Second Lanark

Complications - Part 25

"You okay?" I asked, frowning.

Rob sighed. "I need a drink – maybe two hundred. So sorry, love." He pulled me into his chest and hugged me. "Blimey – Rach was so wound up," he said as he kissed the top of my head. "I'm pretty pissed off. It's your birthday. I don't know what she thinks she's playing at."

"Oh," I said, also feeling like a bit of a jerk for assuming the worst. When he let me go, I passed him my beer. "Have the rest of this. I have a whole table of drinks."

Tricia appeared beside us with another round of shots. "Rob, you look like you could use a good stiff drink." She passed him a shot glass of clear liquid. "No lemon or salt – we'll take it like the big girls we all are," she said, winking at both of us and tipping back her shot. "Do you want to open my presents before you get too drunk to appreciate them?"

I grinned and put the arm that wasn't around Rob, around her. "Is it possible for me to get too drunk to appreciate them?"

She took my arm and dragged me back to the table and watched as I unwrapped a screen printed t-shirt with a picture of Barbie and the name of the biggest strip club in Ottawa. I laughed and threw it on over the bar shirt I'd put on after coming back from the puppies. The second present was some English Breakfast Tea, and the third one was a homemade book of the one hundred reasons she was glad she had me for a roommate.

Tears pooled in my eyes as I scanned through the scrapbook that she'd made. "Tricia!" I said through tears. "This is – thank you. I wish I wasn't so drunk. I think I might start crying." I wiped away the few tears that leaked out.

She gave me a big hug. "You deserve it – really. You're awesome." Then she whispered in my ear, "And that Tim guy is way hotter in this lighting – is that wrong that I think he's hot?"

I pulled back and tried to look her in the eyes, but I couldn't focus properly. "One word Tricia – no."

She turned her head to the side and said, "It's so wrong it's right? That's what I'm hearing." She gave me a pouty face which she only ever did when she was drinking. "Just introduce me. That's it."

"Ugh," I moaned. I turned to Rob and said, "Tricia wants to meet Tim. Do you want to come over and meet him or..." I trailed off.

He leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss. "I'm going to go see a man about a dog," he said, putting down his drink.

"What?" I asked, scanning the place for a dog.

He laughed. "Toilets. I'm going to the loo."

"Oh," I said, my shoulders falling. "I thought you'd arranged for more dogs. I got excited."

He grinned and kissed me again. "Back in a tic."

I turned to Tricia and gave her a hopeful look. "You changed your mind?"

She shook her head. I took a swig of my beer and wandered over to where Tim was talking to other members of the swim team. I introduced Tricia around, purposefully leaving Tim until last.

Once she was deep into flirting with Tim, I turned to find Rob again. As I turned to leave, Tim grinned at me like the Chesire cat and I rolled my eyes. I doubled back to the drinks table and ran into Faith.

"Hey – where's Paul and his friend? I wanted to meet him," I said, taking another drink off the table.

Faith sighed. "Talking to Lark – still."

"What?" I asked, looking back over my shoulder to see her sitting in a booth with both of them playing quarters, the drinking game. "Do you want me to go get her?"