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“Stop!” Unable to hide her smile, Libby's protest was weak at best. “Are we really gonna go there? I’ve been here, like, two seconds!”
“Oh, we’re going there.” Rachel shot a brief glance in her direction, a hint of mischief in her eye. “I want all the dirty details. And I want them now.”
Rachel came to a standstill at the small prepping area behind the counter and passed Libby an icing pen. It looked like Libby was being put straight to work.
“I’m not sure this is the time or the place to tell you about my sex life.”
Her friend simply scoffed. “Look around, sugar. Ain’t nobody here. Which makes this the perfect time and place. Plus, you owe me. I’ve graciously allowed Zach Evans to hog my new friend for more than a month without so much as a complaint.”
Oh dear. She really was bad at this whole friend thing. “Shit. I’m sorry.”
“Oh no, I’m joking! Don’t look so sad.” Rachel’s hand went to Libby’s arm. “I’m not mad, I swear. I think Zach’s great. I think you and Zach are great. I’m happy for you. I’m just a super nosy bitch, that’s all.”
Giggles ensued, a reminder of just why she’d gotten so close to Rachel so quickly. It was impossible not to have a good time when she was around. Ten minutes with this woman and she’d cheer anyone up. Libby was lucky she’d found her.
“Okay, well, in that case,” Libby conceded, “I guess filling you in on what’s been happening is the very least I can do.”
“Damn straight.”
As they chatted and decorated, Libby tried and failed to answer Rachel’s questions without going a deep shade of red. They were only interrupted once by a customer, who luckily didn’t overhear anything and had just missed the rather enthusiastic re-enactment of the fire station scene.
Now they were onto more serious topics. Ones that shouldn’t be discussed without alcohol. Which was exactly what she told Rachel.
It was already close to closing time, so her friend made a snap decision to shut up shop then commenced to drag Libby into the back. Once she’d gotten comfy on one of the stools, a bottle of Jack Daniels was magically placed in front of her.
Libby looked up to find Rachel grinning and looking awfully pleased with herself. “Ready to talk now?”
One healthy glug later and Libby supposed she was as ready as she’d ever be. “Okay. Let’s get this over with.”
“It’s not about getting this over with,” Rachel said. “You’re letting your past affect your future and we need to talk about it. You ever thought maybe putting it all out there might help you move on from it?”
“I’m perfectly aware of how fucked up I am. Trust me.” Libby sighed. “But a lifetime of being scared of relationships isn’t gonna be solved by me sitting here and whining about my mom’s awful taste in men.” Okay. Even she could hear the bitterness in her voice.
Rachel didn’t say anything. She just gave her that look. The one that said, “Do you hear yourself right now?”
She relented. “Fine. I’ll try. Okay?”
“Okay,” her friend agreed, as she hid her smile behind her glass.
One more sip for courage.
“Look, my mom was all I had. All I ever knew. I didn’t have a dad. My mom’s family weren’t in the picture, other than my aunt. And even then, visits were few and far between. So, it was always just me and my mom against the world.” Her eyes had already begun to swell. This was exactly why she didn’t talk about her mom. “But ... I guess I wasn’t always enough for her. She needed a man. Any man. She couldn’t function without one. It was almost like an addiction for her. I watched her go from man to man and every time she broke up with someone, we moved. Literally moved to a new town.”
“Wow.”
“Yep. And before you say anything, I’m well aware of the connection between me moving around, too. But you have to understand, growing up like that, you look at places differently. A place is just a place. Not a home. That’s why it’s so easy for me to pick up and move now. Because it’s second nature to me.”
“Yeah.” Rachel paused, looking thoughtful. “That, and unlike most people, you never had a place to call your home.”
That did it. The floodgates opened. Her makeup definitely wasn’t going to survive. As soon as the first tear hit the stainless-steel counter, Rachel’s hands were clinging onto hers. Squeezing and anchoring her.
“Yeah, I guess there was that too.” Libby let out a short, humourless laugh. “Maybe we should focus on one issue at a time or God knows how long we’ll be here. We only have one bottle of whiskey.”
The air grew lighter as they exchanged a sad smile.
“You’re right,” Rachel easily agreed. “We’ll put a pin in the moving thing and save it for another drunken day.”
“I wasn’t always anti-relationships,” Libby continued. “I actually grew up watching a lot of Disney. I loved it. All of it. The singing, the critters, the happily ever after. I was obsessed.” She thought back to the old tapes she used to watch on repeat. “I think that’s why, even after seeing men come and go, I still had hope. For a long time, I really believed my mom just hadn’t found her prince yet. She was just still in that part of the story before she meets him. You know, like the really awful part of the movies when the princess is ready to give up?”
