“Reeaaallly?” Priya stepped forward, “interrogation” written all over her face.
Arkady got his door unlocked and practically flung himself into his apartment. “Girl questions are strictly verboten,” he said, his left eyebrow spasming, and slammed the door.
Ooh. Arkady had a tell. I’d seen him pull off undercover work, cool as a cucumber, but lean on him about his personal life and he got twitchy. No. That wasn’t exactly it either. He was very comfortable deflecting with over-the-top sexual innuendo, but he was really upset about whatever had gone wrong between them. Vulnerable. That’s where he got twitchy. Interesting.
Priya wrinkled her nose at the shut door, set the pet store purchases in the foyer, then crouched down and held out her hand. “Is this supposed to be a guard dog?”
“She’s a temporary visitor. I wouldn’t get a pet without speaking to you first.”
The pug sniffed the outstretched hand, then warily nuzzled her nose into Priya’s palm. “Does she have a name?” Priya said.
“Mrs. Hudson.” I waved my hands, hoping to avoid further questions. “Look, it was the only thing I could think of on the spot and the vet needed something quick.”
Priya’s donkey-like braying laugh filled the foyer. “You Sherlock-named her?” She scratched the puppy’s head, making kissing noises. “Who’s a pretty girl who’s living here forever? You are.”
“Okay, no.” I smacked her hand away. “This weird baby shit is exactly why I am not a puppy person and will not be keeping her. I just wasn’t about to call her ‘dog’ all the time like a preschooler. The rescue shelter was full, and I was too tired to drive to the one on the other side of town, but as soon as I can find her a good home, she goes away.”
My work wasn’t conducive to having a dog. Mrs. Hudson deserved stability and a loving family.
“Uh-huh.” Pri’s green eyes narrowed doubtfully at me. “Come eat. There’s Chinese take-out if you want some.”
I was running low and scraped raw and I needed solitude to recharge, but Priya had never counted as company. She was just my Pri, and I could de-stress around her as easily as by myself in my bedroom. But something niggled at me. I squinted, calling up my mental calendar. “Hold on, isn’t it Arianna’s birthday dinner tonight?”
“Wasn’t feeling it.” She grabbed the leash from me. “More fun to hang out with you and Mrs. Hudson.”
“Obviously.” Because staying in with your injured friend and a dog you’d never met trumped dinner at the Thai restaurant you’d looked forward to eating at for the past month. Worse, tonight she wore a cream cashmere sweater with jeans.
After Priya’s engagement had spectacularly blown up a few years ago, she had embraced pink the way a chocoholic embraced anything to satisfy their sweet tooth, even if it was stale chocolate chips in the back of a cupboard, poured directly into their mouth until the momentary bliss turned to shame and the detritus of an empty bag.
Anyhow, she’d worn a lot of pink. Sure, it was some kind of ruthless happy shield, but it also fit her warm and outgoing personality. Since her abduction last week, her clothing had become as muted as her life.
“Tamarind prawns and planning that spa getaway with your book club,” I said. “You know you’d have fun.”
“Some other time,” she said. Her smiles used to light up her entire face with joy; now the ones I received were tinged with warning. “You need help walking?”
“I can hobble. But if you’d help with my boots and an ice pack, I’d be forever grateful.”
Priya led the pug into the living room, which was where we ate most of our meals.
Our two-bedroom apartment wasn’t a dump, since it had original fir floors and moldings around the windows and doors, but it only got light on one side, and there was a dark water mark from our leaky roof in the corner of the living room that we’d christened Fred, the Demon God of Moisture.
That said, it was a vaguely affordable rental unit in Vancouver which made it more precious than any water view or snazzy penthouse.
The sleek modern furniture in our living room was well beyond our pay grade, as we’d inherited it in my mother’s last remodel, but we’d stamped our personality on it. Between all our books spilling off the large bookcase, the photographic prints of foreign locales we intended to travel to, and the pops of color from pillows made from sari fabric that Priya had picked up on one of her visits to her grandparents in India, it was cozy.
It was also completely tidy.
Priya didn’t tidy. Laundry and dishes, no problem, but light cleaning? My darling friend was a little tornado of chaos, scattering her belongings around her like seeds in need of planting. I wracked my brain as to how this could have happened. There were no guests to impress and I didn’t smell cumin or garam masala, so her mother hadn’t stopped by. That left a frenetic cleaning outburst because she was worried about something.
I squeezed her hand. “I love you, too.”
She stuck her nose in the air, flinging back her jet black bobbed hair. “Don’t make me hear these things from other people next time.”
I flopped onto the couch. “I literally just got home and would have told you if Arkady hadn’t been in such a rush to spread the news.”
“Yeah, he’s worse than all my aunties.” She carefully tugged off my boots and I sighed in relief. While the ankle was slightly swollen, thankfully, it wasn’t sprained.
Pri had gone vegetarian for tonight’s order, which was fine by me, since our favorite Chinese place had a deep-fried salty spicy tofu that was to die for. Though you had to eat it when ordered, because it got soggy if reheated. In the interests of combatting food waste, I made sure there was never any left. She’d also gotten Szechuan green beans, veggie chow mein, and a couple orders of fried green onion pancakes.
After she’d
