“Okay,” I answered uncertainly, starting to get the distinct feeling that Courtney was up to something. “Well then, what did you have in mind instead?”
“We’re going out, sister. And before you say no, just don’t.”
“Don’t? Don’t what?”
“Don’t say no, of course! You don’t like to go out and get messed up, and I respect that.”
“Ha!” I shot back, starting to feel halfway decent for the first time since seeing Neil. Maybe even since hearing about his dad and wondering if I was going to see him. “You do, do you? If what you do is considered respect, then I would seriously hate to see what your version of disrespect looks like.”
“You know what I mean,” she said, waving me off impatiently and looking like she was starting to get legitimately excited now. “And don’t try to change the subject. You don’t really go out, and that’s cool, but tonight you’re going to. I’m putting my foot down, Fay. I’m not taking no for an answer, and you know how freaking stubborn I can be. You can do this the easy way, or the hard way, but you’re coming out with me.”
“You know what?”
“No, what?” she asked me suspiciously. Her eyes actually narrowed as she got into the stance she reserved for getting her way at all costs.
I laughed again and reminded myself that as bummed as I had been feeling all day, I still had it pretty good. I had it very good. I had a lifelong friend that loved me enough to put up with my bullshit and pull me out of my funks, even when I didn’t want to be pulled. She was trying so hard to make me to feel better and doing it the best way she knew how. I could have kissed her for it, but instead, I gave her my biggest, flashiest grin, and returned the wink she’d given me earlier.
“Oh man, I think I know what,” she said giddily, actually jumping up and down with her tentative, but building, excitement. “But I don’t want to get my hopes up too high! Just tell me, why don’t you? Tell me, and put me out of my freaking misery!”
“Yes, that’s what. You want to go out, and I say yes. Let’s do it.”
***
And that’s how I came to be sitting in one of the back booths of one of only two bars in all of Ashville. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been there before, because I had. I wasn’t a nun or anything. I wasn’t such a square that I couldn’t go out and have a drink. Although if Courtney had been able to read my head enough to know that I even thought in terms of the word “square,” she would have shaken her head in disgust.
Still, it had been an oddly difficult day, and I couldn’t help but feel a little bit bowled over by all of the noise and lights in such a relatively small space. It looked like half of Ashville was there, and that was something I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by. It definitely made me glad to be in a booth that was at least a little bit removed from everyone. When Courtney happily announced that she was headed to the bar to get us drinks, I was equally glad I had brought my book along.
I was well aware that a bar wasn’t exactly a conventional place for a person to read a book, but I had no idea what I was supposed to do with myself while I just sat there alone. I could have gone up with her to get the drinks, but I was pretty sure we would have lost our booth if I’d done that. I didn’t want that, either. So it was the book and my nose in it, and for a surprisingly long time, too. The fact that most of Ashville seemed to be trying to get a drink meant that the wait time was nuts, which only made me feel more vindicated in having my book out in the first place. It was a little piece of comfort in an otherwise unfamiliar scenario.
“Uh uh! No freaking way, Fay! No! Absolutely not!”
I looked up, sure that the look on my face was similar to the look a dog wore when he knew he’d been caught doing something he was absolutely not supposed to do. What I saw was Courtney, still at least a couple of feet away from our seats and balancing what looked like enough drinks for six people. She had been in the process of pushing her way through some of the throngs of people when she’d caught sight of my open book. The moment she had seen that, she had shouted out her disapproval.
Unfortunately, when she did that, at least a half dozen other people turned to see what she was yelling about, some of whom snickered when they saw me. I put the book back in my purse, beginning to wonder if going out with Courtney had been all that good of an idea after all.
When she slid a full drink and two shots of some kind of pink liquid in my direction, I was almost sure it had been a mistake. Still, when she held out one of the shot glasses reserved for her, I clinked it like I was supposed to. I slung it back in one sip, following Courtney’s lead, and then fought off a spasm of coughs immediately after.
“Oh, Lord! We really do need to get you out more often, don’t we? That’s only one of the girliest shots around, Fay. This is the kind of thing you start off with in high school and work your way up.”
“I think I’m good sticking at this level. And w
hy are there so many people in here, anyway?!”
“Because it’s Saturday night, Fay! This is what people do on the weekends! Welcome to the world, lady.”
“Hold on, don’t get ahead of yourself. I never said I was going to make this a habit or anything, okay? Let’s just take it one night at a time.”
“Sure, we can do that. Only do me a favor, will you?”
“Maybe,” I answered slowly, knowing Courtney well enough to know that accepting her requests for favor at point blank was right on level with writing a blank check for a bank robber. “It depends on what it is.”
“Nothing big, I promise. Just look over at the bar, will you? A quick look, nothing long and languishing. Just look over there, and tell me what you see.”
I did so, on the verge of telling her she was a crazy person when I stopped cold and felt my mouth drop open. If Courtney hadn’t reached out and physically turned my face away, I would probably have just gone on staring like a total idiot. Instead, I looked down at my hands, saw the second shot sitting there waiting for me, and slammed it back.
“Neil,” I said in a flat voice that sounded very far away from where I was. “It’s Neil. I should have known.”
Chapter 8: Neil