FIFTY-EIGHT

Lost In a Pond

Samantha poured cereal into a bowl while engrossed in her phone. The heaviness she felt in her chest lay dormant still, spreading its fangs like wide fire. The answers she was given wasn’t enough; she wanted more. She grabbed a bottle of milk and held it over the bowl.

“Hey.”

“Shit!” Samantha jumped, both her phone and the milk falling from her hands to the ground. “Shit, you scared me.”

Hayden stood by the kitchen entrance, bare-back. “Did I? That milk costs twenty six dollars. Twenty six, Samantha. It’s almond.”

“Shut up. You can afford it.”

Samantha quickly cleaned up the mess she made and put the remaining milk in the fridge. She wiped her phone on her cloth as she gazed at Hayden.

“I guess I know why the ladies in this neighborhood keep throwing themselves at you,” she said. “Now I don’t blame Lolita that much for starting an affair.”

Hayden smiled. “You sure it’s not you they’re throwing themselves at? I think I remember some girl asking after you the other day.”