"I'm still taking the medication, but I feel better. I feel a bit less like I'm looking at the world through a dirty window. Natasha doesn't drink that often, so I've stopped buying wine to have in the refrigerator just in case. She's an early riser so I don't sleep in past mid-day as much. At least not when she stays over at my place."
Mikaela hums appreciatively.
"She's coming on a little break with me next weekend. We've sold out all our dates here so Irma's contact in Philly has given us a couple of dates in his theatre."
"Oh my God, bitch, you should have started with this actual news, not that Tori Amos shit!"
Sawyer can't hide her smile, "Yeah, it's pretty cool.” It's definitely the coolest thing to happen to Sawyer in her career so far.
"In all honesty, they don't need me at this stage. I could probably just send my instructions to their technical team to set it up and operate the cues. But the minute Irma mentioned it, all I could think of was fucking Natasha on fresh white sheets that are magically changed every day."
"And it would be handy to have contacts in Philadelphia,"
"Yeah, that too. But eating waffles off a tray in the middle of a fucking King-sized bed was my primary motivation."
"Or eating waffles off your girlfriend," Mikaela's voice is sly.
Sawyer knows Natasha would let Sawyer lick warm maple syrup off her hard stomach, and she blushes hard just thinking about it.
Mikaela is stuck at a red and her eyes are boring into Sawyer through the screen. Sawyer often suspects her best friend can read minds.
"So," Sawyer starts again, "I went to Faneiul Hall the other day. Cradle of liberty and all that."
"How was it?"
"Like most of the rest of Boston, it made me think that it probably wasn't worth all the massacres, internment and disease inflicted on my people."
Mikaela rolls her eyes at Sawyer, "Calm down, Pocahontas."
Sawyer ignores her, "I was thinking that if our weekend in Philly goes well, I might suggest we do a little trip to Salem. WASPy girls love witches don't they? Gives them a chance to feel persecuted."
Mikaela laughs, shaking her head.
"I thought she was Russian?"
"What have Russians got to complain about?"
"Oh my God, Sawyer. We need to get you a buzzer to tell you when to shut your mouth. Read a fucking history book; Stalin killed more of his own people than Hitler."
"Did 95% of the Russian population die of fucking flu and smallpox?" Sawyer knows she's being inappropriate, but can't resist twisting to turn her shoulder towards the camera lens and grinning. Mikaela covers her face with her hands.
"Talking about her heritage, have you googled her surname? Her parents are fucking Harvard professors."
Mikaela whistles, "That's money."
"I know, right! I bet she learnt yoga in Cambodia or something like that. I keep on wanting to tease her about it, but she clams up a bit when I mention her family."
"Why is it only ever rich bitches that seem to need to travel to exotic places to find themselves? Can you imagine some Cambodian kid being like 'Mom, dad, I'm off to Wisconsin to find out who I really am.'"
Sawyer giggles at Mikaela's joke, and then feels a roiling sensation in the pit of her stomach. She probably wouldn't have laughed at that if Natasha had been there. This is a new sensation for her and she doesn't know quite what to do with it.
There's an awkward pause, before Mikaela asks, "What's her sign then?"
Sawyer wrinkles her nose like she's forgot and counts to three before she answers, "She's a Taurus."
"Oh, like Gia. I've forgotten what that means."
"Stubborn, practical, sensual."
"Is she?"
Sawyer's head is flooded with images of Natasha. Natasha stomping them towards a dark Walgreens because she refuses to believe Google when it says the store shuts at six. Natasha patiently using tweezers to pull out a big wad of blonde hair from Sawyer's bathtub drain, while Sawyer pretended to retch behind her.
Thinking about the tub reminds Sawyer of Natasha insisting that she and Sawyer take a bath together. Natasha had laid on top of Sawyer, writhing over her so that their slippery breasts slid against each other. The belly-deep groan that Natasha had made had given Sawyer full body goosebumps, despite the heat of the water.
Sawyer doesn't realize how long she must have trailed off for until Mikaela coughs.
"Well, I know what your answer to the third part of that will be. Get a grip before you need to wash those seat cushion covers. The sex may be good but she's still knocking 40 with no retirement plan."
“I know, I know. I don't think you can have two self-employed people in a relationship in the long term. I was thinking I might see if that lecturing position is open again, or if Boston has something similar.”
"Sawyer, you are the least patient person I know. I'd make a better teacher than you."
"I could get a job as a technician and just stay in the one theatre."
"You'd hate not having creative control. You'd Sawyer Martinez the shit out of every design and no one would ever work with you again."
"Natasha and I could set up a handy woman business,"
