Page 93 of You've Got Hate Mail
She told me to take all the time I need.
“Everyone needs a down day every once in a while,” Cricket adds. “And I don’t even know if we’re allowed—I mean, I know there’s always wine at dinner, but it’s usually Mabel or Ginny orOlivia bringing it in for all of us. So we can share. Not so we can drink it all alone.”
“What if we weren’t?” I say.
“What?”
“What if it’s against some secret unwritten rule to drink any of the wine we find around here? What if we drink the whole bottle and the six others that are stashed in a box that’s labeled as glasses in the gift shop and then the merlot that’s in the basement too? What bad thing’s going to happen?”
It’s like she’s never considered breaking the rules before.
Her lips part as her eyes get wider, and then she does the most awful thing she could possibly do.
She full-on smiles at me.
Beams at me like I’ve given her the secret code to getting your life together without the people who drag you down.
With the full force of her sunshine-blinding smile.
That’s what she is.
She’s sunshine that’s been hidden behind a cloud her whole life.
That’s the vibe.
It’s an energy she can’t contain, something natural deep inside her that she’s likely suppressed her whole damn life until now.
“Do you want to be bad with me?” she whispers in a rush.
“We can drink the wine, Cricket. Nothing’s sacred here.”
“Just—just pretend. Please?”
I pull my phone out and send a short text to Ginny, telling her I’m about to be out of commission for the rest of the day.
And when she replies that she’s got Lav for everything from meals to bedtime if I need it, to take as much time as I want, I do something I absolutely shouldn’t do.
But suddenly need to.
“Yes,” I say to Cricket. “Let’s be bad. Get the wine.”
17
WINE CLUB
Cricket
Three years ago,my sister Belle got promoted to partner at a prestigious law firm, and my parents threw her a party at one of the most exclusive clubs in Chicago.
Country clubs, I mean. Borderline secret society club.
Not like aclub-club. A dancing club.
They don’t do dance club-clubs.
While we were at dinner, I had two glasses of wine and accidentally taught my other sister’s son and daughter, who were eight and six at the time, the penis game.
This is what red wine does to me.
