Page 37 of First Comes Orc, Second Comes Baby
“Yeah, but you like that shit.”
“That was the old me.”
“Riiight. Just get the doc to clear it.”
“Can we go out or not? I already texted Felicia and Hamlet. Ham’s got a new plus one this week.”
Caro sighed, set down the beer and wandered to her bedroom. “I guess. I’ve been trying to talk myself into leaving the apartment.”
“It’ll be good for your word count.”
Caro’s sour expression brightened.
* * *
“You’re what!” Felicia exclaimed, spitting out wine.
White, and dry, because Felicia didn’t drink anything else. She stared at Charlotte with wide dark eyes, a Black-Chinese American woman Charlotte met through a dance colleague in college.
“You’re not married! What have I told you?” She leaned forward and jammed her pointer finger on Charlotte’s forehead. “No wedding, no womb.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re living together, and we’ll get engaged soon.”
“I see no ring.”
“I mean, I think I'm on his medical insurance.” Charlotte frowned. “Unless he paid the bill in cash. He took me to our first doctor's appointment, and it weren’t the county clinic, let me leave it at that.”
Felicia leaned back in her seat, sipping her wine. “Fancy?”
“Gift baskets with chocolate and signed hard backs and. . .” she gestured “. . .stuff. So much stuff. Nothing generic.”
“I looked it up,” Caro said, because of course she did. She was the one who always researched everything. “You have to know someone to get in at that office. By someone, I mean either the president or a mob boss or a Kpop idol.”
Charlotte laughed. “No way.”
“Are you questioning my research skills?”
Charlotte stopped laughing. No, no she wasn't. “I wonder how rich he is?”
“Okay, gold digger. Didn't you meet him through MillionOrc Matchmaking?” Hamlet asked, stirring his drink.
His date was in the bathroom, and that whole dynamic didn't seem to be going well. Charlotte figured the date was in the bathroom because he was waiting for the opportunity to sneak out.
It wasn’t like Charlotte hadn’t done it before. A lot.
She wondered what would happen if she tried that on Brahnt, but. . .she didn’t have to wonder. Those days of giving Charlotte space were laughcryably over.
“Yeah. And I think the fee would have covered my first doctor visit.” Charlotte grimaced. She wasn't going to think about the state of her bank account. She was going to think positive.
“And you're already knocked up and living together?” Hamlet raised a reddish-blond brow. “Maybe I should try it.” He cast his gaze in the direction of the bathroom where his missing date was. “I need some help. Do they do same-sex pairings?”
“The vetting is thorough,” Charlotte said, trying to be diplomatic, “but I think they do.”
She suspected the only reason she got on to the roster was because she was an up-and-coming influencer and classically trained dancer. There was a certain amount of elitism involved in whose applications were selected. Charlotte had gone to several mixers as part of the process, and the people there would all be considered tens. Either in their career fields, or physically, but usually both.
Hamlet wasn't dumb. “You don't think I'll get in.”
“I didn't say that. But it's competitive. Like trying to get into the Ivy League college from hell. If you're sure about wanting to get in, then we can talk. They do regular mixers, and I can ask some questions and see what would help your application stand out.”
