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with a grin.
    This was already weird. She hadn’t roomed with a girl in longer than she could remember—and a girl like this, the native version of F.O.B. She supposed Sarah was F.O.F… Fresh Outta Fairfax. Or whatever the name of her Podunk town was.
    “Well, looks like I’m all settled in,” Martika said.
    Sarah was nodding as she looked around, clearly bewildered. “It’s…more than I expected.”
    Was that disapproval? Martika smiled. God, she hoped so. “Well, when I move someplace, I like to…”
    “Take it over?” Luis, Taylor’s boyfriend, commented with a nasal whine.
    Martika grinned at him, feeling her anger start to turn over a little. She usually couldn’t take Luis for longer than, oh, fifteen minutes. She’d now been with him for over six hours, and if the man realized how close to death he was…
    She shrugged it off, searching for lemonade. At least the asshole moved the bed in. You made allowances.
    “Well, everything looks great,” Sarah said in a soft voice behind her.
    “Thanks.” Martika smiled a little more easily. Kid’s shy, shethought, but there’s potential there. “I’m a graphic designer, did I mention that?”
    “No.”
    “Well, I am. I like to have artistic things around me.” She noted that almost all of the prints up were hers. “It’s all about atmosphere, presentation…you know.”
    Sarah nodded, although Martika doubted she understood a damned word. She was doing that agreeing-to-be-agreeable thing.
    “I mean, what did you think you were saying with the apartment before?” she pressed.
    “Um….” Sarah blinked, very deer-in-headlights, at being put on the spot. “This space for rent?”
    Martika laughed. Definite potential.
    She wandered back out to the living room. “Well. I’m starving.” Translation: We are now going out to eat. She looked around expectantly.
    Taylor looked happy at the proclamation, Luis looked sour at spending time with her ( ah, but I’m so looking forward to bonding with you! she thought with a smile), and Kit…well, Kit just looked the same as he usually did. She had tried getting him to sleep with her, but she suspected he must actually bat for Taylor’s team, no matter what Taylor said about him being a DSF. She just had a feeling about this sort of thing.
    “So. Where are we eating?”
    Luis spoke up. “Why not Trader Vic’s?”
    She shot Taylor a glance. He shrugged, embarrassed. She rolled her eyes, communicating quite clearly: Well, you’re the one fucking him. She shook her head. “Let me try this again. So. Where are we eating?”
    “What? What?”
    “Too tacky,” Taylor explained.
    “If I wanted to spend that kind of money to see a bunch of old white men, I’d go to Le Dome,” Martika added, causing Luis to pout.
    “How about Le Dome?” Kit put in sardonically.
    She thought she heard Sarah giggle at that, again softly, but when she turned around Sarah’s face was impassive.
    “Hmm…obviously I’m going to…ooh! How about L.A. Farm? I haven’t been in ages.” There! A viable alternative. “They’ve got a great vegetarian spread.”
    “So you’re vegetarian this week?” Kit asked.
    She frowned at him. “Like you’re even going, Kit.”
    Kit shrugged. “Nope. Working a shift at the coffeehouse.”
    “Didn’t anybody tell you? The grunge scene is over.”
    “It’s retro.”
    Taylor shook his head. “Working at a coffee shop on a Saturday night seems just wrong, somehow. Going to the club with us later? I thought Asylum, just for kicks.”
    Kit shrugged. “I guess. I’ll catch up with you later.”
    “Lovely. So L.A. Farm it is,” Martika said, and glared at Luis, who looked ready to dissent.
    “Sure,” Taylor said, and Luis did not look pleased. “Just give me time to run home and change…I’m not going all sweaty and stinky like this. ”
    She laughed, then looked at Sarah. She was standing there, very wallflowerish. Well, now was as good a time as any to test the new girl.