Our Autumn Fire

Two

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                I got the moves like Jagger

                I got the moves like Jagger,

                I got the mo-oo-oo-ooves like Jagger!

    Cassidy groaned in her sleep and rolled over, squinting into the glaring sunlight streaming in through her wide, wall-to-wall window. “Damn you, Hayley.” Despite having the room with the best view, she rarely opened the ceiling to floor curtains to see it; only her annoying chit of a best friend would do something like that, knowing it would bug her. Doling out half-mumbled curses and torture schemes to Hayley, Cassidy moved zombie-like from her warm bed to retrieve her phone from the pocket of her discarded jeans. Climbing back into her safe haven, she rubbed her eyes awake, snuggled into her blankets again, and checked her phone.

        1 Missed Call: Dad 3:12 pm

        1 Voicemail: Dad 3:16 pm

        3 New Messages

    Cassidy listened to her Dad’s voice as the machine played: “Hi Cas. Just called to make sure our father-daughter night was still on next week. Love you, bye.” She texted him a confirmation and promptly checked her Messages. Ignoring the latest text from the electric company reminding her the bill was due, she opened one from one of her guy friends and quickly replied with a hello and smiley-face before moving on to the third message.

    The final text was from Hayley around noon screaming at her in all caps to ‘WAKE THE EFF UP!’ She glared at the phone and sent back a snarky reply, put-out that her friend still tried to ignore her wishes. “Sometimes I don’t understand why I put up with this chick,” she mumbled to herself.

    The next couple hours crawled by as Cassidy lay on her soft, pillow-topped mattress switching between texting and staring blankly at a pattern of the Milky Way painted on the back of her door. After looking at the starry spiral for the umpteenth time, her gaze drifted across her room from one colorful piece of furniture cluttering the area to the next until it landed on the flat screen TV hung to the left of the closet. Her father had gifted her this modern marvel when she had moved in, but just like the wide window in her room, it was hardly put to use.

    Letting her phone slip out of her fingers, Cassidy yawned and sat up contemplating whether to eat or shower first when her grumbling stomach answered for her. She padded out of her room towards the kitchen, intent on finding out if Hayley left her any Coco Pops, but she doubted it. “That girl eats everything in this house,” she thought while looking around and noticing that the loft had been cleaned with exquisite care - evidence that Alicia had housekeeping duty this week. Remembering to put everything back in its place, Cassidy took the last of the cereal and added it to communal shopping list before comfortably placing herself on the couch through an episode of Two Broke Girls.

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    When Hayley got home at seven, the girls got ready for their night out. After a fight about how much cleavage was appropriate for a bartender to show – too much for Cassidy and too little for Hayley – a thrown heel, and a quest to find missing bras and earrings, they were ready to walk out the door.

    “You got your employee pass right?” Hayley interjected. “I am not paying for parking downtown when you get it free.”

    Cassidy pulled out the pass and held it up for her to see. “Yes miss pushy, I have it in my purse. Park on 5th Ave behind Dave’s SUV. We’ll go in through the side entrance.”

    “Now who’s being pushy?” Cassidy stuck out her tongue and the girls kept up their bickering the whole way there. Once they parked and let Dave know they were there, Cassidy relieved her coworker Jane from her shift.

    As Cassidy made Hayley a Cosmo to start off, Alicia noticed them and made her way over to the two. “Hey chicas! You planning on being here all night?” Hayley nodded and Cassidy groaned as the other two laughed. “Oh c’mon, it’s not that bad! I’d join you if I wasn’t going on a date with Andre tonight.”

    “Lucky you,” Cassidy deadpanned before getting sidetracked with her first order.

    When she was out of earshot, Hayley pulled Alicia aside. “I honestly don’t know what to do with her anymore. She doesn’t go out anymore. She’s barely taking care of herself or eating, and she told me a couple weeks ago she wants to quit dancing! You know her better than I do. What can we do? I’m desperate!”

    Alicia smiled sadly. “I don’t know any better than you do. She’s changed, and not in a good way.” They both looked over at Cassidy who was busy laughing off a compliment from an older gentlemen who frequented the bar regularly. “The dancing is a surprise to me.” Alicia focused back on Hayley. “That’s the only thing that kept her together after her mom...” The girls shared a pitiful glance between themselves and trailed off, stupefied for now.

    Alicia walked over to Cassidy and gave her a hug before leaving.

    “When are they supposed to get here?” Cassidy asked Hayley while serving hors d’oeuvres to a tiny table behind her. They had been there for two hours and Cassidy was hoping the guys would arrive while she was still on her shift. Using work as an excuse would help her limit contact and use up her remaining two hours so she could pull a Cinderella.

    Hayley narrowed her eyes. “I know what you’re trying to do and it won’t work. Wes promised me he’d wait until your shift ends. I made you carpool with me for a reason, young lady. I don’t want you driving off using some stupid excuse. You’re going to hang out with me, meet some new people, possibly hook up with a hot guy and like it.”

    Cassidy huffed and walked away to get new drink orders.