Common Grounds

Chapter 4

So much was happening in Becky's life that she almost forgot Ryan was heading back to Chicago until the night before he was due to leave. "Have you figured out the buses yet?" he asked after he tipped the delivery guy and brought their pizzas into the living room.

Becky blinked up at her distractingly shiny new television and paused the old pay-per-view they were watching. She hadn't been lying when she told Seth she was had kept up with WWE and some of the other promotions, but sometimes it was hard to watch the thing she loved most when she knew she couldn't take part in it anymore. Nowadays she tended to pick and choose the matches she watched, focussing on friends or wrestlers she admired. "Oh. Oh shit." She dropped the remote to the couch and reached for her phone. "I totally forgot! I've been so busy with training and everything...." Becky hoped Ryan didn't ask for elaboration on the everything part. Sometimes she had stayed late after work to hang out with co-workers or just learn a bit more about the job, but sometimes it was because Seth was there and she enjoyed talking with him.

"Becks, relax." Ryan sat back down beside her and took her phone from her hands. After he set it aside, he put her pizza box on her lap. "I'm still here tomorrow—well, most of tomorrow. I can drop you off and pick you up and help you look up bus stuff after, okay? It's not that hard," he promised. "You've lived in Dublin and Chicago and New York City, so I'm pretty sure you'll be fine." His laugh was rather telling. "I mean, there's no subway system, and I think the buses stop running around seven, so...."

"So no nightlife then," Becky replied, "at least if you don't have a car. Well, I guess it's a good thing I have my fuck-ton ginormous television." She gestured to the big screen with a game-show flourish. After a few days of adjusting to her new television, she had realized it looked ungodly huge only because the apartment was small. "Because it doesn't look like there's much else to do."

Ryan shot her a look. "I warned you of that before you moved here, Becks. Besides, a slower pace might be a good thing for you for a little while. It'll give you time to relax, to reflect. Maybe you'll finally write that memoir you're always going on about."

"Hah. Because the chapter about being a barista is going to be riveting," Becky chuckled. "I'll be sure to read an excerpt from that one on all the talk show interviews I'll have." When she glanced at Ryan, he seemed concerned, so she made sure her smile looked genuine. He was a great friend and he was doing her a huge favour by signing the apartment over to her and letting her keep so much of his furniture; without that head start, she probably would have been stuck renting a room in a house with a bunch of virtual strangers. "Seriously, though, I do like the job. I think I'm catching on pretty quickly, or at least no one's complaining. And there were a ton of hopefuls, so it's not like they'd just keep me around for my accent, you know?" she added with a wink. "And some of the customers even ask for me now!" This time her smile was completely real. "Especially the little kids. Love em. Of course, they probably like me because I always give them extra whip on their hot chocolates."

"Extra whip," Ryan echoed. "Look at you, talking like a real barista and not one of those people who finds those so-called 'secret Starbucks recipes' online and annoys the fuck out the staff with their order that takes five minutes to say."

Becky rolled her eyes and took the pay-per-view off pause before grabbing a slice of pizza. "Just wait until I dazzle you with my knowledge of milk alternatives. There's almond milk and soy and—"

"Oh, hey! Isn't that Finn?" Ryan sounded almost desperate. "He's the one who trained you, right? Or is he the one you dated? I can't remember."

"Both," Becky answered with a grimace. "Not at the same time, though."

Ryan examined at Finn with more scrutiny. "He sort of has a.... angry wet kitten face," he allowed, "if you're into that sort of thing. Nice eyes, though. You still keep in touch with him, right?" When Becky nodded, he relaxed a bit. "So he couldn't have been horrible."