Where We Belong

Becoming Friends

"Well, whatever it is you may have heard are all lies." Gillian says as she smiles. "But, thank you, that was very kind of you to check with him first."

Harper returns her smile and just shrugs.

Gillian removes her jacket placing it on top of one of the boxes in the living room area and then walks towards Harper in the kitchen. Harper passes a plate to her and opens up a bottle of beer handing that to her as well. Gillian thanks her and takes two slices of the veggie pizza while Harper fills her plate with two slices of each. Gillian takes a seat on one of the boxes that is holding Harper's new bed frame and Harper finds a spot on another box across from her.

The two women eat quietly for a few minutes and then Harper takes a swig of her beer. "So, Janie and Joe seem to be very good friends of yours. Is that just because they come to the bar a lot? Harper asks curiously.

Gillian nods trying to swallow her bite of pizza before she answers. "Well, sort of, but not exactly. I think that I told you this already but I bought the bar from an older gentleman that was wanting to retire for a long time."

"Oh, right. And he didn't know what to do with the bar." Harper says confirming her memory of their previous conversation about the bar.

Gillian nods. "Yes, that gentleman is Janie's father, Walter. Thinking about it now, it has been about 6 years so that's how long I've known Janie and Joe. Walt still comes around to surprise us every once in awhile but he's been doing a lot of traveling since he gave up the bar. I don't know where he gets his energy from. The man was already nearly eighty years old when he sold the bar." Gillian smiles fondly thinking about her old friend.

"Oh, wow. That's pretty cool. They really love you a lot. I mean, all they ever talk about is how great you are and I guess they're pretty spot on." Harper smiles as she takes another huge bite of her pizza.

Gillian blushes at the compliment but does not acknowledge it. "They are both the sweetest. Janie has always been very grateful that I was able to convince her father to retire. So, for the first few years, when I wouldn't be able to make it home for the holidays, they would invite me to their house to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with them. And then last year, I helped Janie to convince Joe to finally retire as well. She says that I'm her retirement whisperer. " Gillian laughs. "But, I'm really happy they had this place vacant and that the timing worked out so well for you. You looked so devastated when you and Declan couldn't find anything that you liked."

Harper laughs. "I can laugh about it now but that trip was actually very heartbreaking. I think maybe I had my hopes too high. Plus, Declan talks a lot of game but most of the places he liked were so shady! The two of you made me think that it was going to be a breeze."

Gillian gets up to grab more pizza. "I said no such thing. All I wanted to insinuate was that Declan would be the best man for the job." Gillian says. "Would you like anything else while I'm up?"

Harper nods with her mouth full and just holds up two fingers. "Two, please." She adds.

Gillian shakes her head and puts the two slices on her plate so she can bring it back to Harper. She is very surprised that Harper can eat as much as she does and yet she manages to keep her perfect figure. She walks back to where Harper is and sits down reaching out her plate so that Harper can take the pizza.

"Thanks. So, my best friend Skylar has been wanting to come visit and that couldn't really happen until I found a place of my own. When I told her about this place, she was pretty excited about it also." Harper says as she is about to take another bite of her food.

"She lives in New York?" Gillian asks

Harper nods. "Yeah, she does. I miss her a lot. She is probably the only reason I'd ever stay there and she knows it. But, she also knows that I needed to do this. You know, get away for awhile."