MISFIT IN THE CITY: Series One

Episode One: THE BEST WEEKEND EVER (part 2)

Episode One: THE BEST WEEKEND EVER

Part Two

Now well into their evening of drinks at "Flow," Alice and Neena sauntered into the lounge's bathroom, both of them cackling at some unknown joke that was surely made funnier with alcohol. This was one of those bathrooms that strived to be more than functional, with its plush armchairs and crystal lamps and fine assortment of lotions.

Neena opted for the comfy armchair, making herself at home as Alice disappeared into a stall.

"Have the readers started getting up your ass about book four?" Alice said, speaking much louder than she needed to.

Neena brushed her off with a wave of a hand that Alice of course couldn't see. "I've only been back for a couple weeks."

"Well it won't be long, because going to Europe to supposedly plot the next book?" She finished her sentence in a sing-song voice: "They're gonna wanna see some progress from all that gallivanting..."

As the toilet flushed, Neena reflected back on her summer in Europe. The highs, the lows, and the forthcoming book she was currently avoiding.

"I wasn't gallivanting," she finally said, to an invisible Alice who was still behind the stall. "I was...researching. And when the research of hopping continents to reunite with a guy turned out to be a total bust?" She sighed for a split second. "Despite the sunsets and endless conversations and intoxicating gazes and the best unwrapped dick in the western fucking world?!"

A bathroom stall opened, but it wasn't the one with Alice. Instead the super-tanned woman emerged, rolling her eyes at Neena before she made her way to the sink.

Neena was feeling flush all of a sudden, not because of the woman, but because of her unexpected rant. "What was I saying? Oh yeah...I guess I was saying you're halfway right, because the final half of that trip? Yes, I was gallivanting."

The other stall opened and Alice emerged, a sympathetic expression on her face. "He was a coward; I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Neena said. "I chased the unicorn to see if it was real." Her gaze drifted off. "I guess I should've stuck with the myth."

This public bathroom confessional was the only time Neena had verbalized the massive down side to playing against the odds, and chasing the electric dream of love. She was tired. But the grin she plastered on her face a second later? It hid the emotional exhaustion well. "Everything's fine though!" she added, as Alice headed over to the sink. "I mean yes, writing stories inspired by life is a risk when it smashes to pieces, so uhh...hell no to starting book four, but that's the beauty of being self-published; I can push back my deadlines as far as I want!"

Alice started washing her hands. "So what's the new deadline?"

Neena rubbed her chin like she was searching for an answer. "Hmm...March in the year of twenty-never, during the moon phase go-fuck-yourself Heinrich."

Alice turned to Neena with a mom-like expression. "Neena..."

Neena avoided Alice's stare by studying the fabric of the armchair. "Trust me, it's better this way. Besides, avoiding book four allows me to focus on the raunchy novellas that are bank-rolling my A-list life." Neena loved the fact that readers devoured erotica like the last meal on earth, and she took great comfort in knowing it paid the bills and kept her from the nine-to-five.

Alice seemed to have a different reaction, as the mere mention of "raunchy novella" left her looking very out of place. "Yeah..." Alice said, avoiding Neena's smile in favour of the offerings of lotion, "I've been meaning to check out that series of yours..."