In Over Her Head by Elsie Russell - Parnasse.com

education, and motivation."
Maia nodded absentmindedly, leaning back in her chair and
squinting at her through her veil of smoke.
"America is fascinating, I would love to go to California, the
beaches, the surfer dudes. Tell me, do you love this boy?"
"Huh?"
Maia sat up and fluffed her hair.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I am being, how do you say, nosy?"
"My music is my life, that's why I'm here."
The room spun, the people a blur.
"Yes, it is really impressive, what you have done in your life, I
have been such a lazy bones, you give me a real kick in the ass, you
know?"
Almost two thirty. She yawned, then Penny yawned.
"Look, it's dark out, does it get dark this early?"
"More rain," Maia said, wrinkling her nose. A rooster crowed
inside the tiger purse on the table. Maia pulled out a tiny gold phone.
"Oui, bon, quel salaud. Ha ha ha, incroyable! Oui, on est
crevées aussi. A t'a l'heure." She put the phone back in the bag.
"We go back to my place, wait for the boys, refresh the faces.
First we have a coffee here, they have cute candies with the coffee."
Maia waved to Lucien. "Deux petit cafés, Lucien, O.K.?" and
she opened another mini pack of Marlboro Lights, tapped out a
cigarette. She seemed to require one in her hand in order to talk.
"The place was locked up so Max broke the lock, he is talented
like that. He should be a thief. They found all kind of shit in there.
They bring some of it back. Max says the place was full of illegal porno
stuff, he says, and they found the motion capture suit of Ula, it goes
inside her, all plugged in with hydraulic pressure sensors, can you
imagine? I always thought she was, well, not very talented that way.
Men are so sick, I don't 'get it'!"
Penny nodded, thought it was more than just men.
The demitasses came with a gold foil wrapped oblong. Inside
was an edible jewel, a perfect walnut dipped in chocolate and dusted
with cocoa so it looked like a miniature brown velvet brain. Maia
popped hers in her mouth. Penny nibbled at hers with each sip of
coffee. The coffee was perfect.
"Sandro said on the plane that the French don't know how to
make coffee, what's that all about?"
"Poor Sandro and his Italian fetish, he never lived there, you
62