One year later...
Tori finished wiping down the counter. It was a slow day, and she'd be due for a lunch break in half an hour, so she restacked the coffee cups for the fifteenth time and was just about to sit down when a customer came in.
Or at least a hat came in, with a customer underneath it. She couldn't see much of the hat's owner save a large pair of sunglasses and a hint of ruby lips.
"Hi," she said. "What can I get you?"
The customer looked at her from under the hat. "How about," she said, "a nice big cup of 'Let's Stay In Touch, My Ass'."
Tori's brain ground to a halt, not least because of the disturbing juxtaposition of the words 'touch' and 'my ass'. "What?"
The hat and glasses were removed to reveal a grinning Jade West. "Hey," she said. "How's it going?"
"Jade? Oh my God. What are you doing here?"
"I just dropped by to make you feel like a terrible friend. And for coffee."
"But-"
"Although I've gotta say, the service is pretty crappy. Maybe I'll go someplace else." She made to leave.
"What? No!" Tori grabbed her arm. "Don't you dare. You just sit right there and put up with my crappy service."
Jade sighed. "Okay, fine." She sat back down. "So?"
Tori was still staring at her. "So...?"
"So, am I going to get either coffee, or a 'Hello', or both?"
Tori laughed and leaned across the counter to pull her into an awkward hug. "It's good to see you," she said.
"Yeah, you too. Black, no sugar."
"What?"
"Coffee?"
Tori rolled her eyes and busied herself with coffee. "So, what are you doing here?" she said, as she worked.
"I told you, I came to see you."
"You came all the way here just to see me?" Tori said in surprise. "That's an eight hour drive."
"Yeah, well. I'm your dangerous friend, remember? I do crazy stuff. No, no more hugging," she said, as Tori looked ready to move in again. "Anyway, you didn't answer any of my emails and stuff, so I..." Jade looked slightly embarrassed. "I was worried about you."
"Oh, Jade."
"I mean, not really worried, you know, just..."
"I'm so sorry," Tori said. "It's just it's been kind of hectic, what with college, and working here, and everything. I really meant to."
"No problem. Thanks," Jade said, as Tori handed over the coffee. "But I'll probably never let you forget it anyway, to make you feel guilty after the holy fuss you made about staying in touch."
"Gee, thanks. How did you know where I worked?"
"Trina told me you were working part-time in a coffee shop, so after I went to your apartment-"
Tori's face went suddenly pale. "You went to the apartment?"
"Yeah, Trina gave me the address. But when you didn't answer, I just took a drive up and down the main drag to see if I could find you. And here I am."
The relief on Tori's face was obvious. Jade's eyes narrowed. "Why, what's so special about your apartment?"
"Nothing! I mean, nothing, it's just... No one answered?"
"Should they have?" Jade said. Do you have a roomie or something? Or..." She gasped in glee. "You have a boyfriend!"
Tori looked panic-stricken. "Um..."
"Yes you do!" Jade said, triumphantly. "And you didn't want me to meet him!"
"It's not-"
"Why?" Her eyes widened in mock disapproval. "Is he a deadbeat?"
"No!" Tori protested. "It's just... complicated."
"Isn't it always, with you?" The look of discomfort on Tori's face made her back off a little. "I'm sorry," she said. "You know I'm bad at this girlie stuff. Does he at least have a name?"
Tori mumbled something that Jade didn't quite catch. "Carl?" she said. But there was no clarification, as she realized Tori was staring over her shoulder at something outside. "What?" she said. "What is it?"
Tori picked up the hat and rammed it onto the other girl's head. "Quick!" she said. "Pretend you're a customer!"
"I am a customer."
"Pretend you're a customer over there!" She shoved Jade in the direction of a table in the corner. Jade barely had time to grab her coffee and head towards it when a woman came in.
"Hey, babe," the woman announced in the direction of Tori.
"Hey," Tori said, her eyes staying firmly away from Jade's table. "Um, what's up?"
"Nothing, just thought I'd drop by, see how my girl is."
Tori's face flushed. "Oh, right."
"That's okay, isn't it?" It didn't really sound like a question.
"Yeah, sure," Tori said quickly. "Thanks. I mean, I'm great. All good." There was a pause. "Do you want some coffee or anything?"
"Nah, I've got to get back to work. Besides, your coffee sucks. Oh, there's something I need you to do for me."
Jade couldn't make out what it was, only Tori's reaction to it. "Tonight? But I've got an assignment due in tomorrow!"
"And that's more important than me is it?" There was a cold edge to the voice.
Jade could see Tori hesitate, then crumble. "No," she said, miserably.
"Good girl. I'll be back late. Don't wait up." The woman leaned across the counter and grabbed the back of Tori's head, pulling her into a kiss that was both deep and ungentle. "Catch you later."
Jade waited until she was sure the woman had left for good, then removed her hat, picked up her coffee, and made her way slowly back to the counter. Tori's eyes remained resolutely fixed on the door, her face crimson with terror, and Jade knew why. The old Jade would have been on this like a cat on a mouse, loving it, wringing every ounce of humiliation out of the situation. But somehow that didn't seem fair, now. And besides, something about the conversation disquieted her. So she placed her coffee down on the counter. "So," she said, carefully. "I take it..."
Tori nodded, without looking at her.
"'Carl'?"
"Carla."
"Ah."
Jade waited a moment to see if there was more. "She seems... nice?" she ventured, when there wasn't.
Tori didn't move, but her gaze slid cautiously to meet Jade's. Jade adopted what she hoped was an expression of neutral encouragement, until Tori's shoulders finally relaxed. "You're not mad?"
"Mad?" Jade said. "Why would I be mad? I think it's great that you've met someone. I'm just a bit surprised, that's all. I never expected... Well, you know."
Tori still looked guilty. "I'm sorry, it just-"
"Don't apologize, Tori."
"What?"
"Apologize," Jade said, laughing. "Is this why you haven't stayed in touch? Because you thought I'd judge you?"
"No, but-"
"Well I do. I judge you all the time. But in this case, I approve." The fact that her approval didn't stretch quite as far as Tori's choice of girlfriend, she kept to herself.
"Oh. Er, good."
"So, what say you and me go out tonight and get really drunk, and you tell me all about it?"
Tori's face crumpled. "I can't, really," she said. I've got an assignment due, and now I've got some stuff I need to do for Carla."
"Okay, tomorrow night. What's your assignment?"
"A five-thousand word essay on my favorite movie."
"Wow. How many words have you got left to do?"
"Five thousand."
"Tori!"
"I've been busy!"
"Jeez. Why didn't you tell Carla to go whistle? That's going to take you all night."
The expression on Tori's face said that that wasn't an option, a fact that furthered Jade's unease. She made a decision. "Look, I've got to go, okay?"
"Already?" Tori looked crest-fallen. "You've only just got here."
"I'll be in town for a few days. We'll catch up tomorrow."
"Oh, okay. Well, I do an early shift here until eight-thirty, then I'm at college at nine, then I'm back here most of the afternoon."
"Cool. See you later."
And with that, she was gone.
.
.
.
Tori slunk reluctantly up to the college gates. In her bag were four hundred words of bleary-eyed nonsense that she'd managed to cobble together at one o'clock in the morning, before Carla had come in, rolling drunk, and spilt Budweiser all over her laptop. She sighed, shouldered her bag, and walked straight into Jade.
"Hey there."
"Jade! I was just... wait, how did you even know-"
"Here." Jade thrust a plastic folder into her hand. Tori stared at it blankly.
"What's this?"
"Five thousand words on your favorite movie."
"But I... what?"
"It's a bit rough round the edges, but it'll do."
"You wrote this?"
"No, Tori. I found it in a mysterious cave, guarded by a ferocious, two-headed llama. Of course I wrote it."
"Why?"
"Because you obviously weren't going to."
"But..." Tori was lost for words, so picked some stupid ones at random. "You don't even know what my favorite movie is."
"No," Jade said, patiently, "and neither does whoever's marking this. I just picked one of mine."
Tori held the folder up in wonder, as though it were the Dead Sea Scrolls.
"Of course, if Tori doesn't want it, if Tori thinks it's dishonest..."
"No!" Tori said. "No, no, no. Tori want. Tori want it very much. I just can't believe you did this."
"What are friends for?"
"I don't know, I guess... wait, It's not 'The Scissoring', is it? Please tell me it's not 'The Scissoring'."
"What's wrong with 'The Scissoring'?"
"Nothing, it's just-"
"No, it's not 'The Scissoring'."
"Then what?"
"You'll find out if you read the essay."
"I won't have time! I have to hand it in this morning."
"Which is why I made you a copy." She produced another plastic folder. Tori took it, in a daze.
Jade, I... I don't know what to say."
Jade grinned. "You say, 'Pick me up around eight, all the drinks are on me.'"
"What?"
"Tonight. We were going to go out, remember?" The grin faded slightly. "Thatis okay, isn't it?" she said. "I mean, if you're busy or something..."
"I..." Tori looked from the folders in her hand to Jade's hopeful expression and back. "No," she said, firmly. "It's fine. It's absolutely fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Definitely."
"Well, okay!" Jade beamed. "I'll pick you up around eight."
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