The P.U.R.E. by Claire Gillian

and started to walk toward my car. They murmured to each other behind me, so I picked up my pace. “Gayle! Wait!” Jon called to my back. Bare feet slapped against the pavement as he covered the ground between us in a couple of strides.
    I stopped and faced him when his hand landed on my shoulder. “Come inside for a bit. Thalia’s only here to pick up some of her stuff and drop off the key. She’ll be leaving soon.” He said the last bit pointedly as he peered over his shoulder.
    Thalia had her arms crossed in front of her. Either I had foiled her agenda, or she was pissed he might have a new girlfriend so soon. Some nerve she had, considering she’d begun seeing someone else behind Jon’s back before they called off their engagement. I fumed for him, assuming he was over her, not that their relationship was my business—because of course it wasn’t. He was my friend. Friends looked out for each other.
    “Stay, Gayle. Please?”
    Thalia huffed and went back inside.
    Jon leaned close. “She let herself in while I was in the shower and nearly gave me a heart attack when I found her in my living room. If you stay, she’ll speed up her pace.” He regarded me with those brown velvet eyes of his. “I want to get your take on today’s events, too.”
    I smiled because he wanted me there, but mostly because he hadn’t gotten back together with Thalia. “Okay. I really do have some juicy stuff to tell you.”
    We entered his apartment, and he said, “Hold those thoughts while I get a shirt. I’ll be right back.” He disappeared.
    Thalia chilled me with her silence as she inspected her belongings.
    I pointed to the box containing her pink angora sweater. “I was admiring your sweater the other night. It’s so lovely. Can I ask where you purchased it?”
    “It was a gift. I never cared much for it,” she said flatly.
    Jon rejoined us, and the dour set of Thalia’s lips reversed their arc into a smile.
    “Didn’t you give me that pink sweater for Valentine’s day last year? Remember, we rented a romantic little cabin in the mountains of North Carolina.”
    “So I did.” He turned to me and, with a sly twitch of his lips, said, “I got it at Dillard’s, Gayle. Thalia said it reminded her of the wallpaper in her grandmother’s kitchen.”
    He snickered, and I laughed until I noticed Thalia’s clenched jaw and pinched lips. If looks could kill or maim, I’d have been drawn and quartered—and Jon castrated.
    We made short work of loading up Thalia’s stuff. As she made the final trip to her SUV, I gave her an excellent imitation of the fluttery wave she’d given me earlier. I knew it was a bitchy thing to do, but by then I’d had enough of her silent hostility and not-so-subtle barbs at Jon.
    “Sorry I dropped by unannounced.”
    He waved me off.
    “I made a huge discovery I’ve been dying to tell you about. You wanna get frozen yogurt and talk?”
    “Did you eat dinner yet?”
    “Uh, no. Frozen yogurt popped into my head, and that’s what I’ve had a craving for ever since.”
    “It’ll spoil your appetite.”
    “So what, Mom . I want fro-yo, dammit.”
    “Can I make a quick sandwich? I need to eat something more substantial first.”
    I heaved a beleaguered sigh. “Okay, but hurry up.”
    We went back inside his apartment, where I took a seat at his breakfast bar. I watched while he expertly assembled a man-sized meal of two sandwiches. To my surprise, he pushed one toward me. “Eat.”
    Turkey, avocado and bacon ranked among my favorites. I looked at him with a gimlet eye, sighed loudly and dug in.
    “Thanks, bossy sprockets. It’s delicious,” I said after swallowing a mouthful of heaven.
    He stood on the other side of the bar, eating his own sandwich after he got us both some iced tea. “I used to collect those. So … spill.”
    Good thing we both knew we were talking about Thomas the Tank Engine.
    “So … this morning, I went to talk to Jayna. At one point, she left me alone