Chapter 11 #2
As predicted, Abby was too lost in her exasperation about her sister to care what Naomi needed the phone for.
She unlocked her phone and handed it to Naomi without stopping.
“Which is this fun thing we’ve been doing since their whole marriage …
debacle, if you can even call it that. She asks me to help her.
Not really asks, demands. And then hates whatever I suggest. And I’d like to help her, I really would.
She makes me want to pull my eyelashes out sometimes, but she’s also my sister, and I only want her to be in pain if I’m causing it.
But I’ve also never really understood what her motivation is.
And I’ve never really gotten to know Peter super well, which I feel bad about.
But I also felt so awful being around him when I knew what his wife was up to.
But at the same time, I didn’t feel like it was my job to tell him.
Those two are an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, tangled inside one giant ball of dysfunction.
All I have to say is, be glad you are an only child. ”
One minute to go.
Pretend to listen and scroll, pretend to listen and scroll and … there it was. The phone lit up in her hand, and Becca’s name flashed across the screen. Her heart was tapping out an Irish step dance as she held it up for Abby. “Oh. Oh, h-hey. Looks like Becca is calling.”
But Abby didn’t take the phone. “Oh, good. Either a pocket dial or she’s calling to register another complaint. I think I’ll pass.”
“No!” she said it so loudly, she startled herself as much as Abby. She tried again, reminding herself this would all be over in a few moments. “No, um, it really sounds like she’s going through a tough time right now. You literally just said you don’t want to see her in pain.”
Abby scrunched her face but, thankfully, took the phone. “You know, I don’t feel it’s proper best friend duty to throw my words back in my face and make me be a good person.”
Naomi didn’t reply. She only watched, breath frozen in her lungs, as Abby answered the call. Home stretch. “Hello? Hello?” she said again before confirming what Naomi already knew, “Yep, pocket dial.”
Riley had told her to act interested in the call, to get Abby to listen in rather than hanging up right away. “What do you hear?” she asked.
“It sounds like Becca is at Riley’s getting her version of a cup of sugar?”
Becca was supposed to pretend like she was coming by for clothing advice, but given how things had gone last time, it would come as no surprise to Naomi if Becca was already going off script. Abby paused and listened a little more before chuckling. “Oh my God. It’s Will, too.”
“That’s right,” Naomi said, like she was only now remembering. “Will mentioned he might hang out with Riley tonight.”
“Either way, I don’t really need to listen to her talk about how she’s going to use sex toys with Peter from the ass of her jeans.” That was definitely not in the script.
Abby began to pull the phone away from her ear.
Naomi grabbed her arm to stop her from pressing the disconnect. “Wait, wait,” she said, quickly searching for something, anything, that would pique Abby’s curiosity enough to keep her listening. “Aren’t you curious to find out what Will and Riley are like when we’re not around?”
Abby considered this. It might have only been a few seconds, but those seconds stretched into millennia while she waited.
Finally, she nodded. “Alright, this might be worth it after all. It sounds like Will is about to spill some tea.” She put the phone back to her ear and furrowed her brow as she began to listen more intently.
Naomi felt like a marathon runner crossing the finish line. She squeezed her hands tightly, to hold back the internal “whoop!” that threatened to come out. She’d done it. Now it was up to Becca, Will, and Riley.
And they must have been pulling their weight because Abby’s mouth was slowly dropping open until it looked like her jaw was dangerously close to falling off.
Eventually, Abby lowered the phone, her face blank.
Naomi had, of course, wondered how her best friend would react to overhearing that Freya was in love with her.
She’d imagined a few scenarios, but none that involved Abby in total, stunned silence.
She had expected laughter, possibly anger, even potentially a victory lap.
But this was unusual. And curious. “So? Hear anything good?” she asked, hoping to get something out of her.
“I’m not feeling well all of a sudden,” Abby said, patting her forehead and her stomach, as if she wasn’t quite sure where the ailment was.
“Do you want to step outside? Get some fresh air?” Talk about what’s got you in such a tizzy?
“I think I need to go home.”
“Oh, sure. We can grab a cab and—”
But Abby had already turned and walked away.
Naomi watched her and then let out a little giggle. Okay, maybe that had been a little more fun than she had been expecting.
She waited a few more seconds and then walked outside. Abby was already gone.
She sent off a quick text to the group.
NAOMI: Abby heard the call and left. I’ll head over now.
Her message got a thumbs up. It might have been the adrenaline, but the cold winter air didn’t feel quite so frosty anymore, and she decided to walk.
As she wound through the city streets, she replayed what happened in her mind for any indication that in might have actually worked, but she couldn’t tell for sure.
After half an hour, she arrived at her destination.
It was Riley’s favorite hangout spot and the post-The Plan meetup point: a goth-inspired café and cocktail shop.
Through the window in the door, she could see Will, Riley, and Becca sitting at a table in the back, giant grins plastered across their faces.
Inside, only a few feet away, was everything she’d ever wanted.
Not only a good man who loved her, but who loved and was loved by her chosen family.
She couldn’t help but grin too. Taking hold of the skull-shaped doorknob, she pulled open the door and was greeted by a welcome blast of warm air and roaring laughter.
Her friends looked up and let out some excited, if not particularly sober, cheers. “I’m with them,” she said to the barista/bartender.
“You’re here!” Will waved at her.
Riley patted the chair next to them. “Sit down and tell us everything!”
“Do you think it worked?” Becca asked, bouncing in her seat.
Naomi hung her coat on a nearby hook on the wall and then sat down, giving her companions a quick once-over. “Hang on a second, you weren’t expecting me to meet you here for at least another hour. How are you all already drunk?”
“There may have been some shots involved,” Will said, a chagrined look on his face.
“Shots? You don’t do shots.”
“With me, everyone does shots,” Becca said, reaching across the table and patting her on the hand. “You know that.”
She did, unfortunately.
“I took the liberty of ordering you a drink,” Will said, pushing a midnight black drink in a martini glass towards her. She sipped her drink, the surprising sweetness harmonizing with the happy chaos of the table.
“Drinks later, news first,” Riley said. “How did Abby take it?”
Naomi could only shrug. “She got this really strange look on her face and … left. Not sure what that means.”
“It means my plan has been perfectly executed,” Riley said. “Almost perfect except for when Will and Becca both went off script.”
“I told you I wasn’t going to use words like ‘thirst’ and ‘ache’ to describe anything about Freya, my boss,” Will said.
“And I don’t see how comparing my sister to a fictional character who slaughters innocent people was going to do anything but motivate her to see past her ego,” Becca added.
“As I was saying,” Riley continued, “Despite these mishaps, we’ve done great work.”
“Well, cheers!” Naomi said, raising her glass. If nothing else, this adventure had brought them together and made Will one of the crew in a way she could never have managed on her own.
“But do we think it worked?” Becca asked as she clinked her glass. “Like if she didn’t react, is that a bad thing? And Freya, too? It’s not like she’s done anything about it either.”
Riley took a purposeful gulp and then returned their glass to the table with a thunk.
“Absolutely, it worked. But if there’s one thing we can be certain of, it’s that we are dealing with two of the most stubborn human beings on the planet.
Even if they know how they feel now, they’re not going to admit that they have these feelings. They need a push.”
“Wait, there’s more for us to do?” Naomi asked. “I thought The Plan was done.”
“It is. Because we can’t do anything, but the right situation can. It’s all about the game of chess we’re playing with fate,” Riley said, their eyes sparkling. “We’ve put the pieces into place, ensuring that when the right circumstances occur, they’ll be ready and it will be checkmate.”
Will lifted his drink. “You are truly the Grandmaster of love.”
“As the great poet Taylor Swift said, love can be a ruthless game. So then I say to you, dear friends, if that’s true, then let’s play it to win.”