The Bellflower Part 6 (Patreon)

In this week's installment, the sisters are invited out for a Sunday morning social call, while Holly starts to question how much she stock should really she put in Rachel's seemingly incessant paranoia.

Moving forward, I feel like Sundays will be the better day to upload for me during the week. Originally, I only posted the first installment on a Saturday as that was the day I finished it up. And keeping it weekly, every subsequent part was worked on & refined up until the following Saturday deadline in order to keep it weekly. With Sunday, I have a slight bit of extra time to focus.

This part was fun, but I feel like it could use maybe a little bit more refining. But Sunday's the new schedule & for now, I'm out of time. May make a few edits down the line, but nothing major. I think the thing lately has been a lot the scenes are fairly dialogue heavy & it slows me down by making the whole chunk of story much longer (by word count at least) than I originally anticipate (at least now that I'm trying to keep a somewhat diligent schedule). But at the same time, I kind of prefer using it as a fun way to flesh out everybody.

I've been getting a lot of great feedback & it's been super helpful to me! Feel free to keep that up! And thanks again!

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6

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The morning started with Rachel's alarm chiming gently. Her eyes sprung open & gradually she leaned up from her "bed" on Holly's sectional. She was one of the few people she knew that had little to no need for a snooze alarm. When she woke up, she was up. And frankly, she did kind of hate that about herself. But then again, there was a reason her phone was set for 8am on a Sunday. She was on a mission. And that was to try to talk her sister into going on another early morning jog. One just wasn't going to cut it. It needed to be a routine. 

As she folded the comforter Holly gave her up neatly, she thought about how Holly seemed to sequester herself in her bedroom after looking like she may have binged herself to the gills & then panicked over some phone call or something? Rachel still didn't know all the details. Or even how things with Courtney went exactly. But she held out some hope that maybe the experience might have been just the motivation she would've needed to get her old runner's stamina back in order to get back in shape. At least Rachel hoped. So long as she could find some better pants or leggings that even remotely fit, anyway. Rachel leaned into the bedroom door to give it a subtle knock, trying to wake her sister gently. 

"Hol?" After no immediate response, she went for the handle, but it was locked, not budging an inch.

"Miss Holly informed me she would be sleeping in this morning." Penny announced, the volume low enough to keep Holly sleeping, but loud enough to still startle Rachel. Partially because she still just wasn't quite used to having her there. A hovering, third presence that she got terribly ominous vibes from.

"Well," Rachel contended, still slightly rattled. "I'm worried about her. And it seemed like she skipped dinner."

"I prepared a grilled cheese sandwich for her at 1:32am this morning, shortly after you fell asleep." Penny stated. "While it maybe was not a substantial meal, I made quite sure she did not go hungry." 

"Fine, but did she come out?" Rachel asked, giving the handle another few futile tries.

"No. I simply served it to her." Penny said, with Rachel momentarily imagining mechanical arms relaying it across the kitchen & then through the door. Or if perhaps there was some sort of pneumatic tube system between the rooms. 

"Great, well cheese & carbs in the middle of the night sound like good reason to get her up for a little jog." Rachel resumed, coming out of her whimsical reenactments. "She's got to get back on the horse & get active again. Help me get her up!" Rachel insisted. But the AI didn't seem to do anything. Instead, resourcefully, Rachel remembered the side door from the bathroom. Slinking in softly, Rachel grabbed the handle into Holly's bedroom from there. But it too, felt firmly locked, despite the lock being on the inside. She tried to lock & unlock it, as if it needed a reset or something, but it still wouldn't budge. It was as if there was some sort of mechanical override, instituted by Penny. "Seriously...?" Rachel just flapped her arms at the room in general. Penny responded with just a hint of wryness.

"As I have already stated, Miss Holly requested to sleep in this morning." the AI repeated, almost as if it was enjoying watching Rachel's frustration. At least it seemed that way to Rachel. But then the computer seemed to get a little more somber. "I noticed she was perhaps a bit blue last night. Do you know if everything is alright?"

"If anything, she seemed way more green. She looked as though she'd been stuffing herself silly." Rachel said, passing by the mirror. "Another reason we should get out there. So let me talk to her." She built to a low growl, while trying to force the handle.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Penny's HAL overtones made Rachel squint in contempt, squinching her lips up into something of a closed mouth sneer. "I'm following her explicit command. It seems as though she doesn't want to over exert herself this morning." 

"Over-exert?!" Rachel scoffed. "It's called "exercise!" And people do it so they don't end up like... like Courtney! The size of a house!"

"Well, as a home," Penny seemed hurt. "I resent that."

"What?!" Rachel suddenly realized she was getting loud. Going back to a dull whisper, she went on. "What does that even mean? Just... let me talk to my sister. So SHE can be the one to tell me No."

"No." Penny said, without a doubt definitely relishing Rachel's frustration. Short of trying to find a crowbar or pulling the plug on this dumbass computer, she had seemed to run out of options. And patience for this fucking Penny software. She thought about pounding on the door, making a commotion to wake her sister up, if she hadn't already. But there'd probably be no persuading her into any jogging if she did. She felt a little... shut out, as she turned to face the mirror.

She gave herself a quick morning once over. She couldn't quite tell if she'd gained anything, but the fear had certainly crossed her mind. Since getting here, she had been eating A LOT. At least for her. And she certainly felt a little... puffy, even despite their jog yesterday. But then again too, it could've just been water weight. Or perhaps psychosomatic. But it still didn't stop her from poking at her tummy & buttcheeks to feel for might've seemed like excess.

She decided, while she was in there, instead of pinching at lumps of what could be flab, it was maybe a little bit more constructive to brush her teeth. Ech, & she still only had Holly's cinnamon flavored toothpaste. "Why not fresh mint, like a human being?" She thought, as she squeezed it out across the bristles. 

As she moved from the back right molars, she suddenly heard the door handle next to her jiggle just slightly. There was a mechanical "ka-chunk" & slowly the door swung open, revealing her sister, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She had her hair pulled back, & her makeup scrubbed off, but Rachel had a slight bit of resentment to how little it seemed to matter. Even with her terrible diet, her skin mostly smooth & fairly even. She was in the same flannel top, but different patterned flannel pajama pants. She blinked her eyes, adjusting to the bright bathroom LEDs. But her expression seemed to bounce into that fairly chipper demeanor she always had, making her seem more... Holly-like again. As if a good night's sleep was all she needed to regain it. 

"M'rmnnng." Rachel said with the brush still between her teeth. She had hopes that maybe they could keep up the exercise routine after all. After a rinse she continued. "How you feeling?" 

"This morning?" Holly yawned softly. "A little better. Thanks." As Holly scooted by her in the fairly narrow bathroom to face the other side of the mirror, Rachel noticed that the turgid food baby was gone, but assumed its component parts had spread out into other parts of her already. But she remembered how just stressed out she had been the last she saw her, with what seemed like both panic & shame.

"You... you wanna talk abou..." 

"No!" Holly said, facing straight ahead in the mirror & plastering a pleasant smile across her face, incongruous to her response in a low key sarcastic way. "But hey! We have an invite this morning."

"Where?" Rachel asked, leerily. She wondered if it would get in the way of asking Holly about that jog.

Apparently, Sunday brunch was all Deidre's idea. She had offered Holly via text some point in the evening because she felt as though she had been a bad hostess & didn't get a chance to talk to Rachel like she was hoping at Ladies' Night. And as nice as Deidre seemed, for Rachel, this left no room for her to try & weasel her way out of going. And they only had about twenty minutes to get ready, with Holly suggesting Rachel wear something "sorta nice."

"How do I look?" Holly asked with a slight twirl, stepping out of her bedroom after a few minutes. She was in a different sundress, this time a lighter coral color. But it seemed like the first thing Rachel had seen her in that fit her well. Flatteringly almost, despite the bit of extra... Holly going on.

"You look ravishing, Miss Holly." Penny chimed in. 

"Aw, thanks dear!" She cooed. But as much as Holly appreciated the AI, she figured there'd be at least a little bias. So she was bit more interested in Rachel's opinion.

"That's a cute dress." Rachel nodded, buttoning a short sleeve blouse of her own. "Where did you get it?"

"It's new. Came in the mail the day you got here." Holly twirled again, showing off. "Thought about wearing it yesterday, but it just felt a little too... dressy."

"Well it's a dress." Rachel snarked. But Holly was too infatuated with it to pay any mind.

"Signing up for that service was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life!" she joked.

"That subscription service?" Rachel clarified. She had talked it up during one of the conversations before she came.

"Mmmhmmm. I'm so happy Penny recommended it," Holly continued. Rachel's cackles rose up. "For one of those monthly subscription box dealies, they always send me the best stuff! I don't even really have to shop any more. Well, at least I wouldn't have to. If I didn't want to."

"Who has the time?" Rachel said flatly, as if it was a response that fit more than actually engaging. Her attention was drawn more to making a mental note to check the sizes on the tags. New clothes sent to her in the mail? Maybe that was one of the reasons she didn't realize she was outgrowing her clothes: a new box of clothes every few weeks. Provided to her, like seemingly everything, by Penny.

"Exactly," Holly giggled. Either no-selling the sarcasm or perhaps just completely missing the irony, & accepting Rachel's comment at face value.

"Well..." Rachel said, trying to compliment her sister where she could after feeling like she had been hard on her with all this talk of her weight. She was looking to boost her confidence a little, & besides it wasn't untrue. Just compliments themselves didn't come so easily for her. "You look great. I'm glad you like it."

"Thanks!" Holly said, her lips pulling into a small, tight little contained smile. "Oh & that outfit is super-cute too!" Holly said, as Rachel started pulling a flowy dark skirt up over the blouse. The combo had something vaguely "vintage" going on about it. It certainly wasn't Holly's style but she could definitely appreciate it. She thought Rachel cleaned up nice these days. 

"You like it?" Her sister asked, as finished doing up the buttons. "Thanks. This skirt's a thrift store find. Hope it's dress-y enough."

"No," Holly said, getting her belongings together. "You're fine. In fact you're probably going to pull focus from me." She jokingly complained with a faux scoff. Rachel just rolled her eyes as gave herself a quick once over before slipping on some flats & following Holly out the door.

Where they were meeting Deidre was only a stone's throw from the Bellflower. Rachel tried to suggest walking the all too short distance, but Holly insisted on driving. In turn, Rachel tried to timekeep, see if it was longer or shorter in comparison, given all the lights they had to stop at despite empty highway roads. While Holly might've slowed them down a little, it was seemingly a dead heat.

"I really like Deidre." Holly admitted from behind oversized sunglasses, with lens mostly round, but boxy. "Probably weird to have a supervisor at work you actually want to pal around with, right?"

"Yeah, I mean..." Rachel, in her own scuffed up old faux raybans, still felt a little bumrushed into this whole social call. But one saving grace was that Deidre had seemed pretty nice. And had the added benefit of possibly employing her in the future. "For the bit I talked to her Friday night, she's seemed sweet. And a bit like she had her shit together."

"Oh, I know," Holly nodded. "But like... still down to Earth, you know?"

"Sure." Rachel shrugged. Holly stopped at another light, but it looked like that last one before them & area where the shops were. 

"I think she's probably going to look to have you come in & talk about you one of the copywriting jobs." Holly finally seemed to brief her. Before, it was only described as "a position." These felt like details Holly could've told her sooner. Then again too Rachel maybe should've asked sooner too. "Three openings there in that department. Last girls were ok, but... eh. We've been having so much turn over lately." The last bit was her sort of muttering to herself, but Rachel keyed into it. 

"Turn over?" she pounced. In her mind, she thought back to the units in the Bellflower reselling as rapidly as they do.

"That's more my worry in the HR department. You'd basically just be writing blurbs though."

"Blurbs?" Rachel would've rathered the former conversation, but Holly seemed more focused on the latter.

"Yeah," she continued, pushing down on the accelerator again as the light changed. "Nothing fancy, but like little captions & things. Probably for our catalogs."

"Sorry," Rachel said as Holly saw a parking spot. "I always forget." This was a lie. Because more likely, while she might've been told before, she never really knew. "What is it that your company does again?"

"Oh, lots of stuff. I know you've probably heard of them. They're called Hailington." Holly seemed to say in a tone way too chipper as she put her SUV in park. Rachel blinked after feeing a shiver shoot straight down her spine.

"Oh-hooh." She chortled eventually, as Holly got out in her coral sundress. She drenched her reaction in as much sarcasm as she could muster. "Goodie."

"Like, as in the evil giant conglomerate "Hailington?!" With all the ex-politican war criminals on its board?" Rachel attempted to clarify. "Aren't they like a huge, multinational defense contractor?" They walked across an aisle of parking lot towards the main drag of shops. Holly didn't seem to break pace, her wide hips swaying with each step. 

"They do a little of EVERYTHING, so some subsidiary might do some bit of that, maybe. But it's really not everything they do. Or at least any part of what I do there. So I don't think it's that big a deal," she said, reaching the curb, walking through something of a center entrance square with a fountain. She stepped with purpose. Rachel guessed it was because she was hungry. "The one here? We mostly just do kitchen appliances. Or something. I don't know all the logistics. I just hire people that do the things. And stuff." She was trying to be cute, but Rachel wasn't having it.

"But do you know that-that.. the military-industrial com..." Almost apoplectic, the more socially conscious of the sisters started in on one of her patented diatribes, but the elder of the two suddenly froze in place. Rachel only realized it when she had suddenly outpaced her by a few steps.

"It's Sunday." Holly punctuated with hands bracing the air in front of her.

"So?" Rachel still seemed rearing to have this conversation. It was important to her.

"So give it a rest! For now? Please?!" Holly tried to insist. "I'm just... I can't. Not today. And I don't want you starting on one of these... jags. Not in front of Deidre!" At first, Rachel shot her a mean look, ruined by her sunglasses. It mostly seemed centered on the dismissiveness of the word "jag." But begrudingly, the darker haired sibling took a deep breath & tried to calm down. But she felt her concern was still very much justified.

"I... I just don't think I could bring myself to work for a place as EVIL as..." She started.

"STOP!" Holly raised her voice. Rachel forgot she could get loud when she wanted. She slowly started walking again, almost leaving Rachel behind by abruptly taking a right at the fountain. "If you want to stay broke? FINE! Stay broke! That's on you! But right now?! I just want brunch!" Holly was about six steps ahead of her before Rachel sighed & decided to keep following. 

Rachel thought about how Holly made good money. She just had no idea it was, at least to her, blood money. Or blood money by proxy. She'd hear Deidre out, but already felt she had her decision.

While the coffee shop Rachel went to yesterday existed on the periphary, past the fountain was the deepest Rachel had ventured into this whole upscale, outdoor shopping complex. It being fairly early on a Sunday, a lot of it was only just starting to come to life, as the diligent, upright type of employees that worked at such places actually scrambled to get things up & operating quickly. Rachel enjoyed the spectacle, but immediately acknowledged she was far out of her element. 

As a large, imposing man in a suit, presumably a doorman/security guard unbolted the door to one of the luxury boutiques, she couldn't get over the idea of working retail & still having to dress formally. This was light years beyond her.

"These shops are crazy, right?!" Holly leaned into gleefully giggle under her breath. Not only was she back to her usual chipper tone, she somehow seemed way more excited by these gaudy merchants than her, despite living here & seeing them all on something of a fairly regular basis.

"Sure." Rachel responded again, trying to show she was listening, but not necessarily interested. In fact, maybe even disinterested. One wanting the other to stop could be a two way street. But Holly didn't seem dissuaded enough by her mediocre response.

"Oh come on!" She said, almost not believing Rachel's disinterest. She pointed at a display in the shop across the promenade. "That dress over there? It's almost the same price as my car!"

"That's... gross." Rachel nodded succinctly. Almost in the same fashion Holly declined wanting to talk about what was on her mind earlier. "That money could like... feed a lot of people."

"Oh-huhoh!" Holly laughed like she was prepared to turn it back around on her. "Suddenly now you're A-OK with people wanting to eat, are you?"

"Hey!" With it not even being mid-morning yet, it took Rachel a quarter of a beat to realize that was a jab at her, once again, justifiable concerns. "You know exactly what I mean wh..."

"Holly! Rachel!" before she could even get into it, Rachel looked ahead to see outdoor cafe seating spilling out from one of the storefronts ahead. It was like they were going for a faux French Bistro almost. So far, it was the most crowded area of the whole promenade. But amongst the tables, one meaty arm reached high & seemed to be waving them over.

"Hello-oooh!" Holly said after gasp, returning to that cacophonious sort of tone they'd all crow to in unison Friday night. The one that made Rachel's skin crawl. Holly's pace hastened, closing the gap a little quicker than Rachel did, who wore what she thought was an acceptably pleasant smile that hopefully didn't let too much of her displeasure being here show through. 

"Good morning," she said as Deidre wrapped her arms around Holly, happy to hug her supervisor friend back. And quickly, she was acutely reminded that Deidre were also apparently on hugging terms., once again, getting her arms up just in the nick of time before being trapped in her own embrace. She was also reminded that given her pillowy upper body, solicited or not, Deidre gave a something of a quality hug.

"I'm sooo sorry you started feeling under the weather the other night!" She shrilled in something a little lighter, but not too dissimilar to that basic lady voice, ruining Rachel's inadvertant moment of bliss, before yanking her away to see face to face again. "I felt like such a terrible hostess that I wanted to make it up to you guys." She was in mirror-like ladies' aviators & a long dress. Something flowy with a lightly colored floral print. Her short, platinum hair almost glowing in the sunlight. 

"No," Rachel said, noticing an unintentional, cooing lilt starting to infect her own speech patterns just through interaction. "You were great. It was... I just... crowds sometimes." Which wasn't entirely untrue for her, but was in this instance. "And like... still tired after a long drive the day before. And moving my stuff." She realized she had plenty of reasons she could give in lieu of the truth: tortilla chips. Which now, just seemed even sillier.

"Well I had an absolute buh-last." Holly overemphasized, slinging her purse over her chair. Rachel didn't mind her taking the heat off of her as she pulled a chair out for herself.

"I love having you girls over!" Deidre cooed. "It's always a "buh-last." she mimicked Holly affectionately as she took her seat. Rachel restrained a mild bit of wretching. "But I'm glad this worked out too! Any excuse to come here from brunch, amiright?!"

"Totally!" Holly agreed, lowering her wide butt onto her wrought iron chair. "Oooh, Rachel! I forgot to tell you, they make, like, THE BEST fritatas here." She closed her eyes for a little extra emphasis.

"Oh my god! And mimosas?"

"They've got mimosas?" Rachel's brow bounced.

"Bottomless until 12, grrrrrrrl." Deidre trailed playfully. Something about it alluded to the fact that she may have already been two deep.

"That's great." Rachel said, with typical restraint, & concealed disdain, but once again thought a slight bit of social lubricant, even this early, might make this all go a little easier.

"They're not all that's bottomless though!" Deidre smiled, as she seemed to catch a glimpse of something over Rachel's shoulder. Suddenly a member of the wait staff came to their table with a plate. "Hope you don't mind, I ordered a little something for the table because I was famished."

"Your tots." The woman said with a fake, forced smile. Rachel picked up a lot of the same "bougie-hating" energy dripping off the girl, & being company to the likes of both Holly & Deidre, immediately decided to try & give her as little grief as humanly possible. The plate she put down was absolutely loaded with small, barrel shaped tatter tots, as you'd give maybe a five year old. But they were smothered in what looked like Parmesian cheese & other bits of seasoning. All probably in an effort to call them "gourmet" & upcharge them a bit, Rachel assumed. But... they did look good. And to seal the deal, the waitress put down another, longer, thinner tray. Or rather, a bowl with three divided sections with what looked like dipping sauces. Holly was already gunning for it, & quite frankly, Rachel couldn't help herself but follow suit. "Can I get you ladies something to drink?" The girl asked. Her smile seemed stiff & locked in place, even if it wasn't real. Holly, who already shoved four tots into her mouth at a time, deferred to Rachel with wide eyes, signalling for her to respond first.

"Uh... the mimosa sounds pretty good right now, thank you."

"Mmmmhmmmmph." Holly concurred, happy to not actually talk.

"Ok, well I'll be right back with those." The girl said with a nod. She walked behind Rachel's seat, but she could almost feel the eye roll she gave. Deep. In her soul.

"So," Deidre picked up a tot & used it to point to the tray of sauces. "This first one, is basically just ranch. The middle is melty cheese with bacon crumbs, & then this tan, speckled one is sort of like a... well they call it their house remoulade?"

"There was this pretty banging Belgian Fry place not too far from my old place." Rachel nodded, trying to spare Deidre.

"Oh, well then you know!" Deidre waved. "What's the use in trying to explain it to you?" Rachel nodded, feeling coerced into trying a dip of that, even though it felt too early for something that heavy. Not that the cheese & bacon she really wanted to try was going to be that much lighter. 

As she brought the first one to her face, Rachel got a sharp whiff of the seasoning. She was right about the parm, but it was overpowered only slightly by the tang of the sauce. She took a sheepish nibble, chomping the tiny tot in half. As it hit her tongue, she instantly fought off a kneejerk moan, but it was... absolutely wonderful. A bit to her dismay. Part of her was routing for them to suck. Between the presumably ridiculous price tag & the fact she really wasn't looking to over do it, given the whole situation. But then she realized Deidre was staring at her for her reaction eagerly.

"Damn!" She settled on finally, popping the second half in immediately. "That's... delightful."

"Right?!" Deidre asked with a giggling nod.

"Can somebody move them... a little closer?" Holly mumbled. She had probably had at least ten now by this point, but seemingly out of some nonexistant urgency, had them dry.

"They're not going anywhere, Hol." Rachel snickered, pushing the tray a bit more in direction. Deidre cracked up, daintly putting her hand in front of her mouth to avoid a sort of spit take scenario. Holly's shoulders drooped, angrily.

"Well, not until 12 at least!" Deidre laughed. "We can get free refills on them too!"

"Oh what...?!" Rachel gasped, unable to control an at first happy reflexive reaction. But it slowly dawned on her. That was bad for Holly. And her, presumably, as she realized her hand was dredging through the cheese section of the tray to hopefully fish out a bacon crumble with it. This time she popped the whole thing in her mouth. And it was even better than the first.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmph." She couldn't hold it back this time. It was too much. 

"You like them?" Holly seemed to perk up. It was almost as if she was taking some weird glee in seeing Rachel suddenly be the one that almost couldn't help herself.

"Yeah, but... I gotta slow down." Rachel admitted. "Or this will be bad! I don't want to just pig out on them." It was meant as something of a slight jab, & it seemed like it connected with its intended target, as Holly sneared between her own tots slightly. Deidre missed all of this subtlety.

"Nonsense," Deidre chuckled. "It's brunch & it's my treat! Please!"

"Oh, well thank you," Rachel said sheepishly.

"Are you SURE?!" Holly gasped.

"Positive. I can write it off! After all. I'm talking to someone in my department, & someone who might be filling a currently vacant position, so... business brunch."

"Business brunch!" Holly cheered, throwing her arms up. It almost knocked one of the mimosas out of the hand of the returning waitress, causing both Deidre to laugh & Rachel to have a panic attack, after deciding not to fuck with the poor woman any more than humanly possible.

"Mimosas." She said, her smile fixed, but through her teeth. She placed one down in front of Rachel & then Holly, who sheepishly apologized as she turned a bright red. The woman listened but was no less frustrated by what was for her, probably a typical Sunday brunch rush. "Now do you know what you want to order?" Rachel panicked slightly because she had only given the laminated sheet of menu the briefest of glances. And mostly only to see exactly how firmly out of her price range this place was. And her presumptions were spot on. But it looked like she was starting with Deidre. And Deidre seemed more than ready to put an order in.

"I'll take an order of the Huevos Rancheros." the blonde woman pointed. It was at that moment that despite seemingly being quite caucasian, Deidre was the type of person that gets a little too into the actual pronunciation of other languages' words. While accurate, it was a show-off-y quirk that always rubbed Rachel the wrong way. But feverishly, she skimmed through the lines of menu options. Wait, Holly mentioned frittatas, & here was that section. Maybe they had something a little light, to counter act the tots. That's when she saw the "make your own" option.

"Can I just get a frittata with spinach & cheese?" She managed. But then, some part of her saw another option & wanted to keep going. "And... turkey bacon?" Wait! How did that happen. It was like she couldn't stop herself. But at least she opted for the turkey variant.

"Out of turkey bacon." The woman said flatly.

"Oh. Um," Rachel skimmed through the ingredient list again, not sure 

"We still have plenty of the regular kind," the woman suggested.

"Sure." Rachel finally sighed, realizing she was inconveniencing the waitress by holding her up. So much for "light," she resigned to herself as the waitress turned her attention towards her sister.

"Y'know," Holly said broadly. "Fuck it. That Wake Up Burger sounds amazing!" Deidre seemed a little floored, while Rachel went back to combing through the menu. She hadn't even seen that, but could tell by the name alone, it was probably one of those burger concoctions with like cheese & bacon where they top it off with like a fried egg or something. And it made her wince, simply imagining the amount of cholesterol it contained. 

"Holly..." she feebly interjected. Holly put a finger up as if to tell her to hush. And as Rachel looked at it, even her finger was starting to look a little chubby these days. But she was at a loss. After everything, after all that bonding over their jog yesterday & being honest with one another, there was something almost vindictive about how blatantly over the top this choice was. It was like she was not only willfully ignoring all the concern Rachel had brought up, but was almost rubbing her nose in it.

"One Wake Up Burger?" The waitress asked, almost as if even she feeling it was maybe a bit much for the likes of Holly. "How do you want that?"

"Medium. And if you could, I don't mind if the egg's a little less runny." Holly leaned in, holding up two fingers to indicate "a little less." She tilted her neck to the side to deliver a vapid "Thanks."

"Alright, I'll put those in now." The woman finished her writing. "Holler if you need any refills."

"Oh!" Holly nodded eagerly. "Trust us! We will!"

"So you said you talked to Courtney a bit yesterday?" Deidre asked Holly. For a second, Rachel was thankful that was what they wanted to talk about. Not only was she interested in hearing, it put off talking about possibly working for a major defense contractor for at least a few minutes.

"Mmmm," Holly sipped a bit eagerly on her mimosa. "Yeah, yeah I did." She looked as though she as a little apprehensive to be talking about it. And Rachel was curious as to why, listening in keenly.

"I'm surprised she even gave you the time of day, if I'm being honest." Deidre admitted, picking up her own mimosa. "She seemed... awfully distant the other night. I mean... sitting by herself like that."

"And eating so much." Rachel added, almost not paying any mind to the remoulade smothered, stuck together tots between her own fingers. Holly let out a sigh.

"Well, I DID show up with donuts." She slowly admitted to Deidre, popping another tot in her mouth. 

"Ah-hah!" Deidre giggled. "I see! So bribery?"

"Heh-yeah I guess." Holly took another short sip. 

"And how many donuts did she have?" Deidre asked. Rachel thought it was kind of a weird question. She couldn't tell whether it was her trying to chastise her over bringing them in the first place, or so hungry, she was genuinely looking to hear about donuts. While she ate her tots. It slowly became apparent she meant it as a joke though. "Is... she... good though?" Her tone sobered slightly, getting a little serious. "What did she say?"

"Yeah, Hol." Rachel joined in, still not getting a proper answer about this. "What DID she say?" Laying it on thick to kind of note how Holly was sort of obfuscating their whole chat. Both sister's sunglasses concealed the daggers they shot one another.

"Well... she says she's good." Holly eventually managed. Rachel & Deidre both squinted a little, neither seemed totally accepting of the answer. "I mean, I asked her if there was anything wrong, asked her if there was anything she needed to talk about. And she flat out said no, without seeming like she was trying to cover up anything."

"Sure," Deidre said, sitting back in her chair with a tot in one hand & her mostly gone mimosa in her other. "But that doesn't mean there isn't. She really hasn't been herself. For like, a while now."

"And to that point," Holly continued, after taking a sip. She exhaled some of the bubbles to prevent a later burp. She had already slammed most of her first one. "She even admitted that. Like basically, she knows what's going on. Like she felt bad about sitting by herself with the snacks. But it's almost like she... can't help herself sometimes."

"That's really no good." Rachel interjected. Her tone was drenched in subtext. Specifically how similar that sounded to Holly the other day. Holly caught it, but tried to let it lie.

"Yeah!" Deidre agreed, leaning forward to dip another tot, this time in the ranch.

"So I think I got her to promise to maybe go to a doctor." Holly added. "To get herself checked out. See if they can find any thing wrong. What's making her... do this."

"Yeah. Ok," Deidre acknowledged. There seemed to be a sharp bit of sudden pessimism in her tone, as she crunched the ranch-dipped tot. "I kind of feel like if she was truly worried, she would've visited a doctor way earlier. Like months ago." She started digging for another & got another two tots that had stuck together in the frying process. "I mean not to say it's too late now, but like... I don't know. It's not like she ballooned up overnight! Do you think she'll actually follow through with that? Or will she just keep doing what she's doing?"

"Well she tried to tell me she was procrastinating this whole time because she was worried what they would say about it. Like yell at her about it." Holly recounted, her voice oozing with its own disbelief in how ridiculous that sounded. "And I was like, "if you're truly worried about this specific issue, why are you worried they'd yell at you?"

"And what did she say to that?" Rachel leaned in. While she figured she had to take Holly's word with a grain of salt, she was trying to make a note of all the details. Partly for her "weird" file. And also partly as possible ammunition the next time Holly started being stubborn.

"I guess you're right," Holly seemed to try & mimic with a light & almost flaky tone. She tilted her glass back & the last of her mimosa trickled into her mouth.

"Right, but that doesn't answer my question. Do you think she'll actually follow through? Now that you've talked?" Deidre repeated.

"I mean," Holly pulled out a tot with a large amount of the parmesan on it, inspecting it quickly before running it through the cheese. All the bacon seemed gone. "I certainly hope so. I think I made a decent enough case for it. And she like, she did seem truly worried about... how... big she's getting."

"She's gotten sooo huge." Deidre sighed under her breaths. Rachel wasn't expecting such abrupt honesty, but figured the mimosas were maybe playing a big part. "I mean I feel awful saying that. She's our friend! But... at the rate she's going...? I didn't want to get into it in front of her the other night, but like... I really worry about her!"

"I know, I know." Holly agreed. "Me too!" Rachel couldn't tell if her sister was saying that sincerely or as some kind of lip service. Especially after ordering that "Wake Up Burger" or whatever. Nothing about that whole exchange seemed to explain exactly why Holly was acting as strangely as she was. And while Rachel was looking for some kind of explanation, she didn't know how to even broach that subject. Particularly now, in front of Deidre. 

"Can I just say though," Deidre started, after finishing her Mimosa. "You're truly a good friend! It wasn't easy what you did, trying to talk about something as... delicate as all that. With someone going through... whatever it is she's going through." It was like she was trying to compliment Holly on being brave or something. When it was all Rachel coercing her to say something. She was hoping to get at least a nod from Holly, regarding that. Instead?

"Oh. Thank you!" She started. "That's sweet of you to say." And that was it. Rachel was dumbstruck. And before she could think of something to say, three fresh mimosas were set out in front of them.

"So Rachel!" Deidre turned her attention. Rachel braced, expecting it to be about this potential job offer. She took a deep sip of the new mimosa put in front of her, not realizing she had even finished the last one. "Do you mind me asking? What happened with this... breakup?" Turns out, she braced for the wrong thing, but at least she didn't give in for the spit take. And it was weird. She had been so wrapped up in everything with her sister, trying to get her to get off her ass, & her sister's friends, & all the weird goings-on at the Bellflower to even really pay it the slightest mind. In fact, she really hadn't thought about it at all, since the last time Deidre brought it up actually. Part of her imagined her old therapist trying to explain to her that all of this paranoia was perhaps all just a ruse. A distraction she was creating instead of coming to terms with her emotions on that whole matter. But there was also a reason why that therapist was her OLD therapist. And just when she realized she was taking a while to respond, her sister piped up.

"We haven't really talked about it." Holly noted. "I mean between the two of us." It was almost like after all the angst Rachel had put her through, she was sadistically looking to return the favor in some ways. Turning the tables. Doubling down at little here to make it unavoidable.

"Honestly?" Rachel started with a soft sigh. "I met him out of college. I thought he was the one. Moved to the city, together. Took he had a decent job & didn't mind taking care of most of the bills, while I did odd jobs to get by & cover little things. We got engaged last year, tentatively but you know, proposal & everything. And things seemed fine until about a month ago. When he started fucking his coworker." Rachel summarized. She was on the fence about the dropping a "fuck" while talking to a potential employer, but firstly, she asked about this deeply personal thing in the first place. And secondly, if the "fuck" bothered her, she was really going to hate what she had to say about Hailington. But at the same time, speaking this much on it? To someone she barely knew? It didn't hurt her nearly as bad as she had been anticipating. She wasn't quite at peace, but she wasn't in agony. But then again, maybe the "gourmet" tots & alcohol were helping prop her up a bit too.

"Oh lord," Deidre responded, reacting mostly mid sip to her mimosa. A pre-dipped tot waited on deck in her other hand.

"That's not even the worst part," Holly added. On some level, Rachel felt as though she seemed to be taking a little bit of glee out of putting her through this. Rachel decided she was going to force her fat ass to run 10 miles tomorrow as retribution. Deidre, who looked intrigued, looked at her to shed a little more light about what Holly was alluding to. Rachel took another sigh.

"He started fucking her. And THEN when I found out, instead of apologizing, he proposed it being some sort of open relationship... polycule thing...?" she said flatly. "And when I said "FUCK NO," he basically kicked me out."

"Are you serious?!" Deidre gasped.

"Why would I..." Rachel, vulnerable, spoke reflexively. But she realized she probably couldn't snark at Deidre the same way she did other people, & pulled back at the last second. "Yeah. He ended up being complete garbage. So..."

"Now you're here!" Holly put on a smile, & raised her half gone second mimosa.

"Now I'm here." Rachel lifted hers back halfheartedly.

"Well," Deidre said sharply, raising her glass. "Fuck 'im!"

"Here, here!" Holly laughed. No one reached to clink them, but all tilted back.

"So if you're going to be here for a little," Deidre finally resumed. "That brings me to my next topic: this position I have!"

"Yeah," Rachel sighed. Having gotten through the last bit relatively unscathed, it didn't mean she was a little beleaguered. And she felt the tingles of a buzz from the mimosa. "About that..."

"It's a writing position, & yes, there is a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo & science-y jargon you'll have to maybe familiarize yourself with, but basically? It's just copywriting. Just dressing up the wording to get our stuff sold, really." She spoke eagerly, at about a mile a minute.

"Ok, but like..." Rachel needed to know, throwing on a bit of a sardonic smirk. Holly saw it coming & under the frames of her sunglasses, her right eye twitched, uneasy with where this was going. "What sort of "stuff" is it you guys are looking to sell?"

"Honestly?" Deidre asked. Rachel have expected her to just say ICBMs straight up. "Depends on the day." Her answer was slightly less satisfying, but still didn't seem to rule out nukes. "It's probably mostly going to be refridgerators or dishwashers. But you might do something jet engine one day. Or a toilet brush another. I'm sure you know." She gestured towards Holly, assuming that prior to half an hour ago, Rachel knew exactly who her sister had been working for this whole time. "It's Hailington. We're into all sorts of products & services."

"I'll bet." Rachel added during a Deidre tot break.

"Really, if anything," the blonde continued. "You're probably vastly overqualified for it. Like, I almost feel bad that it's all I could offer someone with your skills." She scooped another couple of tots into her mouth. "Mmmmmm. It pays pretty well though for what it is."

"And do you mind me asking how mu..."

"Food's here!" Holly happily announced, seeing it on approach from over Rachel's shoulder. She bounced in place & looked like she had to stop herself from clapping her hands gleefully. The waitress, her faux grin unwavering, balanced the tray with the three heavy plates.

"Here we are," She said as she got to the table. She reached to give Deidre hers first. "The Huevos Rancheros." She also over committed to the accent, but Rachel could tell that it was out of mockery & probably because the poor girl had to hear all these bougie bitches say it like that four dozen times a day. Rachel would allow it, in this instance. "Frittata, with spinach, cheese, & regular bacon." As the plate was laid in front of her, it was a lot thicker than she was expecting. Not the light affair she had originally hoped for. She hoped it was all just egg fluffiness, but it seemed a bit on the dense side. But she wasn't about to voice any of that.

"Uh, thank you!" she said, pleasantly. Almost patronizingly so. Fuck, did she overdo it? The girl gave a nod, but her grin was so plastered & unwavering she couldn't tell one way or the other. And it would probably be something she randomly angsted over later.

"And..." the waitress let out something of a grunt picking up the last thing off the tray, which she folded under her arm in one slick motion. "The Wake Up Burger."

The monstrosity that was laid in front of Holly made Deidre gasp & Rachel wince. And Holly was sure the people at the other nearby tables were also staring at it, tantalized by it. The sequence went like this: quarter pound beef burger patty, a layer of guyere, another quarter pound patty, with then another layer of guyere. On top of that? Two fried eggs sizzled up in folded in to stack up nicely atop the patty. On top of those a lattice of four, long strips of juicy bacon folded over on itself. And the coup de grâce? It even came in the middle of a glazed donut, sliced in half. It sat on her plate like something of a skyscraper. Almost as imposing as the Bellflower. A knife was stuck through it all to keep it all upright, almost forming something of a spire.

"That's... that's.... absolutely abhorent." Rachel scoffed. "I-I don't think I can even watch you eat that thing." The waitress let out a sharp, snip of a snicker. But Holly didn't care.

"Tough!" She smirked, winking, despite her sunglasses.

"Should I bring you a new plate of tots?" The waitress asked before clasping her hands together. It looked like a mannerism she committed to muscle memory more than any kind of actual attentiveness. Rachel looked at the app plate & hadn't even noticed it was all mostly gone now. The few that remained scattered sparsely amongst the parmesan & seasoning dust were either smooshed under the weight of others or prodding fingers, kinda sad looking, or some mixture of all of the above.

"Uh, please!" Deidre decreed, waving the depressing, mostly empty plate away. As if there wasn't a huge serving of home fries as a side on her plate. Rachel looked as though she wanted to protest the decision, but only because the real failing was her own willpower. But Holly was a little too preoccupied to notice all of this, trying to figure out the logistics on even how to pick up her burger instead.

"It's like you're trying to figure out a math problem." Deidre leaned in to joke. "You sure you're going to be able to eat... all of that?" Even she seemed to have something of an opinion, despite being on the plumper side herself. 

"It's Sunday," Holly seemed to mantra, as she worked her fingers in around it. They had to stretch almost as far as they would go, which was saying something since she was by no means petite. "And you said you were buying. I always saw this on the menu so I figured I'd let the chips land where they may & try it." She turned to Rachel, as she attemped to squish the layers of burger together a little to get it slightly more manageable in her hands. "Besides, I've been good! We went on that jog yesterday, remember?" Holly could tell by Rachel's brow over her glasses, that Rachel was about to let her have it. Albeit maybe only restraining to half-power, given Deidre's presence.

"I remember you being a sweaty, panting mess, claiming you were ready to die before you split your..."

"It's SUNDAY!" Holly repeated loudly, just in the nick of time. Maybe a little too loud, adjusting on the fly. "Just let me have this, ok? Between that whole... experience, & talking to Court? I just need a little bit of... self-care."

"Self-Care?!" Rachel repeated. "Holly, that's not self-care, that's a coronary." she retorted quickly. As Deidre rubbernecked with an awkward smirk in hopes of catching a sisterly comeback, Rachel clearly mouthed to Holly "What is up with you right now?" before Deidre saw the motion & turned back, only just in time to miss it. Holly just shook her head. And almost in protest went to sink her teeth into the side of her burger. The only problem is it didn't quite fit. The glancing blow ended up going kind of diagonal, catching a little bit more egg & bacon than beef. Still, Holly's tastebuds lit up, & she let out a soft, low groan. It was everything she had ever dreamed of & a whole lot more. Which was weird, because she usually hated anything remotely this greasy. But right now? This was PRECISELY what she needed, reaching a state of bliss.

"Ahh," Deidre giggled. "Sisters!" Rachel seemed to turn to her & smile, but Holly could read it as being pretty insincere. "I was the younger one in my family. Of three. They're all married with tons of kids right now." It seemed like she was just trying to talk over the awkward tension that had built. "We used to bicker all the time."

"Must've been fun," Rachel said, as Holly noticed her doing that thing where she thinks she's contributing to the conversation by saying the thing she thinks the other person wants to hear, even though she's really deep in thought.

"Oh, it was!" Deidre laughed, taking the bait while cutting up a forkful of hers. "But you two are making me miss them. Guess I have some phone calls to make later." She giggled, as she lifted it up & stuck it in her mouth. "Mmmmmmhmmm." she moaned. "Even better than I remember." 

Holly was on her third bite. And it was just glorious. Consistent squeezing had brought the donut "buns" to compress just enough to make something closer to a proper full bite now, even if only just. The smokiness of the bacon was almost like a campfire, pairing perfectly with everything else. Especially its savoriness with the sweetness of the donut bits, which made the tips of her fingers the slightest bit sticky. She instinctively went to lick some of the glazing off her thumb, letting go of the unwieldy stack & almost spelling utter catastrophe. Luckily she managed & took the biggest bite she could.

"Ohhhh," this groan was deep, throaty, & loud. And a mother nearby briefly thought about needing to cover her young son's ears. "It's soooo good!" Holly had to vent, lowering the stack that had been obscuring most of her face.

"Glad!" Deidre said simply, shoveling another bite into her mouth. Rachel, whose bites seemed far daintier than the others seemed to be a little more painfully aware of how quiet the table got than the other two.

"So..." she continued, after a swallow. "We were talking about how much...?" After all the tots, she had a hard time keeping up the other girls' pace when it came to her own entree. And to her, it also just didn't go so hot with the mimosa either. But something still compelled her to keep picking at it anyway.

"Mmmm!" Deidre realized where they had left off, working on her own mouthful before continuing. "So I'll have to look but I'm pretty sure it starts at about fifty."

"Oh," Rachel said. She tried containing a smirk. With her old jobs, in "journalism" as Deidre had called it the other night, the dumb websites she worked for would offer anywhere $25-$300 for a couple thousand words, depending on how big they were. If it was a similar scale for these "catalog blurbs" as they'd been described, it'd be pretty easy to balk at the offer, seeing it was on the lower end. At least in terms of what she was used to. That's when she realized Deidre was running a free finger through her phone, as it sat flat on the table. She was scrolling through emails.

"Yeah, here's a listing as we have posted on some of the job sites," She read off. "Starting salary $50K, plus full benefits, 401K after six months, two weeks vacation, yadda yadda yadda. All the greatest hits."

"F-f-f-f... fifty... K?" Rachel stammered.

"I mean, you didn't hear it from me, but there's obviously room to negotiate." Deidre smirked. Almost as if she thought Rachel was stuttering on the number because it was some how too low. And in reality, $50K wasn't staggering. Especially maybe not in a place like Oakmont. But given the most Rachel ever made in a year, two years ago, was an anomalous windfall of about $18K?

"Do you need samples? When do you want me to come in?" She asked, suddenly eager. In her head she reminded herself she was supposed to have reservations. Military-Industrial Complex at all. But then, her thoughts turned to maybe trying to turn the company around from the inside? Yeah! With her subversive little blurbs. Wait, what?! No! FUCK! She was going to have to think long & hard about this.

"Does Tuesday work for you?" Deidre asked with her fork nearing her face. It was a huge scoop of food going into her mouth. Despite being on the chubbier side, competing with Holly, there was something offputting about such a clean-cut, jet-setter like Deidre shoveling that amount of food into her mouth like a pig. But then again, Holly was currently about halfway through a burger that looked like it would instantly kill anyone that took a bite.

"I mean... Sure." Rachel shrugged. "Although I don't have a car at the moment."

"There's a shuttle." Both Holly & Deidre waved away in unison. Because with all this corporate servitude nonsense that drove Rachel nuts, of course there was. Rachel was about to scoff at the very idea, but instead swallowed her remarks behind pursed lips & thought about that $50K. Maybe plus? "Every hour on the hour." Deidre continued.

"Great then." Rachel nodded, before taking a bite of her lackluster frittata.

"Perfect!" Deidre smiled. "Probably some time a little after lunch. I'll be tied up in meetings most of the morning. Say two o'clock to be safe." She shoveled another bite into her mouth, but then didn't seem worried about speaking with a mouthful. "Oh I'm so excited! I'm happy we could work this all out!"

"Me too!" Holly said, leaving her burger trance momentarily. "Mmmmmmmmmmhmmmmm."

"Yeah," Rachel said, looking down at her frittata to stab at it. It certainly wasn't the frittata's fault. It did what it could. It was on her & her ordering decisions. It was her fault for trying to stick "light." Just then, in what seemed like the nick of time, Rachel saw Holly's brow bounce above her oversized shades. The waitress returned with a fresh plate of tots. And sauces.

"Let me know if you need anything else." she said. As she did, Holly scurried to lift her pinky & tip her burger towards her empty mimosa flute with a "Mmmmph." The girl took the empty glass & let out a barely audible, frustrated sigh as she turned to get it. Rachel, while trying to remain conscious of the poor girl's frustration, waited until she was gone to  lean into the table.

"I hope you don't mind," she told the table, taking a small, but substantial handful of tots for her plate. 

"Of course not!" Deidre insisted, reaching for a few herself. "By all means!" Holly, meanwhile didn't want to let go of her burger, for fear of dear life. She was down to like the last quarter of it though, & had yet to break pace. Rachel took a bite of her eggs & then dipped some more cheese & bacon onto a tot with her other hand to chase it. And she realized that she hadn't gotten done chewing that one before she was reaching for the next. 

Just then, her phone went off with a chirp. Digging it out of her purse, she had gotten a text from the number she had entered in as Fran. And thinking of her name, suddenly Rachel had a stark realization of how NOT mindful she had not been all morning.

"Gary's Fine Steaks & Hoagies. 7pm. Tuesday." The message read. She had to read it a few times to put it together. Remembering they talked about setting up some sort of meeting almost, she assumed that it was at some kind of sandwich shop or something. And given both the name, & how Fran panicked about being overheard at the coffeeshop yesterday, Rachel assumed it was somewhere outside of the generally ritzy A-F Oakmont area.

"My Tuesday's filling up quick." She said to herself softly, not thinking anyone would hear. But it was strange, the drips & drabs Holly could make out in her burger trance. 

"Why...?" She looked puzzled.

"Uh... oh. No reason." She said, burying her phone away again. 

"Hmmph." Holly shrugged, pointing her attention back to where she preferred it right now. The only downside to her precious Wake Up Burger was that now, she was getting down to the last few bites, the whole thing still sat tall. Far taller than it was wide at its other two dimensions at this point. Frankly, her hands were starting to hurt, from her sticky, glaze-covered fingers stretching to keep it altogether for this long. But she still slowed down to take something of a nibble, looking to make it last just a little bit longer.

Part of her had something of a weird pride about it. Like accomplishing some sort of unofficial challenge they'd doubted her on, not only had she managed this monster of a burger all in one sitting, she sort of felt as though could keep going if she wanted. With gusto, she thought as she eyed the tots sitting temptingly underneath her nose. But at the same time, part of her knew that none of that was really worth bragging about. This same part of her knew she was going to regret this all in the not to distant future. Both from how all the grease & meat & cheese would all sit heavily in her stomach & feel just awful, & how Rachel would undoubtedly wait to give her an earful about it, shaming her over it. And yeah, even how it would then inevitably showing up on her hips, making everything in her wardrobe just the slightest bit tighter. Maybe even rip open.

But mostly, she just didn't care. It felt good, right now, in this moment. And she needed THAT.

Last night, in her room, laying uncomfortably on her bed, unable to sleep from all the indigestion she was experiencing? Brought on by running down several flights of stairs, in an absolute panic while being completely stuffed to the gills? Holly did a bit of thinking. She thought about Rachel. And growing up. And Courtney. And her other friends. And working out. And her own eating. And just life in general. And slowly? She came to the realization that she'd been more stressed out in the past two & a half days (yesterday in particular), than she had been at any point she could clearly remember. Especially within the last six months of having this place. Probably since college, with finals to be honest. And even then maybe not so much!

It wasn't like it there was one thing in particular that was necessarily Rachel's fault. Her weird hardcore paranoia over Penny aside, she didn't think any of her sister's concerns weren't at least partially justified. Yes, she admitted to herself, at some point, apparently? She HAD gradually, maybe even abruptly stopped exercising as much. And yeah, she'd probably put on a fair amount of weight because of it. And yeah, maybe that made her a little hungrier these days. But also too? She thought about how she hadn't even realized any of that until Rachel had to go & bring it up. And ultimately, she had been happier not knowing!

Knowing didn't seem to help. In fact, knowing just stressed her out. And stressing her out, only made it all feel... worse. And what for?! Rachel used to be chunky. She should know it's not the end of the world. And it sure the hell didn't mean one crazy, monster of a burger every now & then meant she was going to swell up to something like Courtney's size instaneously! Holly had the willpower to stop. Whenever she wanted! At least it before it ever got THAT out of hand! But even if somehow, she didn't? After spending time with Court? She didn't really seem all that bothered by any of it. In fact, despite how big as she is, she seemed happy as a goddamn clam! Probably because no one was forcing her out on jogs or browbeating her over second helpings. 

At the end of the day? Her sister was who she was. But at the same time, so was she. And she was older. And it was her condo. Rachel, god love her, had always been a bit of a basketcase. She came back into Holly's life like a whirlwind & Holly, unwittingly caught some of her neuroses. But no! She was her own person. She could make her own choices! She was fine, & she had been happy. And all she was doing, is going back to that. Living in the now. The Wake Up Burger? It was almost aptly named in a way. Like a shot across the bow. A delicious shot across the bow.

"I can't believe you finished that whole thing." Deidre laughed, calling Holly out of her thoughts. It also helped that she had taken the last bite, & was finally able to lick the sticky, sugary glaze off her finger tips. At some point, the waitress came back with another fresh mimosa. Holly nodded at her friend, before reaching to it all down.

"I'd say I was impressed, but..." Rachel snarked, causing Deidre to poorly hold back a laugh. But Holly didn't care. Holly was happy for now. And that was all that mattered.

Their entrees finished, & "business" talk out of the way, the three woman continued to sit there, basking in the mid morning sun, slowly sipping on their drinks & picking at tots. For a little bit, Deidre & Holly cattily seemed to talk about the office, & even some of their mutual friends behind their backs. Nothing too mean. But Rachel did note a common disdain for Veronica, which she also shared. At some point Deidre realized they were totally leaving Rachel out of the conversation, & tried to include her. She asked her more about adjusting from living in the city & what made her want to be a writer. And when Rachel, as always, seemed a little too self-conscious to talk about herself with any confidence, Deidre didn't seem to mind talking a little more about herself, her sisters, & her own apparent upper midwestern upbringing. Which to Rachel, seemed to explain why she seemed so kind. She went on to talk about how her native Minnesotan accent was always just there bubbling at the surface. And Rachel liked it way better than the over-announciating accent she used to order. She always found something about the way people talk up there endearing. And they went on like this. No topics of conversation too important, or substantial. Mostly just small talk, & pleasantries. And after about another half hour, Rachel couldn't fight it. She had to admit, Deidre was pretty alright. Even if she was one of Holly's friends.

By the time the fifth full plate of tots had arrived, Rachel was finally ready to tap out. While she might've gradually come around to the idea of enjoying this little social call, she was also definitely ready for it to be over. The sun was getting high in the sky & it was getting a little hot. And ever since receiving Fran's text, she had tried to maintain some modicum of self control, repeating the "Stay mindful" mantra in her head. But the tots were just too damn tempting. She was feeling full. Painfully so. But with also a slight bit of a buzz. That seemed to make it the slightest bit tougher to stop herself from reaching for another tot. And then fifteen seconds later, maybe two more. Her tummy was packed tight, & every few minutes, she'd suppress something of a burp or hiccup caused by her drink. A distinct dome had form, nothing like either of the other two's, but a definite protrusion of belly unlike anything she'd had in quite some time. As she took another mimosa sip she claimed to be her last, she wasn't entirely sure how many of those she was on, so long as it wasn't enough to be completely plastered. Just... nicely tipsy. For a Sunday morning.

Holly on the other hand, was having a grand old time, two-fisting her flute & a couple of tots at a time. Even after that gigantic eldritch abomination she consumed. The fact that she didn't even seem slowed down by it frightened her sister.

Just as then, the waitress popped her head over. With the first sincere smile of the day, Rachel thought.

"Last call for the free refills."

"I..." winced Deidre, looking at Rachel leaning back in her chair. "I think we're good on tots."

"Maybe you are!" Holly almost seemed to growl. Deidre happily shoved the remaining half a plate under Holly's nose. 

"I could maybe use one more glass though," Deidre said, pushing her empty flute towards the girl.

"And you?" The woman asked Rachel. Rachel didn't want to be rude, but somewhere between the mimosas & not wanting to jostle her full stomach, she couldn't find the words, emphatically shaking her head no while giving a wave, then a frantic thumbs up as way of graciously trying to tell her thanks. The waitress only moved onto Holly, coldly, with disinterest.

"How about you?"

"Can we get a refill of tots in a to-go box?" Holly vied. The waitress's mouth opened looking as though she wanted to tell her no, flatly, but sensing that might lead to a scene. Luckily Deidre intervened. Especially since Rachel could hardly move.

"She's... she's maybe had a few too many." Deidre snickered, nodding towards Holly's glass. 

"I was serious!" Holly insisted, frustration in her eyes.

"Just the check would be fine, thanks!" Deidre said, ignoring Holly's plea. When the waitress disappeared again, Deidre giggled at Holly. "There's no way."

"What?! Now you're giving me... flak?" Rachel could hear it in Holly's voice. She was drunk alright. Rachel tried to assess her own level of inebriation, figuring she might have to DD. But it was tough to feel anything besides her swollen gut. But then Deidre seemed to notice her worrying.

"She insisted on driving, didn't she?" her shoulders bounced with a chuckle as she shook her head. "The same shuttle from the Bellflower that we take to the office? There's a stop just up the way here a little." She pointed over her shoulder the way Rachel was facing. Down the way a bit, she thought she could see a pole with a little icon she'd seen around the Bellflower & on its website yesterday. "You can leave her car here. It's very safe."

"What?!" Holly perked up. "I can drive!"

"Really wish... you wouldn't right now" Deidre hiccuped. Despite the gassiness, her tone was maternal, in both the ways it needed to be soft & stern at the same time, preventing any further protest from Holly. She turned back to Rachel, speaking softly. "Look, I'll take care of things here. The stops just up ahead. If you let your Penny know on you phone, she might get the bus here a little faster."

"I... don't have... the app." Rachel winced.

"Oh? Why not?" Deidre seemed mildly astonished. "Well, no matter." She picked her own up off the table. "Penny?"

"Yes, Miss Deidre?" the familiar voice chirped through the speaker. A chill went down Rachel's spine for some reason. But for at least a brief second she felt something other than stomach ache. 

"My friend Holly, & my new friend Rachel," she stopped to smile. Rachel couldn't help buy smile back, despite being a little embarrassed by it. "From the other night? They're over her with me at the shops & I think they could use a lift home. Do you have an ETA on the next bus?"

"Oh, why certainly," the AI chimed. Rachel fought off making an adverse face. "The next bus will be arriving in the next four minutes, actually."

"Oh! Thanks Penny," Deidre realized, putting her phone back down. "You two should maybe get going then. It'll be here soon."

"But..." Holly tried to contend again suddenly. Instead of listening, Deidre kept talking to Rachel.

"Bench is up ahead there. Just get her home safe." 

"Are you sure...?" Rachel slowly tried to get up to her feet, having something of a struggle. Any bending or movement at all really, at the middle, caused her agony. "I hate to leave you here..."

"No! I'll take care of this," She said receiving the check from the waitress. "There was a shop I wanted to pop into over here anyway. My one sister's birthday's coming up." She looked to Holly who hiccuped almost on cue. "Just watch after her. I know she can be a little... headstrong sometimes. But tell her not to worry, she's fine. Us girls have all gotten a little hammered in front of each other before between work & ladies' night. This is nothing." Deidre giggled. "And I'll see you! Two o'clock... Tuesday was it?"

"Yup." Rachel nodded, as she struggled to hoist her sloshed sister on to her feet.

"Bye, Deed-ruh."

"Bye, Holly. Don't worry about your car, it'll be fine."

"Thanks again," Rachel nodded, lifting Holly's arm up around her shoulder.

"Any time!" Deidre waved.

As they made their way towards the bench up ahead, Rachel tried not to think about how full she felt. How much her tummy was pushing into the waist of her skirt. Or how some of the bottom buttons to her blouse felt pulled tight. She tried not think about how many tots that was. Or especially what that & her whole meal all equalled to calorically. But looking down to the right, seeing Holly's even rounder gut? She didn't feel quite as bad. 

As a bougie old lady coming the other way stared the two of them down, Rachel didn't mind sneering back at her.

"Take a'piscure, itl' las longer." Holly cracked. Rachel giggled. 

"That's... -hic- right!" When the woman realized they were talking to her, she ducked quickly into a shop, looking absolutely disgusted. Both sisters were chuckling though. At least for a second, when Holly stopped. Just as they reached the bench.

"I... I jus made an ass of myshelf, did-den-I?" Holly slurred.

"Wha? No! No!" Rachel tried to insist. She didn't know why she was really trying to comfort her mess of a sister. Not after how weird she was all morning. But if she didn't right now, who would?

"No I did I did." Holly whispered randomly. "In fron'ov my boss!"

"No, she told me to tell you not to worry. Like you said earlier in the car, she gets it." Rachel debated whether to let her sit down. With the way her stomach was, she didn't know how much more propping up she could do. But at the same time, getting her standing again?

"Hnnnngh." Holly whined. "No. I mean... That burger was... a lot of burger. I... I don't know why..."

"Hey," Rachel pointed, seeing a sleek, black shortbus rounding the corner. A Bellflower ensignia was plastered on the side. "I think this is us."

"Oh, perf...perfette." Holly struggled. "I mean... per-FECT." Not a moment too soon, Rachel thought to herself. As it pulled up to the curb in front of them, the tinted sliding door hissed & opened. Without looking, Rachel tried her best to usher Holly up the stairs. And Holly was just wide enough to block the view of the other side. 

"Thanks," Rachel tried to say, just as Holly reached the last step. Her wide butt just barely seemed to squeeze past. But when it did, Rachel noticed there was no driver.

"Of course, Miss Rachel." Penny said. And while she couldn't quite tell how she knew exactly, but something about the amount of disdain it said her name with told her it was THEIR Penny.

"Hi Penny." Holly said, slumping into a seat. "I... I got a decen' daydrunk on..."

"I can see that." The Penny sounded. Rachel still hadn't stepped foot on.

"You... drive?!"

"I can do just about anything." The machine said, not seeming to care if it sounded sinister or not. "Now are you coming? I think your sister could still use a bit of a hand."

"No... I'm fine..." slurred from inside. Rachel, albeit very begrudgingly, stepped onto the bus.