{"id":787,"date":"2020-06-05T17:00:10","date_gmt":"2020-06-06T00:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/?p=787"},"modified":"2020-07-09T16:29:42","modified_gmt":"2020-07-09T23:29:42","slug":"sheltering-in-place-at-the-magdalena-arms-episode-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/2020\/06\/05\/sheltering-in-place-at-the-magdalena-arms-episode-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheltering in Place at the Magdalena Arms: Episode III"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Missed the earlier episodes? You can find them all here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irregular Hours, continued<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It was almost noon when Phyllis closed her computer.  Getting up from her desk with a sigh, she conscientiously went through a series of stretches designed for the sedentary office worker: she rolled her head from side to side, shrugged her shoulders, clasped her hands behind her arched back, bent forward, backward, sideways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From her spot on Phyllis\u2019s bed Maxie watched with interest. When Phyllis stood upright again, breathing hard from her exertion, Maxie asked, \u201cIs that the same workout as yesterday?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes it is. It\u2019s important to follow a regular routine in these irregular times,\u201d Phyllis glanced at her wristwatch. \u201cFor example, now It\u2019s time for lunch.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve just finished breakfast,\u201d said Maxie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phyllis refrained from comment as she went to her icebox and pulled out the day’s lunch, already prepared and labeled Tuesday<\/em>. She\u2019d long ago learned that Maxie just couldn\u2019t follow a regular schedule. It was a waste of breath to try to make her understand the many benefits of routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maxie got up and slid her feet into a pair of marabou-feathered mules as Phyllis opened her door, then followed the statistician into the hall. Across the way Kay was playing \u201cLush Life,\u201d the clarinet mournfully dreaming about the very gay places. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phyllis turned right towards the stairs. Maxie followed. Phyllis moved faster, widening the gap. Maxie sped up, closing it. \u201cMaxie!\u201d Phyllis held up a warning hand. \u201cSix feet!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maxie slowed obediently, but complained, \u201cOh Phyllis, we\u2019re practically co-contaminants! Shouldn’t we just think of everyone in the Arms as family?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaxie, I\u2019ve explained,\u201d Phyllis began with threadbare patience, but Maxie backed down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right, all right. You don\u2019t have to go into that guff about large groups again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not guff!\u201d Phyllis said hotly. Nothing incensed the statistician more than lack of respect for data. \u201cHonestly Maxie, you must take this pandemic and the health protocols more seriously. If you don\u2019t, I\u2019m not sure I want you visiting me in my room, even with the six foot rule and washing your hands first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh please, Phyllis,\u201d Instinctively Maxie stepped forward and then caught herself and retreated. \u201cDon\u2019t cut me off! The lack of company is giving me the heebee-jeebees!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phyllis was standing on the landing between the fourth and fifth floor, and Maxie was on the flight above. Speaking as quietly as she could and still have her voice carry, Phyllis asked, \u201cBut you\u2019ve got Lon for company. Or are you two having\u2026difficulties, again?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maxie shrugged. \u201cNot so\u2019s you\u2019d notice. But Lon hates being cooped up even more than I do,\u201d she wasn\u2019t sure the serious scientist could understand how confinement, even with a long-time lover, affected the intensely secretive student of sea creatures. \u201cThey\u2019re used to having a whole ocean to roam and being alone on a boat for weeks at a time.\u201d As Phyllis still appeared unconvinced, Maxie fibbed, \u201cI think they\u2019re having flashbacks to that stint in prison back in 1964, so I\u2019m trying to give them space. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve been visiting so much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d Phyllis relented. \u201cI guess we can continue as we\u2019ve been doing. If<\/em> you take precautions.\u201d She began to descend the stairs again, then turned around, struck by an idea. \u201cPerhaps we should take our temperatures each morning?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhatever you say,\u201d Maxie agreed. Now was not the time to remind Phyllis of the Iceland study and the possibility of asymptomatic contagion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She waited dutifully until Phyllis had left the landing, before descending the rest of the flight and letting herself into her fourth floor loft, which her friend\u2019s had nicknamed \u201cMaxie\u2019s manse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHellooooo?\u201d she called. Her mules clacked as she crossed the polished marquetry floor of the entryway and then were muffled by the turkish rugs that layered the living area. She tapped on the door to the spartan room she thought of as \u2018Lon\u2019s little hidey-hole.\u2019 \u201cLon?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a moment she opened the door. The single bed against the wall was neatly made up, the bedclothes pulled tight enough to bounce a quarter. The orange crate next to it held an alarm clock, cigarettes, a paperback book. Lon\u2019s standard equipment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Briefly, Maxie debated poking into Lon\u2019s armoire, to aid her speculations about where her lover had gone and what they might be up to. But instead she backed out and closed the door. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was better not to know. Then she wouldn\u2019t have to lie to Phyllis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next: Phyllis’s Weak Spot<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The serious statistician is tempted to break the very health protocols she advocates when it comes to luscious downstairs neighbor Laura! How long can she repress her unsettling impulse to close the distance between them?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tune in every Friday for a new episode! (or maybe even oftener!)<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Missed the earlier episodes? You can find them all here. Irregular Hours, continued It was almost noon when Phyllis closed her computer.  Getting up from her desk with a sigh, she conscientiously went through a series of stretches designed for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[210],"tags":[215,223,211,217,216],"class_list":["post-787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-serial-siping-at-the-magdalena-arms","tag-lesbian-career-girls","tag-lon","tag-magdalena-arms","tag-maxie","tag-phyllis"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=787"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":883,"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787\/revisions\/883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}