Long Live the King

Twelve

"Isn't that weird though?" Regina was saying, hanging on the back of the passenger seat while she poked her head up into the front. "I grew up right around here, same as Addy and I never even heard of Bretterville. Never saw it on a street sign. Never saw it on the news..."

Her voice faded into the background as Adrienne worked hard to tune her out. Adrienne rolled her head toward the window, counting telephone poles as they zipped by. She was vaguely aware of Marshall responding with what she hoped was feigned interest. In a perfect world, Regina wouldn't even be with them right now, but in spite of being told that the the trip would be a bore, she had been all too eager to come along and Marshall, pushover that he was, wouldn't back Adrienne up on a firm no.

"Addy?"

At the sound of her name, Adrienne returned the to the conversation.

"What? Sorry, I dozed off."

"Oh that's okay." Regina smiled. "I was just asking what made you choose to live in Bretterville."

"We were running away. Bus driver asked us where we were going. Ray saw it on the list of stops. Simple as that."

"Okay... Well what about you Marsh?"

"Oh man," He chuckled, keeping his eyes trained on the road. "Well, I was just looking to get out of a small town and found myself right back in one. I just kind of landed there."

"Oh come on," Regina leaned further forward. "I know there's more of a story than that."

"There is, but it's dull."

"Don't care. Share!"

Adrienne gagged at the sound of that squeal, hurriedly attempting to pass it off as a painful cough. Evidently Regina wasn't too bothered because she barely spared a look before turning her attention back to Marshall. He clearly wasn't bothered by the all attention based on the smile he was wearing.

"Okay, okay," he said. "I was a year out of high school and my girlfriend at the time had just graduated. I had chosen not to pursue an advanced degree but she had plans to attend the University. We ended up moving in with a couple of other college students but we bickered constantly. After a pretty nasty fight, I left but I thought it would be too humiliating to go home."

"But wait, why Bretterville?" Regina interrupted. "Does everybody just pick it off a map?"

"Be patient. I'm getting to that. I'd called a cousin of mine who said I could stay with him and he'd even pick me up if I met him halfway. Bretterville was the halfway mark so I bussed up there, checked into the hotel, and figured I'd only be there overnight. Except my cousin flaked and then I was really in trouble because I didn't have enough money to keep staying in that hotel for long." He paused while changing lanes, took a breath and continued. "Lucky for me I met a salon owner who needed a roof repair and thought I looked strong enough for the job. I started doing odds and ends repair jobs around town to pay my hotel bill. I was still figuring this was all temporary... until my girlfriend called and told me that they'd rented out my room and not to come back. So I just ended up staying."

"She rented out your room before you even had a place to stay? Sounds like a piece of work."

"She wasn't so bad," he said. "I had been gone for two weeks and although we talked a couple times it seemed we were more falling apart than pulling it together. They needed the rent I guess."

"Well still, she could have given you a heads up or something... We almost there?"

At this point she might as well have been sitting on the console given how far in the front space she was leaning. Her armrest compromised, Adrienne pushed herself as close to the window as she could manage, tucking in her limbs.

"We are almost there," Marshall confirmed, turning onto Precipice Drive.

"Oh good," Regina said. "I could use a bathroom."

"Sure. I was thinking we'd stop somewhere to eat lunch before visiting the Reynold's house is that's good with everyone."

"Why is it called the Reynold's house?" Regina wondered aloud.

"Why do you think?" Adrienne said, her head snapping around.

"Sorry." Regina crumpled, retreating into the backseat like a turtle into it's shell.

"No," Adrienne said under the pressure of Marshall's sudden glance. "I'm sorry. I just--headache, you know?"

"Oh, sure." Regina brightened immediate, her emotions apparently as unstable as your average three year old on a sugar binge. "So, Marshall..."

Adrienne didn't even hear the rest. Her eyes grew large and then she pinched them shut. Barely suppressing a groan, she pressed her forehead back to the glass and focused on the radio.

#

As soon as Marshall had lined the car up with the curh, Regina flew out of the side and indoors. The gear shift clicked into park in time with the door slam.

"Wow," Adrienne said. "She wasn't kidding. I can practically see a trail of dust spun off behind her."

"Maybe you should give it a rest Addy. You've been kind of harsh today," Marshall said.

"She shouldn't even be here. I don't know why you told her she could come."

"I know she isn't your favorite person but..."

"No, Marsh, this isn't just that I don't like her--which I don't--it's that I was just forced to sit trapped in a car with her while she chattered like a monkey. Oh, and not just the car! She's been incessantly jabbering since the water taxi. I have limits Marshall. Not everyone is a saint like yourself." Finished with her rant, she let her head drop against the seat.

"Okay, I'll give you that," he said. "I'm sorry. But lighten up. At least you're off the island."

"At this point I'm almost wishing I'd stayed there."

"Well," He nodded toward the lit up diner in front of them. "I bet Rosie's chicken melt will make you change your mind."

Adrienne let herself smile, just a little bit, as she looked at the familiar building. Rosie did make a fantastic melt.

"Do you remember," she said, "when you put pickles on my sandwich to trick me into trying it?"

"Only way to eat it." He grinned. "Besides, who says they don't like pickles without ever trying them? You thanked me later. Do you remember that this diner is where we met?"

"Vaguely... you remember that?"

"Definitely. Bretterville is a boring town--as you well know--you and your brother were big news at the time. Almost as big as Abigail Winter's new kitten."

"Almost, huh? You'll have to tell me all about it. Refresh my memory. I'm going to go use the restroom. You going to grab a table? Before Regina thinks we ditched her?"

"Sure."

Both of them stepped out of the car, Adrienne moving ahead. As he watched her walk through the door of the diner he remembered the first time her had seen there, clear as day.