Cupid's Contract

Rodeo Queen

"Ron, I need your help!" Eve flung open the door to the tidy corner office.

"Do we not knock anymore, Eve? Or are we ignoring standard manners now?" If Veronica was being sharper than normal, Eve didn't have time for it.

"Listen, I don't know what happened, but Johnny was pushing all of my buttons and I need your help."

Ron had looked up from her desk when Eve stormed in, but now she was studiously back at work, making no eye contact with Eve and turning pages with aggressive movements that promised paper cuts.

"Roooonnnn. Come on!" She needled in her best whining voice.

"I'm not sure why you need my help all of a sudden, Vera. If anything, I was under the impression that you thought I was the one who needed help." Her voice was cold, and it made Eve freeze in place.

"What? What's going on? Are you ok, Ronnie?" Veronica hadn't ever spoken to Eve like that before, never mind calling her Vera so seriously.

"Oh, I don't know, am I ok? You don't think I'm ok, obviously, or you wouldn't be handing my phone number out to perfect strangers, now would you?" She met Eve's eyes now, and they were deadly still.

"Oh crud. Oh Ron. Oh no. I don't know what I was thinking! I'm sorry! I'm really really sorry! I thought I was doing you a favour!" Eve was getting a little too comfortable apologising lately.

"A favour? Giving out my number? Why? Because I'm so pathetic?!" Veronica's voice trembled a bit, and Eve realised that her best friend wasn't mad. She was upset!

That was worse.

"Oh Veronica Keating, sweet sauerkraut, no! No! You're not pathetic. You're wonderful. You're my best friend! You must know that. I know we don't say that, because we're grown ups now and not supposed to have best friends. We're supposed to have mortgages. But you must know how lovely you are!" Eve was embarrassed to note that her voice was trembling now too.

"I must know that? You sound a bit posh, don't you? This isn't Sense and Sensibility." Veronica was trying to smile, teasing, but not doing a great job of it.

Eve moved closer, painfully unaware of what to do with her hands. She wanted to hug her friend, but was unsure of whether that was weird or not. Even though she was an integral part to Eve's life there had always been that barrier of adult-relationship. You were allowed joke and tease and rely on each other, but you were supposed to be more together than that. You didn't need hugs or massive displays of affection, you were over twenty-five now. Your joints didn't work like that anymore. Not without a quick warm up stretch, anyway.

"Veronica Keating. I gave your number to Luke because I knew you fancied him, and he was smitten with you. He was always so charming and flirty whenever I spoke to him, but the minute he set eyes on you he was speechless and incoherent. He was a bit of an idiot, if anything. Kind of a turn off, actually."

"Really?" Her voice was childishly hopeful and she had put down her pen, her full attention on Eve now.

"How did you find out? Wait, oh my days, did he text you? Veronica Keating did he text you?!"

"Can we stop screeching my full name please? I feel like I'm in the principal's office."

"What. Happened. Talk. Now."

"He called me. Half an hour ago. It was horrifying."

Eve was surprised. "He called you? I didn't know boys even knew how to make phone calls anymore. I thought it was all genitalia pictures and emojis."