Page 1 of Rock Candy

HENRY

“It’s literally like you’ve never met me before,” snapped Natalie, my manager Alice’s best friend. I was standing in the foyer of the pretty little house the two women shared next to a white porcelain umbrella stand filled with an inordinate collection of blue-and-white-striped umbrellas.

“Why? Because I told my client that he could crash on our couch for three days?” Alice asked.

“Yes,” Natalie exclaimed, clearly exasperated. “Why would you do that without talking to me? You know I need to be prepared for things. You know how upset I was the last time you did this.”

Alice propped her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes at Natalie. “Are you really going to try to argue that the last time I invited someone to stay here it was a problem.”

“I am,” Natalie whined.

“Really?” Alice said, her voice laced with sarcasm as she quirked her head at her friend.

The door behind me opened, and the knob smacked me right in the butt.

“Whoa,” said a male voice. “Sorry, dude.” Turning to take in the bearded fellow, I remembered Alice mentioning that Natalie’s fiancé also lived with them.

Feeling awkward about everything around me, I offered him my hand and said my name as a hello/introduction combo. “Henry.”

We shook hands. His grip was stronger than mine. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him.

“Carter,” he offered and then leaning in, he whispered, “What am I walking into right now?”

“Lover’s quarrel?” I suggested cheekily. He seemed like a decent guy.

“Oh, so the norm.” We shared a little chuckle before he turned to the women beyond us and said, “Hello, my lovely ladies, I could be wrong, but it seems like we might be dealing with something explosive. What I’m wondering is, do you think my presence is going to diffuse or exacerbate the situation?”

Alice smiled sneakily before she said, “Nat was just going to explain to me how terrible it was the last time I invited someone to stay with us.”

Carter took a step toward Alice, crossed his arms over his chest, and said, “Is that so?”

Natalie looked instantly sheepish. “She’s twisting my words.”

“I’m not,” Alice said. “Right, Henry? Didn’t she just say the last time I invited someone to stay here it was an issue.”

Not wanting to be in the middle of the mess, I said, “I can sleep in my car.”

Alice's face drooped with disappointment, and then she dryly scolded me. “Henry, be a man. Tell Carter that his fiancée wants to argue that the time I asked him to stay here is proof that I should never feel free to offer our couch to a guest.”

I held my hands up and argued, “Nah, I’m good. I’ll choose ball-less-ness and let you ladies duke this one out on your own.”

“Chicken,” Alice chided.

“Bawk, bawk,” I replied.

Carter laughed, and then he stepped between Alice and Natalie. Taking his girl into his arms, he cooed, “He seems pretty cool, babe. I think maybe it’s okay if he’s here.”

Natalie looked up at Carter. In his airspace, the panic and stress that seemed etched into her expressions started to ease off.

“Of course, it’s okay,” she said softly. “I just need to know. She just needs to talk to me about things.” She lifted her hand, pressing her fingers to the space between her eyebrows like she needed to relieve a pressure headache. I felt for Natalie. Alice was a ballbuster, a fast-moving doer. She wasn’t asking permission for anything ever. I liked that about her. It made her a killer manager, but I could see how that could make her a complicated friend. It made me anxious around her constantly.

“Okay,” Carter boomed. “Alice, you are sorry for not talking to Nat about Henry's stay, and Nat you love Alice and are happy to have Henry sleeping on your couch.”

Both women huffed.

“Ladies.” Carter sighed.

“Fine,” Alice said. “We agree to disagree but choose to be civilized.”

---