a dry start

 

Honestly, Shelly was at her wit's end. True, it was easy to move into the place. There was plenty of help. It was all so cozy and roomy. Yes, she loved how the sun shined in the morning through the livingroom window. So lovely to be close to friends..and yet..maybe not.

The boys were always at the pub. And guess who was always hungover? How in the world could she stop it?

"Look, we really need to have a dry January," she told Odin over toast and tea. Naturally, he looked as if his hair had been in a blender and the crust in his eyes barely let him crack them open.

"Well, Babe, it's a little late for that, don't you think?" He practically snorted over his tea and crunched on a piece of cheese toast.

"The month has hardly started," she insisted. "We can still have a dry January. It's what Oprah and her mates are doing?"

"Oprah?" Odin drew a scowl. Of course, his fist could hardly hold up his chin as he sat at the table so sluggish. "I had no idea she even drank."

"Precisely." She shot him a look and pressed a very even lip. "You don't need everyone to know. But they do, I am certain of it, down at your office. How do you expect to get ahead of the herd?"

He scrunched a face of disgust as if he didn't want to discuss it. 

"We need some rules," she told him. "Now that you see Stu every day, you have to think of something else to do than visit that damn pub."

"What do you suggest?" He looked at her funny, sitting across from her at the kitchen table. His long body stretched a bit too close and Shelly squirmed away. 

"You're still a bit foul for my liking, O.D." She festered a frown and shook her head. "There are many many reasons to have a dry year, you know."

"What?"

"Think about it?" Shelly glared back. "Alcohol makes you old. You are still so young. You two need to be active."

"What? We should be at the gym?"

"It's not free is it?" She told him they needed to get out and jog, maybe learn basketball, and even some football would suffice. "Alcohol cost, you know. Not just the body, but financially too."

She hadn't meant to preach about it, but it was true. "We just moved into a new place together. We need some goals. At least some rules. Especially, with you and Stu."

Odin just stared at her as if he really wasn't fond of any of these suggestions.