“Wow. That’s wow.” Twitch thought briefly to her childhood in nearby Westchester County. Mentally, she had moved very far away, just not physically.
“Plus my dad has hooked me up with some people who get me really interesting jobs. I’ve been a waitress, a photographer’s assistant, a tour guide. I worked on a salt farm in Malta.” She popped a grape in her mouth.
“That’s cool.”
“You never, eh hem, looked into my family?”
Twitch knew a thing or two about Calliope’s background, but she had a policy not to poke around in her friends’ lives. She trusted until she was given a reason not to.
“Nope.” Twitch sighed. “I mean, I know the basics, but I would never pry. We all have secrets, Calliope. Friends share secrets when the time is right.”
Calliope nodded.
“I think I told you he’s technically my stepdad. He married my mom when I was five, but he’s my real dad in all the ways that count. He’s traveled all his life for work. As you can imagine, he knows people everywhere. He’s willing to let me live my life, but he’s always watching out, you know?”
“Gotcha. So what does all this have to do with the flip?”
“I don’t know. None of it, really.” She confessed. “It’s just that my mom and dad love each other so much, I feel like if I don’t find my soulmate, I’ll somehow disappoint them. And I don’t even really believe in that stuff. I mean come on.”
“And if you did?”
“Did what?”
“Find your soulmate?”
“I’m certainly not scouring the planet looking for him. Let’s face it. I’d be a pretty difficult soul for the romance gods to match up. So far this system is working fine. I’ve never met anyone I loved more than my life the way it is.”
“Until you meet someone, and it goes somewhere before you can go anywhere.”
“Hasn’t happened so far. I can barely find guys I can stand for a week.” Both women laughed at that.
Twitch turned serious. “About Tox.”
Calliope stopped her glass halfway to her mouth, her cheeks pink. She met Twitch’s sparkling eyes with a hard truth.
“Yes, there’s the flip, but come on. We’re not exactly compatible.”
“How so?”
Calliope almost choked on her sip.
“You have to see it. It’s practically a running joke with us. He’s neat. I’m messy. I’m a free spirit. He’s structured. He’s a SEAL. I’m a chicken. I mean, I know what you’re going to say. Yes, opposites attract, or Yin Yang or whatever, and in theory, that’s great, but in reality, I don’t think it ever works. At the start, the lust burns so hot all those little things—his lists or his organized closet or his over-protectiveness are tolerable. Then you settle in, and those same qualities make you want to kill him. And the same with him. He can overlook a slob or a flake when the sex is consuming him, but then…he sees the real me without the fuck-blinders and poof.” Calliope made a little explosion with her fingers.
Twitch was momentarily stunned. Calliope’s analysis revealed some pretty profound insecurities in her confident friend.
“Fuck-blinders?”
“You know what I mean.”
“I don’t think you should date him.” Twitch looked uncharacteristically serious.
“What? Why?” Calliope had been convinced Twitch would encourage a relationship. The women had oddly and suddenly switched positions on the topic.
“Damn, reverse psychology really does work,” Twitch laughed.
“Did you mean it?”
Twitch set her glass down and squared her shoulders.