Phyllis pulls a few quarters out from her coin purse in front of a soda machine in the hallway of the hotel not knowing she’s being watched. Brenda stands behind her with her back leaned up against the plaster wall. She watches Phyllis fumble with the pocket change as they slide inside the coin slot. She presses a pink acrylic index finger on the Brisk button two selections down below and waits as the machine whirls and rumbles out the aluminum can of iced tea.
Schlafly jumps back the moment she glances over to see Brenda coming her way. She holds her cold tea close to her chest. Brenda smirks in front of her.
“Don’t fret. I’m not going to take your drink away.”
“Hmph,” Phyllis responds back. She turns her head from the girl, staring at the oil paintings on the walls.
“Marc likes his root beer,” Brenda goes on, moving past Phyllis to the glowing plug-in soda machine. She pulls out the man’s duct tape made wallet and feeds the right amount before pressing a finger on the A&W button.
Phyllis can still feel the sting on her cheek where she slapped herself several seconds ago after a horrible fallout with her husband. Fred left her and was still gone somewhere in the building. Phyllis needed to step out of their stuffy hot hotel room after being curled up on the bed for several seconds. She had saw the drink machine and went after it.
“Well, good-night,” Brenda holds up Marc’s root beer in a small salute before leaving the infuriating Phyllis Schlafly alone in the hallway.