Sunday, October 31, 2021
11.32 a.m.
I am dying. Please only say nice things about me at my funeral.
I was still in bed, scrolling through social media when I received the message from Fletcher close to lunchtime the day after the party. I started laughing but the pain hit me immediately at the side of my head. I drank less than her and still felt shitty, can't even imagine what she is feeling right now. Okay, to be fair, I really wasn't used to drinking this much anymore. Those days were over.
I took a big breath and slowly got out of bed. When I wasn't as dizzy as I have expected, I walked to the bathroom and washed my face with cold water before finally writing back.
11.40 a.m.
Get ready. I will pick you up in an hour and we will go eat somewhere.
I quickly took a shower which made me actually look like a human before putting on a random hoodie and sweatpants from my closet. I really didn't feel like dressing up as I usually do when I meet Fletcher. I wrote her a message when I got into the car to let her know that I'll be there in 20 minutes. She was standing outside in a similar outfit as me by the time I parked.
"Okay, I am done. I live two streets down north, pick me up there from now on." Cari said after getting into the car slowly. I didn't understand what she meant. "I didn't want you to know my exact address when we met. Now I almost puked 3 times on my way to this address. I think it is karma for saying the wrong address the first time..." she finished.
I looked at her for a second and Fletcher looked back at me before I laughed out loud. I immediately had to lift my hand to my head due to the pain which caused her to laugh as well. In the end, we were both holding our heads trying to get over the pain. What a team we are.
"You promised me food. Come on." Cari slapped my arms slightly to hurry me up.
"Okay okay. I know the perfect place." I nodded with a small smile.
***
"I can't believe I am eating a Monster Truck burger in an Aston Martin." Cari shook her head before taking another big bite from her burger.
"Tell me that you don't love it." I looked at her with expectant eyes.
Eating out together was one of our favorite things to do. We were both foodies and enjoyed eating fancy or junk food just the same. We were fine with eating a steak in one of the most popular restaurants but also didn't mind sitting on the plastic chairs at the old pizzeria a block away from our old apartment. This burger place was actually our favorite hangover destination back in 2015 but I haven't been here since then.
"Oh, believe me, I am enjoying every single bite of it but I am not going to clean your car if your sauce gets somewhere." Fletcher looked at me with daring eyes while eating another handful of fries. I knew why she said that. I used to be clumsy with food and I hated when my car was messy even when I wasn't driving an Aston Martin Vantage 2018.
"After I bought this baby, I took such good care of her for the first year at least but then... "I shivered just thinking of the horrible event that went down in this beauty. "Kyra visited me with her daughter and things landed on the dashboard... Things that I never ever want to see again. Not on a dashboard, not on anything." I was shaking my head and tried really hard to get the vomited dashboard image out of my head. " Since then I am a little bit more chill. I learned that you can take anything out if you pay enough... A burger is nothing compared to those things.
"Thanks, Kyra and baby Sofie." Cari grinned and took another big bite out of her burger. I blinked a few times and turned toward her. She looked at me questioningly while she tried to swallow her food faster to ask. "Why are you looking at me like this?"
"I don't remember mentioning Sofie. How do you know the name of my sister's baby?"
"Oh." Fletcher froze for a second and looked down at her lap. "Kyra and I... we talked a few times over the years. I saw on her social media that she was pregnant, so I congratulated her and we exchanged a few messages since then..." She explained. "I hope that's okay with you. It just felt..."
"Hey, no worries. I get it, I... I know that you also lost more than just us with the breakup. It's actually pretty sweet of you." I nodded and went back to eating my burger while thinking. My sister never mentioned that she talked with Fletcher even though we try to check in with each other at least once a week. I guess I can't blame her either. Kyra loved Cari and looked at her as another sister back then...
"So what did you think of the party yesterday?" Cari asked and I froze for a second before I tried to pretend that it was okay.
"I mean..." I started while looking at the last few bites of my burger. "It was okay. I haven't seen most of them since I moved away. It was..." I tried to find a word that didn't feel like a lie but I couldn't. Even though it got way better after Fletcher got there, I still felt that people were awkward around me and awkward was actually the better outcome. Kelly had a disgusted face every time she looked in my direction.
"You hated it, didn't you?" She asked knowingly and I glanced at her. Cari turned slightly so her back was resting against the door. She was able to fully look at me this way. I sighed and nodded. We said that we will be honest with each other, I don't want to break my promise.
"I mean, I didn't hate it hate it." I corrected her and myself because it wasn't entirely true. "It just felt awkward. I felt that people didn't get why the hell I was invited which, again, is understandable." I started to explain. "And I even expected a bit of awkwardness due to Potluck but I really thought they would move on quickly from that when they realize that I am just like them. They don't treat you like the star you are so why would they look at me differently?" I mumbled on and on before turning towards Cari. She had a small smile on her face. "What?"
"You have no idea about the things you have accomplished, do you?" Fletcher asked and I didn't get what she meant. I looked at her confused, waiting for further explanation. "Avery. You have built up an empire. These people are using your app weekly to order their food. They just need a bit more time to understand that you are still the same and not an asshole billionaire that they thought you have become." She explained and I looked down at my lap.
"What if I am? What if they were awkward because I was exactly what they have expected?" I looked at Cari anxiously once again.
"Avery Parker. I know that we are still getting to know each other again but I can confidently say one thing: You are not an asshole, narcissistic billionaire." She squeezed my arm for a second and I immediately melted. You are the sweetest person, Cari Fletcher, even after everything that happened between us.
"Thank you. I will do my best to prove it to them as well." I promised her.
"You don't need to prove anything to anyone. Just be yourself and they will get to know you again. In case you want to keep seeing them. You don't need to." Fletcher reminded me.
"They are your friends and I am your friend," I stated. "And they used to be my friends as well. I want to be able to have fun with them again. At least with some of them."
"It seemed like you had a good conversation with Kevin though. Also with a few other girls." Cari tried to show me the positive sides and I truly appreciated her efforts.
"Yes, we have been in contact with Kevin and a few of the girls. I hope we can get a bit closer in the future." I agreed while finally taking the last bite. "Did you have fun?"
"It was okay." Cari shrugged. "It was nice seeing them. Haven't seen the group together like this in a long time. Too long." She glanced at me.
"Were you able to take off the tattoos?" I asked and Fletcher just pulled up one of the sleeves on her hoodie to reveal that the temporary tattoos were still on her.
"I tried but I was too drunk and gave up. I am afraid I will stay like this for a while." She said with a resigned voice.
"Well, you looked hot." It slipped out of my mouth and I immediately blushed. "I mean tattoos are cool and it looked great on you." I tried to correct myself so she doesn't get awkward about my comment.
"Thank you," Fletcher said with a huge grin on her face. I knew this grin, she had this grin on every time she tried to tease me. "You were also hot in your Cat Woman suit."
"Very funny." I rolled my eyes while putting away my trash and I finally took off my coat.
"I finally know where my NYU hoodie disappeared to..." I heard Cari and I looked at her but she didn't look into my eyes, more like on my chest. I looked down to see that I didn't pay attention when I got dressed and I pulled out her old hoodie from my closet. Fuck.
"Oh, it was not intentional, I..." I fake coughed to win a few seconds of extra time but I couldn't come up with anything reasonable. "You know that I loved this hoodie. I just couldn't throw it out." Okay, that was not a lie, I just didn't add that it was my favorite hoodie to wear when I was home doing nothing to this day.
"It still looks great on you," Cari added but didn't say anything else, she didn't demand it back.
"It is still super warm."
I guess I can keep Cari Fletcher's NYU hoodie.