Diamonds and Girls

Her lips curve. "Fine by me, though that doesn't seem entirely healthy."

"That's why we pay Laura."

We lie there in a companionable silence for a while. I'm still trying to catch my breath.

"I wasn't trying to kill you, with the strawberries."

I blink, taken aback by the quiet comment. "I didn't really think you were." Easy to be generous, now.

"I thought you'd get a rash, that it would be funny. It was supposed to be a joke."

"Yeah, well, I cut your hair because I figured it was a fate worse than death."

"It was!" Noa's nostrils flare in outrage. "I had big plans to marry Alistair. I'd named all four of our kids. You ruined my life, cutting off all my hair." She giggles.

"You are my life," I tell her seriously. "I know it's not healthy. But it's true. And," I take a deep breath and continue, "it does at least seem just a tiny bit more healthy now than it did this morning."

She reaches over and takes my hand, folding it into her own. "You're my life, too, imp. Fiona."

I sigh happily. "Fuck healthy."

"Potty mouth," Noa accuses me wryly.

"Goody two-shoes," I shoot back.

"Drunken leprechaun."

"Neurotic Jew."

"Zookeeper."

"Corporate whore."

"Real whore."

"Virgin."

Noa chuckles. "Not anymore, sprite. Not anymore."

I glower. "Well, I'm not a whore."

"My mistake," she concedes. "Slut, then."

I roll my eyes. "Want to sleep here?"

She does. I'm still pouting as we crawl under the comforter, and she's still laughing. We drift off curled up around each other.