Muddled Love

Girl Talk

Achoo! Sniffle. Achoo! Yawn. Blow my nose. Gulp, gulp, glup some water. Suck on some throat candy. Zzzz.

You guessed it! I'm sick. I had a fever, but later I got better and now I'm stuck with a clogged nose, throat, and ears. In fact, sometimes I hear some buzzing in my ears. I thought I was going to go deaf, which only caused my family doctor to laugh at me. She said that my ears are also clogged and that's why I feel the weird pressure in my ears. The nose and ears share the same tube apparently. You learn something new every day huh?

Despite my cold, I still go to work and even head out for dinner with Sidney Upton, my best girlfriend since university. She happened to live in the same residence as me for first year of college. Although she wasn't my roommate and didn't even live in the same floor as me, she and I met when I was locked out of my room and there was no one working at the front desk on a Sunday morning. I had accidentally tossed my keys in the dryer. I know . . . it's stupid, but I did do that. Sidney happened to arrive at the laundry room only to find me cursing at myself. The first thing that came out of my mouth while she walked in was: "Fuck. Why did I do that? I'm so fucking stupid!" Then, our eyes met, so I had to explain my silliness. Luckily, she was kind enough to let me stay at her place until my clothes finished drying. Later, she and I became closer when we realized that we were both aiming to go to law school. The two of us became LSAT buddies, struggled to keep our GPA high, volunteered at local pro-bono services, and submitted our applications together. Sadly, we didn't go to the same law school as each other, but miraculously, she ended up articling in the same city as me.

Now, Sidney is waiting at the restaurant for me. I can see her impatiently slouching in the chair with her cheek resting on her palm. She still wears her messy, long auburn hair thrown in a bun and a wrinkled floral blouse. If she actually took the time to dress up, she would be like those runway models, especially when she is very tall and slender. When I'm dashing towards her in heels, clicking and clacking against the floor, Sidney heaves a heavy sigh. "Did you get lost in some file again?" she grumbles at me.

"Sorry about that," I answer as I take a seat across from her.

"Been waiting here for a good half hour." She takes a sip of her glass of water before pouring me my share.

"So sorry," I say again. "I'll get you a drink."

"Don't worry about that," she utters. "I knew you' say that so I ordered one for myself."

"Sheesh," I snicker.

"I do need to be rewarded for my patience huh?" she snaps at me. "And this is why I'd rather work in public service. I rarely have to stay later than 6 pm."

"Right. Right," I mumble while skimming the menu.

"Order the beef tongue, the fish, and the pulled pork tacos," she tells me. "Those are the good ones here."

"Thanks," I reply.

She adds, "I'd rather make suggestions than have you stare at the menu for twenty more minutes."

"It's just hard to choose from so many dishes," I respond in between blowing my nose. "Usually Lucien just orders all the dishes I want to try."

"Have you done it with him yet?" She questions. Honestly, she always asks me this question whenever we meet. I don't know why she wants to do that. It's not like our friendship will change within a week or so.

"Of course not," I retort and flag down a waiter.

Sidney lets her head slam against her palm as she sighs. "You've got to be kidding me! You two are practically a couple. No, wait, you guys are a couple!" She pounds her fist on the table and declares.