Simmer Down

bag. “Tell me what you think.” She positioned the mirror in front of Sarka.
    “Oh, my God,” Sarka turned her head back and forth. “I really like it. I do! I never would have thought to put in these layers like you did, but it does soften it out. What did you put in it before you dried it?”
    Adrianna showed her the product she’d put in, and while they discussed a new hair-care regime for Sarka, I started packing up. Sarka paid Adrianna well and continued to gush over the subtle change in her hair.
    “It was so, so nice to meet you both. Thanks for listening to me talk on and on about myself. Things have been so weird with Oliver’s death, it was nice to just talk about things.”
    “Call me anytime. It was wonderful to meet you, too.” Adrianna handed her one of the business cards that I’d done for her on my computer. Adrianna had the typing and computer skills of a turkey, so she’d enlisted my help to create more professional cards than the ones she’d attempted on her own.
    We stepped back outside, which felt even chillier than before after the warmth of Sarka and Barry’s cozy house. We drove back toward Brighton and talked about Sarka.
    “God, she is so much better than Dora!” Adrianna said with relief. “I was afraid we were heading into another house of the dull.”
    “She was friendly. But there are a few... problems.”
    “What kinds of problems? That she didn’t pay you, too?”
    “No! Now, please keep your eyes on the road when I say this, but she could have killed Oliver.”
    Adrianna nearly choked laughing. “Sarka killed Oliver?
    Why?”
    “I don’t like the idea very much either, but she did have a reason to want him gone. First, she did say he’d been after her, and it might have been more than she let on. What if Oliver was really pressuring her to have an affair? She might’ve been protecting herself. Or protecting Dora from a philandering husband. Second, she obviously doesn’t care how much money Barry is making, and she’s sick to death of him working so much for the clubs. She even said she wanted him to sell out now and open a restaurant with higher-quality food. With Oliver gone, it’d be easy for Barry to get out of the Full Moon Group. He’d have enough money to hire people to oversee a new restaurant, and he’d have more time with her. Like she said, with the way she grew up, she wants stability, and Oliver’s work demands were making a normal life with her husband pretty difficult.” Adrianna shook her head. “She is too nice to have killed somebody.”
    “Nice has nothing to do with it. She is nice, but there’s something off about her, too. Something creepy. Not just that she’s borderline anorexic, either. It’s that, plus talking about having a baby. How could she deal with being pregnant? If she could even get pregnant. And then there’s how thin she is and how fat all her furniture is.”
    “I liked her furniture.”
    “I did, too. I loved it. It’s just that the contrast is rather noticeable. Also, there’s how warm and open she was just now and what she was like at the gallery. She was two different people. And that’s creepy.”
    Ade dropped me off at my place. “You're taking social work too seriously,” she said.
    “Probably. I’ll see you and Owen tonight at Simmer, right?”
    “Sure. If he’s not too busy pulling strings on those damn puppets.” She looked down at her watch. “I’ve got to go. I’ve got another two appointments.”
    “Hey, are you two okay?” I asked. “I know you’re not a big fan of Owen’s new job, but it’ll be all right. Think of how creative it is.”
    “No,” she shook her head. “Cooking is creative. Being a chef is creative. This is bullshit, and we both know it. I’ll talk to you later.”
    “Bye.” I shut her car door. Adrianna was right about Owen. As much as I loved him, his constant job switching was beginning to look aimless. I mean, was he really going to become a professional puppeteer and handle marionettes until he retired? I highly doubted it. Every job Owen had was as an assistant fill-in-the-captivating-blank; whenever the chance of promotion presented itself, he quit and moved on. Granted, we were all still in our twenties and had some leeway before we settled our lives, but Owen was pushing it, and I couldn’t fault Ade for getting frustrated with her boyfriend. They’d been together long enough for her to have a right to worry about stability.
    At least Josh