Inventing Herself Read Online Free PDF

had urges. Nothing to be ashamed of.
    Simon had started to whine and it was late. Getting later. They said goodnight, and when he took her elbow and tugged her in she let him kiss her. A nice, soft, familiar kiss that had just a touch of passion in it.
    Glad I brushed my teeth! she thought and almost laughed.
    ‘I’ll come by and get you around seven tomorrow?’ he asked.
    ‘Good,’ she said and giggled just enough to embarrass herself. ‘Good, good.’
    Upstairs, Simon bounded down the long, narrow hall. His paws blended in with the black, grey, and silver patterned carpeting that was surely older than Sophie herself.
    She tried to sneak past, but Kevin’s door opened and he poked his head out. Inside, someone said, ‘Are you coming, or what?’ She saw him hold up a finger to the visitor. Probably some drop dead gorgeous young thing who could suck a sausage out of its casing if she knew Kevin.
    ‘Bad idea, Soph,’ he said, tsking at her.
    ‘Are you wearing lip gloss?’ she asked.
    ‘That is neither here nor there,’ he said archly and rolled his eyes.
    ‘And eye glitter?’
    ‘We’re doing make-up!’ the unseen person called out and then laughed.
    ‘I see,’ she said, hoping she could change the subject.
    ‘Look, don’t try that topic-switching voodoo with me, sister. That is a bad idea. You got out of that relationship fairly cleanly. No reason to fuck it up by getting all twisted up in it again. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, in this instance the horse being the Universe that granted you one blissful, benevolent break-up.’
    Sophie shook her head. ‘It’ll be fine, Kevin. It’s just drinks.’
    ‘Your mouth says drinks but your face is all about the sex,’ he said with a flourish. ‘Speaking of sex … I have to go.’ He blew her a kiss.
    As the door was shutting, the unseen man said loudly, ‘It’s about damn time. Take your pants off, boy!’
    Sophie snorted. If only she were having an evening like that. But at least there was hope for tomorrow.
    ‘Just one more thing before bed,’ she reminded herself.
    She felt stupid doing it, but determined to follow the list of suggestions. She pulled out a yellow legal pad – she’d gotten addicted to them during college so she always had a stash – and pulled out a favourite Bic blue ballpoint pen.
    Dear Sophie,
    Congratulations! You have everything you’ve ever wanted. So far. You have the apartment you always dreamed of, the dog you drove your mother crazy wishing for, the job you set your mind to having. You write for a living, go you!
    This is for an assignment about finding your centre (no, this is not a sex joke). You’re supposed to delve into yourself and see what’s there waiting for you. Parts of you, I guess, wants and needs and hopes and fears you might not even know exist …
    Sophie swallowed hard. Now that she was writing, the words were flowing and a small bit of melancholy had settled over her.
    Stupid wine … Had to be the booze.
    She put her head back down, pen to paper, listened to Simon snoring like a warthog.
    You have discovered, though, that despite checking off all the stuff on your list of wants, there’s something else. Not to be melodramatic, self, but you seem to be missing something –
    Unease unwound in Sophie. She hadn’t intended to write that part. She blew out a breath and thought, you are being melodramatic, that’s it. You just named your sin yourself.
    So tomorrow you’re giving Tony another shot. It wasn’t as if he was a jerk. The sex was good. You laughed a lot. Had fun doing things together, even travelling. There was really no reason why it ended. Maybe it was a stupid mistake. Maybe Tony is that missing something …
    She wrote a bit more and finally shuffled off to bed, Simon patiently on her heels. Tomorrow’s sunrise would come early and she had more work to do. If she could figure out how to handle this whole situation. Sophie did her best, as she climbed into bed, to