"And that's all that has happened, Maw," Bog explains, handing the offered rum to his fuming mother.
"I think I need to thank Dawn for making my shift very busy today," Jack mutters, filling another rum after Griselda empties hers quickly.
"I think I need to give that girl a walloping," Griselda growls. "She's twenty-three, surely she has more common sense than to fool with other peoples' feelings!"
"It's not on purpose, Mrs King," Marianne soothes.
"Maybe, maybe not. Ye can't say that for certain," Griselda argues. "Somewhere in that girl, she knows that what she is doing is wrong or she wouldn't be working so hard to conceal it. It's high time that girl has to face the consequences of her actions."
"I know," Marianne sighs. "This is proof that she isn't being responsible for herself and next time she might spurn a guy that might do more than yell at her."
"There also the chance that her real boyfriend might get fed-up with all of it," Bog comments. "For the record, I don't have anything against the guy since it isn't his fault that all this happened."
"How does the boyfriend deal with all of this," Griselda questions?
"Sunny is exactly his namesake and when he and Dawn are together it is quite possible to get cavities from looking at them," Marianne remarks, grinning at the resulting chuckles. "As I said, they've been friends since they were five and he's been in love with her for forever. He stayed by her side during the boy crazy stage and even helped her get together with her weekly crushes. He felt that if she was happy with whoever she loved then he would be happy despite not being that guy."
"I hear a but," Jack murmurs, filling another customer's order. "Didn't you say that you had to encourage the bloke?"
"Could you really go through your teenage years pretending you didn't love your best friend while at the same time helping said best friend hook-up with their present crush? There were a few times that he got really depressed. It didn't help that Dawn's ex-crushes took out their frustration on him when Dawn got tired of them," Marianne comments. "Not that he ever told her the full truth of how he got some of those injuries and he begged me not to tell her when I patched him up. Luckily, he had taken quite a few self-defense courses and had taken up parkour as a hobby by the time Dawn realized that she loved him in return or he may have wound up with injuries that I couldn't fix when she started to inadvertently lead guys on. He never tells her about it because he doesn't want to upset her and he says that it doesn't bother him about her guy friends because she tells him everything. I think Sunny is a masochist, really."
"Sounds like both of them need a talking to," Griselda declares with a decisive nod. "Loving someone doesn't mean to ignore anything they do that is wrong. In fact, doing so isn't love at all. To love someone is also to correct them when they need to be corrected, sometimes gently and sometimes tough."
"The problem is if they even listen," Marianne grumbles, draining her beer but waving off a refill. "Dad and I try to talk to Dawn but she ignores it. If we get too tough on her, she gets upset and then we get sidetracked to get her to calm down. I've told Sunny many times that he needs to talk to Dawn about all of this but he can't stand to see anyone upset, especially Dawn."
"If those two won't listen to ye then I'll just talk to them myself," Griselda insists. "I'm not easily swayed by hurt feelings. Dealt with too many of Bog's temper tantrums and boy, did he have a lot. I can't count the number of times I had to wait for him to wear himself out. He's a sensitive man himself, ye know. Compared to raising Bog, I'll have no trouble with Dawn and Sunny."
Bog groans at his mother's speech and can feel the heat flooding his face. Marianne's snickering doesn't help his embarrassment and Jack's fake cough doesn't truly conceal his own laughter. He's grateful that Roland left or he'd never hear the end of it.
"No offense but how are you sure that they'll listen to you," Marianne asks after a few minutes?
"Simple. They'll have no choice in the matter," Griselda states. "I am in charge of all the foreign students, after all."
"Maw, ye don't have that kind of authority off the university grounds," Bog reminds.
"They don't know that," Griselda remarks with a smirk. "Besides, she may not have hurt ye on purpose but she did hurt ye and I'm not going to let her get away with it. A little fear might do her some good."
"Right now is a good time to lecture them because they're still at Dawn's apartment," Marianne comments, looking at the newest message on her cell phone. "They're complaining about being there but they don't want to leave until I return. I got business to attend to and I'm not going to rescue them this time."
Bog watches as Marianne pays for her drinks and sighs inwardly at the sign of her departure. No doubt that he'll probably never see her again since he'll be avoiding her sister from now on. Marianne was good company and he wasn't quite ready to go back to brooding about his life.
He also isn't ready to inform the rest of his friends and family about the fake relationship. Everyone will be as upset as his mother, Roland, and Jack, and he doesn't think he can handle their anger toward Dawn. Despite what she did, he couldn't help but still love the bubbly blonde.
Downing his sixth drink, he ignores Jack's raised eyebrow and orders another one. He wasn't drunk enough yet and he isn't planning on stopping until he is.
"In that case, I'll head over to Dawn's place now," Griselda informs. "Before ye go, Marianne, I was wondering. Do ye have a boyfriend?"
Marianne stares at the elderly woman in shock as Bog chokes on his drink. She's sure that she is misunderstanding the implications behind the seemingly innocent question but Bog's own red face staring in shock towards his mother is proof that she did not hear wrong. Oh boy. Exit stage right.
"Wow, look at the time! I have to be going now," Marianne comments hastily.
"I think I'll join ye," Bog mutters, throwing down the money to pay for his and his mother's drinks.
Griselda snickers as the pair nearly run out of the pub's door as if the building was on fire. If her son had enough energy to be embarrassed then his broken heart will be fine with some time.
"Don't you think it's too early to try and set Bog up with a date," Jack questions?
"I wasn't trying to. I only asked Marianne if she was single," Griselda states innocently. "Apparently, she is and I'll definitely be saving that answer for when Bog's heart is ready for a relationship in a few months."
Ignoring Jack's snickering, Griselda heads outside and smiles at the sight of Bog and Marianne walking together down the street before heading in the opposite direction towards Dawn's apartment. At least her son gained a new friend in all this.
Tea Blend.