Mostly out of boredom and the urge to be active, Claudia decided to go in to work. She convinced herself that getting out of the house would help her feel better.

        Nicole stopped in her tracks when she saw Claudia come out of the bathroom, showered and dressed, ready to go. “Don’t you even tell me that you’re going to work today.”

        “I’m feeling better, honest,” Claudia lied.

        “You weren’t feeling better last night when you had a temperature of one hundred and one and were puking your brains out,” Nicole pointed out.

        “But I got a full night of sleep, I’m feeling rested and motivated,” she insisted as she dried her damp hair with a towel and walked past Nicole to her bedroom.

        “Let me take your temperature and if and only if it’s back to normal, I’ll allow you to go to work today.”

        Claudia sighed and shifted all of her weight on one foot. “I’m an adult, Nicole. I don’t need your permission to go to work.”

        “I’m calling Jack and telling him you’re too sick to come in,” Nicole continued.

        “Oh you’re just saying that because you can. Quit showing off.”

        Nicole couldn’t help but smile. “Okay, you called my bluff. But seriously, you shouldn’t go in today.”

        “Right now, I’m feeling well enough to go to work, so I’m going,” Claudia said defiantly as she left her bedroom and went down the stairs.

        “You are so stubborn,” Nicole said shaking her head.

        “Would it make you feel better if I brought some chicken soup for my lunch?”

        “If you throw up on someone, don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

 *****

        Jack was surprised to see Claudia in the studio, ready to go as if she had never been sick. “Feeling better already, Claude?” He asked her.

        “Yes, thank you,” she said sitting down in the control room to prepare for a recording.

        “You weren’t looking so great Saturday night,” he continued.

        “Thanks. You weren’t looking so hot yourself,” she teased.

        “I looked quite handsome if I don’t say so myself!” he objected. “What’s Nicole been saying about me?” he inquired.

        Claudia groaned. “Oh no! Please don’t take me back to junior high!”

        “What! It was a simple question!”

        “I do not want to be put in the middle of you two.”

        “She wants me, doesn’t she?” he asked raising his eyebrows up and down.

        She playfully pushed him away. “Yes, she’s like a dog in heat, okay? Now get off my case.”

        “I really had fun with her. Why didn’t you tell me that you had such a sweet roommate?”

        “You guys are doing this just to torture me aren’t you? You don’t really like each other, you’re just setting me up.”

        He chuckled. “Yeah, that’s it. We’re so pathetic that we’re faking a relationship just to get on your nerves.”

        “I wouldn’t put it past either of you.”

        “So did you have fun with Josh?” he asked grinning.

        “Oh, I had a blast letting him watch me upchuck every meal I’ve eaten in the last two weeks . You’re evil, you know that?”

        “I thought it was quite clever sending him over like that. Just think, in a few months, I’m going to be fifty dollars richer.”

        “I never should have made that bet with you.”

        “Aw, is Claudia a sore loser?”

        “Gambling is wrong!”

        “He called in sick today you know,” Jack told her.

        “Josh did? I got him sick?”

        Jack shrugged. “Probably.”

        “See what you did!” she cried. “If you hadn’t sent him over with that folder which wasn’t even mine, this never would have happened!”

        “Sure I sent him over there, but I didn’t tell him to stay all night, did I? He did that all on his own, the sweet little man that he is.”                    

        Just then, the young singer, Ashley, walked into the room. “Hi Claudia, how are you?” she asked sweetly.

        “I’m good thanks. Are you ready to record the final song for your album?” she asked.

        “Can’t wait,” she replied. “I’ll go get myself ready.” She existed the control room and went into the recording booth where she put on her headphones and drank some water.

        “Claudia,” Jack interjected, “before you begin I just want to let you know that if you start feeling sick don’t hesitate to let me know. I can take over with Ashley if you need to go home early and get some rest.”

        “And prove Nicole right? Uh-uh,” she said, shaking her head. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do.”

        Claudia joined Ashley in the recording booth to start warming up. He could hear them talking through the glass. “We’ve got some high notes to hit in this song, so we’re going to really work your range today. Let’s start with some breathing exercises. You’re going to need a lot of breath support …”

        Jack shook his head. “That girl could be on her deathbed and she would still come in to work.”

        Only a few hours later, Claudia wasn’t feeling well. Jack noticed that she was looking pale and she couldn’t shake the nausea. As much as she wanted to stay to prove that she could do it, she was afraid she would only make herself feel worse by trying to force herself to be too active. Her body clearly wasn’t ready for it.

        In dismay, she left Jack to attend to Ashley’s recording and apologized for having to leave early. She didn’t want to go home. If Nicole came home and saw her lying in the couch, she would know that Claudia had come home early.

        Thinking of Josh, she decided to stop by his apartment. She felt terrible for making him sick and decided that she would try to make it up to him by taking care of him the way he did for her. Or if not, she would at least keep him company.

        It took him several minutes to answer the door, and when he got there he didn’t look well. His face was pale and pasty, he had bags under his eyes and the look on his face told her that he felt nauseous as well.

        “I heard I got you sick,” she said. “I brought some chicken noodle soup,” she told him, holding out the container of soup that she had brought for her own lunch.

        He opened the door wider to let her in. “How did you know I was sick?” he asked tiredly.

        “Jack told me that you called in today.”

        He looked her up and down, realizing that she was fully dressed like she had been somewhere. “You went to work today?”

        She nodded. “And I can’t go home yet because the first thing Nicole will say when she walks in the door will be ‘I told you so’.”

        “So instead, you decided to lie around with me so that we could throw up together?” he asked with a chuckle.

        “Not exactly my idea of a great date, but it’ll have to do. So what’s your temp?” she asked, sitting in the recliner next to the couch.

        “One hundred and one point two,” he told her. “Yours?”

        “I don’t know. I haven’t checked since last night.”

        Without warning her, he stuck a thermometer under her tongue. “Don’t worry, I washed it since I last used it so you won’t get my cooties.”

        “Well, I already gave you mine, so it would only be fair,” she joked while trying to keep the thermometer under her tongue.

        Josh flopped down on the couch and stared at the TV.

        “Days of Our Lives, huh? Are you a soap opera man?” she teased.

        “Unless you’d rather watch paid programming this is all I could find.”

        The thermometer beeped and Claudia pulled it out of her mouth to read the temperature. “One hundred point eight,” she announced.

        “Ha ha, I’m beating you,” Josh teased.

        “Oh there’s something to be proud of. Do you want to have a contest to see who can hold down the most food?”

        “Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures. Don’t make me come over there and beat you with this bucket…you know where it’s been, or rather, what’s been in it!”

        “Oh gross!”

        So the two sicklings spent the afternoon slurping chicken soup and playing scrabble between naps to keep themselves occupied. While their activities were simple, having each other for company meant a whole lot.

 *****
        “How was your day at work?” Nicole asked her when Claudia came home that evening. “Did you feel okay?”

        “Yes I felt fine, though I’m a little tired now,” Claudia lied, hanging up her coat. “How was your day at the office?” she asked to change the subject.

        “Good. Tiring, but good,” she pulled the clip out of her hair and let it fall around her shoulders. “I think I’m finally starting to get a little respect around there. They’re finally putting me in charge of some juicy stories.”

        “You were meant to be a journalist. Running around with a microphone, butting into other people’s business…you get to gossip for a living. I couldn’t think of anything more perfect for you,” she chuckled.

        “Well, I’m definitely not the top reporter but I’m still working my way up. Hopefully someday soon you’ll see me on the six o’clock news. Did you and Josh have fun today?”

        “Yeah. We spent most of the day playing scrabble and…” she stopped when she realized what she had done. “Oh crap, you caught me.”

        “Yeah a long time ago. I called you at work today and Jack told me you left early.”

        “But how did you know I was with Josh?”

        She shrugged with a satisfied smile, “Oh, just a hunch.”

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