"Baby shark du du du du, mummy shark." I bob my head to the beat of the rhyme.

"You are so drunk, Eva. Remind me never to let your boss pay for your drinks," Carmen says, shaking his head.

I giggle. "Lala lala lala." Singing nursery rhymes and lullabies when drunk was apparently my thing.

"Here you go." He places me on my bed and carefully removes my shoes.

"I'm going to go now. Be a good girl." He waves goodbye before stepping out.

Left alone, I start singing Mary Had a Little Lamb, but my phone interrupts me. I giggle when I see the name flashing on the screen. It's Gia. I picked up and wave enthusiastically at the screen.

"Hiii...Gia!" I chirp.

There is a pause before her voice comes through. "Eva, are you drunk?"

I gasp dramatically, clutching the phone like it is my lifeline. "Psshhh, me? Of course not! Maybe tipsy, at best."

"Uh-huh," she replies, unconvinced. "So, you are drunk. Maybe I should call you later?"

Frantically, I shout a series of objections.

"I think I should," she insists. "You're not in the right state of mind for an intelligent conversation."

I gasp in mock offense, clutching my chest. "I'm always intelligent. Are you calling me dumb? Because I most definitely am not."

Gia sighs, clearly exasperated but trying not to laugh. "No, Eva. I'm not calling you dumb. I'm calling you ubriaca." (Drunk in Italian.)

I squint at the screen as if trying to send my indignation through it. "I'll have you know, Gia, I'm the smartest person in this room."

"You're the only person in that room," she deadpans.

"Exactly! Smartest and prettiest," I declare, pointing a wobbly finger at the camera. Then I giggle again, accidentally dropping the phone onto my chest. "Oh no, Gia! I think I broke it!"

She laughs. "I'm sure it's fine, Eva. Just pick it up."

"You're right, Gia. How did you know?" I look at her expectantly. Is she a witch? How'd she know?

"Intuition," she teases. "Anyway, I've got to go. It must be pretty late on your side. Get some sleep."

After she hangs up, I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling while humming Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

---

I wake up this morning with a hangover so bad it feels like I've been hit by a truck. My memories of the night before are blurry at best: Zephyr—yes, we were on a first-name basis, but only when drunk—Carmen dropping me off, my call with Gia, and wondering if Mary kidnapped her lambs before passing out.

Dragging myself to the bathroom, I pray for the headache to subside.

---

Two hours later

I call Gia. It rings a few times before she picks up.

"Good morning," I greet.

"Good morning. I guess someone's hangover wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be," she teases.

"Are you kidding me? It feels like my head was shoved into a dishwasher," I groan.

She chuckles. "At least now we can have a civilized conversation."

"How's Italy been?" I ask. Gia was my best friend. We'd met freshman year at MIT after I bumped into her at a campus café, scattering my papers everywhere. I was cursing in Italian, and since Gia was from Italy, she jumped at the chance to befriend me. It still made me laugh whenever I thought about it. After graduation, she moved back to Italy, and I've missed her—and her chaos—ever since.

"It's been good... except for my brothers. Dominic thought it'd be funny to see what happens when you drop a MacBook—aka my laptop—from the second floor into the pool," she groans.

I stifle a laugh, not wanting to risk her wrath. Gia has four brothers, and as the only girl, she'd turned into a complete tomboy. We'd even been mistaken for a couple whenever we held hands in public. It was hilarious.

"When are you visiting Italy, Eva? I have a room ready for you," she says, pouting.

"I don't know, honestly. We planned to visit last year, but with Ava's pregnancy and Eve's campaign, it didn't happen. Now that Ava's had her baby, I might bring it up at the next family reunion," I say.

"Okay, but I better be the first person you call. How's work? I hope the devil hasn,'t been giving you too much trouble."

Almost everyone knew I referred to Mr. Lane as "the devil." It had become my signature nickname for him.

"He's no longer the devil to me," I admit.

"He's not? Dimmi!" (Tell me!) she says eagerly.

I fill her in on everything, and by the end of it, she's wheezing with laughter.

"Oh my gosh. That man's life is like a drama," she says.

"I know, right?" I agree.

We spend the next few hours chatting about everything and anything. After we hang up, I decide to unwind with some games.

---

I just really wanted to introduce Gia.

There's some foreshadowing going on.

Edited.