Meeting ID: 848 7157 5191

[dolly weathers]

Ugh, she says exasperated, I was way ahead of myself when I started planning our wedding. Looks like I'll have to cancel meet-the-parents tomorrow. She's drank too much over. She can feel her head tumble like bricks when she rolls onto her back. I think I've drank too much.

[theo lovett]

"Then stop," he says, his voice turning momentarily serious. "C'mon, sit up for me. Get some water." He doesn't want to talk about the futility of their non-relationship, deeply regretting bringing it up in the first place. "I wanna talk to you. Either sober up or let me catch up, ok? Let me order you some more food."

[dolly weathers]

Stop? she repeats him, breathing in until her chest was full and then exhaling. Maybe I should do a drug? her fingers reach toward the sky and she pulls herself up to be seated. No, I won't, she lifts the laptop and hops out of bed. It's okay. Like you said, where would you take a girl like me? I have my own food in my own fridge, she stumbles a bit down the stairs, puts the laptop on the counter and digs through her fridge. It was actually legitimately crazy thinking that far into the future.

[theo lovett]

"You could," he says, inwardly hoping she doesn't. Not that he was opposed to the concept, but with her being on her own... it made him a little more nervous. But that was also his own drunkenness, colouring everything with a tinge of fatalism. He pauses, tilting an eyebrow. "Wait, wait, wait. I'm drunk too, you have to be literal with me. Are you making fun of me for thinking so far ahead, or are you serious?"

[dolly weathers]

She digs through her pathetically empty fridge. Full of shriveled vegetables, expired yogurt and cheese. She really needed to do a grocery shop. No, I'm serious, she gives up on the fridge and opens the freezer. I got too excited because of how well this was going, she fishes out a tub of ice cream and dunks a spoon into it, then BOOM, we're married and naming our kids something pretentious because we've both fallen victims of the shark tank.

[theo lovett]

He sighs, adjusting himself so that he's lying down on the bed, crumpling the freshly made sheets. "You're killing me here, Dolly. I was having a good time and still am. Did I fuck it all up?" He reaches over and takes an ill advised swig of lukewarm beer. He scrunches his face up at the temperature, but takes another swig anyway. "No reason we can't still hang out. Maybe even fuck, circumstances permitting."

[dolly weathers]

She takes a spoonful of ice cream. Don't be silly, there was nothing to fuck up, sugar melts on her tongue and she her cheeks raise with a smile. Exactly, no reason. I'll come to your next college party.

[theo lovett]

Theo looks at the screen for a minute, trying to weigh up what was going on. He feels a twinge of irritation but fights it, trying to coax her to talk to him. "Hey, Dolly. Hey. It's me. Don't go shutting down on me. I like you, I want to talk to you."

[dolly weathers]

She takes another spoonful of ice cream and looks back at him on the screen. I think I talked too much, she admits, her eyes looking down at the tub of ice cream. You're easy to talk to, so it's not my fault. And I like you too. It's just now I have all this energy, she waves her hands around spastically, and I don't know what to do with all this.

[theo lovett]

He wants so desperately to tell her to come over. He's slept through the day, with no shift tonight or tomorrow, and being stuck inside felt especially wasteful when he was already having to leave home for work most days. "I've got a few ideas for what you could do with that energy, none of them you could act on now," he says, his mouth pulled into a half grin. He sighs, running a hand over his face. "This is so frustrating."

[dolly weathers]

She brings the spoon to her mouth and smirks. This felt like a tragedy in so many ways. Didn't you get Covid tested though? She asks and looks away from the camera to take a spoonful of ice cream, and I have definitely been locked away for a month.

[theo lovett]

"I get tested all the time. And I've had it." A temptation more palpable than any he'd felt in the last year comes over him. All his frustration at being stuck inside on his own time and outside on the clock, all the people ignoring the pandemic entirely and causing hospitals to overflow, all of the stupid Facebook posts about it being fake... he feels it all bubble up, and he's had enough of it all. "I want to see you."

[dolly weathers]

She grimaces when he says he's had it. The lines between right and wrong were so blurry. She was so tired of not having a life. So bored of staring at these walls. Are you sure? she asks probably a little too enthusiastically. I mean.. I want to see you.

[theo lovett]

He knows this is a bad idea, maybe even a sackable offense if anyone were to know. But then he also knew that others were doing worse... he feels so torn, but he's desperate for company, and her company specifically. "How far away are you? I'll drive." What harm was it really, him moving from one place to another, all on his own?

[dolly weathers]

Dolly shakes her head and frowns, no. Drinking and driving is way worse than Covid. She pushes the lid back onto the ice cream container and puts it in the fridge. Her thoughts feel guilty, but justified. She'd be cooped up with no chance of Covid. He'd been tested at work. It was fine. I can send you a car. Or I can get one.