A much needed drink

As soon as I got off the phone with Josh I texted Matt to see if he wanted to meet up for a late drink.  I needed to talk to someone and it helped that he was impartial because he didn’t really know Katelyn other than meeting her on the weekend. Also, he had obviously dealt with this kind of thing before with his mom so I wanted to know what he thought.

He answered me almost right away saying he could really use a drink himself, so we decided to meet at Guinness for a night cap. I got there before Matt so I ordered a glass of red wine while I waited.

He got there less than 10 minutes later and ordered a scotch, neat.  

“Starting on the hard stuff already, eh? Rough day?” I asked lightly.

“Yeah, it was an interesting one, that’s for sure…” He answered just as the waitress brought his drink over. “But I’m happy you texted me, I had fun the other night and everything but I feel like I didn’t get a chance to talk to you much” He said with a smile. My stomach immediately started doing somersaults and I tried to use some super human powers to stop it.  

I noticed he was one of those people whose eyes changed when he smiled. They almost twinkled (cliché I know, but if you saw him, you would agree) and he expressed a lot of emotions through his eyes.

“So what made your day interesting?” I asked as I gulped a big sip of my wine. After the conversation I had with Josh, I needed about 6 glasses of wine but figured 1 would be a good start.

“Just hectic and non-stop, but I don’t want to bother you with my crap, how was this morning with Katelyn, did you guys talk about last night at all?” he asked with concern in his eyes.

I sighed heavily “No, I didn’t want to ruin the weekend and I wanted to talk to Josh so I just called him after work…” I trailed off.

“What did he have to say about everything?”

I spilled everything to him that Josh had told me, and he cringed here and there as I spoke. I think hearing about everything hit home for him and reminded him of his childhood and the days he spent dealing with his mom.

“She definitely needs help and she’s lucky to have people who care a lot about her to want to help her, so no matter what don’t feel like you’ve done anything wrong, okay?”

He must have read the confusion on my face and continued, “I just know that when people are in denial about having a problem like this, they get angry at the ones they love and the ones who try to help them. You are doing the right thing Sarah, so I just don’t want you to feel like you’ve done something wrong for talking to her boyfriend about her without her knowing.”

He reached out to hold my hand and we just sat there for a bit. It felt so nice being able to have a comfortable silence with someone.

“So what’s the next step?” He asked me.

“Well this weekend is a total right off. I have the football game with Aleah on Saturday and then we’re all doing a girls night later on so I’m thinking maybe next weekend I’ll make a trip up to see her and then go from there. I know her parents really well and I would feel like such a teenager going to them but if she won’t listen and denies there’s a problem then that’s my only choice.”

“That’s probably a good idea, you’ll get a better idea of what’s going on if you go and visit her. On a lighter note, I think I’m going to the game as well so I might have to steal you away for a bit to join me for a watered down keg beer.” He said with a small laugh.

I giggled “Of course we’ll have to have a watered down beer together, it’s a must when you’re tailgating! Are you a big football fan?” I asked.

“Not really, I mean I like it but don’t really follow any teams or anything. I love the atmosphere of any game though, so I figured I would check it out. I’ve always been more of a hockey guy. I played all my life and I’m a total diehard Kings fan” He replied.

“Please tell me your one of those guys whose bedroom is still decked out in hockey memorabilia?” I asked while I laughed.

Without missing a beat he answered, “You’ll just have to see for yourself, won’t you?” and winked.

Well well well, maybe he didn’t want to put off the physical stuff as long as I thought.

I tried to act nonchalant (which means I probably looked like I was trying WAY too hard to make it look as if I wasn’t trying at all) “I’ll be waiting for my invitation then” I said back and smiled.

Just then our waitress walked over to the table “Sorry guys, we gotta close early tonight, we just had a pipe burst downstairs in our storage room so we have one of those 24 hour crews coming to work on it.” She explained.

I was bummed when she said this, I was hoping to spend some more time with Matt and 1 glass of wine was not enough to comfort me after the weekend with Katelyn.

“Well I think we both need a few more of these” Matt said as he shook his empty scotch glass, “Why don’t we pay up and can head over to my place?”  

I swear this guy could read minds. Or I was just very obvious with my body language.

“That sounds perfect!” I said enthusiastically. “I’ll just leave my car here, I’ve done it a few times before and they don’t seem to mind.”

We made our way into his truck and started heading over to his place.

“You okay with Merlot? I think it’s the only red I have at home but there’s a liquor store by my house so we can stop and get something” He asked as we merged onto the highway.

I laughed, “I’m on a student budget, so I’m not picky when it comes to booze. I usually go for the cheapest bottle I can find” I admitted.

He started laughing, “Nothing wrong with cheap wine, just gotta drink more of it so you don’t realize that you’re drinking the cheap stuff”

When we pulled into the driveway of Matt’s house, I was pleasantly surprised. I had expected him to be living in one of the student housing subdivisions like most of the other people who lived off campus, but we pulled up to a beautiful house with at least an acre worth of property.

“Wow! This is amazing!” I said to him as he put the truck in park.

“Thanks! I’ve never been a fan of living right in the city, I like having a bit more openness.”

He gave me a tour once we got in. It wasn’t a huge house, but a decent size and decorated beautifully.

We walked into the basement, and it was exactly what you would think of when you hear the phrase “man cave”. He wasn’t kidding when he said he was a diehard Kings fan. It looked like a mini hockey hall of fame dedicated to the L.A Kings.

“Wow, this is insane!” I said as he handed me a glass of wine.

“Yeah, I’ve been collecting this stuff since I was a kid” he said.

We sat on the couch and he browsed through Netflix and we decided to watch “Superbad” since I hadn’t watched it in a while and we both said we were big Seth Rogan fans.

We spent the next 2 hours alternating between laughing, talking, and telling stories and some heavy make out sessions (and a little below the belt touching). It was so much fun to be able to hang out and let loose around him.

Eventually, I could feel my eye lids closing and knew I needed to get some sleep. Since we had both been drinking, I didn’t want him to drive me so I said I would call a cab.

“Don’t be silly, that’s a waste. I can drop you off to your car in the morning if you wanna stay over…” He said.

I was exhausted and wasn’t crazy about taking cabs at night by myself, so I agreed.

“Yeah good call, I’d probably fall asleep in the cab anyways” I joked.

He pulled me on top of him so I was straddling him on the couch. “We wouldn’t want that now would we?”

He pulled me in for a deep kiss as he ran his fingers through my hair before finally pulling away.

“Alright let’s find you something to sleep in” He said as he held my hand and we walked upstairs to his bedroom.

He went into his drawer and grabbed a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt.

“Sorry about the size, I think you might be a tad smaller than me” He said with a smile as he handed me the clothes.

“Don’t worry, this works. Thanks!” I stood on my tippy toes and kissed him lightly.

I got changed in the bathroom and came back in to his room.

“I can stay in the spare room if you’re more comfortable that way” He said.

“No no it’s okay...” I replied.

I knew we were both way too tired to do any fooling around, and I also knew that Matt didn’t want to rush sex so I was completely comfortable with just sharing a bed and not actually “sleeping together”.

We climbed into bed and he pulled me into him so he was spooning me.

"I have to say, I could get used to this” he whispered into my ear and I felt my cheeks grow warm and smiled.

“Me too” I whispered back.

He kissed me on the shoulder and said “Goodnight beautiful” just as I drifted off to sleep.

 

Overload

**Thank you so much to all of you for wishing me a Happy Birthday! That was so sweet and I appreciate everyone being patient with the post! It's a long one :-) Have a fantastic weekend everyone!**

I messaged Josh back right away, letting him know I was on my way to work but would call him later. I didn’t want him sitting and waiting for his phone while I worked for the next 5 hours and I didn’t want to squeeze in our conversation right before work because I had a feeling there was a lot to talk about.

When I walked into the bar, it was about half full and the majority of the customers were regulars who came every Sunday to watch football and drink. I hadn’t been working there long but I quickly learned who the regulars were and what they ordered.

“Hey sweetheart!” I looked to the end of the bar and Brian was sitting there, drinking his watered down rum and coke.

He was probably the sweetest older man I had ever met. His wife had passed about 5 years ago and I think he came in to the bar so much just to have some company. He would usually sit for about 4 hours but would have 2 drinks maximum and was always chatting with the servers and other patrons.

I loved Brian because he was not only a great tipper, but I also found him genuinely interesting to talk to. Sometimes I would find myself staying more than an hour after my shift just sitting and talking to him (this usually started as me doing my cash out at the bar and then getting fascinated with one of his stories and loosing track of time). I also was absolutely in love with his dog.

“Hey Bri, how’s my favourite customer?” I asked cheerily as I walked up to him.

Even though I had a lot on my mind and couldn’t stop thinking about the call I had to make to Josh, I tried my best to focus on work and having Brian there would definitely lift my mood. He was like an adoptive grandpa and had a great positive energy about him.

“I bet you say that to all the guys!” He said with a smile and a wink.  

Just then I heard the familiar dog collar jingle from beside his stool.

“Bella!” I exclaimed as I bent down and started petting her.

Brian got Bella about a month ago and they had been inseparable ever since. Now, I know most people would say it’s unsanitary to let a dog be in a bar but she was the most well behaved dog in the world. The craziest thing is that she was only 2 years old but she was so calm and quiet that most people didn’t even notice her unless they actually saw her. She was a shepherd/husky mix which should have made for a very high energy and hyper dog, but not Bella.

Prior to Brian adopting her, Bella was in a very abusive home, but she had a heart of gold and reminded me a lot of my dog back at home. The owner of the bar, Tom, was a huge dog lover and had become quite close with Brian over the last 5 years so he had no issues with Bella being in the bar as long as she was behaved, which she always was.

“Nope you really are my favourite, but don’t tell the other guys” I said back to him while continuing to pet Bella. “Have I mentioned to you that if you ever need someone to watch this pretty girl I would be at the front of the line?”

He laughed, “Only about a hundred times! Don’t you worry if I ever need a dog sitter you will be my first call!” I chatted a bit more with Brian before I took over the bar from Sam, who had opened that morning.

I hadn’t really talked to Sam much since I started because we were always on opposite shifts but he seemed really nice. He was a bit older than me, probably closer to mid-30’s but was always friendly. Tom always referred to him as “my boy” even though he wasn’t his son or anything, I think he had just been working for him for so long that they had established a good relationship.

“Bye Sam, have a good night!” I said to him as I started doing beer count.

“Actually I'll be back later, I, um, have a date…” He mumbled while looking down.

I had just assumed he was married since he was in his thirties but I guess I really didn’t know too much about him.

“You’re bringing a date here?” I asked, sounding more surprised than I had intended. I didn’t mean for it to come out rude or anything, I just didn’t see The Black Bull as a place you would take a date.
I mean don't get me wrong, they have good food (if your okay with 90% of the menu being deep fried) and I loved both the customers and the other people that worked there, but it was totally a dive bar.

His eyes widened when I asked him that. “Ya, I was going to. Why, you don’t think it’s a good idea?” He asked, sounding nervous.

“My boy, you don’t take a girl on a date and bring her to the pub you work at! You want her thinkin’ you’re cheap?” Tom shouted from the back office.

I started giggling – for an older man his senses were so sharp, I swear he heard and saw absolutely everything that went on.

“Shit, you’re right” He said quietly. He looked so out of sorts and I was guessing he didn’t date much, which didn’t really make sense because he was a nice enough looking guy.

“Is this a first date or have you gone out before?” I asked, not because I was being nosy but I was trying to think of a good place he could go (okay, maybe it was both).

“First date.” He answered back.

“Okay, you should take her to Brewsters! It’s casual but nice and they make all of their own micro-brews right there at the restaurant! The food has always been awesome too.” I said enthusiastically, trying to get him a little bit more amped for his date.

“Oh yeah, I’ve driven by there and wanted to try, I’ve heard good things!” He said, looking a little more upbeat.

“It’s really good, I’m sure you will have a great time!” I said while pouring a pint of Budweiser for another regular, Jim whose beer was getting low.

Another thing you start to know is how many drinks the regulars usually have before calling it a night. For most of them, the general rule is to keep pouring until they ask for the tab.

“Thanks doll.” He said as I placed it in front of him.

Jim didn’t talk a whole lot but was polite and friendly when he did.

“No problem!” I answered.

“Well thanks for the suggestion Sarah, have a good shift! By the way, were getting low on cranberry juice, can you mention it to Tom tonight?” He said as he was leaving.

I knew I would forget with everything going on so I went to tell him right away.

“Tom, we’re running –“

“Cranberry juice. Got it.” He said without looking up.

Again, that man hears everything.

_________________________________________________________________________________

I went back behind the bar and started cleaning up a bit, trying to keep myself busy and distracted.

“Poor guy, in the same boat as me.” Brian suddenly said as he finished the last of his rum and coke.

“What? Who?” I asked him, confused.

“Sammy boy. Lost his wife 2 years ago.” He said while pulling out his wallet. He never needed a tab because he had memorized exactly what 2 rum and cokes came out to be (plus a hefty tip as usual).

“Oh my god, are you serious?! That’s so sad, what happened?” I asked.

“Some sort of accident. He doesn’t talk about it much, so I don’t bring it up. Such a shame to see a life go so early. At least I got 50 years with Betty before she passed. Sammy only got a couple years with his bride.” He said while shaking his head and fiddling with his wedding ring which he still wore.

I didn’t even know what to say. My heart ached for them both to lose their spouses, but Sam lost his wife right when they were starting their life out together, and I felt terrible for him.

“C’mon Bella, let’s go. Time for our truck ride home.” Brian said as he laid down some money and started walking to the door.

“Have a great night you two!” I yelled over to him.

“Thanks love, stay outta trouble” He said back.

The rest of the shift went by relatively slow and I only had a few customers.  I couldn’t help thinking about Sam and the heartache he had been through. No wonder he seemed like a newbie at dating, he probably hadn’t been out much since his wife passed. I was surprised that none of the other girls at work had mentioned this about him, but it might not be well known so I decided I wouldn’t say anything about it to anyone.

After cashing out and driving home, I sat in my car (just in case anyone was home I wanted some privacy) in the parking lot of our apartment building and pulled up Josh’s contact and pressed the little phone icon to call him.

“Hello?” He answered on the second ring.

“It’s Sarah” Was all I said, I just wanted to get to the point and know what was going on.

“Hey, I’m glad you called.”

“Yeah, so can you just start from the beginning and tell me what’s going on with her?” I asked. I wasn’t trying to be short with him but I was tired from work, and the weekend, and just everything.

“Okay, but you have to tell me what happened this weekend if I’m willing to tell you everything” He said.

“What do you mean?”

“Well obviously you noticed something or you wouldn’t have thought to message me, and I don’t want you holding anything back. I deserve to know, Sarah. No pulling the girl code card here.” He was being firm but I know he wasn’t trying to be controlling, he was just worried about Katelyn.
“Okay I won’t.” I’m all for girl code but when I was seriously concerned about the health or well-being of one of my friends, things changed.

“Well I started noticing her changing a couple months ago. Nothing too big, but partying a lot more, lost some weight, started hanging out with people I had never met and she wouldn’t invite me to go anywhere with her. I thought we just hit a rough patch maybe so I didn’t think there was anything more to it. Then she started going to a few raves over the summer and even for the party girl she’s always been, she was never into raves.”

“Yeah, I know she used to make fun of people that went to them and she hates EDM” I said.

“Exactly! Anyways, I was getting worried that she was slipping away from me so I brought it up and she flipped out. Called me clingy, said I needed more of my own friends, stuff like that.”

“That doesn’t even sound like her…”

“I know, that’s what had me worried. She never talked to me like that and we always had such a strong relationship, I never knew she thought that way. I knew that I didn’t want to lose her so I did what she asked and let her do her own thing more, but even when we did see each other it wasn’t the same. She wasn’t the same.”

There was so much emptiness in Josh’s voice and I immediately felt bad for being snippy with him.

“So a few weekends ago, she asked me to go to this music festival with her that a bunch of her new friends were going to. I was excited that she invited me this time and figured that things were getting better. About half way through the first night, she left her phone sitting open on a group message when she went to the bathroom. I looked at the text and saw she had sent it to about 5 people and all it said is “Anyone seen Molly?” I had no idea what that meant but then she started asking random people if they had seen Molly. I was so confused and asked her if that was one of her new friends and she just laughed and said “Oh my god Josh you are so stupid sometimes” and that was it. I was sick of feeling left out and fighting so hard for her attention when she was treating me like shit, so I left the festival and drove home that night.”

“Josh, Molly is a form of MDMA…” I said as I was trying to process everything he was saying. This wasn’t the Katelyn I knew. He was right, she never talked to him like that and if anything, she had been the clingier one throughout their whole relationship.

“I know that, now. I told my roommate about everything when I got back from the festival and he told me that Molly is a street name for it. So, when she came back I brought it up and she said it wasn’t a big deal, that everyone takes it at raves. Still, I told her it worried me and I wasn’t comfortable with how it made her act. She started crying and apologized, and said she wouldn’t do it again. It’s like she was back to her regular self once she was sober. I thought things would go back to how we were but she was still not herself. Glued to her phone when we would hang out, distracted, wouldn’t return my calls, stuff like that. Anyways, one night we had plans to go out for a nice dinner and she didn’t show. I tried calling and texting her but she didn’t answer so I got worried. I went over to her place and without thinking just walked in as I usually did…”

He sighed heavily again and said “I walked in on her doing a line of coke on her coffee table. And there was some random dude I had never seen sitting on the couch without a shirt on.”

“Josh…” I started. He sounded completely broken as he re told me.

“That’s when I broke things off. I flipped out and left. But, a few days later I realized that I still loved and cared about her. We've been together for too long to just throw things out the window. Not only that, I'm worried about her and I don't want her to go down a path that will ruin her life. I told her I would help her and do everything I could to go back to how things were and to get her back to the old Katelyn but she refused and hasn’t returned any of my calls or texts other than to say to leave her alone. This isn’t her Sarah, I just want to get her help…”

“So do I. We need to do something.”

Author's Note

Hi Everyone!
I know I usually post on Thursdays but I will have to put this one off until tomorrow. It's my birthday today so I took the day off work and will be spending it with some friends and family!
Sorry, hope everyone has a great day!

- S xo

Mr. Observant

*** A few people asked for a bonus post, so here it is!! Thank you for reading!! I love reading your guys comments so please feel free to let me know your thoughts :)***

“What do you mean buying something? Like drugs?” I asked Chloe, after what she just told me.

My heart was racing. I mean, I knew something was up with Katelyn but I didn’t think it was something this serious.

She fidgeted nervously and tugged on the hem of her shirt.

“Well I saw her give him money, and I think I recognized the guy, I used to see him around when I lived in residence first year. I know he’s a dealer because there were a few girls on my floor that were big into the rave thing and would buy off him all the time.”

I stood still while I tried to take in this information. If Chloe was right and Katelyn was buying drugs, it actually kind of made sense with all the weird little things going on.

“You need help” Josh’s text had said. Maybe I should talk to Josh, he obviously knew more about the whole thing than I did.

“Okay, well thanks for letting me know. I mean, she’s always been a hard partier but never to the point where it was a concern…” I trailed off.

“Ya of course, I just wanted you to know, but don’t assume anything until you talk to her. Maybe sleep on it and see how things are tomorrow?” She suggested.

I nodded back at her, in agreement.

“Well I’m drained but tonight was fun! Thanks for getting everyone out, as much as they drive me crazy I did miss the boys over summer.” She said, smiling at me. God bless that girl and her ability to up the mood in any situation.  

“Ya totally! Well I think we should head out too, I will let you know about Kate once she leaves tomorrow. Let’s go to the gym Monday after class?” I suggested.

“I’m down! Gotta work off all that shit I just ate” She giggled. “Oh and it’s nice to know Matt’s personality is as good as his looks! He didn’t take his eyes off you all night by the way” She said with a wink as she turned to leave.

I walked back over to the table to collect Katelyn and head home.

“Ready to go party animal?” I asked as I approached the table.

“No way! It’s early, let’s hit up another bar!” She said eagerly.  

That's the last thing you need, I thought.

Matt could sense that I wanted to leave and thankfully piped up, “Well I’m gunna head out now so I can give you guys a ride to your apartment if you want?". He had only had 2 beers over the course of the night and a ride sounded much better than walking home late at night.

I turned to him “Thank you, that would be great. Kate if we leave now we can get a ride, it’s gunna be last call at most places anyways” I said to her.

She rolled her eyes at me like a stubborn teenager and grabbed her purse. When she stood up, I noticed for the first time all weekend that she had lost weight. Not a lot, but enough to notice as she already had a pretty petite frame.

We said goodbye to everyone and made our way out into the parking lot. I was walking close to Matt, with our arms brushing while Katelyn was talking non stop about absolutely nothing behind us.

On our way home, I mindlessly thought of all the years I had known Katelyn and her family, and couldn’t think of anything that could have been a sign.

“You okay?” Matt asked and snapped me out of my thoughts finally.

I tried to force a smile, but he knew it was fake and had a concerned look on his face.  

When we pulled up to the apartment building, I wanted to say a proper goodnight to Matt so I gave Katelyn my keys and told her to head up.

I watched her stumble out of the truck and to the main door of the building before I couldn’t hold it in any more and started bursting out in tears.

I told Matt everything about the weekend and what was going on with Katelyn, and he listened patiently, nodding at the right times and squeezing my hand.

When I was finished, he looked at me and asked, “Do you want my honest opinion?”

I wiped a tear off my face with my hand (I knew I totally had the ugly cry face going on) and nodded.

“She’s on something. Whether she admits it or not when you bring it up, I can guarantee she took something tonight. She made frequent trips to the bathroom alone, her pupils were huge and she was really animated when she spoke.”

I was a little surprised that he noticed all of that when even I didn’t. “Wow, I didn’t know you were so observant” I said while all of a sudden realizing that everything he said was right.

He smiled at me “I’m not in all aspects; I guess I’ve just conditioned myself to pick up on these things with all the shit with my mom. I was actually going to mention her behaviour to you but it was kind of hard in front of everyone and I didn’t want to embarrass her or start a fight between you two…” He said.

“It’s okay, thank you for keeping it to yourself around everyone, I don’t even know how I’m going to approach this with her. We had such a nice visit this weekend I don’t want to ruin it all with a fight” I said, half whining.

“I get that but I know how bad these situations can turn out and how fast someone can go downhill. Do you know this Josh guy well? Maybe you could talk to him and see what the deal is.” He suggested.

“Ya we went to school together, I was thinking about talking to him but I don’t want to seem sneaky…” I replied.

“No matter what way you approach this, it’s not going to be a fun conversation. I only suggest talking to him because she will either lie to you or downplay the whole thing. I don’t know her well obviously, but it’s what people usually do, deny that there’s an actual problem.”

I thought about what he said and I knew he was right. I had seen countless Intervention episodes and also taken a few psych classes that went over addiction and it’s true, people deny they have a problem until they’re ready to make a change.

“You’re right. I’m gunna talk to Josh tomorrow after she leaves. I don’t want to ruin the end of our trip and bringing it up tonight isn’t going to do anything.” I said as I started to breathe normally again, after my crying fit. “Thank you, for the ride, and for listening.”

His face was close to mine and he gently pulled my chin up and pressed his lips onto mine. It was a slow and sweet kiss but there was still an intense passion behind it.

All this kissing was teasing me, it was like being able to taste the frosting on a cupcake and then have someone take it away before being able to enjoy the rest. I couldn't wait to "indulge" a bit more when we had our next date.

He pulled my face away and had a serious look “Do not hesitate to call me for anything, okay?” He asked.

It was a small but sweet gesture that showed he cared. I nodded, kissed him once more and headed in.

Thankfully someone else was going into the building at the same time as me so I snuck in and went up to my apartment.

Katelyn was watching something on TV when I came in but I was exhausted, physically and emotionally and headed to bed.

Katelyn had to leave fairly early on Sunday since we both had homework to do and I hadn’t been able to get rid of my Sunday shift so I had to work in the afternoon anyways.

She was acting completely like her old self, and must have figured I hadn’t noticed anything the night before. I knew that I couldn’t just forget about it though and as much as I hated confrontation, I wasn’t going to sit by and watch her do this to herself. I wanted to talk to Josh and then would decide how to handle it.

We hugged and both said how much fun we had and promised to try and visit our parents on the same weekend so we could hang out at home together.

As soon as she left I pulled up Facebook on my iPhone. I didn’t want Josh to panic or anything so I just sent him a casual message:

Hey Josh!

How’s it going? Hopefully the start of the semester is going well for you.

Anyways, Kate visited me this weekend and I just wanted to talk to you about something. Can you let me know when a good time to call you would be?

Thanks! :)

I figured that sounded breezy enough, sent it, and left the ball in his court.

I spent the rest of the morning getting ahead on an assignment that was due next Monday. I wasn’t usually this prepped or ahead on school work, but Aleah had invited me to go to the McNeese football game next Saturday and then we had planned a girls night for later that night so I knew I wouldn’t be getting much done that weekend.

At about 2:30 I started getting ready for work. The restaurant I worked at was called the Black Bull and thankfully our uniform was pretty casual. Just the t-shirt they provided, which was a black v neck with BB on the right breast and a bull stenciled on the back, and jeans. Tom even gave us the choice of regular jeans, jean shorts or a jean skirt.

I grabbed my work shoes and started walking towards the door when my phone buzzed.

It was a reply from Josh to my Facebook message:

Call me ASAP, doesn’t matter the time, just call me as soon as you can

I swallowed hard, so much for breezy. I guess things were worse than I thought.

 

Fun night? (Part 2)

I couldn’t wipe the surprised look off my face when I turned around and saw who was standing there.

Before I could say anything, Matt’s face broke into a huge smile.

“KIM! What are you doing here?!” He asked as he stood up and embraced her in a big hug.

I was so confused, which was probably pretty obvious by my face expression, so Matt elaborated.

“This is my friend from back home! I swear this girl was my lifesaver during my undergrad!”

Why did she call refer to him as “hers” if they’re just friends?  I thought. And how can he be good friends with someone as awful as her?

She laughed, and playfully swatted him, “Oh he’s just being nice, we helped each other. I’m actually here for work! I’ll be here for the next 6 weeks staging our new store!” She said chipperly.

“Kim works for Pottery Barn, in their corporate office, overseeing the opening of new stores

I couldn’t believe this was the same person who, just hours earlier, was ready to have our heads ripped off for “stealing her appointment” and now she was acting like the sweetest girl in the world. I wasn’t buying it.

She turned to me “Ahh, where are my manners! I’m Kim, and you are?” She extended her hand to me.

Being polite, I shook it and flatly said “Sarah.”

“Nice to meet you! I was totally kidding, Matty isn’t mine, just old friends”

I was unsure of what to say, and I couldn’t tell if she was pretending like we hadn’t met earlier in the day, or if she really didn’t recognize me.

Matt chucked and said “Yeah, but you’ve always been protective, so much like a sister!”

Her smile twitched when he said that.

“So Sarah, are you the new woman in Matty’s life that I should be grilling with questions?” Even though she said it nicely and with a smile on her face, I had a feeling it was just a front.

When she asked this, everyone at the table looked at me, waiting for my response. Since no one other than Chloe, Katelyn, and Maddie knew about Matt and I, I told her that we were just friends and I was trying to show him around since he was new to town.

I made eye contact with Katelyn who looked just as confused as I was. She obviously recognized the woman from before too, and was just as shocked as I was at her change in demeanour.

I definitely thought she was going to try and weasel her way into our group table when Matt asked if she wanted to join us for a drink, but for some reason the Gods were on my side that night. Or she was leaving to go and ruin some other poor receptionist’s day. “No thanks, I gotta get going, you guys enjoy your night. Matty lets meet up next week we have SO much to catch up on” She said while shooting me a side glance. Is no one else seeing this?! I thought.

“Sounds great Kim! I’ll give you a call this week” Matt said back, still smiling.

I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but it seems like men in general are not great at reading characters or detecting when someone is hiding their true colors.

After she walked away Matt went back to talking to the group, and gave my knee a slight squeeze under the table as if to assure me there wasn’t anything to worry about.

I needed girl chat stat.

“I’m just gunna run to the washroom, be right back!” I said loudly while looking at the girls, hoping one of them would be able to read my mind.

“I gotta go too, can I squeeze by?” Maddie said.

Even though she had no idea about what had happened at the spa earlier, she could tell something was up and I was glad she was the one to follow. (Katelyn was now on her fourth drink so I didn’t think she would be able to offer the best advice)

“Okay what the hell is up? Do you know her or something your eyes almost bulged out of your head when you saw her” Maddie said, as soon as we were alone in the bathroom.

I told her about that day at the spa.

“And you’re sure it’s the same chick? She seemed nice…a little fake maybe but nice.” Maddie said.

“I’m positive! Even Kate knew it was the same girl she looked just as surprised to see her! And she recognizes me, I know it, she obviously didn’t want to bring the whole thing up in front of Matt” I replied.

“Are you going to tell him?” Maddie asked.

“I dunno! What do you think I should do?! I mean, he obviously hasn’t seen that bitchy side of her so I don’t want to come off like some jealous psycho girl he’s only been on a few dates with.” I said.

“Well she said she’s only here for a few weeks, and if she’s here for work I’m sure she will be busy most of the time so I doubt she will be plotting any plans against you” Maddie said. I think she was trying to make me not jump to worse case scenarios, which was probably a good idea otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to think of anything else throughout the night.

“Your right, maybe she was just having a really bad day or something. Matt isn’t the type to be friends with someone like that” I said, trying to convince myself more than anything. I got a bad vibe off her, and that doesn’t happen too often.

“Right, so let’s try and have fun tonight. You’re here with Matt and you should enjoy it! Plus you get to be graced with my presence” She said jokingly while giving me a wink.

I forced a small smile and we were about to walk out when she grabbed me.

“Everything else okay? You’ve seemed kinda distracted all night, even before the wicked witch of wherever-the-hell-she’s-from showed up.” She looked at me suspiciously.

“Just some shit with Katelyn. I think something’s going on but she won’t talk to me” I said as I sighed.

“She does seem to be hitting the booze pretty hard, but that’s not really new…we will keep an eye on her tonight. Maybe she just needed a weekend to let loose, you know?” Maddie suggested.

“Yeah true enough, alright we better get back out there or else everyone’s gunna think we jumped out the window” I said as I opened the bathroom door.

When we got back to the table the appetizers were there and all the guys were digging in like wild animals.

I looked over at Katelyn whose eyes were glued to her phone with her fingers tapping rapidly.

“Hey there Hollywood, you better grab some food before the guys eat it all” I said to her lightly. I wanted her to eat something to try and soak up some of the food but I didn’t want to sound like a mom either. Whenever we would party or drink back in high school, as long as she ate, she could drink like a fish and not seem drunk at all, but if it was on an empty stomach, she would be passed out after 5 drinks. I didn’t want that happening because the night was supposed to be fun and it was still so early in the night.

She looked up from her phone and I could tell she was starting to get the droopy drunk eyes. Urgh c’mon Kate,  don’t go down this fast, I thought.

“Nah, I’m good, gotta pee though!” She said as she got up from the table

.Over the next few hours, Katelyn seemed to get her second wind, which was good. She didn’t eat, but she was bubbly, energetic, and wasn’t showing any signs of being drunk.

Our table grew because Jeff saw one a few of his buddies that he lived with in first year residence, so they joined us and everyone was talking and getting along really well. I had little internal yippee moment because I had put this together pretty last minute and it had turned out to be a really fun night (other than Kim showing up but I figured I wouldn’t think about her unless I had to).

Matt was doing an amazing job at splitting his conversation between me, and talking to the guys, trying to get to know them better, and even making a point to talk to the girls. He was being the perfect secret date/gentleman and was even giving me some leg rubs under the table that were coincidentally moving higher and higher up my thigh over the course of the night.

Before I knew it, it was after 1 am and I was getting to the point where all I wanted was a slice of pizza and bed.

“Maddie, ready to go? Is Kate just in the bathroom?” I asked her from across the table.

I had been busy talking to Matt that I didn’t even see her leave the table.

“Yup and yup, said she had to pee again.” She said as she started saying goodbye and how nice it was to meet everyone.

“I’ll walk you guys o-” Matt started to say, when Chloe came up to me from behind and whispered to me, “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

I got up and we walked over to the bar.

“What’s up?!” I said happily (I was in my Sangria bliss).

“Okay, I don’t want you to panic or anything, but my sister called me so I went outside to take the call..” She started while looking nervous.

“Anddddd?” I asked with wide eyes, expecting some juicy gossip or something.

“Your friend Katelyn was out there.”

“Oh, I thought she was in the washroom, maybe she just wanted some air…” I said.

“Well I saw her talking to some guy in his car and it looked pretty sketchy…”

“Why? What do you mean sketchy?” I asked, starting to get nervous and quickly felt my buzz leave my body.

“Sarah, I think she was buying something off of him”

 

Fun night? (Part 1)

***Note: This will be a 2 part post, be sure to check back tomorrow to see what happens in part 2!Thank you again for everyone who's been reading! :)***

 

Even though Katelyn and I had spent the afternoon being pampered at the spa, I couldn’t help but feel tense and filled with anxiety. I wanted to ask her about Josh, but at the same time I didn’t want her thinking I was snooping through her phone (which, for the record I was not – I thought it had been my phone to go off and I just happened to see Josh’s message when I looked at our phones). I was really concerned with what he said and was thinking of maybe sending him a quick message on Facebook when she left, if she still hadn’t talked to me about it.

His message had said “even if things aren’t the same.” What did that mean? Did they break up? If they had, then her reaction was definitely not normal for her, or for any one who had been dating the same person as long as they had.

As I was racking my brain, going through various scenarios, I heard the front door to the apartment open.

“HEEEEEYYY! You girls ready for a night out?!” I heard Maddie shouting from the front hallway. I smiled at how chipper she was and felt a little bit of the anxiety leave. She must have gotten ready at her boyfriend, Gavin’s, because she was all decked out in a little black dress with big curls shaping her face.

Katelyn went running out and gave her a big hug. “OH MY GOD Maddie! I haven’t seen you in over a year! You look amazing! How are you?”

I let them catch up a bit while I went back and tried to decide what to wear. Even though Kate was my bestie from home, she had met all my roomies since I had been going to school here and they all got along well., but that didn’t surprise me since all of the girls were very easy going.  

I considered pulling Maddie aside and talking to her about the text and how she had avoided talking about Josh, but I figured if Katelyn wasn’t even talking to me about it, she wouldn’t want anyone else knowing.

I had texted Matt earlier, letting him know the plan and I was excited to be able to see him tonight. I was hoping it would take off some of the uneasiness I was feeling about Katelyn’s situation.

Since we weren’t going to any clubs and would just be bar hopping, I kept it casual and settled on a pair of white skinny jeans, and a flowy black halter top. I was still sporting a decent tan from summer, so I didn’t wear any concealer or bronzer, and just applied a light coat of mascara, eyeliner, and lip gloss. I looked at myself in my full length mirror and smiled – it’s true what they say that you feel better when you look better! It felt good to get a little dressed up once in a while.

Just as I was slipping on a pair of black booties, I heard Katelyn yell to me from the kitchen, “SAR-BEAR! You ready? The bar is calling our names!”

I walked out of my room and Maddie let out a cat-call type whistle. “Sarah you look smoking!” She said.

I laughed, “Yeah, that’s just cause you’re used to seeing me in sweatpants with my hair sitting on top of my head.”

“Well it is nice to see you in something other than those but I mean it, you look awesome!” She replied happily.

“She’s right Sar! Your new boy toy is gunna have a hard time keeping it in his pants when he sees you!” Katelyn said. The girls must have done a few pre drinking shots because both of them had a slight flush to their cheeks, and about ¼ of the tequila bottle was gone.  

I giggled and shook my head. “Thank you! You ladies don’t look so shabby yourselves! And would you stop calling him that pleeeease! You said no embarrassing me!” I whined at Katelyn.

“Oh I’m just doing it to bug ya, I promise I will be on my best behaviour around Matt” She said, trying to keep a serious face.

We were walking out of the apartment building when my phone buzzed. It was Chloe letting me know she and a few others from the track team were already there and that they grabbed a big table near the bar. Before I could even reply and ask her if Matt was one of the “others” that was there already, a message came in from him:

Leaving in 5, should be there in about 20 minutes!

I replied: Great! We’re just on our way there now, see you soon :)

It took us less than 10 minutes to walk to the bar (another reason I picked Monty’s – no wasting money on cab fare) and when we got there I immediately spotted my friends from the track team – they were the loud boisterous group with 3 pitchers of beer on the table (even though there was only 4 of them there so far – Chloe, Adam, Ryan, and Jeff)

Chloe waved me over with her usual massive smile on her face. She was the only girl at the table, so she was probably relieved to see us come in. It’s not that we didn’t like hanging out with the guys on the track team, but when a couple guys get together and start drinking beer it can be a little difficult to be the only girl.

“Yay!! I’m glad you guys are here! I just ordered a pitcher of Sangria” Chloe said as she greeted us.

I made the introductions and we all started talking pretty easily. Our pitcher of sangria came shortly after and we all (well the girls anyways) poured a glass.

“So who’s all coming?” Adam asked nervously – he was probably the shyest of the guys on the track team, but once you were friends with him he opened up a lot more. He was actually one of the first friends I had made on the team and kind of like a brother to me.

“I think just us! And Matt, he was at the meet the other day, new to the track team” I said, trying to sound casual.

Adam’s face fell a little bit when I said that and I knew exactly why.

I nudged him “You know, if you just told her that you liked her, I’m sure she would notice you more” I said to him.

He had been border line in love with Amy, one of the girls on our track team ever since I first met him, and she was still clueless to the fact. It didn’t help his case that he never talked to her or attempted any sort of communication.

He just shook his head with a small laugh and looked down, almost as if he was embarrassed.

“If it makes you feel any better, I did invite her for you, but she went back home for the weekend, she said it was her mom’s birthday”

Chloe was sitting across from me, facing the door of the bar, when she made eye contact with me and gave a slight nod towards the door. Girl code for “he’s here.”

I didn’t want any of the guys to know there was anything going on with Matt and I so I didn’t hug him or anything when he walked up to the table and just introduced him to Maddie and Katelyn instead.

He said hey to the guys, and they dove into a conversation, drilling Matt with questions but not in a dueche-y way, just trying to get to know him.

I had only had about 3 sips out my drink when I noticed Kate pouring another glass. Was I drinking that slowly?  I thought to myself, but when I looked at Chloe and Maddie’s drinks, they were almost untouched.

Now, I am not the type to judge my friends or be uptight about drinking and having a good time, but I was worried there was something going on with Katelyn and instead of talking to me (or Josh apparently) about it, she was avoiding it and drinking heavily instead.

I was grateful when Jeff ordered 2 appetizer platters for the table when the waitress came by to ask Matt if he wanted a drink or if he was going to take part in the pitcher. He opted for the beer and she brought him back a glass.

Maddie had moved down a bit so Matt sat in next to me and we started talking, but casually since we were in a group.

He was in the middle of telling me about what he did that day when a voice from behind us spoke.

“Matty?”

I didn’t think Matt knew anyone here yet, let alone know someone well enough they had already given him a nickname. When we both turned around to see who was talking, my mouth fell open when I instantly recognized the girl as the raving bitch who had been screaming at the receptionist at the salon.

She obviously recognized me as well because she formed a devious smirk and said, “Well, well, well, looks like you just can’t seem to try and steal anything that’s mine.”

Weird Feelings

***Bonus Post!** Was hoping to have this up earlier in the weekend but it's Thanksgiving weekend here (I'm Canadian :) ) So was busy with family things. Anyways, here is the bonus post, thank you all for reading!! 

- S xo

The next morning, Katelyn and I slept in until 11, which was unheard of for me, but it did feel refreshing to sleep that long. After each of us had showered and gotten ready, we drove into town to have brunch at a little café that had the best coffee concoctions – they definitely put Starbucks to shame. I ordered their House Specialty Drink which was half coffee, half chai tea latte and Katelyn ordered a cookies and crème mocha.

Once our drinks arrived we started perusing the menu with minimal talking like a pair of ravenous animals. I decided on a fruit bowl with eggs benedict and Katelyn ordered the vegetarian omelette. We started talking about what we were going to do that night.

“I think were gonna go to this dive bar for pre drinks and then once we’re all together we can decide where to move on from there” I said as I started stuffing my face full of food.

“Sounds awesome! I can’t wait to meet your new little sex toy!” Katelyn said, a little too loudly.

I shot her a look and she smiled apologetically. Sometimes she speaks (or yells) without thinking, but she has a good heart and I know she only has good intentions.

 “Please do not make a big deal out of anything, I told you we’ve only gone out a few times”

“I know I’m just kidding I’d never embarrass you! On purpose at least” She replied.

I laughed “Okay so I told everyone to meet up at Monty’s at 8, they have $3.00 drinks until 10 so it’ll be a good place to pre game.” I told her as I finished up the rest of my ahhh-mazing brunch.

“Sweet! What do you wanna do today until we have to get ready and stuff? We should get pedicures and treat ourselves to an overpriced lunch at some fancy wine bar!” She almost bounced in her seat as she tossed the idea to me.

“Love that idea! And there’s a new spa that opened over summer that Elena said is awesome!” I said as I starting pulling out my phone to google spa’s in the area. I knew once I saw the name I would recognize it.

I found it right away, probably since it had recently opened, and called them to see if they had any openings.

“Good morning! Thank you for calling Edge Beauty Salon, my name is Cassandra how may I help you?” The cheery voice said at the other end.

“Oh, hi, I was wondering if you happen to have any openings today? A friend and I were hoping to come in for a pedicure.” I asked.

“Oh honey, calling on the day of, I doubt I have any openings but let me see if we’ve had any cancellations.” I heard some clicking on a keyboard “Oh! Looks like I have 2 of my girls open at 2 pm -  that work for ya?”

I gave her our info and told her we would see them shortly.

Brunch was awesome and we spent most of it gossiping more about people from our home town and she was letting me know the latest on all of her sister's drama. Her sister was 18 and the queen of drama; personally, I think kids have totally changed since I was in high school, and they had some sort of sense of entitlement - like the world owes them everything  Anyways, Katelyn had been acting her normal self all throughout brunch so I figured I would just drop the Josh thing unless it came up.

When we got to the spa and I told the receptionist our name, she had us fill out a brief patient form and said she would call us when our “nail artists” were ready.

As we were filling it out I noticed a tall woman with long, jet black hair walk in and start speaking quietly with the receptionist. She started getting louder and was beginning to yell “Are you fucking kidding me?! I’’ve had this appointment for over 2 months! What the fuck do you mean it got cancelled?”

The receptionist looked visibly upset, “I’m sorry ma’am, we tried calling you 3 times to confirm the appointment and we did not hear back. Our policy is to cancel any appointments that do not confirm within 24 hours before their appointment” She said, trying to be calm.

Sounded like kind of a weird policy for a spa, I thought but nonetheless, the woman didn’t need to be ripping this poor girl apart.

“Well I’m here now! They better be able to take me I cleared me entire afternoon for this!” She said as she slammed our fist on the counter.

As I got a better look at her, I figured she was probably around 26 and aside from her atrocious manners, she was stunning.

“I’m sorry, but we gave away your spot as we treated it like a cancellation.” The receptionist said as she slightly nodded toward us.

Great, let her unleash on us now.

Katelyn wasn’t even paying attention and was still filling out the form when the woman stormed over to us.

“Listen, apparently one of you skanks took my appointment?” She said with the nastiest look on her face and looking down on us as if we were homeless people trying to dine in a 5 star restaurant.

“First of all, I don’t know why you think it’s okay to talk to people like complete shit, but it’s not. Second of all, I just called and asked if they could take us, they said they could, so we came.” I quipped at her.

Katelyn was staring at me, suddenly clueing in to what was going on.

“Well, like I said. It was MY appointment. So one of you can leave.”

I was not one to get involved in conflicts, but this woman was really pissing me off. I hate people that think they are better than everyone else, or those that think they can talk down to everyone. 

Before I could say anything, Katelyn jumped in, “Actually, were not. We got the appointments, and were taking them, so why don’t you leave gracefully and treat yourself to another tacky spray tan? ”

I laughed under my breath; Katelyn was always the friend you wanted on your side.

The woman huffed, realizing we weren’t budging, and stormed out of the spa.

We looked at each other at started bursting out laughing, just as we got called in to our appointments.

We went back to the apartment after our spa day and fancy lunch and took a little power nap. I was not used to going out late and doing the whole bar hopping thing so I figured it would be a good idea to sleep for a bit before getting ready.

I woke up around 5 and said Katelyn lying in Aleah’s bed and scrolling through her phone, with a weary look on her face.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

She jumped a little, not knowing I was awake. “Oh ya! Just creating my dream home on Pinterest!” She said, getting out of bed.

She wanted to jump in the shower again so I started going through my closet and picking out an outfit when I heard my phone buzz.

When I looked on the table I saw it was Kate’s phone lit up and not mine. It was an imessage from Josh:

“Seriously Kate? You just run off for the weekend? I was serious when I said I’m here for you, even if things aren’t the same. You need help, please call me”

As soon as I read it, the bedroom door opened and Katelyn came back in. I acted as if I hadn’t seen the message and grabbed my phone off the table. I watched her as she looked at her phone and threw it on the bed as she rolled her eyes.

She looked over at me “I am getting white girl wasted tonight!! Seriously, let’s go all out!” She said with a huge smile on her face.

I forced a smiled but on the inside I lost my excitement for the night, and all of a sudden had a feeling like it was not going to be the great night out I had in mind.