Fifteen

 

By Tuesday, when Marsha went back to work, Sophie seemed to feel slightly better about her family. She hadn’t spoken to her sisters yet, as far as Marsha was aware, but she wasn’t moping around like she had on Sunday night, either.

Marsha had told her to come into the restaurant sometime today. She wanted to show off her waitressing skills, and maybe make Sophie feel better in the process. Sophie could also catch up with her old friend, Marsha’s boss, while she was at it.

As the afternoon rush picked up, Marsha wondered if she’d actually come. Sophie hadn’t given a proper yes or no. For now, Marsha was just focused on serving the customers that were here.

She flitted from one table to the next, taking orders and setting down plates. There was still the odd question that she didn’t know how to respond to, but there were fewer of them every day. And the other waitress, Candi, had told her that even she got thrown off a few times a week.

“People can be weird,” Candi had said. “They say weird things, and you have to think on your feet about how to respond. It sucks sometimes, but being unpredictable is why we’re not robots, after all.”

Robots could be quite unpredictable on Marsha’s planet, but she appreciated Candi’s point. As long as she kept her cool and smiled at even the most unpleasant customers, she’d be all right. She really felt like she was doing okay at this, considering where she was from.

The customers were acting weirder today than they usually did. For the third time in a row, one of Marsha’s tables had sat there for ages before getting up and leaving. Marsha waved goodbye to them as they went, and they looked back at her in what seemed like surprise.

The door swung open, and a familiar face peeked inside. “Sophie!” Marsha cried, rushing over to her. “You came!”

“Of course. Look at you! You look so cute in your little apron.”

Sophie sat down by herself, and Marsha went to tell Damian she was here. Once he sat down with her, Marsha brought menus for both of them. She wanted to prove to Damian as well as Sophie that she knew what she was doing.

After a couple of minutes, she came back and took their orders—a guacamole burger for Sophie, a Coke for Damian.

“You sound so professional,” Sophie said with clear pride. “I would’ve never guessed you were—that you’ve never done this before.”

“She’s doing pretty well so far,” Damian added.

The praise made Marsha glow inside, and she couldn’t stop a smile from spreading over her face. “I’ll be right back with your orders,” she said cheerfully.

She brought the Coke, and a water for Sophie even though she hadn’t asked for one. Since it wasn’t too busy, she sat for a moment to chat. The last table that’d needed to be served was sitting there, and she glanced over at them a few times as she talked to Sophie. They’d had their meal, and she’d offered dessert. They couldn’t need anything more. She’d let them linger rather than hurrying them to leave.

Sophie and Damian were talking about people Marsha didn’t know. It seemed like Damian had kept in touch with their college friends better than Sophie had. He was updating her on which were married, which were pregnant, and which had bought a house.

“I’ll have to tell all of them how you’re doing,” he said. “Any big achievements I should know about?”

“Not really,” Sophie said. “I finished grad school almost ten years ago—God, I don’t think I’ve seen you once since then—so I’m a speech-language pathologist. I’ve been working at an elementary school ever since.”

“No house? Husband? Kids?” Damian asked. He’d already told Sophie he was married with infant twins.

Sophie took a big bite of her burger, then pointed to her left hand. “None of the above, and that’s fine with me.”

“I can find someone to set you up with if you’re interested. You don’t have to be alone.”

Sophie crammed the rest of the burger into her mouth as Marsha watched in astonishment. When she finished swallowing, she shook her head vehemently. “I’m good, really. This has been great, but I should go. Marsha, can I get the bill, please?”

Marsha stared at her, thinking of a human expression she’d occasionally encountered: to feel the blood draining out of your face. For the first time, she understood what it meant. “The bill.”

“Yes, the bill.” Sophie gave her a funny look.

Things were falling into place—like the way that customers had seemed annoyed and confused all afternoon. Distracted by the possibility of Sophie’s visit, Marsha had forgotten she wasn’t on HR 8832g. And that humans didn’t have microchips that they used to pay at the door.

“I’ll get it for you,” she said. “But… um… Damian, could I talk to you for a second?”

Damian was thoroughly unamused when she explained to him what’d happened. In the privacy of the kitchen, she watched his face darken more with every word she said.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “It was a huge mistake. I don’t know how I managed it.” She did know, of course, but she doubted that explaining would’ve made this better, anyway.

“I can’t believe this,” he growled. “You give someone a chance, and for what? How many tables have you waited on today, Marsha? Six? Seven?”

It was something along those lines. She fidgeted on her feet, unable to look him in the eye.

“You know I’m going to have to deduct their meals from your paycheck, right?” he asked. “I hate to do this, but it’s too much to take the loss.”

“That’s no problem. It’s fine.” It’d just take her longer to save up the money she wanted to give to Sophie.

“And I can’t have you waitressing anymore.”

Marsha’s face drained even further. “No, please. I need a job.”

He folded his hands behind his back. “I can promote the busboy to waiter and make you a busgirl. The pay is less, and the hours are longer.”

“It’s okay. I’ll do it. Thank you, Damian.” Marsha felt like falling at his feet. “I really am so sorry.”

 

***

 

Sophie knew from the dark look on Damian’s face that something bad had happened, but she didn’t know what exactly until Marsha got home later that evening.

“I wasn’t thinking about payment,” Marsha explained as she sat down in the living room. She was more upset than Sophie had ever seen her. “All my life, there were microchips, and then all of a sudden things were different.”

“It’s okay.” Sophie gave her a big hug, her arms wrapping around Marsha’s shoulders. “Everyone makes mistakes.”

“I know, I know.”

Although Sophie felt bad for thinking this, it was rather nice to be the one comforting Marsha. Sophie had been so worked up about her family, and it was good to not be the most emotional one in the room anymore.

Marsha leaned her head on Sophie’s shoulder, and a spark of raw heat flashed through Sophie. Even after it was gone, her face stayed hot, and she moved a few inches away. She could never trust what her body was going to do when it came to physical contact with Marsha.

She comforted Marsha for a few minutes more, and then Marsha sat up with her usual curious energy. “Why hadn’t you seen Damian in so long if you used to be such good friends?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Sophie said. “The group drifted apart. I was busy with my master’s degree while they were getting started with their careers.”

“The rest of them stayed in touch.”

That was true. Sophie hadn’t realized how true until today, actually. It seemed like she’d drifted farther than the others. “I’m not sure why,” she said slowly. “I remember passing up on a couple of invitations after we graduated, and then they stopped coming.”

She’d never completely felt like part of the group, anyway. Things went on behind her back, drama that she wasn’t aware of, and while she’d been friendly with everyone, she wasn’t close to any of them. Once they weren’t seeing each other all the time on campus, she hadn’t made an effort to stay in touch. She’d assumed they didn’t care enough to keep contact.

“When you were talking to Damian, you pointed at your hand.” Marsha was already jumping onto a new topic. “What kind of gesture was that? I didn’t understand.”

“I did?” Sophie thought about it. “Oh, that was to show I wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.”

Marsha seemed completely perplexed by that idea, and Sophie explained that humans wore rings to show that they had made vows to each other. “It’s very serious. When you get married, you say you’re going to stay together until death do you part. You’ve never noticed wedding rings? Or engagement ones?”

“I thought they were just jewelry.” Marsha’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “What other secret codes do humans have that I don’t understand?”

“I don’t know.” Sophie laughed. “You’d have to tell me which ones you don’t understand.”

“All of them,” Marsha grumbled.

“Stop that,” Sophie said. “You’re doing great at being a human.”

“Except for being demoted.”

Sophie shrugged. “That’s a minor thing.”

 

***

 

In the group chat, Sophie and her sisters decided to have a video call at 9 p.m. Sophie asked Marsha to give her some space, then sat on her bed with her back against the wall. She smiled shakily as she accepted the call.

Katie’s face appeared on the screen of her phone. “Sorry it took us so long to set this up,” she said. “I had to wait for Dad and Mama to go out. I didn’t want them to hear.”

A second later, Nicole joined the video chat. “Am I late? Brian really didn’t want to look after the kids.” She rolled her eyes. “Even though Deacon’s just on his video games and Mitzi’s playing with her Barbies.”

“It’s good to see you both.” Some part of Sophie had genuinely thought she’d never see her sisters again. Now the three faces, so similar to each other’s, filled up her screen. “I’m sorry I caused this mess.”

“No, you had to,” Nicole said. “It was beyond time. I’m sick of our parents thinking they can control us.”

“At least you two don’t have to live with them,” Katie said, her usual cheeriness vanishing. “They can be so annoying.”

Annoying didn’t begin to cover it. “How was the dinner on Sunday?” Sophie asked. “Was it really as bad as you said in our texts?”

“Worse.” Katie cringed. “When I asked about you, Dad threw a plate at the wall.”

Nicole nodded. “He sat there pretending it didn’t happen. Without saying a word, Mama went and cleaned it up.”

Guilt twisted within Sophie. “None of that would’ve happened if I’d gone like I was supposed to.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” Katie said. “You’re a grown woman. We all are. We should be able to make these decisions for ourselves.”

“There’s been times when I’ve wanted to skip dinner, or when Brian didn’t feel like watching the kids,” Nicole added. “It’s a nice tradition to have, but I’d like it to be optional rather than obligatory.”

Sophie stretched her legs out before her. “I don’t think they’re going to want to see me this weekend.”

“If they don’t, they won’t get to see us, either,” Nicole instantly said. “We’re on your side here. We think it’s wrong of them to try to control us.”

Sophie’s heart lifted. Somehow, she hadn’t expected her sisters to be so firmly on her side. Her parents could be so dictatorial—it was easy to forget that the other two had their own thoughts and opinions.

“What about you, Katie?” she asked. It would be harder for Katie to go against them when she still lived in their house.

“I don’t know if I can avoid seeing them at all.” Katie bit her lip. “Maybe I’ll go for a walk during Sunday night dinner, just to take a stand.”

“Why don’t we have our own dinner on Sunday?” Nicole asked. “Brian can pick you up and drive us into Rocksoil.”

“Really?” Sophie asked. “He wouldn’t mind?”

Nicole shrugged. “He would, but he could bring the kids into town and they could do their own thing. It’d be a fun night out for them.”

“That would be amazing,” Sophie said. “You could come to my place, meet my roommate…”

If Gary was around, they’d quickly figure out Terry was gay. Their reactions would help her figure out if it was safe for her to come out to them. She’d never thought she would, but seeing that store clerk’s lack of a reaction had helped—and now she’d been reminded that her sisters didn’t blindly fall in line with what their parents said.

“That sounds great,” Katie said. “You know, we should’ve done this a long time ago. A triplet trip to town—it’ll be amazing.”

“Yeah, how did we never think of this before?” Nicole grinned. “And to think this all happened because you wanted to party on a Sunday.”

“I wasn’t partying.” Sophie laughed, then sobered up. “My houseguest is still here, though. Maybe—maybe you can meet her.”

Even as she spoke, she wasn’t sure if that would be a terrible idea. Her sisters were smart. What if they figured out Marsha’s origins? Possibly even scarier, what if they sniffed out the feelings she had for Marsha?

Both her sisters’ faces had lit up. “That sounds great!” Katie said. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“You don’t know anything about her,” Sophie said.

“She got you to skip out on our parents,” Nicole said. “She has to be something special.”

Sophie let a soft smile take over her face. “That much is for sure.”