Ricki and the Flash ~ Unfinished Business

Drift Away

"Pete"
"Linda"
'Linda?' Daniel silently mouthed to Ricki with a chuckle.
"Ricki" Ricki corrected him "So are you going to tell me why your here or just stand there all night like a grovelling pollock"
"I'm not here to 'grovel'" Pete sighed "your the one that left your family, not me"
"Well you've tracked me down so your obviously here for something" Ricki gulped down the rest of her drink.
"Julie knew your address"
"I gave her my address so she could contact me so unless this is something to do with the kids you can forget it" Ricki muttered after a short silence.
"What makes you think this has nothing to do with the kids?" Pete asked.
"A lot of things" Ricki smirked, about to order another drink until she realised that Daniel had read her mind. "Until you called me I couldn't remember the last time I wanted someone's fingers to break so badly" her and Daniel chuckled "despite what you think, my kids mean the world to me so I gathered up all the money I could and flew over to you; I only realised when I got there that things hadn't moved on since I'd left. Maureen had been moved in my place but nothing had changed"
"What do you mean?" Pete moved to take a seat beside Ricki before thinking better of it.
"What I mean is that my kids were still crying out for their mother and you....well you were too" Ricki gulped her beer. Daniel looked at her with raised eyebrows but he knew from Pete's lack of shock that it was true.

"I don't have time for this" Pete sighed after a considerably long silence, rubbing his hand through his hair as he spun his phone around in his hand.
"You never did" Ricki smirked as she placed the colourful straw into her mouth.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You never had time for anything Pete, or for anyone" she muttered "like I said; things don't change, people don't change"
"Well you did " Ricki raised an eyebrow at Pete's sharp reply, she managed to squeeze in a sarcastic eye roll before he continued with his sentence "your certainly not the woman I married"
"No Pete. I am the woman you married. You thought that I'd have the kids and eventually have no choice but to be a 'kept woman' and settle down" Ricki explained with a slight chuckle.
"And I was wrong"
"You couldn't have been more wrong" Ricki ignored his deep stares as she stirred her cocktail with the plastic straw. "Now....if you would excuse me" Ricki left the empty cocktail glass on the wooden bar as she made her way around the corner and into the lady's bathrooms. Pete's eyes followed her; ten seconds later he decided it was safe enough to sit down at the bar and order a drink.

~

It was around ten before Ricki finally arrived home. Sliding out a small bathroom window was never easy but there's some things you've just got to do. Hopefully Pete would take the hint and go back 'home'; she tended to treat him like a stray animal, if you feed it and give it what it wants, it'll just keep coming back. In Ricki's case it would keep coming back to haunt her. With the wedding, Ricki had gave Pete more attention in five hours than she had in twenty years, she should've expected a call from him. A personal visit was going way too far.
A man clearing his throat brought Ricki out of her thoughts. Spinning around she realised it was Greg. Her mouth opened to apologise for her behaviour earlier but she forced it closed again when she noted the black bag he was carrying. Without saying a word, he walked forward and dropped a small gold key into the palm of her hand.
"I'm off" he declared as his hand outstretched to the door handle.
"What?" Ricki chuckled.
"It's been a great 'run' Ricki...." he near laughed at her shock "...but even I deserve more respect than you give me. When we're alone we can kiss, make up and climb back under the duvet as much as we want but even that's not going to fix our problems"
Ricki looked him up and down, her face unreadable "under the duvet?" She raised an eyebrow "once against the fridge doesn't count" she chuckled as she turned around and grabbed the door handle; turning back around her face immediate went blank as she held the small door open for him.
"No goodbye?" He muttered "just a cold look and a few insults?"
"I'll see you tomorrow at the club.....and as for that goodbye....I had nothing, I have nothing....what is there to say goodbye to?" Her eyes coldly stared into his.
Greg let a small chuckle escape his lips as he walked out the door and turned to face her, he knew she'd never change. "Ricki, you can't say that you've absolutely nothing; after all you have inferiority, well at least from your kids point of view"
She patted her lips to fire back a cold reply but instead found her hand slamming the door in his face. She lay against it for a few minutes, the coldness of the door shot through her head. A hot bath and large glass of wine was exactly what she needed.
Ricki was quick to discard her black laced up boots beside the door; she walked bare foot down the hallway, not in the mood for her normal singsong.
She jolted a few steps backward and near tripped over a towel when a hand lightly brushed off her arm.
"Pete" she squealed before bringing her hands up to cover her mouth "what the hell are you doing in my house?.....my bedroom?"
Ricki brought her hand to her face as thoughts of Greg bumping into Pete filled her head. "I wait for a man all my life then suddenly two decide to hide in my house on the same night" she muttered as she brushed her hair to the side "two men?" she questioned herself with a small giggle "I'll change that to males" she smirked.
Pete didn't even seem to be fazed by the insult "against the fridge?" He asked.
Ricki moved her hand over her mouth. Had he really been there to hear all that? Of course he had.
"No, I'm just surprised....you know....that you can still do THAT" Pete shifted slightly, his hands in his pockets.
Ricki opened her mouth to say something but instead raised an eyebrow "I'm younger than you Pete"
Pete glanced up, his face unreadable.
"Oh god" she muttered. Turning on the spot, Ricki covered her face with her hands and strode down the small hallway. Pete followed.

~