The Pornstar Martini

Chapter 9

Present...

Kathryn played with the straw of her smoothie. Regina smiled sympathetically at her as she tried to pick a tomato from the salad in front of her with her fork.

"It'll get better, Kat. I'm sure of it. Doesn't he have a couple weeks off in summer? Maybe Frederick will surprise you with a trip."

Regina tried to look at things as positively as she could, but Kathryn had been complaining about her relationship with Frederick for a couple weeks now.

Every Friday during lunch, Kathryn and Regina hung out to eat together at Granny's. Regina had hoped things would've gotten better between her friend and Frederick, but it only seemed to get worse.

"What if it doesn't get better, Regina? I've been struggling with this for six weeks and he knows that. He's promised to make time for me, but it shouldn't be this difficult. We live together, for Christ's sake, and I still never get to see him."

"Have you tried talking to a professional? It could help," Regina suggested, before she ate the tomato.

"I don't want to talk to a professional. For three years, Frederick and I have been good. I want it to be easy again."

Regina smiled again and shrugged. "It's a relationship, Kat. It's never going to be easy." Kathryn sighed and nodded. "It's wonderful that you both didn't need to put a lot of effort in it before, but usually it doesn't work that way. Relationships take hard work and determination. I guess neither of you is used to that, but I'm confident you two can figure it out together."

Kathryn drank her smoothie and bobbed her head. "You're right," she said. "That were a lot of wise words for someone with the worst relationships I know."

Regina patted her friend's hand and chuckled. "No need to insult me like that."

"Are you over Mal?"

"Mal? That breakup was last Monday. Of course," Regina replied and laughed.

"Honestly, Regina, I don't know how you do it. It must be some kind of talent, too, not to attach yourself to someone after a half year."

"Learned from the best," Regina said and sipped her water.

"Speaking of, how are things with you and Emma?"

"There are no "things" with me and Emma. She's obnoxious. That's it." Regina felt her mood darken at the mere mention of Emma's name. The conversation from the day before was still fresh in her mind. "She came to my office yesterday to hand in some paperwork and she told me Mal had gone to her. She talked to Mal about our relationship and afterwards, Mal broke up with me."

Kathryn quirked an eyebrow. "You seem more upset about that than the breakup."

"Well, I suppose I am. I hate that Emma started meddling in my life again," Regina replied and sighed. "Then, she insulted me like usual and told me that if I ever "want to talk things out" I could go to her."

Regina knew she shouldn't be obsessing over Emma's words this much. She should be focusing on what was ahead of her, not on what had happened in the past, but she couldn't.

"Maybe you should," Kathryn suggested with a shrug and slurped her smoothie. "I know Emma. I know the effect she has on you. If you don't talk it out now, I'm confident she will wrap you around her finger the same way she did ten years ago."

"I'm not afraid of that happening. She just annoys the hell out of me."

"Regina, listen to me, please," Kathryn said and Regina straightened her posture. She felt she was about to defend herself from whatever her friend was going to tell her. "I know you're "stronger" than you were when you were a teen, I know you think you've learned your lesson with Emma, but I know you too. Once you love someone, you never stop. It's one of the things I love about you, the way you feel things with your entire heart. But it makes you an easy target for people like Emma. People who don't care about other people's feelings, people who only care about themselves. I'm afraid that once you discover there's a part of you that still loves Emma after all these years, you let her ruin you again. You deserve better than her, Regina. So, I'm asking you to be careful around her."