Do you wonder what everyone else is up to during social distancing and isolation? Me too. Let's find out what Lexi Graves got up to on her first "shelter in place" day:
Please note: unedited. Copyright: Camilla Chafer, 2020
This short story contains a spoiler and it's recommended you read it after you've read Very Special Forces (book 12 in the series). This story takes place between books 14-15, however, the pandemic isn't a storyline in the main series.
Lexi Graves' Quarantine: Day One
7AM: Phone rings.Where is phone? It's Mom. Ignore. Toss phone onto nightstand. Snuggle into Solomon.
7:05AM: Phone rings. Roll over and check in case it's an emergency. It's Dad. I know it's really Mom. Ignore.
7:07AM: "Sweetheart, it's your mom." Solomon hands me his phone. Reassure Mom we have enough toilet paper. Agree that we won't go outside even though we were not planning on going outside. Solomon mouths, "TP?", raises his eyebrows, and tickles me. Tell Mom there's a plumbing emergency and I have to go.
8.10AM: Lie ins are exhausting. Is there any point getting out of bed? I'm not going anywhere. I could stay here all day!
8:15AM: Lose "Rock, Paper, Scissors" to Solomon, and get up to make the coffee. Put on new pajamas with hippo in tutu motif. Adorable.
8:18AM: Hippo-in-tutu pajamas bought for all my neices online in a bid to single-handedly keep the economy going. Will host sleepover when this is all over. Text Lily to tell her. She tells me I'm amazing. I tell her she's the best friend ever. She sends a gif of a ghost hug. Adorable.
8:25AM: Take Solomon coffee and toast in bed. Tell him he has the best wife ever. He asks if I need more closet space or something. Feign outrage.
9AM: Lounge on sofa in living room. Make a list of all the things I can whilst at home. Immediately cross off "make coffee" and "pajama day". Nailing the list! Pick up a magazine to read from the unread stack of magazines.
10:03AM: Lily texts to invite me to a Zoom yoga class tonight. Immediately accept.
10:48AM: Cross "read magazines" off list and decide to reorganize pantry. Might have to start investigation into who keeps buying canned fruit. What is jackfruit? I am certain I never bought jackfruit. What does it grow on? Disappear down an inernet rabbit hole of information.
10:49AM: Google recipes using canned fruit. Decide to make a pie. And smoothies. Maybe a peach cake. Still uncertain about the jackfruit. Eyeing it suspiciously doesn't help.
11:30AM: Put pie in oven. Solomon insists on a PI meeting via Zoom. He is on the computer in the study. I'm on my laptop in the kitchen. Prop a photo of me in front of the camera and run into the study and wave hello to myself. Everyone laughs. Do it three more times. Hilarous! Lucas' girlfriend walks past the camera in very skimpy pajamas. We all look at our respective ceilings and pretend not to notice. My niece Victoria climbs onto Delgado's lap and we coo at her for a while.
11:59AM: Ask Solomon if he has a top five list of people he'd love to be quarantined with. He says he wouldn't want to be quarantined with anyone else but doesn't look thrilled about it so suspect he's a bit peeved I thought of the Zoom screen hilarity before he did, so I simply agree.
12:37AM: Solomon makes lunch: Scrambled eggs, avocado, toast, fresh pressed juice while I scroll Instagram. Everyone seems to be making banana bread. Why?
12:44AM: OMG! THE PIE!
12:44 3/4: Pie is okay! Slightly "crispy" on top. Disguise it with powdered sugar. Try and take an artful Insta style photo with randomly placed spoons and flowers. Send it to the family Whatsapp group. Everyone makes nice comments. Serena says it's a good attempt. Not sure what to make of that. Then she uploads a photo of an amazing pie with a crust made from leaf shapes, a perfectly shaped banana bread, and a cake. The cake has two tiers and handcrafted sugar animals. Sigh.
1:14PM: The neighbors across the street seem to be arranging some kind of art project in their living room. There's paper all over the floor and pots of paint. They're taking their sweaters off so they must be hot. And their pants. And... are they naked? Are they painting each other? Why? WHY? Am rigid with horror.
1:16PM: They've seen me. Drop to the floor.
1:19PM: Solomon asks why I'm lying on the floor. I tell him I don't want to talk about it and I might have PTSD. He shakes his head and starts to leave. I call him back and ask him to grab me by the ankles and pull. He asks if that's advice from the same magazine sex column that nearly had him throw his back out? I sigh and commando crawl out the living room.
4PM: My closet is now organized by item and color. They're are numerous items to give away including a bright orange scarf Mom made in knitting class. Facetime Lily and she's doing the same thing. We're like psychic twins!
4:40PM: Text Alice and tell her she's an amazing nurse and I'm proud of her. She replies, asking if I've been day drinking. I say no. She suggests cocktail hour at 9PM via Zoom. Genius! Social distancing is SO SOCIAL!
5:10PM: Solomon's side of the closet is also now organized. I wonder what he's been doing all day. Make him a coffee and take it to the study. He says he's making sure everyone from the agency stays home and gets paid. I hug him. Then I ask him if he bought the jackfruit in the pantry. He asks what jackfruit is. Will definitely need to investigate how it got in there.
5:38PM: Lily sends me a link to her first ever YouTube video. She's wearing the costume of a plush cocktail glass that she swore she got rid of and filmed a "ten ways to make a martini" tutorial. Tell her it's fantastic but am secretly relieved she can't rope me into help. No way am I dressing up as beer glass again.
6:02PM: Change from PJs to yogawear. Realize I wore PJs to the work meeting earlier. Briefly mortified.
6:38PM: Remember the neighbor's art project and go take a peek. What are they doing? Do they have to watch TV naked? Of they're kissing. That's so sweet! Oh... OH! No. NO! Stop that! Back away, and resolve not to chill out in the living room for the foreseeable future.
7PM: Download four books. So excited about the reading time. Lily texts me a reminder that Zoom yoga is starting soon. Pour glass of wine, roll out mat, and postition laptop. Log in and wave furiously at everyone. Three people tell me my hair looks amazing. Love this class already. The teacher tells us to cross our legs to start in a seated position. I am so good at sitting! Close eyes. Nailing it!
7:10PM: Open one eye. Everyone has moved. I must have been truly zen; surprised no one remarked on it. Also, my yoga wear looks especially nice on camera.
7:11PM: Downward dog. Practice "walking my dog". Feel shamed by everyone else's downward dog. Move through "plank" to "cobra" and sneak in a sip of wine.
7:13PM: Teacher says all of us drinking wine should save it for later. Practice my appalled face at everyone else while edging my glass out of shot.
7:39PM: Class over. We applaud wildly from "corpse" position. Love this pose.
7:40PM: Drain wine glass and pour another from the bottle I sensibly kept out of shot. Join Solomon in the living room where he is reading a book about pandemics. Neighbors across the street have closed the drapes. Hurrah!
7:42PM: Change back into PJs. Decide to wear excessively gorgeous dress tomorrow, just because. Or different PJs. Can't decide.
8PM: Snuggle up to Solomon while I catch up on 127 Whatsapp messages in the family group. Will be very hard not to see them all. Mom asks if we can chat on Boom. Tell her it's Zoom and she insists I'm wrong. Whatever. Check on Solomon's sister in New York. She says her tiny apartment isn't ideal for actually living in and she's worried about her job in fashion but has made banana bread. Ask Solomon if we have any bananas. He confirms we do not have a secret stash.
8:30PM: Make dinner for Solomon and I. Pass the cooking time watching pantry organization videos on YouTube. Everything is so neat and tidy. Resolve to purchase new containers and baskets. We finish the wine. I google "symptoms of alcoholism" and am reassured I don't have a drink problem.
9PM: We FaceTime Alice because neither of us can get Zoom to work. She looks tired and says Montgomery General is hectic. She's very worried and I don't know how to reassure her so I tell her silly stories and watch her kids, Ben and Rachel, perform the magic tricks they learned today. We clap wildly. My brother Daniel says hello and tells us he's got the okay from MPD to stay home with the kids so Alice can work.
9:37PM: My brother Garrett calls and asks if I know anything about a shoot out off Century Street. Reassure him I wasn't present because I am social distancing.
9:40PM: Solomon puts on a movie. I don't think "28 Days Later" is a good choice. Terrifying movie finally ends. I ask Solomon what he plans to do during isolation. He says he will catch up on paperwork. I tell him I'm going to "upskill". Maybe a degree in criminology or law. Also, with doing YouTube workouts every day, will emerge from this a new woman. Solomon says we should be planning for weeks not years. Good point. Scratch the degree. Add some more workouts to my YouTube library.
11:03PM: Mom texts that she predicts a baby boom in nine months and wishes us a good night. Slightly perplexed by that news.
11:04PM: Dad texts to ignore Mom and wishes us a good night.
11:07PM: Brush my teeth. Oh! It clicks what Mom meant. Tell Solomon and he nods thoughtfully.
11:08PM: Solomon is asleep already. How does he do that? Google for answers but don't find it helpful. I stare at the ceiling a while then have a brilliant idea to document my quarantine life. One day kids might study me in history books! Text Lily and she agrees. Check my "to do" list. Quickly write everything I've done today on my list and cross it off.
11:17PM: Go to sleep pleased with how productive the day has been.
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