Fly with Me: a novel by Andie Burke

chapter 19

STELLA

Getting killed by a meteorite. Getting mauled by a bear. Being born with an extra finger or toe.

OLIVE

Is this a riddle or the most disturbing game ever of would you rather?

She waited for a response, but since Stella’s text had come in at 4:30 A.M. (an ungodly hour and a half before Olive’s alarm went off), who knew when she’d get back to her. She peeled herself out of bed and turned on the shower. A few minutes into the shower, she leaned out to check if Stella had texted back.

Nope.

After giving Gus a quick walk, she got ready and drove the ten minutes to a parking space at the hospital. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She grabbed it with enough force that it Frisbeed out of her hand and into the back seat. She went to reach for it and then the car inched forward in the space.

“Fuck.” She slammed on the brake and pushed the gearshift into park before diving into the back seat to fumble for the stupid phone.

DEREK

How’s the Stella-hangover. I hope you didn’t actually send those texts.

Olive made a sound very similar to a growl and then froze.

The texts?

Oh shit.

Hadshe sent the texts?

She swiped back to Stella’s message and scrolled up.

OLIVE

I’m reading over this questionnaire, and I think this is all just an ill-disguised attempt to psychoanalyze me.

Oh no …

OLIVE

For example, when I find out from your questionnaire answers that you speak three languages, should I lie on my own questionnaire because I am so incredibly turned on/intimidated by your excellent linguistic credentials or should I be honest?

Oh god, she had actually typed out the words turned on … about Stella being a polyglot. Olive had truly out-Murphyed herself.

Don’tdrink and text beautiful women. Don’t drink and text beautiful women. Don’t drink and text beautiful women.

And that wasn’t the only thing she had texted.

OLIVE

Favorite color? Seems like a gimme but then you put that your favorite color is a very specific Pantone shade of periwinkle. Thus just saying “green” seems inadequate. I really do like emerald and chartreuse? Now I have to decide which is more impressive.

Olive leaned her head on her steering wheel so hard the horn beeped, making the person who was for some reason sitting in the parked car in front of hers give her the finger out their back window.

Yeah, fuck me, indeed, thought Olive.

There was one more text. The one that ostensibly Stella had been answering in the previous two texts.

OLIVE

Biggest fear. Well, at least this one’s easy. Flying. Well, not the flying part. The crashing into a pit of fiery wreckage or an ocean abyss part or body being vaporized part. The being torn into a million parts part.

Thinking that it was too early in the morning to overdose on embarrassment, Olive stuffed the phone back into her scrubs pocket. The extra five minutes spent drowning in mortification meant she didn’t have time to get coffee from the shop on the way in, and she would, therefore, be a very angry nurse until she got a break and the caffeine gods smiled on her.