Reunion (The Monkees Family Vol. 3)

Chapter 42

Gabby had just emerged from the shower feeling extremely blissed out after her phone sex session with Micky, when the doorbell rang. She met Jan on the staircase and they went to the door together to answer it. Lynda was their unexpected guest, standing on the front stoop with an expression of sadness mixed with anger, an amount of emotion neither Gabby nor Jan had ever seen from their normally unflappable British friend. In her hand she held a small overnight bag, an ominous sight which gave Gabby the same visceral reaction as if Lynda had been grasping a hand grenade. Gabby ushered Lynda in and enveloped her in a hug.

"Lynda, hey, what's wrong? What brings you out to our hippie colony? Come on in." Gabby led her to the couch and firmly seated her. "Want something to drink?"

Lynda just nodded silently and Gabby reached for a bottle of white wine, which was what Lynda usually drank. Lynda forestalled her. "Gin and tonic, if you please, Gabby."

Gabby and Jan exchanged looks of surprise and then dread and realized Lynda must be experiencing some Class-A upset to be requesting the hard stuff. "Sure, no problem." Gabby mixed her drink and handed it to her.

Lynda took a few silent sips, during which time Gabby and Jan settled in with a bottle of red wine and waited for Lynda to speak her mind. She was an intensely private person by both cultural bent and personal preference, and they knew that the fact that she was there meant that she was seeking comfort and solace despite her natural inclination. Still, like a skittish gazelle, she needed to be approached with caution lest she flee. Finally, she sighed and began to open up.

"Gals, I've left Robert. Or I think I've let him." When Lynda decided to unload, she certainly dropped a bombshell.

Gabby and Jan reacted with surprise and dismay bordering on denial. If there was anything in this world they thought they could count on, it was the steady and easygoing rapport that their friends Robert and Lynda had built over the course of their nearly decade-long relationship. And now, just as they were about to seal the deal and step up to the altar, a fissure so wide had torn them apart? Impossible! What could they trust about love and life if this relationship could crumble?

Jan asked "Lynda, what happened? What's this about? Is it the tabloid story?"

Lynda appraised Jan not with her usual cool equanimity, but with a quivering lip and a simmering fury. "Yes, it's about that bloody tabloid story, but what it's really about is Robert making all sorts of unfounded accusations about Davy and trying to control whether or not he has a place in my life."

"How about if you fill in what's between the start and finish of that sentence, Lynda, and let us judge for ourselves what went down?" Gabby suggested. "I know you don't like to air your private business normally, but I'm guessing you wouldn't be here if you really wanted to keep this bottled up inside you. We're not going to judge you or foist a point of view on you. We're your best friends. We just want to support you."

Lynda looked between Jan and Gabby and sighed. "Okay, I do want to talk about it, but you have to promise me that you aren't going to repeat anything I say to Robert. I know he's your assistant, Gabby, but..."

"Come on, Lynda, I wouldn't do you dirty like that. Girl code is still in effect." Gabby winked and nodded at her encouragingly.

So Lynda decided for once in her life to just let it all hang out and told them all about her argument with Robert.

* * *

Lynda came home from the boutique, exhausted and footsore. Robert was standing at the kitchen counter, chopping vegetables. Lynn smiled at this new domestic tendency Robert had developed and inquired "Wotcha cooking up for me, lovey?"