She thought about the note that she left for Stefan. She decided to bring it to the bar and see what he did when she handed it to him in person. Since it had only taken about an hour to get the song together, she decided to see if Sheila wanted to tag along for the fun. Marie made her way back down into the basement of the building and knocked on Sheila’s door.

“Who is it?”, she said from inside apartment.

“It’s Marie. I hope you were still awake.”

“Yeah, just a sec,” Sheila said as she unlocked the door and unhooked the chain.

When the door opened, Sheila was standing there in light green, flannel pajamas.

“I can’t remember which one you are. Is it Tinky-Winky or Dipsy?” Marie asked, laughing.

Sheila looked down at her outfit and said, “Oh, I’m pretty sure the green one is Dipsy.”

“I heard Tinky-Winky might be gay,” Marie said.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” They both said at the same time, smiling.

“I finished my project faster than I thought possible, so I’m going to go show it to Gretchen, the bartender at the Six Pound Cleaver. Are you up for that?”

“Sure, I’ve just been reading. Let me throw on some actual clothes,” Sheila said as she turned around to get some duds out of her dresser in the wall. “Just a minute, I’ll be right out,” she said as she went in the bathroom.

Marie nodded and stepped into the small apartment to close the door and keep the heat inside. She looked over at the bed and saw that Sheila had a copy of The Great Gatsby propped open on the pillow. She remembered a few things from the time she had read it in high school, but that was ten years ago and the details were foggy.

“Is this your first time through The Gatsby?”, she asked Sheila through the door.

“No,” came the muffled response.

“I need to read it again,” Marie said, propped against the wall.

Sheila opened the door and reached down to grab her boots. “I heard something on the radio the other day when I was parking my rig and it made me want to read it again,” she said tying up the laces on her red boots.

“Was there some new discovery made about the book or something?”

“No, there was an interview with this guy that has the entire book memorized. He typed it out word for word to appreciate the writing in a more thorough way and ended up commiting the book to memory,” Sheila said, reaching for the book and then putting a bookmark in before she closed it.

“Wow. That does make me want to read it again, just to see if it’s worth it,” Marie said as she opened the front door.

“How far is this bar?”, Sheila asked.

“It’s just around the block. We’re just walking.”

“Sounds good,” Sheila said walking out behind Marie into the hallway.

The two women walked back up through the building talking and laughing. Mrs. Atwater opened her door a crack and stared at them with one eye until Marie stared back and started walking directly towards the door. Mrs. Atwater slammed the door and they heard three deadbolts engage before it became quiet. They just laughed at the old woman and made their way outside.

“Hey, I brought your note along with me. Let me show it to Stefan and see what he says before you walk up to the door,” Marie said, waving the note in front of her.

“You shouldn’t be too hard on the guy. I was just joking around,” Sheila said, stopping.

“He can take it, believe me,” Marie said, pulling on her sleeve.

Marie and Sheila got to the corner of the building where the bar was located and Marie held her hand up so Sheila would stop before they walked where Stefan might be able to see them.

“Wait here until I throw up my hands try to leave. Stefan will grab me and try to explain what’s happening. Then, walk up and say something flirty or snarky,” Marie said to Sheila.

Marie walked around the corner and held the note in her hand, shaking it up and down. Stefan was smoking a cigarette while he sat on his stool, waiting for customers. He looked up and saw Marie, but it looked like something was wrong.

“Hi baby. I thought you were staying in for the night,” he said.

“Don’t ‘hi baby’ me. This was on your windshield,” she said pushing the note into his chest.

Stefan dropped his cigarette and put it out his foot as he grabbed the paper from Marie’s hand. He turned on his flashlight to read the note and then look at Marie, who was doing her best to make steam come out of her ears.

“I don’t know what this means,” Stefan said.

“It looks like you’ve been following some girl around, or you’ve got some parent pissed off at your ‘FREE CANDY’ sign,” she said, grabbing the note back.

“There was a crazy chick that I saw a couple times today, maybe she followed me down here.”

“Crazy chick! That’s the pot calling the kettle black!” Marie said throwing up her arms and turning to leave.

Stefan reached out and grabbed the back of Marie’s jacket and just as she was rearing up to take a swing, Sheila yelled, “Hey Pervert!”

Stefan let loose his grip on Marie and froze.

Marie doubled over laughing when she saw the look on his face.

Sheila kept walking closer and started to wave her finger at Stefan.

He looked at Marie, then Sheila, then Marie and then shuffled backwards to his stool.

“Hey Stefan, this is Sheila, but you said you already met one crazy chick today!” Marie said, still laughing.

“Crazy? Who are you calling crazy?” Sheila said with her hand in a fist, staring right at Stefan.

Marie stopped laughing when she heard Sheila’s tone of voice, then Sheila turned her head and gave Marie a sly wink. Marie straightened up and crossed her arms, just glaring at Stefan.

“Now, hold on a minute. Let’s all just have a chat and see what’s going on,” Stefan said, getting more worried by the second.

“Pfffft,” Marie said, grabbing Sheila by the arm and marching her past Stefan and up to the bar.

Stefan got back to his feet and watched them walk in. He still didn’t really grasp what was just happened. “What?” he said, holding his hands out from his sides.

“Hi Gretchen,” Marie said when the bartender turned around. “This is my new friend Sheila.”