Regrets

Kiss You All Over

1976

"Thanks for coming, Elizabeth," Beatrice greeted with a smile.

Elizabeth gave a warm smile. "Thank you guys for inviting me," she said.

The women in the Ross family had invited Elizabeth to the party that had been through for Barney. The women could all tell that there was something between the two while at the Fourth of July barbeque- and they decided to take advantage of that. They'd never seen him so interested in a girl- at least the way he showed it- since he finished all of his schooling or got back from Vietnam, so of course there were going to do something about it. For them to even get together, they know he wouldn't really do anything on his own- so it was up to the women in his family to do it.

But wasn't that always the case in life? The women always have to do all the work, right?

"Not a problem," Beatrice smiled, "It really means a lot that you come."

"Well, thanks," Elizabeth smiled back.

-/-/-

"I hate this," Barney informed with an annoyed groan, "I hate this with a passion."

Tool laughed. "You never liked this," he commented, "Hell, as long as I've known you, you never liked your birthday."

"Oh, come on, Barn'," Amy tried, "It's your birthday. You're supposed to have a good time."

Barney scoffed. "I'd be having a good time if this wasn't going on."

Amy was Tool's "current fling". They'd been going out together seriously since the end of the previous year. She was a girl as sweet as candy, but also as sassy and saucy as a female bouncer trying to earn respect for her profession. She was a very gentle girl, but very scary and threatening when push came to shove. She was the perfect girl for him- bold, outgoing, daring, beautiful, and a whole slew of other great qualities any guy would be lucky to have in a girlfriend. The two were a cute couple, and he was lucky to have a girl like her as his girlfriend.

Her full name was Amelia Layla Jordan, but always just went by Amy. She was the only daughter of a mixed race couple- an African-American father, and a Scottish-American mother. She had curly black hair and a light complexion. The two features mixed oddly well together, and they were tied together with her wide, bright green eyes. She didn't look her two ethnicities one bit, but rather looked as if she could've been part Native American or Latina.

Barney shrugged. "I just never saw the big deal 'bout it," he said simply, "It's not like I'm the only person in the world with a birthday today, ya know."

"That don't mean you gotta be so sour about it," Tool insisted, "You could at least try or pretend to be excited about it."

Barney barked out a laugh. "Yeah, right- and polka dotted pigs are gonna fly outta my ass." His tone was bitter.

"Why're you always so negative, Barney?" Amy asked curiously, "I mean, as long as I've known you, you're never really too positive 'bout anything."

Tool took a sip from his glass. "It's nothin' new. He's been that way since I first met him."

"And has been since he was a kid," they heard in Beatrice's voice as she walked up to the three, Elizabeth walking up to them behind her.

"Seriously?"

Beatrice nodded surely. "I'm not saying that he was unhappy as a kid, he just never really thought positively all throughout his life."

Amy gave a questioning look. "So he's always been this way?" she asked.