"You live in a grocery store?" says my cousin, with another gasp. I blink at her a few times, before she laughs and flicks her hand, walking around my cart and pulling me into a hug. "I'm just kidding! My goodness, it is so good to see you!"

"Yeah, it is... great to see you too." I paste a smile on my face and pat her on the back. Acting skills, don't fail me now. "What are you doing in this neck of the woods?"

"Oh, I've got some friends down this way. I wish I'd known you were here! It's my last day, I was just dropping in to buy a few things before I head back home."

Oh, thank goodness. If she's just leaving now she won't be wrangling me into something I'll have to accept out of politeness.

"Next time I'm down this way we'll have to get lunch together!" Sophie chirps, and I groan to myself.

"Yes, that sounds great." Please forget that I live here.

"Brilliant! Oh, give me a moment." Sophie pulls out her phone and taps on it, and I'm almost thinking I can make an escape when she makes a short sound of victory. "Well! I can spare the time for lunch now, how does that sound?"

"Oh. Oh, no, I have a date with-" I cut myself off abruptly. "With a friend," I finish.

"A date...with a friend..." Sophie says slowly. "Those two things seem mutually exclusive to me."

With a great effort, I keep myself from rolling my eyes, but my cousin pushes on without shame.

"Because if it's a date, then I think the generally accepted term is boyfriend. Or maybe even fiance." She gasps. "You're not engaged, are you?"

"No. No, no, no." Sometimes the mind leaps she makes are utterly staggering. "I am definitely not engaged."

"But you have a boyfriend?" With a sigh and a glance skyward, I nod. She squeals. "Then I have to meet him!"

"I dunno if that's the best idea."

"Oh." Sophie's face suddenly appears crestfallen. "Is he not the 'settle down and introduce him to your folks' type, then?"

I huff. "No, it's not that. He is. I just..." One more look at her pleading eyes and I find myself giving in. If I didn't let her meet him, she'd probably start telling our entire family I hooked up with a leather-jacketed bad boy-or worse. "Fine. Let me call and ask him."