Disclaimer: I don't own Hot in Cleveland.
This is my first proper fic. I will love you forever if you read and/or review it.
"Victoria, are you coming?"
"What? Oh, sure." Victoria picked up her clutch bag and attempted to pull herself together, wondering briefly if she was having a midlife crisis. No, certainly not. She was Victoria Chase, and she refused even to acknowledge her age, let alone allowing it to get one over on her.
She was hardly enjoying herself, though. Recently, she hadn't been able to summon up any enthusiasm for life, and it got quite unbearable from time to time, until she had Joy there to cheer her up. She wasn't sure when she had started thinking of Joy as her best friend, but she felt a lot closer to her than she did to Melanie these days, which made little sense, considering that they were all living together.
"Good God, who died?" Joy stopped in the doorway when she saw Victoria's expression. Oh, just my interest in everything, was what Victoria wanted to say, but what she actually said was "Me, the last few times we did this. Do you feel like giving that watch back?" She indicated Joy's wrist, which was stillcoated by her extremely expensive birthday present to herself, which she had been forced to give to Joy to make up for what she had done a few years back when their friends had tried to set each other up and it had all gone wrong.
"No, and if you ask me again, I might rethink my acceptance of your apology." Joy rolled her eyes and reached for her friend's arm, forcibly dragging her through the door. Something happened to Victoria then, snapping her out of her reverie and into the here and now. It was time to stop this nonsense. She was Victoria Chase, she was rich and famous, she had every reason to be happy and right now, she had a date to concentrate on.
Joy picked at her fingernails, nervously. Victoria had better bloody not have pulled another ridiculous stunt like last time. She had begged to have another chance to set her up, saying that she wanted to prove how much she did care about Joy's friendship. It had sounded like a lot of sentimental rubbish to Joy, and she did wonder if Victoria's heartfelt plea had been lines from The Edge of Tomorrow, but she'd made such a dramatic scene that Joy had been forced to give in eventually.
Just as she was thinking that, a shadow fell across the table, accompanied by an attractive voice, which asked "Are you Joy?" She looked up to see a not unattractive man smiling down at her.
"I am," she grinned back, standing up to shake his hand.
Victoria struggled to concentrate as the man Joy had set her up with talked about himself. All she'd said was "You'll love him, he's gorgeous and he's exactly like a male version of you." If this was what she seemed like to other people she was amazed that no one had killed her by now. Especially since she was living in the same house as Joy. For the first time in her laugh, she believed that it could be possible to die of boredom.
Joy stared at her reflection, checking for food between her teeth. Victoria had really come through for her this time. The man she had set her up with was wonderful. She was having the time of her life. Yes. She was truly having a wonderful time. She was. Except the part where she felt like she wanted to cry. Oh, crap.
What the hell was wrong with her? She was having a lovely evening with an amazing guy. Why was she welling up right now? Recently, she hadn't been able to summon up any enthusiasm for anything. She should have been having the best time she'd had in months, but all she wanted to do was round up Victoria, go home and drink wine until she passed out. Oh, brilliant, she really was crying now. What larks. This was ridiculous. She'd just have to go back out there and tell him it was all off.
Victoria was considering stabbing her date with a butter knife when she saw Joy coming out of the bathroom determinedly. What was happening now? Joy walked back over to her table, but didn't sit down. She was shrugging her shoulders apologetically. He was standing up, lifting his hands, as if to say, "No harm done." Now they were shaking hands, and Joy looked like she was turning to leave. Oh, she was turning to leave. And now she was leaving. Finally, an excuse to get out of here.
"What's going on?" she asked, having made her own excuses and got the hell out of there, stopping Joy on her way into her cab.
"Oh, I don't know," Joy sighed, clambering across the seats to make room for her friend, "I just want to go home."
"So do I," Victoria collapsed into her seat, leaning her head back in relief.
"What's up with you?" Joy balked. She'd thought her choice would have been perfect for Victoria.
"Nothing. Everything. I don't know." Her friend watched her carefully. Victoria looked like Joy felt. She put her hand on her arm, and Victoria turned her head to face her, smiling weakly.
"Are you okay? You seem different. Not your usual egomanic self."
"Fine. I'm fine. Never better. I'm just tired." It was the worst acting Joy had ever seen from Victoria. What they hell was wrong with her? And what was wrong with Joy, for that matter? She blinked, trying to hold back more tears.
"God, Victoria. I haven't had a date in months. I thought I'd at least get a kiss out of tonight."
"Me, too," Victoria closed her eyes, sinking even further back into her seat. "Still," she added, opening her eyes and brightening slightly, "We could always kiss each other if we get desperate enough." Joy laughed, grateful that despite her pathetic excuse for a love life, she had the best friends in the world. As she was thinking this, the cab pulled into their driveway, and the two women got out, thanking and paying the driver. Once they had sent him on his way, Joy put her arm around Victoria, with a cry of "Come on! Let's get rat-arsed!"