hiding behind metaphor.

“Okay, but did you know that name for the shape of Pringles is called a ‘Hyperbolic Paraboloid’?” She had taken up her tablet only to check on an email– Meg looked up at Atta and flashed an abashed smile before setting it aside, poking at her food with the fork. “I can’t recall the last time I had lunch here, but I guess it’s not half bad.” The mall’s food court was graciously set on an outdoor area, with the tables nearby mostly empty, it was a welcomed change of scenery from City Hall.

“You threw me a surprise party last year so you are definitely not in the planning committee anymore this time!”, Gadget assured with a smile. “But can you come? I know children’s parties aren’t your thing but it would mean a lot to me if you did.” She nodded at the suggestion that she was given. “Yes please! But you cannot change my mind about this. I mean I promised the kids at the orphanage that I will celebrate my birthday with them and I don’t break the promises I make.” She wrote down what cupcake Meg took for herself then laughed upon hearing the compliment. “I can only dream of being as good as her.”

Meg rolled her eyes. “Stop being so pleasant.” She listened to the rest of Gadget’s sentence and sighed; the whole ordeal didn’t sound like her ideal evening but Gadget was excited and– not as if she would ever say it out loud, she was great with kids. “Ugh. I swear someone picked you out of a children’s book and placed you in our crappy universe. Fine. I’ll go. I’m warning you, I’m going berserk on the piñata if no one breaks it after the first round.” Her words dragged on in her usual annoyance, but there was a clear fondness written all over her face... half of that came after she took a bite of the cupcake. “When are you writing a recipe book? Or is this the one thing you’ll allow yourself to be righteously selfish about?” Meg eyed the treats, convincing herself she didn’t need to eat another one.

“Of course you don’t but the way you see yourself is not the same as the way as others see you.” That is why Clarissa did not bother trying to prove people wrong anymore. Except those who are sexist like her father, that is. “And that is why she is the perfect one for me. Who needs a man when I have this little angel, right? Oh and that’s easy, it’ll be red and purple.” And as they were speaking, she was already thinking of what it will look like. “Ome more minute with her and you might not give her back anymore so nope.”, she responded as she took the dog back from Meg.

“I guess.” Meg’s answer was accompanied with a little chuckle. “At least I don’t have to waste my time with those.” She had always been aware of how she came across; if some found her off-putting or scary, their perceptions were on them, not her. “Right. She’ll definitely never lie to you and will actually be loyal.” “I’ll come back for you.” She whispered to the puppy in an overly exaggerated tone, handing her back to her rightful owner before getting her own handbag herself. “Red and purple... I think we could go on a little scavenger hunt for it.”

“With the people that are in this town and the people that I go to school with it surprises me that there haven’t been more people like that.”

“I don’t know what the people at the sanctuary would’ve done if they had a bunch of kids running around the place trying to drop off fish from plastic containers.” Still, she chuckled. “Now I’m interested. Why? What’s the worst you’ve seen?”

Victor was more than happy to see her, but the sudden hug did throw him off his rhythm. He wasn’t used to being this physically close to anyone in general, socialising in on itself was something he already struggled with. The fact that it was Megara hugging him made it both better and worse, because he was actually excited by the hug but also terribly nervous. Still, after his initial hesitation he moved to hug the woman back with a small, anxious smile. “The last place you would expect to see me? Believe me, I agree.” He replied with a small smile. He noticed her speech was slightly more drawn out than usual and wondered if she was intoxicated and that was the reason for her amount of excitement tat seeing him there. “I would… love that. Maybe then I can treat you to a round of some good appetizers, if they have any.” He said happily, taking his seat in the stool next to her and making a conscious effort to not let his eyes linger on her legs for too long. He failed and quickly looked up sheepishly.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes, that much I’ll tell you.” Meg took her chance and the close distance to not only whisper this closely to Victor’s ear, but give him a kiss on the cheek; she smiled to herself as she watched the faint, rose-colored stain left on his skin. “Good, what are you drinking? I promise I won’t judge your alcohol just as I know you would never judge my coffee order.” She winked at him, casually leaning forward; it was the best way to catch the bartender’s attention and eliminate distance between the two of them. “I’m not particularly hungry, but I’ll give you a bite or two.” Meg paired her words with a coy look, well aware of were his eyes had gone. She finished the last sip of her drink and focused back on Victor. “Would you like to try a Manhattan?”

“Whoever told you that were probably too scared to tell you the truth.” And Clarissa would understand what that was like because she had the tendency to lash out on the wrong people. “I doubt I can find one like that so maybe I’ll just have something made for her. The best deserves the best.” She rolled her eyes but, surprisingly, a smile was still on her face. “That sounds depressing. Let’s get you out of here.”

Meg pondered on her answer for a moment, then shook her head. “I don’t think so. I don’t particularly find myself scary... scarily accurate, definite yes.” She looked at the dog and kissed the top of her head. “Yes she does. She could have my job and home if she asked me to– no, demanded me to. What color are you thinking?” The girl grinned. “This is why I keep you around, I don’t have to give you more than one hint to drag me away.” Meg made eyes at Clarissa as she stood up. “Grab my bag from the hook and I’ll carry Grace?”

“Oh… okay.” She looked quickly over her shoulder, worry spread across her face. “Um, no–” Atta forced herself to keep walking, “I don’t smoke. What happened?”

“You know how Felicity gets when you don’t file her blessed paperwork on time. Does she ever do the watching you shit to you? Probably not.” Meg asked, genuinely curious for a moment before getting distracted; fishing her car keys from her bag. “So, what are we feeling today? I’ll ignore you if you say anything lettuce-related.”

Tessie. She repeated the name in her head, smiling at it, deciding that she liked it, and now only Meg would be allowed to call her that. Another thing she liked was the comment Meg made about height, as she had never looked at it from that point of view. She made a mental note of using that very same line the next time someone commented on her height, grinning at the thought of it. “You know what? I think I’m going to use that on someone sometime soon.” She said, about the height comment. “Ohh, those are the best types of lunches.” She thought for a moment, laughing at her question, before asking one of her own, “We can talk contracts for these bad boys all you want, of course. My only request is, if you haven’t already, you drag the lunch hour just a bit longer and grab some food with me.” She laughed a little, patting her stomach, “I think my whirlwind of death sparked up a deadly hunger within me.” She looked up at her, grinning, “All I am saying is, that was me at minimal force. You don’t want to see my twirling noodles of doom get to their fullest point, which usually happens if I get hangry because..whew!” She joked, chuckling a bit.

Meg kept quiet and looked at Tess for a couple of seconds. “I will only allow it if that means you’ll tackle them after sharing the wisdom.” She smirked at the girl; there was a certain spark to her that made her weirdly glad not to have tried to evade a conversation with her. “Follow my lead. You better like ramen or I’ll stab someone on our way there.” Meg rolled her eyes and chuckled. “I just hope you’re hungry for actual food and not a pound of flesh.” She motioned for the girl to follow her, not really feeling like putting her sandals on until the sand ended and they reached the street. “Stop saying things like that or I’ll starve you on purpose so just I can take you into the building with me.” She stopped for a moment and stretched her arms over her head, more than ready to be fed. “Well, I guess this is where I’d ask where did my manners go if I ever had any– what dragged you out here, anyway?”

“You really need to work on covering your sadness up better because joking about it is not your strongest suit.”, Clarissa advised her friend. “Well, I’m here so of course we are.”, she said despite knowing that who Meg was referring to was the little dog in her hands. “I didn’t realize that actually but… you’re right. Grace it is. I need to buy her a cute outfit.”

“I’ve been told is one of my most off-putting characteristics, why would I get rid of the goods?” Meg shrugged. “Calm down, princess; you’ll achieve legend status if you get her outfit be a mini-version of one of yours.” She let the dog rest in her arms as she looked up at Clarissa. “You’ll get her back... eventually. You’re the first person with news I haven’t wanted to kick out of my office all month.”

The mental image of her face on one of those 90′s flying dolls made Tessa join Meg in spontaneous laughter, “Oh my!” She clapped her hands over her mouth to try and calm herself a little, but still, small fits of laughter escaped here and there. She wanted to comment on her wings in that second because she felt it suited the conversation, but she opted against it and instead offered a softened smile as she began to relax from her small laugh attack. “Honestly, Megara, I don’t say this often to other females but, it is a pleasure to see you. Really.” She grinned, “I’m calling you Meg, though, but only because it’s short like me….but if you ever tell anyone I admitted that, well, I’d come for you with my killer arms.” Tessa teased, laughing a little bit, and tucking a bit of her hair behind her ear. “So, Meg, what brings you out today?”

“No other human being has ever said that about me. Maybe you are as insane as your doomsday arms.” She replied after her laughter eventually went out, an amused expression remained on her face. “Wouldn’t dream about it, Tessie.” Meg added with a nod. “I guess you’re not so bad yourself. Height is overrated, just means you’ll fall harder.” The girl took a note from the other and wrapped her own hair into a bun, the air was making it harder for her to talk without some strands making their way to her mouth. “A who knows how long will it take lunch hour in favor of avoiding two little imps all the way to next Monday.” Meg sighed, the mere thought of seeing them again gave her a headache. “You wouldn’t happen to be out here hoping to get contracts for those feisty killers of yours? I’d be happy for you to take me as a client.” She snorted.

Louie grimaced. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. That’s peach schnapps but it should’ve probably been chilled. I bought it as a joke.” Louie explained, trying not to laugh. “But there’s beer in the fridge and I think vodka in that little cooler?” He suggested. “About fifty? Probably like eighty tops?” He said, realizing it was a lot of people for a small apartment. “I probably over-invited people, but it’s a Thursday so hopefully the turnout will be chill.”

“Are you expecting your great-aunt to kick-start the beer pong tournament?” She sighed in relief at Louie’s follow up, not taking long to pour some of the vodka into her quarter-filled cup– “Now we’re talking.” Meg smiled deviously after her first long sip, adjusting a pile of forsaken napkins. “Holy fuck.” The response was as quick as it was true. “If you realize you aren’t the modern Nostradamus, I could probably get you a bouncer in forty-five minutes–” There was a sudden gleam in her eyes. “Ohh! Let’s make a VIP list and piss some people off.”

“Okay, but now I just picture myself spinning my arms too fast and accidentally flying away with spinning arms.” Tessa bit her bottom lip, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth to try and hold in her laughter.  “I’m sorry. That was stupid, but imagine: I pick a target thinking I am going to slap them with my joyous arms, but end up just flying away by mistake.” She laughed.  “But, I’m glad I didn’t claim you as my first victim…yet.” She teased, smirking a little. When Meg told her to own it, Tessa instantly stood up straighter. That’s right, Tessa. Own that shit. She reminded herself. “I’m Tessa.”

“Heavens.” Without counting the times she’d witnessed the interns fuck up at her job, Meg quite honestly couldn’t remember the last time such a burst of spontaneous laughter had taken over her– let alone remember a time where she was joining in on another person’s good humor. “You’d look exactly like one of those 90′s flying dolls; powered by mischief, batteries not included.” She finished off her cigarette and tossed the butt into the empty pack before discarding it into the confines of her handbag. “You may be glad but it’s a shame, you would’ve done the world a favor.” The girl shrugged; it didn’t take long to notice the subtle change in her demeanor, she thought it suited her better. “Megara. Regular non-flyer.”