1 Odds and Ends Read Online Free Page A

the door. She glared at him. He blinked back.
    “Why are you here?”
    She expected to hear his voice in her head, but there was only silence. Good, the hallucinations had worn off. The door opened, and she turned to face the older woman at the door.
    Pink hair curlers and a flowered housedress, the woman appeared to be Margot’s age or a mite older. She clapped pudgy pink-tipped hands together. “Oh, goodie, visitors.”
    Margot ignored the fact that she looked from her to the cat and back again and peered beyond the woman’s shoulder, straining to see if there was evidence of the theft. Peter would need proof.
    The cat sauntered past the woman’s legs, and she giggled. “He’s a cute little thing. What’s his name? Oh, come in, honey. Come right in.”
    Margot hesitated. Thieves didn’t invite one right in, did they? She didn’t know any personally of course, except what she had seen on television. All of Lou’s staff had been loyal and honest, except that one fellow who had been let go two years ago. Once again, she missed Judy.
    Finding herself gently pulled forward, Margot stumbled over the threshold into the apartment. Heat hit her square in the face, and she fanned herself, feeling beads of moisture begin to form on her upper lip.
    “Make yourself comfortable. I already know you’re Margot Gardner. The news travels fast around here. I’m Nancy Shirley, and I just finished baking a turkey. Do you want some? I’ve got homemade mashed potatoes and corn on the cob, too. Hmm, I wonder if I shouldn’t toss some biscuits into the oven.”
    Margot drew in a shallow breath. Her head spun. “You cook your own food?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she recalled her circumstances. Of course Nancy cooked for herself. Probably everyone in the building did.
    Nancy smiled. “You mean do I know how? Oh, yes, my dear mother taught me everything she knew before she passed. I even have all of her cookbooks around here somewhere.”
    Meow.
    Margot looked over at the window. The cat had jumped onto the sill. He had the right idea, she realized. If she didn’t get a bit more air, she might pass out for the second time that day.
    “Do you mind turning down the air conditioning a little, Nancy?” she asked. “It’s a little warm.”
    “I don’t have air conditioning.” She pointed to the ceiling fan, which whirred but did nothing to cool the air. Margot was struck with horror. Surely, she kidded, it being July in New York.
    “No air conditioning?” She had assumed every place had it. Wait, what if she had none? Being poor equaled no central air conditioning? “But you’ve been cooking, and it’s hot.”
    Margot hated the whiny tone to her voice. She had already determined not to feel sorry for herself anymore. Enough of that had been done right after the reality of her situation kicked in, which was three days following the news of Lou’s treachery.
    “Well, I guess you can open the window,” Nancy suggested. “You do that while I make your plate.”
    “I—” Margot began, but Nancy disappeared from the room.
    Margot rushed to the window, and the cat leaped from the sill to an overstuffed chair. After fighting to get the window raised, Margot sat on the sill puffing to catch her breath. She scanned the crowded living room. Every available space had been taken up with furniture, a couch, a loveseat, two armchairs, and end tables everywhere the seats didn’t fill.
    The walls in this apartment were also covered in outdated wallpaper, but Nancy had hung family photos and other artwork in such abundance, more of the paper was hidden. The record player had been placed on one of the end tables, too big and bulky to fit properly. Margot hurried to inspect the 33 on it.
    “This is mine,” she shrieked. “And this crystal vase!”
    “Thank you for it, honey. I love it,” Nancy said from the doorway.
    “What do you mean thank you?” Margot snatched the record from the player and looked around her for