Page 91 of Wrench
¡°You okay, Isaac?¡±
¡°Ahh, Evelyn. Tank¡¯s the luckiest man in the world to have you as a wife.¡± I mustered
up the fakest smile I¡¯d ever had to wear. Last thing I wanted was this blond woman I was
trying to hit on thinking I was going through some emotional life crisis. Sympathy sex
was something I never wanted. It may as well be called pity-sex. ¡°Nah, when you said that,
I just remembered Buddy chewed up one of my pillows this morning.¡±
Evelyn burst into laughter at my lie and I breathed with relief. ¡°Oh, that silly dog! I
just love him!¡± Turning her back to me, she resumed serving the other customers, leaving
me alone with the blond.
In the corner of my eye, she sat with her knees pointed toward me, though her torso
remained forward, and was nonchalantly twirling her hair. Perfect.
¡°What¡¯re you drinking?¡± I nodded my head to her reddish-orange drink with a paper
umbrella sticking from it. As soon as the first word came out, she turned to me with a
readiness that proved she was waiting for my move. When I saw her full face for the first
time, I felt uneasy.
¡°Sex on the beach,¡± she said with a coy tone, a seductive smirk growing on her lips.
The more I examined her face, the more unsettled I grew. Sitting in the Ironhead Tavern
was what appeared to be Samantha¡¯s doppelganger. Except, they weren¡¯t identical, no. Not
even close.
Obviously, she ordered the drink because it was a classic set-up for flirty conversation
right off the bat, but I breezed past the opportunity. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±
¡°Mandy.¡±
Thank God, I thought. I was worried fate was playing a cruel joke and had her named
Samantha, too.
¡°And you¡¯re Isaac, I¡¯m guessing?¡± Mandy¡¯s voice saying my real name that was
exclusive to Evelyn and Samantha made my skin crawl. It sounded dirty. Especially from
Samantha¡¯s trashy clone.
They had almost the same shade of dark blue eyes, except hers were smaller, and the
whites weren¡¯t nearly as bright. Their faces were exactly the same round shape, except her
skin looked weathered despite being on a young woman, already filled with lines and dark
