The apartment door clicked shut behind Beck as she heaved a tired sigh.
A pair of white nursing clogs landed by the entrance, followed by her keys in the ceramic bowl she always missed on the first try. She took off her jacket and hang it on the coat hanger. She stood there for a moment, flexing her neck, her shoulders aching beneath her scrub top.
Twelve hours.
Her feet throbbed. Her hair smelled faintly of antiseptic despite the lavender perfume she'd sprayed that morning. Somewhere down the hallway, a neighbor's television murmured through the paper thin walls.
Home. She exhaled.
She stripped, stepped into the shower and cranked the faucet to maximum heat. Skin cancer what? If her skin wasn't beet red by the time she was done showering, then what was the point. Scalding water cascaded down her back and hair, washing away the smell of antiseptic and hospital corridors and replacing it with sweet eucalyptus body wash and steam that fogged the bathroom mirror.
By the time she emerged wrapped in an oversized t-shirt and loose pajama shorts, her damp hair twisted into a towel, her phone was already buzzing on the bed.
Eli.
She smiled automatically.
The screen filled with Eli's charcoal mask covered face immediately.
"Hey bitch!" She said.
"Finally!" He groaned dramatically, "I thought you'd been claimed by the health care system."
"I basically have."
"You look like a drowned hamster!"
She chuckled, "I literally just got out of the shower."
"Beck! You will not believe what happened last Saturday after we left the club!" He announced.
She propped her phone against a pillow as she continued to dry her hair and said, "Lemme guess, it involves a certain muscular tatted guy you met."
"Girl, that man was a six foot four monster of pure 'yes, daddy!'. I swear his abs had abs. The one I said looked like he could bench press a Prius. Well mission accomplished, honey. Cuz he destroyed me!"
Beck's eyes widened. "Define destroyed."
"Okay so we get back to his place, our clothes literally vaporized, and I look down Beck...that dick was literally the size of a massive cucumber. Not a cute little English one, I'm talking forearm bitch. I was gagged!"
A loud, ugly snort escaped Beck. Tears formed in her eyes.
Eli didn't even blink. "That man literally rearranged my insides! I'm still walking like I just got off a mechanical bull. His dick?! I saw fucking stars...a whole constellation bitch!"
Beck was hysterical. She doubled over laughing, the phone falling off from the pillow and onto her bed.
"Holy shit, Eli!" She wheezed, "you did not just say that."
On the screen, Eli was cracking up too, clearly loving every second of her reaction. "I'm serious! I'm pretty sure I blacked out after that."
"Well did you at least get his number?" She asked as she wiped tears from her eyes.
"Number? Baby, I got his name, his gym schedule and a limp that's gonna last till next week! I would absolutely let him fold me like a taco again. I'm thinking of sending him a thank you fruit basket. Maybe some lube and a gift card for IKEA for all the furniture we almost broke."
Beck snorted again, nearly dropping her phone a second time. "Stop, I can't breathe! You're actually insane!"
Still on FaceTime, she wandered into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.
A bottle of water.
Half a lemon.
An ancient pack of beef brawn that looked like it had survived several world wars.
