17. Aurora
Aurora
I was coming back from the grocery store the next day when I heard the yelling coming from Frankie’s apartment. I paused on the landing, trying to figure out what was going on.
“I can’t believe this!”
A loud wailing sob followed.
Frankie must finally be breaking up with Barbie. I could hear her voice, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. Barbie however was clear as day, her loud voice high pitched and shrill.
“I thought we had a good thing. And now you tell me you’re in love with someone else? Oh my God!” The last word ended on another long wail.
I heard footsteps and headed towards the stairs up to my floor, but the door was flung open before I got away.
“You!” Barbie pointed a shaky finger in my direction. “I knew you were hot for my woman when I saw you staring at her in the restaurant that night.”
I glanced over at Frankie for some indication of what she wanted me to do, but she was frozen in place like a statue. I was learning that my friend was incredibly bad at conflict. With a sigh, I set my groceries down and walked over to Frankie, grabbing her hand in mine, ready to play the part of fake girlfriend.
“I’m sorry Barbie,” I said with what I hoped sounded like sincerity. “But I’ve loved Frankie since we were in college. We tried to fight our feelings, but isn’t it better that she was honest with you now instead of stringing you along?”
Frankie finally came out of her trance.
“You’re a beautiful woman with a lot to offer,” she told Barbie. “You’ll find someone new in no time.”
Barbie turned with a huff.
“You’re not even that good in bed,” she yelled over her shoulder as she clattered down the stairs.
Frankie winced.
We waited until we heard the door on the main floor open and close before looking away from the stairs. Frankie looked super freaked out, like she’d been through hell with the breakup. Her eyes were wide and unfocused.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
“I need to process all this,” she said softly. “And maybe lay down.”
“Okay then, I’ll let you go. Text me if you want to do something later.”
I gave her a side hug then walked back to my groceries before turning back towards her.
“And by the way, you are fantastic in bed. I still masturbate to memories of that night at the convention hotel.”
Frankie’s mouth dropped open in shock and I suppressed a laugh as I walked upstairs.
A couple of hours later I heard a knock on my door. Frankie stood in the hallway holding a large pizza box, a six pack of beer and a package of Oreo cookies balanced on top.
She’d changed into baggie sweats and pulled her short hair into a stubby ponytail and while she was still pale, she looked much better than when I left her earlier.
“Hey,” I said.
“Are you hungry?” she asked, dipping her chin in the direction of the food. “I guess I should have texted first.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Come on in. I’ll get some plates.”
We set up the pizza box on the wooden chest that I used as a coffee table, deciding to watch something light while we ate. I loaded up season two of Modern Family and handed Frankie a napkin. We watched two episodes in silence, eating pizza and laughing at the TV family’s antics. Finally Frankie reached for the remote, pausing the show and turning to face me.
“I suck at breakups,” she said.
“No kidding,” I said, faking shock.
She rolled her eyes.
“Anyway, I hope you meant it about being my fake girlfriend, because my mother has already sent me four texts asking about who this woman is that made me give up a woman like Barbie.”
“I can’t believe your mother thought you two were a good match in the first place.”
“I think she was getting desperate,” Frankie said. “She was running out of friends with lesbian daughters to fix me up with.”
We both burst out laughing.
“Are you okay though?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s a relief. I’m grateful that you helped give me a push. As hard as it was breaking up with her, dating her was almost harder, you know?”
“Believe me, I know.”
“Are you still getting messages from Chris?” she asked.
About a week after we broke up Chris had taken to texting me every few days. Sometimes they begged me to give us another chance, other times they sent vitriolic attacks.
“I blocked them from my phone and email last week,” I said. “I don’t need to read messages about how terrible I am.”
“Good plan,” she said approvingly.
“So when do I meet your parents?” I asked.
She winced. “Wednesday night? Mom wants me to bring you with me when we have dinner.”
“That works. She’ll get over what happened with Barbie faster if she meets me,” I said. “Besides parents love me.”
“Doesn’t everyone?” she teased.
I met her eyes and we both froze, staring at each other for way longer than we should.
“Can I ask you something?” Frankie said softly.
“Yeah?”
“Is it true what you said before? That you think about that night?”
I knew I should say no. I knew I should keep the focus on us just being friends. But I also didn’t want to lie. I hadn’t meant to say what I’d said earlier – it just kind of came out of my mouth without my brain engaging – but I also wasn’t sorry about it.
“Yeah, it’s true,” I said. “It was – hands down -- the hottest night of my life.”