Bellflower Part 33 (Patreon)

In this installment, it's once again Ladies' Night. But now that Deidre is in the know, she has a few reservations, while Rachel worries about discussing the whole Penny matter directly in front of Penny.

Sorry. Much like Holly, this chapter ballooned on me. I'm actually breaking it up at this point because it was taking too long. So I stopped it at what seemed like a reasonable cliffhanger (even though it was originally more of a mid point).

That said, I have most of the next chapter ready to go & will continue working so it should come very shortly. I also have a bit of the one after that started as well. So there hopefully shouldn't be any gaps coming up in the near future! Hope you enjoy!

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33

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“Who’s bringing the snacks?” Rachel asked, crouched on the far side of the living room without looking up. She was working on tidying up her things. After constantly warning the thing for weeks now, it seemed as though she had finally trained Penny to keep its grubby mechanical mitts off her stuff. But right now, that meant her personal corner of the couch was the only part of the condo the AI hadn’t given a thorough once over for company. Still, it wasn’t even that messy. Just an errant pair of dirty socks to pick up. Folding up the sheets she’d been using to cast off to the side for later. Cramming a few of her books & power cords & things into her knapsack.

“Look at you, worrying about food all of a sudden!” Holly chided at first with a coy, but slightly devious smile. Standing behind the bar in the kitchen, she had to raise her sneering voice slightly over the sprinkling chime of the tortilla chips she was pouring into a large ceramic bowl. Earlier in the day, she had insisted that Penny had the blue kind delivered. Rachel knew this was a sign. That tonight, as host? Holly was probably going to be a bit… “extra.”

“It’s not that, I just…” Rachel started to argue, exerting some of her reaction into the couch’s throw pillow she was in the process of fluffing. After all, Holly? The way she was getting? Attempting to call her out on worrying about food? That was rich! But the girls were about to arrive & Rachel didn’t have the time to get into it. Instead, she did her best to let it slide. “I’m not worried. I’m just... curious. That’s all.” she explained, looking in Holly’s direction.

“Camille,” Holly sighed simply with a heavy heart. Rachel winced, as it was exactly the one answer she feared the most. Just as Holly seemed no happier reporting it. “She practically insisted on doing it this time. Said she wanted to “have another shot at it!” 

“Great!” Rachel sarcastically bobbled her head from left to right in a sardonically glassy eyed arch. She already had her reservations about tonight to begin with, but knowing Camille & her odd, supposedly “fancy” preferences, it was almost like a cherry on top of everything else. “That’s precisely why I was asking. Because I live here too.” She finished her tidying & stood upright to give one last scan of the area. Make sure there were no pairs of panties just out & chilling anywhere. “So she’s going to stink us out of house & home for a few weeks with some bougie-ass cheese from like I don’t know… Provence that she’ll ultimately end up berating us for not “truly appreciating?” In her rant, Rachel had really Frenched up her pronunciation of Provence, scarcely even hitting the “nce. “That’s what you’re saying? Because hot damn! Good to know!” She continued muttering. “Wish I had enough warning to throw all my shit in a storage locker somewhere.” 

“You say that like they’d even let you have a locker, Lil’ Miss Felon.” Holly, who rarely ever seemed to get the upperhand in their little back & forths, had attempted to lob a bomb here. But almost immediately regretted it, remembering that Rachel’s string of rash apartment rejections wasn’t only still a bit of a touchy subject for her sister, but also largely, still unbeknownst to Rachel, at her behest. She changed the subject as quick as she possibly could as if to bury it. “And don’t you worry! I flatout told her: No Cheeses!” Holly stomped sternly, literally putting her foot down, as if to pantomime how strictly she had gone to bat for the both of them here. “I’ll send her ass packin’ if she even tries!” Rachel, still unsure on whether to let the “felon” remark go, could tell her sister was embellishing a bit. If only because Holly was using the very same, specific tone she exclusively reserved for talking down to her, not her friends. She imagined the reality was probably a bit more wishy-washy, & still expected the worst. That’s when, speaking of wishy-washy, she noticed Holly looking off to the side, seemingly with more to say. “Though, at the same time? I don’t think anybody trusts Camille at this point. Not when it comes to food anyway. That’s why I’m thinking it’s going to be sort of a grab bag. Where everyone brings a little something for themselves. But also a bit extra maybe, just to be nice & share.” Involuntarily, while merely discussing the idea of more food, she mindlessly picked up a large, perfectly unbroken triangle of chip from the bowl & crunched half of it out of existence, dry. “And me? Like… I don’t even know if I necessarily feel like snacky stuff to be honest. Or sweets really. I was thinking we order us some pizzas! When everybody gets here of course.” Tagging on that last line almost as if she needed to convince herself to stall a little longer. Because of course she was hungry right this very instant.

“So then everyone’s bringing something? So just… a lot of food, in general?” Rachel asked slowly, trailing off in sort of a mutter as she stashed her sheets out the way under Holly’s far side table on the bottom shelf rung for now. To her, this prospect was somehow even worse than the Camille news. If it was just fancy cheese stinking up the joint, it would be annoying. But that would also mean there’d be a whole lot less eating too. An impromptu pot luck? With pizzas? This was going to be bad. For all involved. For entirely different reasons. “Fan-friggin’-tastic.” 

After slipping up a bit in the rush to find a place of her own, it was almost like Rachel went into lockdown. She struggled to keep everything restricted to relatively modest, typically healthy meals. For the most part anyway. She would hook up with Fran for regular jogs most or at least every other evening. Even if she had to maintain a bit of a slower pace for Fran’s sake. And she did everything in her power to fight the incessant, nagging urge to devour everything in sight. Which was utterly exhausting!

For all that effort? Her chubby potbelly & muffintop were still very much present. A constant reminder of what happens when she stopped paying attention, holding on for dear life. But at the same time? They hadn’t really gotten that much bigger either. Which, for the Bellflower, seemed nothing short of miraculous.  The problem was, as time went on? Rachel felt as though she was having a harder & harder time trying to keep it that way. No major slip ups, thank god! But she could feel herself getting ground down. Feeling herself get just that slightest bit closer to caving each time. And the way tonight was shaping up? Tonight didn’t bode so well.

Sure, there had been other times. Other Ladies’ Nights specifically in fact. Times when she had resigned herself to the idea that there was little hope of her waistline escaping unphased. And she often ended up doing her best. Not maintaining the strongest willpower, but also not completely caving either. Delicately riding that line. The problem was, those other nights were weeks & weeks ago. Before she had been ground down. Back when everybody was substantially slimmer. And according to some of Fran & Mikayla’s theories on Penny & the whole phone app? The hunger-inducing subsonic frequencies seemed to increase more & more over time, the bigger the resident seemed to get. And she herself could attest to that. Hell, the longer she was just ambiently around Holly these days, the more Rachel started to feel famished. Multiply that by the power of at least three, maybe more? It could only result in a horrendous, overwhelming feedback loop, stronger than anything she had already experienced.

She spent all day trying to work up some feasible excuse. Some reason to make herself scarce for the evening. She even wondered if she should just be frank about not wanting to be there. Would it really be that much of a social faux pas to go out instead, maybe try to catch a movie or something? To them? Probably. She’d at least get some catty remarks thrown behind her back. But nothing that would’ve concerned her. There really was only one thing that actually did concern her, deeply in fact. That became the deciding factor to not weasel her way out of this. And that was her big sister. 

No matter how mean or how politely or even just how genuine & heartfelt as she tried to put it, nothing Rachel ever seemed to say dislodged Holly from her blind trust in Penny, & even more urgently, dissuaded her from her voracious overeating. In fact, there were the numerous occasions where she would almost double-down on the latter, simply out of spite! And as a result? It was like she was becoming a parade balloon version of her former self! In real time. 

Rachel realized she probably would’ve never believed the transformation in Holly if she hadn’t witnessed it happening first hand. It was so stark. After all, it came as a shock when Rachel had first arrived, & Holly was just moderately pretty chunky. But even then to now? Over just the matter of weeks? Even at her height, she had to be well on her way to the big four-zero-zero now. The same number Holly couldn’t seem to even fathom that time Rachel attempted to lowball Courtney’s weight. And while she was still a bit off of where Courtney was when Rachel first “met” her, & a fair bit bottom-heavier, Holly had all but caught up with Fran’s general roundness. But then, even that was a little misleading to an extent, as Holly had several inches on Fran. 

These days, as everything seemed to thicken more & more all the time, Holly seemed to slowly & unwittingly develop newlittle habits. Rachel watched her doing one now as she slowly made her way across the kitchen to fetch the guac & salsa from the fridge. Given the difficulty she had trying to keep her arms to her growing sides, Holly had begun nestling her forearms just under her bust line, using the shelf of her round belly almost as if it was a fleshy armrest. Other times, when she did try to keep her arms to her sides? She tended to lift her wrists to about what would’ve been waist level & rest her forearms on the crests of her widening hips in much the same way. It wasn’t that these little things she were strange or all that out of the ordinary. They were just the neutral arm positions of people of a certain size. For Rachel, it was just weird to notice Holly begin to adopt them.

Worst yet? These subconscious little mannerisms & quirks? On some level, they only worked to belie Holly’s behavior, which seemed to oscillate between utter obliviousness & complete denial of the situation. It told Rachel that despite all of Penny’s distraction & obfuscation, deep down? There was a part of her sister that seemed to have some fleeting awareness, some minute inkling as to what was happening to her. Exactly how fat she was becoming. If even just subconsciously. The problem was just trying to appeal to that side of her! 

Even in light of her best friend Courtney’s all too abrupt “move back home,” there seemed to be no getting through to her. Either Penny had her completely wrapped in knots around its digital finger, or Holly was just far too proud & too stubborn to ever stop to truly acknowledge what she was doing, let alone take it with seriousness & urgency it deserved. She would just continue on, bobbing & bouncing around, acting her chipper, perky self, as if nothing was wrong. Usually, right along with food in hand. But more often than not, in her mouth too.

To Rachel, watching Holly struggle with her wardrobe on a daily basis? It was a prime example of Holly’s underlying lucidity & that denial in action. Frankly, if there weren’t more serious implications at play? The whole thing almost would’ve been funny in a schadenfreude, sort of “comedy of errors” way. Or even a karma kind of way, given all of Holly’s childhood torment. 

One day, she would catch Holly wearing a “new” top. Maybe something she got either through Penny’s weird subscription scam, the pile of all-different-sized stuff Courtney had winged at her that time, or that emergency Marulla bag she came back with earlier this week for instance. Rachel was often able to tell something was “new” often just by the fit. Those mornings? When it was noticeably “new?” Holly was often ready before she was, raring to go. 

But then, say like a week later? Rachel would notice Holly have to cycle back to that same article of clothing again, only this time? It’d be substantially tighter, spotlighting the gains made in just a week’s time. And those days? Holly tended to have a little less bounce in her step, seeming a slight bit more miffed than anything. 

After that? It was rare the top would actually manage to stick around for a third appearance. But, if was on the looser side to begin with, or if Holly was feeling particularly brazen, sometimes? It wouldn’t just be relegated to the depths of her closet for the rest of eternity. She’d emerge from her bedroom, late, after a half hour or so of loud guttural grunts & growling. A few times, she came out beet red, once, even sweating, all on account of the apparent wrestling match that had transpired behind the closed door. All to get her fat ass squeezed firmly into that top one last time! And after that exertion, not only would she be grumpier than usual, she would also seem to visibly remain very rigid & still, usually holding her breath the best she could. Intentionally limiting her own motion in hopes the stitches would hold together for just a little bit longer. But by that point, she usually had to rush to get out the door to make it to the office on time. And no matter how late Holly ever was, there was Penny, ready to hand her something to shove into her mouth as she shuffled her way out the door. She’d then typically come back those particular evenings, sans a few buttons, or having gained a new split amongst one of the seams anyway, embarrassingly folding her arms or trying to conceal it before b-lining to her bedroom in order to transition to sweats. Sweats that were also slowly constricting tighter across her growing body, by the way. Then she’d collapse on the couch & just… gorge. As if to not take any sort of lesson from the whole experience.

Ultimately, there was nothing Rachel could do or say to stop her sister. Holly made that abundantly clear. But maybe? Just being there tonight could help mitigate it, somehow. Rachel hoped against hope that her mere presence would be enough to curb Holly’s appetite. If even just by a smidge. And even if she put herself at risk of going up a dress size herself. Besides, Deidre was going to be there. And now that Deidre was in on things? It was like she had back up. Maybe they could both work to keep each other in check? But maybe that was all just wishful thinking.

“Miss Camille! So happy to see you opted for pastries this evening.” Penny announced the sisters’ first arrival as the door hissed open. Rachel booted a shoe of her she hadn’t noticed off into the corner. Her area was clean, just in the nick of time, as Camille came in balancing a stack of white cardboard boxes, each tied with string.

“Great! What’s your Penny implying? It’s like she’s in on it now too.” She sighed accusingly. 

“Ooh! Lemme!” Holly bounded toward her, with lit-up eyes, seemingly more excited about the content of the boxes than her friend. But Holly was slowly becoming less & less used to sudden movements, mostly on account of the abrupt shift in weight. Clumsily, she came very close to tackling the poor girl in the process, causing Camille to let out a mousy shriek. If Holly didn’t catch herself at the last second, it would’ve been ugly.

“Jesus, Hol!” Rachel reached out. “Easy!”

“Sorry,” She attempted to center herself, attempting a calm breath while reaching to half the stack of boxes Camille was holding. “Just happy to see it was something other than foot cheese. What did you get?”

“Oh, all sorts of assorted goodies.” Camille shrugged. “And from the good place. None of that grocery store business.” She felt the need to clarify. She turned her attention. With half the boxes, Rachel could see that she had gone with a black turtleneck, & seemingly had come straight from the office. It seemed a little too warm for something like that still. It made Rachel suspect she thought it would may be a bit more slimming than it was. Perhaps trying to conceal that noticeable bit of extra pudge she had recently seemed to pick up. “How are you doing, Rach?”

“Oh… you know.” Rachel coyly waved as she approached to greet her. “A bit busy, but fine.”

“Yeah I hear there might be some shake ups over in copywriting soon.” 

“Huh? What did you hear?” Holly asked with a furrowed brow. Almost worried Camille was more privy to things she wasn’t.

“Yeah, so I hear.” Rachel smirked. No sooner than finishing that, Penny chimed in again.

“Ahh Miss Regina!” The AI addressed. “And just what have you brought for everyone?”

“I did my best to try & do cupcakes again! Since they were a hit that one time!” She seemed pleased to tell the computer, before putting on her louder, Ladies’ Night cackle voice. “Hi-yeee!”

“Hiiii!” Holly & Camille both lilted to match, with Holly, once again scrambling to help Regina with the tray she was carrying. Rachel’s heart sank as more food made its way to Holly’s pub table. 

“Hi Regina.” She eventually mustered, still pleasant, but much more plainly than the insipid lilting. 

“Rachel!” Regina cooed. “So glad you could make it this time!” 

“Well it is at her place.” Camille mousily chuckled.

“Tsk! What do you mean her place?” Holly scoffed, grabbing a stack of plates. 

“So I don’t have my own place, but not for lack of trying!” Rachel snapped back in her sister’s direction. If it was going to be like that. Camille & Regina seemed a bit out of the loop, but just the way Holly backed down seemed palpable enough to elicit a snicker. Meanwhile, Camille started undoing the strings & opening boxes, exposing nothing but flaky, buttery pastries. Even to Rachel, they were incredibly tempting on appearance alone. It rendered any subsonic suggestion to devour them simply overkill. 

“Oh my god! It all just looks so good!” Regina gasped, pulling the foil layer off the top of her tray. There was a clear difference in quality between her homemade baked goods & the professional French stuff Camille had picked up, but Rachel stared just as longingly. She was in no mindset to discriminate.

“And we’ll talk more when everyone gets here, but I was thinking maybe we get some pizza?” Holly floated.

“Oh, glad I went through all the trouble.” Camille mousily bristled.

“Yeah me too.” Regina said, a bit more forlorn, & unaware of the squint Camille immediately threw in her direction. “But now that you mention it? I think I could go for some pizza actually.” The flake bounced back.

“I… I think I need a drink.” Rachel murmured.

“Ah, Miss Deidre, hello!” Penny chimed again. The timing couldn’t have been better.

“Hi-yee!” Holly & Regina harmonized, piercing Rachel’s ear drums.

“Wine!” Gasped Camille. “You brought Deidre!” Thinking back, Rachel could’ve sworn she remembered Camille attempting to make it once before at another get-together, getting a vague deja vu.

“Psssh, hello to you too.” Deidre recoiled, putting the two unopened bottles she was double fisting down on the table. “And you know what? I saw you all day!” She seemed to joke, dismissively flapping her hand in others’ direction before immediately spinning on her heels to approach Rachel. “How are you?!” She loudly asked in a sing-songy chirp. It was the standard Ladies’ Night cackle sort of tone. Rachel was a little taken back by how cheery she was, especially after the other night in the sandwich shop. Had something changed? But then Deidre suddenly wrapped her pillowy arms around her, delivering one of her patented, amazing hugs. It had been a while since Rachel had been on the receiving end. That extra bit of squishiness went a long way. But just as she started to just grin & enjoy it, she picked up on a whisper. 

“Tonight is going to be super rough… isn’t it?” Deidre muttered through her teeth in the embrace, just loud enough for Rachel to hear. Rachel breathed a sigh of relief, realizing she was only putting on a show, & hadn’t been like hypnotized or lobotomized by Penny like she worried..

“Oh-ho, you betcha.” Rachel chuckled, matching volume, & adding a soft pat on Deidre’s back. 

“No wonder you tried flaking so often.” Deidre acknowledged with a snort of her own before slowly releasing the hug. “Holly, it’s your house & all, but I say we bust open that wine, stat!”

“Hear hear!” Rachel agreed.

Not too long after that, Andrea arrived, also with a bottle of wine in hand. But also two store-bought pies as well, causing Rachel’s heart to sink just that extra little bit further. She & Deidre did their best to stand off to the side, avoiding the full spread of sweets as the other girls started to pile things on their plates. Not they weren’t seriously tempted watching. Rachel could feel her tummy becoming even more hollow. She tried to nurse her wine, as her & Deidre discussed the lack of updates with the whole Marissa situation, & the entirely new phone Deidre ran out to get, just to be extra sure she was rid of the sinister app. But for every topic they discussed, it was ultimately very little distraction. Rachel knew she was going to have to grab a plate eventually.

All the while, she kept catching Holly’s gaze. She seemed suspicious of them. Why Deidre seemed to be clinging to Rachel’s side, almost ignoring everybody else.

“So…” Deidre seemed to clamor, out of earshot of the others. Their cooes were certainly loud enough to drown them out anyhow, but her tone was hushed, which in context seemed a bit conspicuous to Holly’s prying eyes. Muted in a way that conversations at Ladies’ Night typically weren’t. “Do we… tell them?” Deidre finally blurted to Rachel.

“Oh, I…” Rachel jolted to respond initially, trying not to be too distracted by Holly. But then it dawned on her just what Deidre was actually implying. “Oh!”

“I mean… they need to know!” Her look was one of guilt. “Before… I mean… the longer we wait…?” Deidre subtly nodded in the direction of the rest of the room behind her shoulder while puffing out her cheeks a little. Rachel winced, trying to prevent a spritzing her wine in a chortle. Not that what Deidre was saying was the least bit funny. In fact, there were dire consequences. She just hadn’t expected the Head of HR to make such a ridiculous face to signify those consequences.

At the same time? Deidre was one hundred percent correct. And Rachel was suddenly overcome with an intense guilt. She realized Deidre must’ve thought her some sort of monster for not trying to get the word out. And that the longer she waited, the bigger everyone else just seemed to get. And on the cusp of the amount of binging they were all probably about to do? It made sense to at least try.

At the same time? Prior experience told Rachel otherwise. She sighed a heavy sigh. 

“Look. You’re free to try telling them.” Rachel said cynically, folding the one side of her mouth high into her cheek in a way that wasn’t quite a smirk. “Lord knows I try telling Hol almost everyday. And look how far that’s gotten us.” Almost as if on cue, as if she couldn’t have timed it any better, Holly cooed, in the first instance her eyes weren’t darting in their direction in the last ten minutes. Having pulled some sort of cream puff onto her already stacked plate, she loudly sucked the cream & powdered sugar off her fingers with almost ecstatic glee. Her plump fingers seemed to get lost in her round cheeks past her puffy lips. Deidre seemed to follow the trail the cream made, stopping at Holly’s round belly, tugging at the clasps of its buttons to expose soft, pale flesh underneath. Rachel continued in Deidre’s ear. “She says I’m being ridiculous though. Calls me “neurotic.” When I all I really want is for her to be safe. And free of… well… this!”

“You can’t just give up on her!” Deidre seemed to reprimand, trying to look past the happiness on Holly’s face. “She’s your sister!”

“I know! I haven’t!” Rachel argued, getting louder than a whisper but not loud enough to attract the others’ attention. “I just… she’s… look at how just like… caught up she is in it. How much they all are!”

“Oh believe me. I’ve seen it first hand. Now that you & Mikayla & Fran opened my eyes? I see it. Every day around the office!” Deidre insisted. “But at the same time, these are my girls! This is your sister!” She said with growing seriousness. “I just… I can’t stand to let it keep happening. I can’t st-stomach it.” She trailed, seeming to catch herself midstream & become all but a little too self-conscious of her unintentional pun. “I can’t in good conscious just like… let this go on. More than it already has.”

“You’re… you’re right.” Rachel admitted with a pained sigh. “But what about Penny though?”

“What about her?” Deidre sneered defiantly.

“Well for one, it’s a machine.” Rachel corrected, while respecting the supreme girl boss energy. If anyone at the Bellflower could possibly stand a chance against the machine, Deidre suddenly didn’t seem like such a terrible choice. Still, she couldn’t help but have her reservations. “It does whatever it can to get whatever it wants. If it doesn’t want you spilling the beans on its whole sinister little scheme to fat…”

“Whatever!” She snapped back. “I’m not scared of an app.”

“Well easy for you to say!” Rachel rolled her eyes a little. “It never trapped you in an elevator, or concocted some random criminal alias to prevent you from getting away...” Deidre folded her arms & leaned back a little.

“You keep coming up with excuses.” She observed, looking down her nose a bit. “I always thought you to be a bit better than that.” Rachel saw through the ploy, almost echoing the last sentence back at Deidre. Instead, she answered with a sigh.

“They’re not excuses. They’re experiences.” She started taking a sip. “It’s called being careful.” The ire of the top heavy woman in front of her seemed to grow a little, as if Rachel was somehow being callous. Then again, deep down, even she worried that maybe she was.

“And what about our friends? What about your sister?” Deidre was laying it on extra thick this time. “Why can’t they get the opportunity to be careful?” Because right now? They’re at her… its whim.” Rachel watched the almost sisyphean spectacle of the girls, primarily Holly, attempting to fill their plates, but getting distracted & biting into something else, thus giving them more room to fill. At this point, they’d maybe never make their way over to the living room.

“That’s not what I’m arguing.” Rachel’s eyes narrowed. “But as long as that apps on all of their phones, & so long as we’re all in this building, it’s the one pulling the strings. So we have to be smart about this.” Deidre didn’t seem satisfied. But at the same time, the guilt Rachel was feeling persisted. And she wasn’t increasingly less satisfied as well. “We… can’t just say everything. Not in one go, at least.” She sighed. “But maybe we could… start laying the groundwork?”

“Ok,” Deidre begrudgingly compromised. “Well what are you thinking?”

“I… I don’t know.” Rachel admitted. For all of her bluster, she was hoping that Deidre maybe had some semblance of a plan. In lieu of that, Rachel threw out one ground rule. One that made sense at least in the confines of the Bellflower itself. “Nothing Penny. Not… yet.” Deidre reluctantly nodded. “Maybe… I don’t know. Suggest eating like this… it’s… maybe bad?”

“God.” Deidre sighed, gulping down the rest of her wine. “Is that really the best you’ve got?”

“No!” Rachel insisted. “You’re just… putting me on the spot here.”

“And just what are you two talking about?” Regina butted in, finally pulling herself away from the table’s orbit.

“Oh uh…” Rachel staggered, a bit startled. She tried to come up with some sort of cover.

“Just things over in the copywriting department.” Deidre rescued, falling right back into her usual typically pleasant smile. “How are things with you, dear?”

“Better now.” The flaky girl sighed, taking a big bite into one of her own cupcakes before continuing past them towards the couch. “You have literally no idea how hard it was not to go to town on the whole tray of these before I got here!” Rachel & Deidre sheepishly laughed. “You should try them! I think they turned out even better than last time!” 

“Yeah, Rachel!” Holly said with a stern tone. It was the first time in a few minutes she didn’t have something shoved in her mouth. “It’s weird standing off to the side having your own little side conversations.” The sisters scowled at one another. “Grab a plate & join us in the living room.”

“Shall we…?” Deidre smirked, acknowledging the strangeness of Holly’s little call-out, but sighing heavily as if she & Rachel were on their way to the gallows.

“Guests first.” Rachel mustered the last bit of her restraint. Even though the copious amount of baked goods had been already thoroughly picked over, there was very little chance of them turning anything down. Even the sloppy seconds.

“So now that everyone’s here,” Holly seemed eager to announce, slowly lowering her large bottom onto a wide swath of empty couch. “I don’t know, I’m starting to worry if this is going to be enough. And I was sort of thinking… maybe I could go for an actual meal. Does Pizza sound good? In a little bit?”

“Pizza? Now?” Andrea seemed to chortle. “After we filled our plates up with sweets already?”

“So what?” Holly dismissed, laughing with a full mouth. “You’re worried we’ll spoil our dinners?” Rachel rolled her eyes. Balancing her own fully plate, she stepped over thick thighs to get to what was usually her corner. Only Holly was a bit too wide to share, forcing her to opt for the floor. 

“It’s just not usually the order you’re supposed to go in.” Andrea shrugged, sipping some wine. 

“Who cares? We’re all adul-”

“Miss Veronica?” Penny cut her off to announce, the door hissed. “Why what a pleasant surprise!”

“What…?” Deidre muttered. Confusion seemed to swirl amongst the group. 

“Well hello there!” The sharpest cackle of the evening sounded from the door. The tone was so passive aggressive sounding, Rachel’s spine twitched. Not just from the shrill voice, but also from the weird vibes the room suddenly seemed to fill with. “Ladies’ Night, huh?”