Deal Breakers

Day 7

The interesting thing about living in a tiny community is that you see the same people every day. We'd been hiding in the cabin mostly, Peter says not to fraternize with the enemies too much, but also keep them close... confusion level: 100.

They served breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the Community Cabin, so we were in there two or three times a day regardless of what he said about keeping to ourselves.

I was sitting at one of the tables, scarfing down cold scrambled eggs and hash browns when Diana walked in with a look on her face that told me I wouldn't like what she said next. She tied her dark hair up in a ponytail, giving us all a big fake smile, preparing us for whatever she was about to coax us into. I looked around the cabin, Denver, Lizzie, and Peter J were the only other people in the room, besides me.

"Okay, so this evening we have round two, but in an hour we're doing some more interviews. These are mandatory, they're just commentary on how you feel things are going, etc." She looked directly at me, "Layla, you'll be there right?" She asked with her hand on her hip and her oversized smile.

Diana was a beautiful woman, maybe in her late forties. Her dark hair had a shine to it as I'd never seen, more lustrous than a horse's mane, her tan skin and green eyes melted together in a way that made me envious of her. Oscar was a lucky man in my opinion.

"I don't have a choice, do I?" The others chuckled behind the table, no one expected me to have an attitude with her.

"Right, what's our other option?" Peter J asked his shoulder-length blonde ponytail that matched the length of Diana's, he was twirling the end between his fingers.

"Disqualifying you," Diana answered flatly.

"We'll be there," Denver said with a low chuckle. "We'll let the Calvary know too." he tipped his imaginary cowboy hat at her and winked.

"Perfect, thank you." She clapped her hands together, clearly done with us. "See you there!" Her ponytail swayed As she collided through the cabin doors back into the bright, sunny world.

"Do you think, Diana cheats on Oscar?" Peter J asked and I almost spit out my eggs. Diana cheating on Oscar, the thought was appalling.

"What, no. They're married!" I replied, surprised they'd discuss such a scandalous topic out in the open.

"Yeah, but she's all hot and he's all..."

"Round," Denver said with a snort. I was surprised to hear Denver talk about them since he didn't do much talking, to begin with.

"You two are terrible," I replied with a shake of my head. "They're probably happily married." I didn't want to think of them as some broken marriage living separate lives. Maybe it was too much considering everything I was dealing with now that Chase is in the picture.

Denver spoke like he knew something we didn't.  "They don't look at each other the way a happily married couple does."

I looked at Lizzie who was sitting in an armchair with her book about gardening and a mug of coffee. "What do you think Lizzie?"

She looked up with a frown on her face. "I don't like to gossip."

I don't either, but here I am gossiping.

"You're right. It's none of our business." I said with a nod of agreement. All of a sudden I could smell the scrambled eggs left in my plate. The room felt a little more stuffy. I felt judged by Lizzy for gossiping, and I felt yucky.