Matt & Topher

In Sickness

[Matthew]

I feel like death. Toph has a migraine. Please make sure we haven't died. Key in your mailbox.

[Matthew]

If you could feed the cats we'd greatly appreciate it.

Effie couldn't imagine the state of them in the apartment. Matt was almost non-functional when he felt really shitty, and if the stories about Topher's migraines were true - not that she had any reason to doubt them - then he was probably incapacitated.

Her afternoon was free. All she'd need to do was go back to her dorm, grab some homework - and maybe a spare pair of clothes in case she spent the night on the couch - and make sure the boys were still breathing and hadn't been eaten by the kittens.

The classes in Chepple Hall 7 and 8 let out, and she pressed herself agaisnt the wall to avoid the flow of human traffic.

Human Economics wasn't the most exciting class in the directory, but she hadn't had much choice in it. It was interesting to look at human interactions, caregivers, general welfare, and the movement of money behind all of it.

It was fascinating. It also sometimes bored her out of her skull.

Once she could get in the classroom, she slid into her usual seat in the second row. The syllabus had said tax day. Great.

Effie put her phone on silent and shoved it into bag. With her notebook out, pens at the ready, she finally looked at the starting notes on the board.

Fraud & Embezzlement

Bernie Madoff

Stanley Goldblum

Natalie Stanton

Michael Milken

She froze.

Natalie Stanton, usually more commonly known as Natalie James, was Topher's mother.

For the first time in her academic life she had the urge to skip class. She'd have gotten up and walked out, too, except her professor had started taking attendance.

"Shit," she muttered, resigning herself to an extremely uncomfortable hour and a twenty minutes.

In the early afternoon, Effie stood by the mailboxes in the foyer of Matt and Topher's apartment building and waited for an older man to exit through the inner door. She slipped inside and started up the stairs, her laptop case clutched against her chest and her brother's keys in her free hand.

Once inside she left her sneakers on the mat by a pair of cherry red Michael Kors pumps.

Effie looked at the couch; the woman sitting there smiled.

"You must be Effie," she said. "I'm Sammy, one of Topher's friends."

And Topher's ex-girlfriend. She'd heard a lot about Sammy in passing - Matt liked her, and was incredibly glad Topher had a friend of her caliber - but they hadn't actually met.

"Yeah. I've heard a lot about you." Effie juggled her laptop, made it to the couch, and nearly flopped her backpack on Fidget. She redirected it to the floor instead of the cushion, and finally reached out to shake Sammy's hand.

Fidget never so much as opened an eye though both ears and his tail twitched.

No wonder Topher had named him Fidget.