Page 39 of Rosé with My Fake Fiancé
From earlier texts, I know that Emma’s out exploring Madrid and Jade’s working late, so I’m the only one available.
Tessa
I’m here! What’s your emergency?
The response back is a slew of pictures, including... yup, that’s mushrooms growing out of the base of a shower stall.
I’m looking at the rest of them—a dingy bathroom, a too-cramped bedroom, a barren kitchen—when I get an incoming video chat request from Sara.
“Hey,” I say, and immediately frown at her. She’s outside somewhere, her headphones in her ears and what is probably a mug of tea in front of her. Her eyes are red-rimmed, and her jaw is clenched, anger and frustration battling it out for center stage. Alarm rises in my voice. “Where are you?”
“I’m at a cafe,” she says, sniffing. “My apartment is horrible. Horrible, Tessa! There’s a huge water stain on the ceiling, and the bedrooms are much smaller than I thought. And the mushrooms! Tessa! I can’t live with mushrooms in my bathroom. I like to eat them, not live with them!”
“What happened to the apartment you were going to rent?”
Now that she’s focused on talking to me, her emotions have tipped over to anger. “Thatwasthe apartment. Or, at least, I’m pretty sure it is. It’s definitely the same outside picture on the listing, and I spent a good fifteen minutes trying to compare the interior photos to reality and then another ten minutes arguing with the landlord, whoconvenientlydoesn’t speak English. It’s much harder to argue in German when you don’t know German.”
There’s a knock on my door, and I let Luc in. He raises his eyebrow when he sees that I’m on the phone. “Hey Sara, Luc’s here.” To Luc, I say, “Sara’s having a crisis.”
His expression morphs into concern, and he sets the groceries down on the counter.
Sara sniffles. “Am I interrupting your date?”
I glance at Luc. She kind of is, but I’m worried. Luc, the sweetheart, reads my expression perfectly.
“Put her on speakerphone,” he says.
I disconnect my headphones, and Sara brings him up to speed. I open my laptop and pull the photos Sara messaged us up so that we can see them better.
Luc sucks in air through his teeth. “That does not look good.”
“Right?” Sara keeps ranting. “The Wi-Fi is supposed to be good, but I tried to video chat with Zoe, and it was laggy. That’s why I’m at this cafe. That and I had to get out of there. It smells. I’m pretty sure there’s meat juice coagulated into the grooves of the refrigerator. I can’t sleep there, much less do yoga or eat. How am I supposed to film my video for Wednesday? Oh, you think this is funny?”
“What? No! I’m not laughing.” I glance back at my phone, and Sara’s looking off-screen at someone else, and now the anger is swapped for humiliation, and her eyes are welling up.
“Oh, sweetie...”
Someone says something in the background that's too far away and accented for me to understand through her earbuds, but they’re coming closer.
“Well, that’s good to know,” Sara says in response. “But I don’t have a lawyer. Or a grasp of legalese in German. Or a place to live.” Her shoulders slump at each point she makes.
I strain to hear more, but it sounds like an adult talking in a Charlie Brown cartoon. I glance at Luc. “Can you understand what they are saying?”
He shakes his head, so I watch Sara’s face to try to figure out what’s happening.
“Sara, who is that?” I ask.
Her eyes flick to us and then back to the guy. “He’s another patron of the café, and he might have a place for me to stay. Tessa, can I call you back?”
“I want a call or text within the next ten minutes,” I say sternly, and she blows me a kiss before hanging up.
“I’m so sorry about that,” I apologize.
“Please. I like your friends a lot, and Sara needs you. Don’t stress about it.” He kisses my temple. “Can I pour us some wine?”
“Oh god, yes.”
I pull out glasses while Luc uncorks the bottle.
