Drink in case of Emergency Read Online Free Page B

day-drinking today?” Chris Randolf, Scott’s roommate and longtime friend, shouted from the other bedroom of their tiny apartment. Scott ignored the shout at first as he checked the text message. Drinking on a Thursday? This wasn’t college anymore. Scott could never understand how Chris could be satisfied on getting by with achieving so little in life. Such wasted potential.
    After a brief glance at the text message, he understood the shouting. The message was from Justin, and read: Tyler lost his 2 year old job today. Funeral services start as soon as you arrive. In lieu of flowers, bring meat to grill and more alcohol than you feel comfortable imbibing. You will be drinking all of it.
    Scott considered his options. He had a few errands to run today, but on the other hand, he didn’t have to be at work tomorrow until noon, which would offer him plenty of time to recover. One of the things he loved about his work as a grad assistant in the physics lab was the flexible hours.
    Scott had known Tyler and Justin for a couple of years now, having met at a party he went to with Chris back in their junior year of college. He genuinely liked Tyler, even if they weren’t especially close, and felt badly for him. This economy was tough, and everyone was feeling the pressure.
    Making his mind up, Scott decided that he could use a good day of relaxing with friends. Scott texted back. ‘My condolences to you and yours, be there for the mourning around 2pm. I think Chris has to work, but I’ll check.’
    Scott dressed quickly in a sharp looking red polo and khaki shorts. He walked into the kitchen to find Chris standing in front of the refrigerator, clad only in a pair of navy shorts and a single black sock, which happened to be on his left foot. As Chris stood there with the band of the athletic shorts cutting into his waist, Scott couldn’t help but think of the word ‘muffin-top.’
    Chris was shuffling items around in the freezer. Without turning, he began shouting, far too loudly for the small kitchen. “Hey do we have any brats or anything that we could grill?” Scott cringed a little at the volume.
    “Right behind you, buddy.” Scott spoke softly to get the point across that he was a mere three feet away now. “I think we’ve got some ground beef for burgers. I thought you had to work today, though.”
    “Yeah...I’m calling in to let them know there was a death in the family and I have to take off for the weekend. Bereavement leave, you know? How about beer, do we have enough of that?”
    “I can pick some up this morning.” Scott paused a moment before asking his next question, even though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer. “You’re really going to lie to them about a death in the family? Doesn’t that seem a little dishonest?”
    Scott wasn’t actually surprised. Chris worked at a mid sized bakery a couple miles away. They made white and wheat bread locally for a well known brand. At one time Scott had been reassured to know that his bread was made locally, instead of shipped in from Mexico or something. Since he had moved in with Chris, he had a more intimate glimpse of the quality of people who worked there, and had since switched brands.
    “Well it’s not really lying. It’s more like speaking in code.” Chris responded as he found the ground beef in the back of the freezer and pulled it out.
    “Code?” Scott echoed, not really understanding Chris’s line of thought.
    “Yeah...the code.”  Chris paused before continuing. “Scott, If I called and told you that I wasn’t going to be around this weekend because my great Aunt Gertrude died, how would you interpret that message?” Chris was opening the cabinet where they kept the liquor.
    “I would assume you got tickets to some music festival and were going on a three day bender.” Scott said blandly as he moved to the countertop to start the coffee maker.
    “Exactly. You would assume I was lying about my excuse, but not about