Just Business

Chapter Fifteen: Marcia

 Marcia, for the first time ever, was late. It was the day after the launch party, which thankfully had no drama after Donnie and Richard had left. Ivy had texted the groupchat a message that simply read: SOS 6PM. It was now twenty past, and Marcia was only just arriving at Ivy's house.

"Oh my god, we thought you'd had an accident," Ally said when she opened the door.

"I'm not that late," Marcia defended. Ally raised an eyebrow at Marcia's short tone, but didn't say anything about it. Marcia immediately softened, feeling bad. "Work over ran. There's still a fair bit to do and filming starts so soon."

Ally nodded, but Marcia knew she didn't believe her. It was true enough that work had over ran, but not for the reasons she had said. Marcia's head had been a mess all day thinking about David and what had happened. For the rest of the party they had kept their distance, although Marcia wasn't sure who was avoiding who.

She had gone into work that day, tense and nervous, but was greeted by a warm coffee and an even warmer smile from David. They spent the day acting as if nothing at all had happened, and Marcia was completely unsure if this was better or worse. But, right now it wasn't about her and her complications, it was about Ivy.

Ivy was in her living room, curled up on the sofa in pink sweatpants and a white tank top. Her hair was up, and a green tinted face mask glittered on her face.

"Marcia," she wailed, jumping up and hugging her. "You're here! Sit down, sit down."

They all sat down, and a bottle of pink fizz was opened.

"Hey Ivs, are you okay?" Marcia asked. "I meant to text you, but you beat me to it."

"Oh, babes, I should be the one texting you. David is totally right, it was your event we nearly ruined, and I'm so so sorry. Can you forgive me?"

"It wasn't really you," Marcia said. "It was Richard and Donnie."

Ivy's nose scrunched up.

"Fucking Richard, I should have known he would be a mistake. I don't know why I ever went for him."

"I do," Ally said, leaning back in her chair. "Now I'm thinking about it properly, it's obvious. Hun, I think you wanted to get Donnie's attention, even if it was subconscious."

Ivy pursed her lips, tilting her head in thought.

"You're not denying it," Marcia observed.

"But we broke up ages ago. It wouldn't have worked, he wanted to settle, and I needed my fun before then."

"But how many times have we drunkenly spoken about what would have happened if you stayed with him," Ally continued.

"It's a thought experiment," Ivy replied.

"One we never do with any other exes," Marcia said, "Not buff Derek, or skinny Derek, or sock guy, or the one with the cute cat."

"Okay, so speaking purely hypothetically," Ivy said, waving her hands as if to restart the conversation. "If I did want Donnie back in my life, why?"

"Maybe you're finally in the place he wanted you to be in all those years ago," Ally said, shrugging. As a rule, they didn't sugar coat or beat around the bush in this group. "And therefore you found a replacement for him."

"I have a slightly different take," Marcia admitted, and Ally nodded to tell her to continue. Everybody's opinion was heard, then eventually they'd get to somewhere in the realm of the truth. "Maybe it's more along the lines of you wanted to finally close that chapter, do something that meant you could definitely never have him again."