So... we're meeting Carla.

"So when were you planning on telling me about Carla?" I asked suspiciously.

Kaila held up her free hand, as if consulting a watch, winking at me.

"Oh, I would have told you this morning, but Miss Annoyingbitch decided to preempt our scheduled reveal." She dropped her voice with a smile, "Passive Aggressive Theater will not be seen at this time, in order that we can bring you the following presentation..."

"Oh wow, so I totally would have missed it!" I laughed, "Parent Trap is a lot more fun to watch, anyway."

"Hmmm, now I'm seeing a totally awesome version of the parent trap involving twins trying to get one of their husbands... naaaah, too far fetched." Kaila squeezed my hand as we dodged several dozen bicycles crossing a nearby recreation path with no regard for anything save setting land speed records."So... well, Carla and I were thinking of screwing with you a little in the aquarium today. I mean, we were down here, only thing to see..."

"You don't want to tell her this twice?" I asked, as we briskly crossed the small street at the bottom of the hill. The vast sea of humanity present paid us no mind, their faces either buried in or posing for cell phones.

"She came up with it." Kaila shrugged. "Anyway, it sounded fun. We were going to show up dressed identical."

"Oh crap, not the double mint twins routine again," I groaned. I admit it had been funny. Until the twentieth time. They seemed to like pulling it around once a month. It was still kinda funny, because they both knew that I would appreciate it.

"Kinda... but then... well, I forwarded a lot of messages to Carla over the weekend..." Kaila blushed a bit. "And uhm... well, I took a few that I didn't show you."

"One of these days, that game's gonna get you two in trouble," I pointed out.

"Hush..." She laughed, leading me towards a small coffee shop with a chocolate logo on the front. Eh, close enough. I glanced inside as we approached, not noting Carla's presence yet. Knowing her, she'd probably be late, but that was to be expected. One thing I'd gotten used to was having to set a double alarm for Carla if she absolutely HAD to be somewhere. Of course, that had the advantage of having her pounding on the wall considerably less once we'd figured out when she would actually be asleep. Exactly Twenty three minutes after she was certain she would be. Guaranteed.

We made a quick order, including pastries that included far too much chocolate. It seemed the prices matched the rent, because I still was having a hard time getting used to them. Perhaps I was insane to think that seven dollars for a cup of coffee was a tad much.

"I don't believe this..." I mumbled, noting the last few dollars in my wallet. Shit. "I uh, Kaila, did you bring enough for Gas?"

"Fuuuuck, we didn't... We'll ask Carla, she got paid this week." Kaila nodded. "Besides, we're giving her a ride..."

"Wait... let me guess, arranged before, and you figured I'd just be fine with it." I bristled slightly. "You know I'm already a little..."

"Brent, look, I'm sorry..." Kaila breathed out, as we found our way to a small table that overlooked a pebbled beach. The soft lap of the waves was nearly drowned by the sound of cars, voices, music and other human audio excrement. "I... didn't think you'd..."

"You're right... I wouldn't have minded." I nodded, sitting into the metal seat next to her. We spread the small fare across the table, placing Carla's Caramel Mocha, no whip, nonfat next to the chair opposite Kaila. "If you'd asked me... It's just... you don't even seem to ask me anymore sometimes."

"You done interrupting me?" She asked, her eyes scanning the crowd.

"Yeah, sorry," I apologized sincerely, realizing I was getting a bit angry. It had been, well, a wonderful week but there were still a few things that we had never really discussed.