Patience

Seven

After Axl and I ate, he walked me back to the car. This time, he carried Megan and I carried the diaper bag., which deep down, I appreciated.

"Are you busy today or anything?" Axl asked me as he was putting Megan in her little car seat. I watched as he buckled her in. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing. I caught myself slightly zoned out, admiring him, when I snapped back to reality to answer his question.

I nodded. "I have to go grocery shopping for Molly and you, sir, are close to finishing your album so you should go find your band mates," I told him, pointing a finger at him.

"I know, you're right. I just had a lot of fun with you today."

"I know. I did too. Hey, I'll try and make the concert tomorrow night and you are going to get me that job, right?" I asked.

"I'm going to try," He said.

"Thanks," I said as I got back into Molly's car. I shut the door and Axl pecked on the window so I would roll it down.

"Yes?" I asked, happy our interaction wasn't completely over just yet. For a moment, I imagined him leaning in and giving me a quick kiss, but I stopped that thought and pushed it out of my head before it got too far.

"One more thing," He said, "Are you busy tonight?"

"I thought we just had this discussion," I said in perplexion. Axl did not like to give up easily.

"I mean, around nine or ten. Maybe eight if you don't want to be out too long," He said.

I thought for a second. "No, I guess not," I told him.

"As a little celebration for how well the album is coming, the band is gonna go to Disneyland until it closes at twelve this evening. Would you like to come along?" He asked.

"Maybe," I said, knowing very well that I would like that.

"I can pick you up," Axl said.

That's when I gave him the address and we agreed on 8:30pm. Then, I was on my way to get groceries. After groceries, I went back to Molly's.

"Molly, I'm back!" I called as I walked through the door. I had Megan in one arm, and the diaper bag in the other.

"Did you get the groceries?" She asked at the sight of no brown bags.

"Yeah, they're in the car. Here's Megan, I have to go get them," I said, handing Megan over. I turned to go back outside.

I grabbed the two bags full of groceries and brought them inside. Molly gave me a weird look.

"What?" I asked.

"That's it? Just two bags?" She asked.

"Yeah, you didn't have much on your list," I said.

"Lucy, where's the list at?" She asked me.

"In my pocket, here," I said, handing her the list.

She flipped it over to the backside and there were more things written down. I knew I was in trouble now. How could I have made such a silly mistake? Was I daydreaming that heavily about what tonight has in store?

"Oh," I said, slightly embarrassed. 

"Oh? That's all you have to say?" She asked me, raising her voice.

"Molly, calm down. I'm the one who had your baby all day, giving you a break. I get that your husband left you, but I did take Megan for the day, and I at least tried to get your groceries, so you could be a little nicer to me! I get that I'm staying here, and I don't mind helping out, but I'm having a hard time, and your judgement on top of every other shitty thing in my life is too much, Molly. I made one small mistake," I yelled back.

Molly shook her head and glared at me. At this point, the baby was crying because of all the yelling. "I knew letting you come back here was a bad idea," She said, "Having you here is like having a second child to deal with."

"Good thing you're not happy with me being here, because I found someone else to stay with!" I yelled, not thinking twice about what I was saying.

Molly scoffed. "Oh, really? And who is that?" She asked.

I opened my mouth to say something, but didn't. For some reason, Axl popped in my mind, but I ignored the thought. There was no way I could stay with him, not after telling him multiple times to stop helping me. "I'm going out tonight. I'm getting picked up," I said.

"Oh, what's this? Do you have another boyfriend now or some shit? Is that what took you such a long time? Is that why you were distracted?" Molly inquired. I felt like I was being interrogated. There may as well have been a light shining in my face and two detectives hovering over me.

At this point, I was fuming. Between my own stupidity of letting words slip, and Molly's mood swings, I just let it out."He's not my fucking boyfriend," I snapped. With that, I ran upstairs.

"So that's what you've really been doing! You didn't get all the groceries because you were distracted by your boyfriend, huh?" Molly asked walking up the stairs with a crying Megan.

I slammed the door shut and put my hands over my ears. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I had it good here, and I could've kept it for longer, but now I'm about to be kicked out.

"Don't ignore me, Lucy! You don't have a job, you went on a date! And you went to a concert with your boyfriend! And who are you running off with tonight? Your god damn boyfriend!" She yelled, approaching my door. I braced myself for when she walked in.

Molly swung the door open to the guest room I was staying in. It hit the doorstop quite hard, causing me to jump at the noise. "You look like you're a little girl all over again, listening to me getting hit by dad because I took the blame for all of your stupid mistakes!" She yelled.

"Shut up!" I screamed. "Shut up, I never asked you to do that, and you weren't innocent, either!"

"Get out, Lucy. I don't want you here. Pack up, and when your "Prince Charming" shows up here you can leave with him," She said, walking out of the room, slamming the door.

"You're just jealous!" I yelled at the door, standing up. Instant regret.

"What?" I heard her ask, her voice cracking. I must've hit a nerve.

Maybe it was the adrenaline, or maybe it needed to be said, either way, I kept going. "You're just jealous that you aren't as young as I am, and that you don't have anyone that loves you, and that you can't run around and do whatever the hell you want because you have a kid. You're jealous," I said, the volume of my voice decreasing as I said it.

"I- I'm not jealous," Molly said.

"You are," I said quietly but firmly, but there was no response. That was it. I won the argument.

"Fuck this," I muttered to myself, running both of my hands through my hair. I took a deep breath. I pulled my suitcase out of my closet and began packing my things. Now I just have to wait for Axl to show. Then I can get out.