Cherish [GirlxGirl]

Chapter 11

The four of us hadn't been together since the last time we went out to eat. At least two months had passed since then. I shouldn't have been surprised that the next time would be in the same place, even if under surprising circumstances. I met Georgie and Alex that morning to go shopping for their baby, their son.

I was wary at first, not wanting to be caught in the middle of their squabbling. Thankfully, today was a good day for them. Not one disagreement, no snide remarks, noone saying they felt bossed around or ignored. I marvelled at it. I was happy for them even if a little apprehensive about how long they could maintain this peace. Just two days before Alexis had slept in my bed, too angry at her wife to go home and refusing to discuss why she had even left their house. She had gone so far as refusing to call her and say that she was with me and safe. It had fallen to me to fill Georgie in so that she wouldn't worry.

Maybe that night had been the turning point in their relationship. There was always one. And if that was theirs I was glad to see that things had gone towards working out, and not down the line of separation, especially since they were expecting.

Despite being told it was a boy they preferred to keep their choices gender neutral, just in case. Toys, clothes, bibs, blankets, everything was expected to be in colours not traditionally assigned to boys or girls. I agreed, but we quickly found out that it would be a harder task than imagined. Most of the stores we checked offered frilly pinks and tough blues but were a lacking in the pastels.

We made our way out of town after one that afternoon, deciding to move on to out of town stores but we were too hungry to jump right back into shopping. We stopped at a local restaurant that we frequented, the same one we had been to just before Cherish and I 'changed' our relationship.

Unexpectedly, there she was, sitting at the bar, chatting it up with one of the waitresses. I might not have noticed her had I not stepped inside to use the bathroom. I approached her, all smiles, because I hadn't seen her since she left for Jamaica. Her reception was less warm, in fact it was awkward, as if she didn't want to run into me there. Something seemed to click in her mind and she smiled suddenly. Her initial shock at seeing me turning to feigned delight. She hugged me as though we hadn't seen each other in months. That fake type of reaction like when you encounter a classmate you hadn't seen in years but used to be close to. When she released me I looked back and forth between her and the girl in the mustard coloured vest standing behind the bar.

She said, "What are you doing here? I called you when I got in last night but no answer."

"Yeah." I said softly. "I had an early night and you were out before I got up this morning."

"Yeah, sorry, I had to deal with some things."

The smile had been long been wiped from my face, the amusement from my eyes and as I started to understand what I walked into I could feel my mood slowly changing. I decided it was best to remove myself; continue on to the bathroom as if I'd never seen her and let her get back to her conversation.

"Anyway," I said. "Gotta go. Drank a lot of water this morning."

"Yeah, yeah. Do your thing." She said softly.

I glanced at the waitress once more and excused myself to the bathroom.

It looked like she was flirting when I came in; maybe. At the very least she was very relaxed with her. She was sitting at the bar as though she was used to sitting there. Sipping her drink, laughing, the waitress laughing as well. Before I realised it was her, it certainly seemed a lot like flirting. But I couldn't think about that. To think about it would be to get upset. Did I have a right to be upset? Did I even have a reason to be yet?