With tears forming in my eye I asked, “We’re still best friends though, right?”
Nodding her head and laughing, she said, “Of course, silly! Where would you be without me?” She slapped me on the arm. “More importantly, where would I be without you?”
Shaking my head, I said, “Probably in a hole or jail because of all of the fashion crimes you’ve committed.”
Britt laughed at me. “Yeah, probably.”
Looking around at our tiny hole of an apartment, I couldn’t help but feel sad. Britt and I had created so many memories here together, but I wanted her to be happy and I knew moving to L.A. would do just that for her.
Looking back at Britt, I said, “You wanna start packing?”
“Not really.”
“There’s wine!” I sang.
Lifting her eyes to meet mine, I saw mascara all over her face. I tried to clean up the hot mess. “What do you think?”
Smiling up at me, she asked, “Chinese?”
“Of course.”
“Cookie dough ice cream?”
I had a crazy look on my face. “Would we have it any other way?”
Shaking her head, she smiled up at me and said, “No, we wouldn’t.”
I smiled down at Britt and kissed her on the forehead. Wrapping my right arm around her shoulder, I walked us into the kitchen. While Britt got the wine in a box from the fridge… Yeah, that’s right. Don’t judge us. Not only is it cheap and some good shit, but it also lasts longer than a normal bottle of wine, I got down two pimp cups for us.
Placing the box on the counter, Britt took her cup and poured as much wine into it as would fit. While I did the same, Britt went over and plopped down onto the old ratty couch we had. I knew desperate times called for desperate measures. After I ordered the Chinese food, I pulled the cookie dough ice cream from the freezer and the chocolate fudge brownies from the pantry my Grandma had made for us.
Face down in the couch cushion, Britt mumbled, “Brownies?”
Smiling down at my pathetic best friend, I said, “It’s an emergency.”
Quickly lifting her head from in between the cushions, she looked shocked. “Wait! We’ve never done this before.”
I nodded. “I know! I was holding it for a post break-up, but you’re always breaking up with the poor bastards and yours truly is way too busy to be in a relationship right now.” I paused briefly. “So this is our emergency.”
Bending at the waist, I held out the ice cream in one hand and the brownies in the other. “Behold, I give you the best cookie dough ice cream known to man, woman, and Louis Vuitton,” and handed it to her. She took the ice cream. “And I give you the bestest in the world chocolate fudge brownies.”
With the ice cream and brownies in hand, she asked, “Patrick?”
“Britt Thomas, are you up for the mission?”
She giggled. “I’m so ready! The real question is, are you?”
Smiling at my best friend, I actually thought about her question. Was I ready for her to leave? No, but I knew she would be happy, so I was. Looking down at the ice cream and brownies, I chuckled and said, “It’ll be a struggle, but it’s sooo going to be worth it in the end.”
At least I hope it is.
Chapter 3
Derrick
“Derrick, I need to talk to you for a second.”
Hearing Ash’s sweet voice turn into one of turmoil, my heart dropped and my stomach tightened. I was nervous for my best friend. I knew I needed to be strong for her.
Looking down at Ash, I nodded my head towards the café. “You want to get a drink? My treat.” Ash barely looked at me when she shrugged her shoulders and started to walk off in that direction. I started to wonder if I had done anything wrong so I started to think about it.
“What would you like, sir?”
Feeling someone nudge me in the side, I looked down at Ash. Then realizing we were in line to get coffee, my head popped up to look at the barista. “Sorry. I’ll have a caramel macchiato, please.” Seeing her write my order down on the cup, I knew she was annoyed with me, so after paying for my overpriced, yet delicious drink I left a three dollar tip in the jar by the cash register.
I stood stock still, waiting for my drink. I was so nervous. Over the loud music playing on the speakers I could hear Ash’s foot tapping and saw her biting at her nails. I knew when she was nervous she would either bite at her nails or twist her hair in her finger.
Holy shitballs, she’s doing both. Well, goddamn, I’m in for some deep shit.
Once our drinks were ready we grabbed them and went and sat in the corner on the comfy chairs. On any other day I would feel relaxed, but this wasn’t that type of day.