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Danse Macabre :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 2 из 427It concerned one of thementirely too much.
She squeezed my hand hard and leaned back. Her gray eyes were all sympathy, and apology. She was still feeling guilty that she'd let her issues about commitment and men rain all over our friendship. She'd had a brief, disastrous marriage years before I met her. She'd come here today to cry on my shoulder about the fact that she was moving in with her boyfriend, Louie Fane — Dr . Louis Fane, thank you very much. He had his doctorate in biology and taught at Washington University. He also turned furry once a month, and was a lieutenant of the local wererat rodere — their word for pack.
«If Louie wasn't hiding what he was from his colleagues, we'd be going to the big party afterward,» she said.
«He teaches people's kids, Ronnie; he can't afford to find out what they'd do if they found out he had lycanthropy.»
«College isn't kids, it's definitely grown-up.»
«Parents won't see it that way,» I said. I looked at her, and finally said, «Are you changing the subject?»
«It's only two weeks , Anita, after one of the most violent cases you've ever had. I wouldn't even lose sleep over it.»
«Yeah, but your period is erratic, mine's not. I've never been two weeks late before.»
She pushed a strand of blond hair back behind her ear. The new haircut framed her face nicely, but it didn't stay out of her eyes, and she was always pushing it back. «Never?»
I shook my head, and sipped coffee. It was cold. I got up and went to dump it in the sink.
«What's the latest you've ever been?» she asked.
«Two days, I think five once, but I wasn't having sex with anyone, so it wasn't scary. I mean, unless there was a star in the east I was safe, just late.» I poured coffee from the French press, which emptied it. I was so going to need more coffee.
Ronnie came to stand next to me while I put more hot water on the stove. She leaned her butt against the cabinets and drank her coffee, but she was watching me. «Let me run this back at you. You've never been two weeks late, ever, and you've never missed a whole month before?»
«Not since this whole mess started when I was fourteen, no.»
«I always envied you the regular-as-clockwork schedule,» she said.
I started dismantling the French press, taking out the lid with its filter on a stick. «Well, the clock is broken right now.»
«Shit,» she said, softly.
«You can say that again.»
«You need a pregnancy test,» she said.
«No shit.
She squeezed my hand hard and leaned back. Her gray eyes were all sympathy, and apology. She was still feeling guilty that she'd let her issues about commitment and men rain all over our friendship. She'd had a brief, disastrous marriage years before I met her. She'd come here today to cry on my shoulder about the fact that she was moving in with her boyfriend, Louie Fane — Dr . Louis Fane, thank you very much. He had his doctorate in biology and taught at Washington University. He also turned furry once a month, and was a lieutenant of the local wererat rodere — their word for pack.
«If Louie wasn't hiding what he was from his colleagues, we'd be going to the big party afterward,» she said.
«He teaches people's kids, Ronnie; he can't afford to find out what they'd do if they found out he had lycanthropy.»
«College isn't kids, it's definitely grown-up.»
«Parents won't see it that way,» I said. I looked at her, and finally said, «Are you changing the subject?»
«It's only two weeks , Anita, after one of the most violent cases you've ever had. I wouldn't even lose sleep over it.»
«Yeah, but your period is erratic, mine's not. I've never been two weeks late before.»
She pushed a strand of blond hair back behind her ear. The new haircut framed her face nicely, but it didn't stay out of her eyes, and she was always pushing it back. «Never?»
I shook my head, and sipped coffee. It was cold. I got up and went to dump it in the sink.
«What's the latest you've ever been?» she asked.
«Two days, I think five once, but I wasn't having sex with anyone, so it wasn't scary. I mean, unless there was a star in the east I was safe, just late.» I poured coffee from the French press, which emptied it. I was so going to need more coffee.
Ronnie came to stand next to me while I put more hot water on the stove. She leaned her butt against the cabinets and drank her coffee, but she was watching me. «Let me run this back at you. You've never been two weeks late, ever, and you've never missed a whole month before?»
«Not since this whole mess started when I was fourteen, no.»
«I always envied you the regular-as-clockwork schedule,» she said.
I started dismantling the French press, taking out the lid with its filter on a stick. «Well, the clock is broken right now.»
«Shit,» she said, softly.
«You can say that again.»
«You need a pregnancy test,» she said.
«No shit.