Chapter 9 #3
She wasn’t done. “And, maybe it’s selfish of me, but I want to have one wonderful thing that Simon can’t get to.
I love that when Will sees me, he doesn’t see a person who stayed with an abuser, who covered for him, who loved him in spite of all the things he did.
The Naomi he sees is the Naomi I want to be, and when he sees me that way, it makes me feel like I can see myself that way too. ”
Abby opened her mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out.
“You’ve always taken care of me,” Naomi continued. “But I’m asking you to let me do this my way, Abby.”
Abby watched her for a few seconds and then gave a resigned nod. “Okay,” she said. “You’re right. This is your decision.”
This time, Naomi was the one who went in for the hug.
“Thank you.” Still holding on, she added, “Can we keep this between us right now?” She knew Abby’s first instinct would be to go to Riley.
But she couldn’t handle doing this all over again, couldn’t stand the thought of Riley looking at her the way that Abby just had.
She didn’t need another fight or the weight of someone else’s worry pressing down on her.
And she definitely didn’t need to spend any time wondering what was being said in hushed conversations when she wasn’t in the room.
Naomi could feel Abby stiffen, but after a moment, she said, “Okay.”
Naomi gave her an extra squeeze and then let go. “Thank you for always being there for me.”
“I always will be. Promise,” Abby said. Her smile was warm, but her voice carried a sadness that settled in the space between them.
“But we should probably head up or someone is going to come looking for us. You go ahead. I need to grab the ice.” She turned and nodded towards the bag still sitting on the ground where she had left it.
Grateful to have a moment alone, Naomi returned to the lobby.
She used the ride up to her floor to collect herself, pressing her hands to her face as she took slow inhales.
She had years of practice picking up the fractured pieces of herself after a fight with Simon—locking them away, one by one—until she could move through the day like it had never happened.
Even now, after all this time, she found that ability came back quickly.
As the elevator doors opened, she felt the last few minutes dissolve and she put a bright smile onto her face as she headed into her apartment.
“There you are!” Will said before she had taken more than a step inside. “I was looking for you.”
“Sorry,” she said.
He examined her face with concern, and she stopped herself from patting her eyes to make sure they were dry. “Everything okay?” He leaned closer, saying in a quieter voice. “You were gone a while.”
“Yep,” she assured him. “I was checking in on Mrs. Pachenkis.” She hated to lie, but she hated the questions more.
“Please tell me you’ve brought ice,” Riley appeared next to Will. “We’re down to Becca’s wine, and it’s atrocious.”
“Has anyone ever told you that your voice carries?” Riley turned to see Becca, lifting a drink to her lips, her hazel eyes watching them with an amused look.
“Oh, sweetie,” they replied, brushing a wrinkle from their skirt. “Just because I think your taste in wine happens to be appalling, that doesn’t mean I feel the same way about the things that really matter, like your choice in shoes.”
Apparently satisfied with this answer, Becca merely sipped her drink and smiled.
“You came back right in time. I have to head out,” Will said.
“Is it already time to go?” Naomi asked.
“Yeah, Freya texted that she’s here.”
Naomi’s eyes went wide. “Wait, here? She’s here?”
Will nodded. “She’s picking me up on the way to the airport.
I figured that would be safe since even if for some reason she did try to come up, she’d have to be buzzed in and she doesn’t even know your apartment number.
We’ve got multiple layers keeping Abby and Freya apart.
” He chuckled. “I mean, Abby would literally have to go downstairs and stand in front of Freya’s car to—
“Oh God.”
Naomi ran to the window, knelt on the sofa, and looked down at the entrance of the building.
Will knelt beside her. “What are you—”
“Look.” Naomi pointed at the two figures down below. Even in the growing darkness of nightfall, it was impossible to mistake them for anyone else but Freya and Abby. Surrounded by ice cubes still littering the sidewalk, their hunched shoulders and sharp movements required no interpretation.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“What is the matter with them?” Naomi said, exasperated. “They’re grown adults, not teenagers.”
“I’ve been trying to figure that out myself,” Will replied.
“What’s going on?” Riley said, joining them on the sofa. They looked out the window and gasped. “Abigail, there you are, you Jezebel! Bring my ice!”
Becca had made her way to the sofa and sat down in the remaining free space. “I’m going to need narration. I’m not climbing on a sofa. Not in this dress.”
“Hang on, who is she talking to? Is that—” Riley stopped as, with one fluid motion, Freya bent down, picked up one of the ice cubes on the ground and threw it at Abby. Riley slapped a hand over their mouth. “Okay. That just happened.”
“Yep, we gotta go,” Will said, sounding like a parent whose child is melting down at a playground. He sprang off the sofa and Naomi was right behind him.
As they raced through the doors of her lobby into the courtyard, they both heard Freya shout, “You think you’re the only one who can throw things?
” She leaned down to scoop up another handful of ice.
“Think again.” She stood up, arm cocked back and ready to fire, but faltered when she noticed her audience.
Naomi expected to see a fierce, angry expression on Freya’s face, but it looked more like a triumphant smile.
“Ooh, an encore!” Becca said, coming up behind her, the ice from her drink tinkling as she walked.
“I should have brought a drink too,” she heard Riley say.
Having been through this twice now, Will seemed to know what to do. “I’ll call you from the airport.” He gave Naomi a kiss before positioning himself next to his boss. “Freya,” he said in a cautious tone.
Freya blinked, almost like she was coming out of a trance. The pleased smile, however, stayed on her face as she turned to look at Will. “There you are. Ready to head out?”
“Sure,” he replied and, without waiting for an invitation, walked to the passenger side of a BMW parked a few steps away. Wordlessly, Freya got into the driver’s seat and moments later the car peeled away.
Once the car was out of sight, Abby turned to face her friends. “Okay, no. This time it wasn’t me. I swear. I was picking up ice cubes and … she was standing there …”
When no one answered, she tried again. “And then she started … I mean, I tried to be … but then she was all …” She pointed towards where Freya had been standing. “You should have heard … what was I supposed to …”
She paused, clearly waiting for someone to jump in, but after a few seconds, she gave up. “Not my fault this time!” she declared, breezing past the trio without meeting their eyes and marching towards the lobby.
As the doors to the lobby closed, Riley looked out at the now-empty sidewalk, their eyes flitting back and forth as if they were replaying the last few minutes in their mind. “It’s so not like her,” they mused. “There’s something about those two that’s not sitting quite right with me.”
“How so?” Becca asked.
“It doesn’t feel like normal fighting to me. There’s an electricity like …” They hesitated, as if they were seeking to place a description with the sensation. “Like foreplay.”
Becca swirled the liquid in her glass and took a gulp.
“Don’t get me wrong, Riley. I’ve been in more than one relationship consisting of nothing but fighting matches.
But our arguments always ended in sex. Amazing, angry, torrid, sweaty sex.
What’s the point of all that,” she indicated the scene of the crime, “if you’re not going to end up in bed together? ”
Normally, this kind of banter was a stress reliever for Naomi, but it wasn’t serving as the balm it normally did.
“Everything is such a mess,” Naomi moaned, tossing her head back.
“What? That little thing?” Becca asked.
That, she wanted to say, and everything that had happened with Simon.
But she wasn’t going to go there. Instead, she nodded.
“My boyfriend’s boss and my best friend are like bleach and ammonia.
” She rubbed her face in her hands. “I think they’re both good people, and they don’t mean it but like …
why? Why does this keep happening? What is wrong with them?
And what are we supposed to do about it? ”
Riley cleared their throat. “I think it’s becoming obvious what we do,” they said. “Get those two love birds together.”
Naomi hadn’t thought anything could distract her from the emotional turmoil of the last hour, but somehow, incredibly, Riley had done it.
“What?” she said, in full disbelief.
Becca, clearly intrigued, stepped forward. “You’re thinking,” she said, following Riley’s train of thought, “that this whole rivalry thing is really one, long, drawn-out game of foreplay?”
“Yes!” Riley said excitedly.
Becca gave a sarcastic chuckle as she considered this possibility. “If anyone could hold out that long, it would be my sister.”
“Wait a minute,” Naomi said to Becca, feeling like she was trying to stop a Domino chain that had been set in motion. “You’re not actually buying into this theory, are you?”
Becca shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing can make a person more insane than a case of blue balls.” She added quickly, “Not that I’d know.
But I’ve seen its effects. This is assuming, of course, that Freya, you know, plays for that team.
I mean, I know there have been rumors circulating online for years, but does anyone know for sure if she is actually partial to the ladies?
You went to school with her, Naomi, you must have seen something, right? ”
“Why are you even asking her?” Riley interjected. “I have the most finely tuned dyke-tection this side of the Mississippi, and I am telling you that Freya loves the ladies and, in particular, Abby, who also loves her back.”
Naomi still couldn’t make sense of it. “Even if that were somehow true, which I don’t see how it could be, what does it matter? The only feelings they seem to be aware of are their hatred for each other, and I doubt us telling them otherwise would make any difference.”
“Well, obviously we can’t tell them. We’re going to have to,” Riley swirled their hand, like casting a spell, “encourage them to discover it on their own with the assistance of some behind-the-scenes work.”
“Such as?” Naomi mimicked Riley’s hand motion.
“I’m not sure yet. The details will come to me. Which leaves only one question. Naomi Hoffman, are you in?”
“In?” Naomi asked. “In what?”
“In,” Becca explained.
“Exactly,” Riley confirmed. “In.”
Naomi shook her head. “You can say it any way you want, but it’s still only one word that requires more words around it.”
“In on helping Abby and Freya unlock their true feelings for each other so they can have a happily ever after and then, by extension, so can you and Will.”
Now that … that was tempting. Whatever ‘behind the scenes’ work Riley had in mind, not so much.
But a happily ever after for her and her best friend?
If there was even a slight possibility that Riley was right, it might be worth exploring.
“I’m not saying I’m in. I’m saying that before I could consider being in, I’d need Will to be in. And I really don’t think—”
“Bup bup,” Riley held up a silencing finger. “Your phone, please.”
She reached into her pocket and then stopped. “Why?”
Riley stretched their hand out. “Phone, please.”
Curiosity and exhaustion overpowered her ability to press further, and she handed over her phone.
Without hesitation, Riley unlocked her phone and began tapping.
“How did you know my—”
“You think Abby’s passwords are the only ones I know?” they said without breaking stride with their fingers. After a minute, they handed her phone back to her. “Now, read,” they commanded. She looked down.
NAOMI: This is Riley. I've commandeered Naomi’s phone to ask you one question. If I were to say that Freya and Abby were in love with each other, what would you say?
WILL: I’d say I was sitting here thinking exactly that.
NAOMI: So then if I said we need to discreetly help them come to that conclusion you’d say…
WILL: I’d say, if it can be done we should try. But also, what does Naomi say?
The last message was typed out but not sent
NAOMI: Naomi says she’s in
Naomi looked up at Riley. She had a lot of questions, quite a few concerns, and a handful of objections.
But right now, she needed this. She needed her friends to come together, she needed a distraction, she needed a plan, even if the plan was only a side quest that didn’t help her get closer to dealing with her own problems.
She looked back at the phone. And hit send.