Evie's Job

82: Evie

The next morning, Evie was woken by Natalie’s phone. She had almost expected to be. Natalie had taken the phone to bed, and left it on the bedside table, and must have been expecting it to ring as well, because she had reached over and grabbed at it and answered almost before the first ring finished.

Evie was still waking up, and it sounded like Natalie was too. Natalie answered sleepily, holding the phone loosely against her head. She was lying where she had been, close behind Evie. Close enough Evie could hear both sides of the conversation, and could tell it was Meredith, and that Meredith was saying she was ready and downstairs.

“What?” Natalie said, and Meredith said everything again.

Meredith wasn’t asking if it was a good time, Evie noticed, and she hadn’t called first to say she was on the way. She was just announcing she’d arrived. It was rude, Evie thought, but at least she’d called from downstairs instead of just knocking on the door.

“Give me five minutes,” Natalie said sleepily. “Let me get up.”

“I don’t mind if you’re up,” Meredith said.

“I mind,” Natalie said, quite sharply, Evie thought. “So wait there.”

Meredith said something Evie didn’t hear.

“And wait down there,” Natalie added. “Don’t use the keycard.”

“Fine,” Meredith said.

“I mean it,” Natalie said, and hung up the phone. She put it back on the bedside table and rolled over to look at Evie. “You’re awake, aren’t you?”

Evie was lying with a pillow over her head. “You think?”

“Meredith’s on her way up.”

“No shit,” Evie said. “I heard. Isn’t it kind of early?”

“It’s after nine.”

Evie sighed. “Like I said.” She was being obnoxious on purpose.

Natalie got up, and made coffee, and brought some back to Evie. Evie was grateful for that. It was thoughtful, especially when Natalie probably wanted to be getting dressed instead. Evie kissed her, and Natalie kissed her back, and then went into the bathroom and stayed in there until the outside doorbell started buzzing.

“I think it’s been five minutes,” Evie called.

“I heard,” Natalie said. “Fuck.”

She came out of the bathroom twisting her hair up into a bun. She had a damp face, and no makeup on, but at least she looked awake, more awake than Evie felt. She dressed quickly, pulling on jeans and the old work shirt she’d had on last night. Then she stopped. She didn’t button up the shirt. She glanced around, and thought for a moment, and took the shirt back off. She picked up one of Evie’s singlets instead.

“Can I wear this?” she said.

“Wear what?” Evie said.

“This?” Natalie held it up. It was clean, one Evie hadn’t put back in drawer.

“Yep, of course,” Evie said. “Why?”

“No why,” Natalie said. “Just can I wear it?”

The front doorbell buzzed again. Natalie grabbed her phone, and called Meredith, and said, “Wait, I’m fucking coming,” and then hung up.

“I get why,” Evie said to Natalie, in case it mattered, and actually thought she did. For looking younger, or different, or less like the Natalie who Meredith had known, one or the other of those things, or all of them. Evie probably would have wanted to as well, if she had been in the same situation.