“I don’t know, a while. Why does it matter anyway? You aren’t still taking that crap are you?” she scoffed. Wow, okay.

“Yeah, I am. I don’t particularly feel like having a visit with a straight jacket, alright,” I said testily. Maria rolled her eyes.

“Don’t be such a drama queen, Clay. Look at me, I’m fine,” she held her arms out as if that proved her point.

“You don’t seem fine, Maria. In fact, you seem about the farthest from fine I’ve ever seen,” I told her firmly. Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped in shock at my blunt assessment. Before she could respond, I heard the doorbell ring and I groaned inwardly.

Here we go, I thought.

“Hang on a sec. That’s Maggie,” I told Maria, whose mouth tightened at the mention of my girlfriend.

“Well, come on, let me meet this famous Maggie,” Maria said overly brightly, following me into the foyer. I had hoped to have a moment alone with Maggie to prepare her for my good ol’ friend from treatment. So much for that. Time to witness the train wreck about to happen and just hope like hell I could fix it all later.

Maggie stood on my stoop looking the complete opposite of Maria in every way that counted. She wore jeans that fit her perfectly and a long sleeved cotton top that didn’t show an excess amount of skin but made my mouth water all the same. Her shoulder length brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore next to no makeup. She was gorgeous.

“Hi, baby,” I said in genuine happiness to see her. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her on the mouth, loving the taste of her cherry lip gloss. The sound of Maria clearing her throat made Maggie pull back, looking slightly mortified by our overt public display of affection.

The moment she saw Maria and her street walker get up, I knew I’d hear about it later. Her eyes widened slightly and she gave Maria the quick girl once over. Not something I had ever seen Maggie do before, but I could see how insecure she was about Maria’s presence in my house.

“Hi, I’m Maggie,” she said politely, holding out her hand for Maria to take. Maria laughed.

“What are we, fifty? Who shakes hands anymore?” Maria said snidely. Maggie stiffened and dropped her hand.

“People who have enough sense not to be rude to someone they just met?” Maggie stated, cocking her head to the side and giving Maria a smile that was both sickeningly sweet and full of bitch slapping condescension.

Maria snorted and turned on her heel and walked back into the living room. Maggie narrowed her eyes at me. “What the hell is that?” she whispered angrily.

“I have no freaking clue! She was nothing like that while we were at Grayson’s. But she has a history of…sexual issues. So, I don’t know,” I answered weakly. Maggie stood there fuming.

“And Miss Fuck Me Please is staying overnight under the same roof as you? Yeah, I feel really great about that, Clay!” Maggie hissed, trying to keep her voice low.

I ushered her into the house and closed the door behind her. “You have nothing to worry about,” I told her, grabbing her hand.

Maggie sighed. “It’s not you I worry about. That bitch has her claws out and she’s ready to sink them into your flesh. So you’d better watch out,” she warned, stomping off into the living room, where Maria was flipping through channels on the television.

We had around twenty minutes before we had to meet Rachel and Daniel for dinner. And they proved to be the longest twenty minutes in the history of awkwardness.

Maggie tried to talk to Maria but the other girl was having none of it. Maria directed all of her attention my way and I felt like a bone being fought over by two dogs. I know this is probably every other guys’ dream come true, to have good looking chicks fighting over him. But I didn’t feel lucky. I just wished I could kick Maria’s ass out of my house and pretend this crappy night had never happened.

But I couldn’t. Even if I wanted to, I wasn’t that much of a dick.

When Maggie excused herself to go to the bathroom I turned on Maria. “What the f**k is your problem?” I asked her angrily.

Maria could tell I was pissed and she made an attempt to dial down the witchiness. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be a brat. I guess I was just so used to having your attention all to myself when we were at Grayson’s, I just don’t like to share.” Her response threw me off balance. And if I hadn’t been sure before, I sure as well knew now, that Maria had developed an unhealthy attachment to me.

“Look, Maria, I’ll remind you of what I said to you at Grayson’s, we are friends. Only friends. Maggie is who I love. If you can’t be in my house and be respectful to my girlfriend, then I’m sorry, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” I told her firmly.

And just like that, the vampy sex kitten cracked and I could start to see Maria, my friend, underneath. “I’m sorry, Clay. I’ll stop it. You’re right, I’m being rude,” she said.

When Maggie returned from the bathroom, Maria made an effort to talk to her. Maggie looked surprised, but she went with it and I felt I could let out a sigh of relief that maybe it was a crisis averted. Let’s just put a tick by delusions on my list of crazy.

***

“How much time do we have until it’s time to leave?” Maria asked. I looked at the time on my phone.

“Ten minutes or so,” I said.

“I’m going to go change,” Maria said, looking suddenly self-conscious.