The Girl With Two Names

An Open Door

"That's too sugary for you anyway." A leggy, athletic blonde, chimes in on Lilly's conversation with her grande beverage.

"Phoeeeebs! How the heck?" Lilly looks up looking almost tipsy.

"Andy texted me, he said he was worried because instead of putting your shit in your car and driving away like any normie would do, you just kept walking all the way here, across a super busy street, with this box, and with your always enormous purse. He said you looked kinda suicidal. He said he had a meeting so he couldn't go after you so he sent me." Phoebe pulls out the little kodama onto the table taps his head, and grabs the notebooks and throws those in the trash behind their table.

"I really appreciate that he valued his meeting over my life." Lilly says with a mouthful of whipped cream scooped up with her straw.

"I figured you were just too hungry to think straight, or forgot you had those with you" Phoebe plops a brown bag in front of her whipped cream mustachioed friend.

"You are right on both counts, the second one partially though, 'cause when I remembered to drop my crap off at my car first, I was halfway crossing the street already." Lilly distractedly states as she excitedly opens the delicious smelling, grease stained and still warm brown bag. "Yesssss. Siopao! Asado right?"

"Of course! I'm pretty much a Filipino food expert now!" Being a girlfriend of a half filipino dude, and an ex roommate of a self-proclaimed "fresh off the boat" Filipina Lilly, Phoebe really can claim expertise in the Filipino cuisine. She can even make adobo and sinigang, and shops at the asian market so comfortably she knows how to tell fresh fish from their eyes. A trick Patrick, Phoebe's boyfriend's mom taught her. "I put three in there, because I was pretty sure you would be ravenous from being upset."

"I'm not upset, I was a bit hangry though, that exit interview was too long, I just wanted to get out of there and grab some breakfast!" Lilly says as she polishes off the second bun. Her hand was reaching out for the third one when Phoebe's hand catches it and gives it a squeeze.

"Yeah the one I had was long too, HR do love to hear themselves talk. Why didn't you look for a job weeks ago, I'd bet you saw this coming from the start." Phoebe asks.

"I don't know maybe it was denial, or laziness." Lilly sighs, grabs her hair and pulls and rubs her head in different directions. Leaving her head a crazy nest of brunette.

"OR maybe you didn't want another j.o.b." Phoebe reaches over to straighten Lilly's mass of midnight tresses. So long and silky, makes her want to pull Lilly's hair she'd kill for that hair. Her's is a stringy blonde.

Lilly looks up at Phoebe's piercing gaze.

Phoebe continues.

"Maybe you want to take this time for yourself. For your dreams. To try something risky for a change!"

Lilly doesn't respond, but holds her friends gaze as she chews on her bottom lip, making dimples appear on each cheek.

"What are you going to do with you house?"

"I put it up for sale last week actually, I'm starting to get a few bites. Now that I don't have you as a tenant, ahem traitor, I need to, you know, downsize. I can live off my severance and the money from that sale for a few months, removing savings from that bulk of course." Lilly nonchalantly narrates her plan.

"I knew it, I knew you had a plan. You're too smart and risk averse to just go " "fuck it"". But I also have something that might help you save more money and maybe not have a j.o.b. for longer than you planned.."

Lilly motions Phoebe to continue using her raised eyebrows, as she sips from her straw.

"So Patrick has this family friend, his parents know this guy's folks. Anyway he also trained his lab, super hyper black lab named Teri. Anyway, so this guy, Teri's dad is loaded. I mean, loaded and yeah well he's a big movie star you know." Phoebe grabs the now fake- sleeping Lilly's shoulder and shakes her.

"Lilly pay attention! Anyway this dude-"

"Yeah Patrick's parents' friend's son who also is super rich and a movie star--- is he real?"

"Yes he's real!"

"Is this story ever going to go anywhere?" Lilly makes fun of Phoebe's excited rambling, she tends to get distracted when telling stories and goes on major tangents.

"Just let me get through this okaaay! Shut it already!" Phoebe pretend chokes her silly friend then continues.

"Ok so, this dude has a gynormous house up in Sun Valley. A few blocks down from Pat's folk's house. He just got it, he has a few other houses you know, I looked up his L.A. mansion and it is epic. Anyway, Teri loves it there, it has so much open space and it's quiet there so he has his dog live there. That is how Pat ended up training this pup. Anywaaay, he is always away. Shooting films and promoting and all those other stuff rich people do. So he asked Pat if he can house sit, so he can also watch Teri and maybe keep the place clean too and prep it for guests and stuff like that."

"Oh good for him, is Pat getting paid a fat check then?" Lilly says, not really knowing how this is important right now, but interested in the story anyway.

"No, he didn't take it. We just got engaged you know, and I am not moving up to sun valley to house sit with him! I like downtown, our new condo and I actually like my new job. But Patrick did tell him that he will find someone for him though, someone he can trust and is good with dogs."

"Ahhhh I get it now. You mean me. Okaaay. Jeez that was a lot!" Lilly giggles as Phoebe steals a drink from her coffee.

"Eww this straw is nasty chewed up!" Phoebe exclaims. "Anyway, yeah. I think, this is precipitous-"

"Ooh good word!" Lilly loves pretty words that make people see and feel.

"Yes this is precipitous, this is fate. I think you can house sit, get paid to stay in that big fancy house, in the mountains, make money not doing the job you dislike and finish that darn book you've been working on since I met you! Isn't this just perfect!?" Phoebe reaches a crescendo finally completing her mission.

Lilly reaches for the last only slightly warm soft Siopao, takes a big bite, hugs Phoebe and says. "Yes, definitely precipitous!"

"Agh you got food in my hair!" Phoebe grunts as Lilly releases her.

"Wait, whos this dude by the way? Puppy -Teri's dad."

Phoebe says the last few words like a cat who drank all the milk: "Can't tell you, yet".