Page 422 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

narrowing my eyes. “Brooke?”

AI Brooke: “Yes, Miss Allison?”

“Call FreshSeal & Co. customer service.”

Twenty minutes later,

I’m lying upside down on the couch,

legs propped up against the backrest,

blood rushing to my head,

phone hooked to the penthouse speaker,

writing the next lyric to the hold music,

when it stops⁠—

“Your call is very important to us.

“Please remain on the line,

“and someone will be with you shortly.”

Ding.

My head pops up.

Elevator? Andrew?

But I sit up too fast, and my ass slips off the couch, and I hit marble, folding between the couch and coffee table like a lawn chair, the back of my head slamming against the top glass.

“Mother of—” I hiss,

pain exploding behind my eyes.

I roll onto my side, clutching my head.

“The fuck is happening in this house?” Celie stands in the hallway, coat on, brow stuck to the ceiling.

She looks at me,

looks at the tupperware war,

the plant wrapped in fairy lights,

then back at me

in a fetal position on the floor.

“Girl.”

I groan, lifting onto my knee.

“I don’t wanna hear it.”

“Nah. You’re coming with me. My mother made pernil, pastelitos, arroz con gandules, and a shit ton of tiramisu for your ass. You really gonna break my momma’s heart?”