On Friday morning, Ayala sat at her desk, alone, and stared vacantly at her screen. She hadn’t spoken to anyone when she came in, simply raising a hand or givig a blank stare at anyone who had said hello as she walked to her office and closed the door. She had spent the morning thinking about ways to turn the narrative against Remi – ways she could control of the frame of doing the “right thing” and shift things back where they were – but had come up with no solutions.

She also realized that she’d come to the potluck with no dish to pass – a consequence of the seven orgasms she had last night before she dozed off to sleep.

“Maybe I’ll offer myself as an entrée.” Ayala joked to herself, realizing that this style of humor was exactly what Remi wanted. She felt herself falling into the idea that being spoken to like this, being treated like this, was normal.

She hated the way this feeling made her sick. She hated even more that it made her feel wet.

“Whatever.” Ayala muttered, letting a hand slide right into her pants and two fingers slide inside her. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, drawing the taste of blood, and allowed herself to imagine tasting her own blood when…

A sudden thud against her door caused Ayala to literally jump out of her seat, her hand flying up so fast that some of her wetness splashed on her desk. With a look of panic on her face, she looked up to see Lily backing into her office, without knocking, of course, straining to carry a heavy Thompson Cookware pot.

“Hi best friend, GUESS what I have!” Lily said gleefully, setting the stockpot down on Ayala’s desk.

Ayala was afraid to ask. She couldn’t afford to lose Lily right now. She’d always thought Lily needed her, but now, she needed Lily more than ever.

Lily didn’t wait for a reply, opening the lid. Ayala looked inside, fearing the worst.

“My WORLD FAMOUS mashed potatoes, of course!” Lily said gleefully. “We gotta have something at this thing that we can eat, right?”

Ayala felt her stomach rumble, and realized she hadn’t eaten the night before. She was happy to have a fellow vegetarian bringing a dish that she could happily eat. Potlucks as a Dyani weren’t always the most comfortable social gatherings.

“SO. What will you be serving, Ayala?” Lily inquired, looking around the room for her dish.

Ayala’s face flushed at a sudden thought of saying “myself” before she brought herself back into the world she’d worked so hard to be a part of.

“Oh, I, um, I was up all night last night, um, I was…worried about the promotion, so I didn’t…SHIT!” Ayala exclaimed.

“What’s wrong with you?” Lily said.

Ayala suddenly remembered about the Dyani-matic prototype – that she hadn’t gotten it back from Lily to show it off to Mr. Thompson as she’d promised in her interview. Her eyes quickly shot to Lily’s dish – but that was standard issue Thompson cookware. She felt a panic in her chest.

“Lily, you DID bring the Dyani-matic, right?” Ayala shuddered as she spoke, looking up eagerly.

“DUH girl, it’s been here. It’s gonna be such a hit! I can’t wait for the big reveal today!”

Ayala exhaled with relief, allowing her body to slump down in her chair once more.

“…it would have been better if we had a dish to pass in it…” Ayala lamented.

“Oh, I got that COVERED! You’ve spent so much time in your office, I haven’t even had a chance to fill you in on a lot of things!” Lily said cheerfully. “It’s like Remi says – the RIGHT thing to do is treat everyone how they SHOULD be treated!” Lily hummed.

“We need to have a talk about Remi, Lily. The thing is…” Ayala began, as she sat up, trying to piece her confidence back together.

“Isn’t she great! She SURE does speak so highly of you!” Lily interrupted.

“She does?” Ayala said, realizing she’d never received any feedback on Remi’s perceptions of her. Maybe she’d just misunderstood her intentions all along.

“Oh yeah, she NEVER stops talking about you, seriously. How cute you are, how crazy it is you’ve made it so far, how much she wants to get some one-on-one time with you…” Lily leaned in. “She even said we’re lucky to have such a TROPHY on display here! Isn’t that sweet?”

“…I’m not sure I like the idea of being a trophy.” Ayala bemoaned.

“Oh, she didn’t mean it like THAT, silly. Are you feeling OK? You haven’t been yourself this week.” Lily inquired.

“…I have a hangover…of sorts…” Ayala moaned.

“Well, you know what will help that?” Lily picked up her pot of mashed potatoes. “It’s like the two of you are MEANT to go together. What do you say?”

“I guess we are going to this potluck one way or another…” Ayala replied. “You’re the best, Lily. I really don’t know where I’d be without you.”

“Girl, you always know I got your back.” Lily raised her hand for their tried and true high five gesture.

Ayala smiled. She raised her hand and swung all her might, really needing to feel something. She nearly fell over onto the floor as Lily pulled her hand back at the last second.

“Your back-STRAP. Ha ha.” Lily quipped. “What, I’m getting in the PC vibe; it’s just a joke!”

Ayala hid her embarrassment, and walked with her head down behind Lily to the potluck.