MarriageForVisaLand

Why Not?

Dodie

When the bell rings, I open the door to find an excitedly smiling Emma with two bags of Doritos under one arm and a bottle of Coke under the other. I smile, Emma never forgets to bring her own snacks to a party.

''Hey gurlll!'', she greets me. I'm once again surprised by the change of hair colour, the last time I'd seen her she was still wearing that straight, bright purple wig, but I see she's now opted for long, curly, dark brown extensions.

''Hi Emma'', I say, and I look at the clock. ''You're early, c'mon in.''

When she's through the door, I put the bags on a side table, and give her a hug.

''How are you?'', she asks me, letting go.

For a sheer moment, I feel the need to tell her everything. About Evan being fired, and the wiggle room, and the contract with the purple ballpoint pen, and the pasta on top of a skyscraper, and Evan's nightmare, and Father Williams, and the ice cream. This happens to me a lot lately, I don't know why. I reject the thought immediately.

''Ummm, yeah, good, you know, just... uhm... generally well...'' I say, awkwardly.

I see Emma furrowing her eyebrows slightly, a slightly questioning look emerging in her eyes.

Change the topic, change the topic.

''So, uhm, isn't Luke coming?'' I quickly say.

Emma's face immediately clears up, a bright smile appearing with the mention of her boyfriend.

''Yeah, he just wanted to finish editing, but he'll be here in a bit.''

''Okay, cool, cool.'' I say, relieved I've turned the conversation around.

After a bit of small talk we both sit down on the couch.

After a while, Emma just looks around the living room.

''Sometimes I forget what a nice little place you two have.'' She eventually says.

I take a look around. Evan and I put up some multi-colour fairy lights around the place, and the usual posters and colourful artwork are of course up.

''Yeah, it's pretty cool, I guess.'' I say, smiling softly.

''Speaking about 'you two', how is Evan?'', she continues.

''He's great.'' I say still looking at a Lord of the Rings poster on the wall. When I look back at her, I see she has a mischievous, knowing look on her face.

I jokingly hit her on the shoulder, ''Emma bloody Blackery, don't you look at me like that!''

''I mean, I'm just saying, you seem pretty enthusiastic about the boy.'' She winks.

I shake my head, laughing. ''I'm gonna tell you what I've told you a thousand times, Em, there's nothing between us! Never have, never will, you know that!''

She shrugs, ''Yeah, that's how I felt about Luke at first too, but...'' She smiles like an idiot.

I snigger, ''Shut up, you!'', I tell her.

''Evan and Dodie, sitting in a tree,'' she starts singing and clapping her hands. ''K-I-S-S-I-''

I manage to throw a pillow at her in between my fits of laughter. She's about to retaliate when the doorbell rings.

Still chuckling, I open the door.

''Oh, hey Hazel, come in.''

***