The Lonely Hearts Club

Chapter 45: Savvy (Bree)

Rain slithers down in sheets and lightning lights up the night sky.

Lana's windshield wipers slash back and forth on the glass, but it's still impossible to see ahead of us.

"I can't believe Jamie died." I say as Lana indicates and drives us into a forest.

"Who?" She asks, squinting ahead.

"Jamie," I say. "You know, the guy with the mustache from Sweetness?"

She and Coco were the ones who introduced me to him.

She said he was funny.

"I can't remember him." She shrugs.

I don't know if she's fucking with me or if she genuinely doesn't remember who he is.

"I'm so excited for you to see my dogs!" She says, obviously not interested in talking about Jamie. "You'll love them so much!"

"What kind of dog are they?"

"Belgian Malinois', right now I have six of them."

That's a lot of dogs.

"Oh Bree, they're so beautiful," She gushes. "They'll adore you."

She flicks her headlights onto the highest beam it can go as the forest gets denser and the road gets smaller.

"You'll meet them in a second, we're almost there."

Lana lives in the biggest house I've ever seen—it's literally a castle.

As we drive through the courtyard all the outdoor light automatically flick on. I stare at the stone turrets and impossibly high walls in amazement.

She pulls into a six-car parking garage where fancy sports cars are parked neatly.

It's miles away from Ice Apartments and every home I've ever known.

"Come on!" She says enthusiastically, turning off the car.

She leads me through her extravagant house and into the largest, most beautiful kitchen I've ever seen.

Sitting inside are six, beautiful dogs with silky fur and long noses.

Lana's dogs are the most well-behaved dogs I've ever seen.

My old friends and their dogs were feral, they never listened and always barrelled you to the ground up, barking and trying to bite you while their owner desperately held onto their mangy fur so they couldn't.

"Bree meet, Cashew, Pistachio, Macadamia, Almond, Peanut, and Walnut," she says in one breath. "Everyone, meet Bree."

Her dogs assess me quietly and I've never felt more judged.

"Okay, enough being serious." She says and they all rush to her, circling her and barking softly when she showers them with affection.

"Did you get the desert..." an icy voice trails off and my heart plummets.

No.

"Why the fuck is she here?" The voice continues.

Coco and Savvy enter the kitchen and Savvy does not look impressed to see me.

"Okay, neither of you get mad." Lana says.

"Lana, what is this?" I ask, voice low.

I thought Savvy wasn't going to be here.

She specifically said she wouldn't be here.

"Both of you are my friends, so I want you to be friends as well!" She says. "Coco and I came up with a wonderful plan."