Shelby had done enough this summer to keep herself busy all in avoidance of going home. It was at the insistence of her mother that she finally was forced to give in and visit her in Long Island. She took the train to the city often, visiting old friends and theaters mostly by herself. Even her mother began to mention that she should find some company and while Shelby simply scoffed, she did find herself lonely.
Too stubborn to do anything about it, Shelby found ways to occupy her days with cleaning her mother’s house and running errands. One morning, Shelby’s mother finally had enough and threw her hands up, telling her that she was going crazy with her daughter’s restlessness. She called Carrie then and there and told her to take Shelby out for the sake of her sanity. Shelby had glared at her mother with enough venom to kill another person but it was just her luck that her mother was the only person immune. After all, Shelby had learned that glare from her.
Stepping from the train and getting to street level, Shelby walked the few blocks to the small restaurant where she was due to have lunch with the Switch. The maitre d seated her first and Shelby studied the wine list as she waited for the other woman.