SSS(SS) - Part 21

“I live here. I’m allowed to dress comfortably at home,” Athena insists.

“Your jammies are very cute.”

“They are!”

“OK. Oh my god,” Sal says into her pillow.

“I don’t think you’re thinking about how it affects my self-image that you’re being so dismissive of my flirty banter,” Athena says, tossing her hair ironically.

“Oh my god.” Sal groans. She’s too tired to keep up with Athena’s deadpan nonsense. “I’m not being dismissive. I’m crippled.”

“Now you’re calling me fat.”

“Get out.”

“You just said I could stay,” Athena replies, putting the cap back on the lotion.

“When did I say that? Who are you avoiding? It’s not Meri, is it?”

“No. It’s not.” Athena climbs off Sal and lies down on her back with a sigh. The bed is exactly large enough that they both lie in it without touching. Barely. Sal stays on her front, not moving a muscle. Lower back injuries are the worst.

Athena sighs and clasps her hands on her abdomen, gazing at the ceiling.

A quiet minute passes. Athena’s eye twitches at a familiar crash from downstairs. Someone has broken something.

“I’m glad you came to me,” she says finally.

“What?”

“What you did. It was stupid. But I’m glad you did it.”

Sal snorts, wincing at the twinge from her back. She keeps her eyes shut and breathes in the scent of her pillow, now mingled with Athena’s body wash and the smell of Icy Hot.

“You’re going to have a full house. My girls and your girls won’t get along. It’s going to be the most drama you’ve ever seen. All the time. Nonstop.”

“I still come out of that ahead. Drama, I can manage. Money is different. Besides, I’m going to deputize Meri and put her in charge of keeping the peace,” Athena says.

“Oh, that’ll go great. She’ll be doing strip searches in the hallways and planting evidence in no time.”

Athena laughs. “Maybe.”

“What about the school?”

“So far, so good. We just need to be careful. We will have to have a serious talk when we move everybody in, but we’ll get decent compliance if we do a good job incentivizing good behavior.”

“There she is,” Sal says with a smile.

“What?”

“Compliance? Incentivizing?”

“Well, you weren’t responding to my flirting. I reverted.”

“I can’t tell when you’re serious. And did I mention that I can’t move?”

“I am the president of CCL,” Athena says, affronted. “You think I can’t please a woman? You don’t have to move.”

“Athena, if I sneeze right now, I’ll die. What do you think an orgasm would do?”

“One way to find out.”

Sal peers at her suspiciously. “Seriously. What made you so thirsty?”

“I told you,” Athena replies, turning a little pink. She goes back to looking at the ceiling. “I already said. I don’t have to say it again. Go to sleep, grandma.”

“Oh my god.”