Simmer Down

myself in the bathroom.
    I skimmed the review while Josh rattled the door, saying, “It doesn’t count! I don’t want to hear it!”
    “Listen, listen! ‘Although there are issues to be addressed at Simmer, I am happy to report that Simmer is a welcome addition to Newbury Street.’ Blah, blah, ‘beautiful decor... the wait staff struggled to keep up at times
    Josh was now pounding on the door. “Stop reading!” he begged.
    I paid no attention. “ ‘The food was worth the wait... outstanding lobster tail... lentils still had a bite to them... best salad dressing in Boston... salmon was overcooked but had potential... average chocolate torte . .
    Josh stopped banging. “ ‘Average chocolate torte’? Average? Who does she think she is?”
    “Do you know what this means?” I said excitedly.
    “It means she doesn’t know the first thing about chocolate,” Josh said angrily.
    “Yes, but it also means that she wrote a real review. Gavin didn’t pay her off! Or, if he tried, she didn’t accept his offer. No one bribes someone to write a mediocre review. And for Mishti, this review is pretty good. She doesn’t give out compliments easily. And, God, she said you have the best salad dressing in all of Boston!”
    After a long pause, Josh said, “I guess that’s pretty good.”
    “It’s more than pretty good. Can I come out now?”
    He laughed. “Yeah, let me read the whole thing.”
    I unlocked the bathroom door and handed him the paper. When he was done, I was going to clip out the review and make copies of it. I took the crossword out of the paper and left Josh alone for a few minutes to read Simmer’s first review in its entirety.
    “I’m going to call Adrianna and see how she’s doing.”
    “Do you think she got any sleep?” Josh asked with concern.
    “I hope so,” I said doubtfully and went and sat down in the kitchen.
    Learning that Barry was the murderer would have been enough shock for one night without the preceding revelation about Adrianna’s messing around with Snacker. When I reached her on the phone, practically the first thing she said was that she was pregnant.
    “I suspected I might be,” she said, “but I didn’t use the test kit until after I got back from doing hair yesterday.” The positive result had thrown her into a total tizzy. She’d freaked out, she said, because as much as she loved Owen, she hadn’t planned on getting pregnant and settling down with a puppeteer’s assistant any time soon.
    “So what were you doing running around having clandestine meetings with Snacker in the bathroom last night?” I did my best not to yell at her since she’d been talking to me through sobs.
    “God, Chloe, I don’t know! I just was freaking out and trying to pretend I didn’t know I was pregnant and trying not to feel like my life was set in stone and that I would be with Owen who can’t figure out what the hell to do in life, and... I don’t know. I just wanted to feel free one last time. I don’t have a good reason. Owen was being all weird with his marionette bullshit that night at your parents’ house, and Snacker seemed so cute and funny, and I was feeling frustrated with Owen. I went to Simmer the other night to see Snacker,” she confessed. “Nothing happened then, but I was flirting and he was hot and... and then when Owen started to propose, I thought I would die.” She blew her nose loudly into the phone.
    I could not believe this. “How is Owen taking everything?”
    “It could be worse. He’s not mad I’m pregnant, but he is pretty furious about the whole Snacker thing. I mean, of course he is. I’m pissed at myself. But I think he understands that I was having some sort of panic attack last night and wasn’t really myself. Not that that excuses me making out with someone else while he’s gearing up to ask me to marry him!” She started wailing and choking on her tears. “And why was I attracted to Snacker in the first place? What is wrong with me?”
    My heart just broke for her. I hated to hear my best friend so miserable. “Honey, look. You and Owen will get through this. Maybe you weren’t planning on this happening, but you guys love each other very much. Owen is crazy about you, and he’ll understand that he’s going to have to stop jumping from job to job if you two are going to be parents.” I had to ask: “Ade, you are going to keep the baby, aren’t you?”
    “Yes, it’s not a question. Maybe under other circumstances,