Free Sweet Harmonies by Melanie Shawn Page A

thinking she would just mellow out and take the edge
off with a glass of wine, and had ended up drowning her sorrows in
the entire bottle.
    And this morning? She was remembering WHY she
was usually not a solo drinker.
    She got to the front door and looked out the
peephole.
    “ SAM!” she exclaimed as she flung open
the front door, “Frickin' A, seriously, are you kidding me?
Somebody better be dead. What the hell are you doing at my door at
6:30 in the morning?”
    There on Karina's front step stood a
spandex-clad Samantha, hopping from foot to foot so as not to lose
the heart rate momentum she had built up, her dewy pink skin
glowing with the perspiration she had generated during her
workout.
    “ There you are!” she said breathlessly,
but still cheerfully, jogging into the house past Karina. Instead
of stopping in the entryway, however, she jogged straight into the
kitchen without waiting to see if Karina was going to
follow.
    Karina shook her head to clear the fog that
was still clinging to her, and shuffled after Sam. “Oh, yes, please
just come on in! Feel free to stop by unannounced anytime,” she
intoned grumpily under her breath.
    “ Thanks, don't mind if I do!” Sam
called back sunnily from the kitchen.
    “ This whole 'morning person' thing you
have going on could get to be a real issue eventually, just FYI,”
Karina informed her flatly as she flopped down into one of her
kitchen table chairs.
    “ Best time of day,” Sam chirped
back.
    Karina grunted in disagreement, and then
added, “In all seriousness, though, Sam – what the holy hell are
you doing ringing my doorbell at 6:30 in the morning?”
    “ Oh, were you sleeping?” Sam asked, all
innocence.
    “ Of course I was sleeping!” Karina shot
back indignantly, “Did you miss the part where it's 6:30 in the
morning?”
    “ I couldn't help it!” Sam trilled,
opening Karina's fridge and pulling out a bottle of water, “I
wanted to deconstruct the whole moving day with Ryan yesterday!
Plus, Amanda and Lauren and I DID notice that there was quite a
lengthy period that the two of you were conspicuously absent
yesterday. Together! So what happened?”
    “ Nothing,” Karina said flatly, “Whole
lotta nothin', that's what happened.”
    “ No way! Nothing?” Sam asked
disbelievingly.
    “ Certainly nothing that warrants this
buttcrack of dawn visit,” Karina concluded miserably.
    “ I have a really hard time believing
that. I mean, come on, if you don't want to tell me, just say you
don't want to tell me.”
    “ I don't want to tell you,” Karina
deadpanned.
    “ Well, too bad, you have to,” Sam said
decisively, dropping into the chair opposite Karina and taking a
swig of water from her bottle.
    Karina pushed her tangle of dark hair back
away from her face and sighed. “Make some coffee,” she relented,
“and I'll go through the entire tale.”
    “ Agreed!” Sam said cheerfully, walking
over to Karina's cabinet. She opened it and pulled out a bag of
coffee.
    Opening up various cabinets in turn, she
mumbled, “Coffee filters...coffee filters...hmmmm....” finally
turning to Karina and asking, “Where do you keep your coffee
filters?”
    Karina shook her head, which was at this
point resting face down on her arms, which were folded on the
kitchen table in front of her. “I doubt I have any,” she said, the
sound of her voice muffled by the fact that her face was buried in
her arms, “I haven't completely stocked up in kitchen supplies yet.
Just use paper towels.”
    “ Will do!” said Sam, ripping off a
paper towel with a flourish and lining the basket of the coffee
maker with it. She then poured in grounds, filled the pot with
water and poured it into the machine. Lastly, she pushed the button
victoriously and the delicious and restorative aroma of coffee
began filling the kitchen. Sam came to sit by Karina, an air of
satisfaction surrounding her like a halo.
    Karina sat up, looking more alert already.
“You seem awfully proud of