Chapter 2 – The Patterns Repeat
"Hey sweetie," Farrah says with her thick, southern accent. "Did you get my package?" It was the end of the afternoon and Amy was leaving work early when she got the call from her mother. It was surprising that it took Farrah that long to follow up her post-it demand.
"Yes mom," Amy answers as she walks down the street. The phone is silent for a few seconds, and she knows Farrah is anxiously waiting for Amy to acknowledge the invitation.
"And…" her mother drawls, letting the question hang in the air. Amy sighs and rolls her eyes, even though her mother can't see her.
"Mom," Amy starts, only to be interrupted by Farrah.
"Amy, it is unacceptable for you to not help your sister with the reunion. She needs you. You know how risky her pregnancy is, and she can't be stressed…" The rest of the rant goes unheard by Amy, who pulls the phone away from her ear and continues walking, keeping minimal attention to the noises coming out of her phone.
Even though she had a rough relationship with her mom, Amy loved her. After coming out of the closet, Farrah took it hard, but never stopped showing her love for Amy. Their relationship had its ups and downs, but in the end neither forgot they were family. Farrah visited her often, and even travelled to Australia to spend a few weeks with Amy.
"Amy?" A different voice comes through the line, prompting Amy to bring the speaker back to her ear.
"Hey Lauren," Amy says with a smile. "Thank you for saving me from the mom-rant."
"It's okay," she says. "I knew when she continued rambling on and on, uninterrupted, that you had checked out and was probably waiting for her to catch on."
"Well, can you blame me?" Amy says.
"Not really," Lauren says, her voice laced with a smile. "I could really use your help, though. I know you said you were coming back for the baby's birth, but I just can't handle all of this by myself." Amy sighed at that. As the years passed, her and Lauren became increasingly close, especially after Bruce moved back to Dallas after the divorce. The pregnancy had been particularly hard on Lauren's health, after being told she could never get pregnant, it caught everyone by surprise.
"I'll be there, sis," Amy says with a sad smile. "But now I'm on my way to a date and I can't really talk it all out. I'll talk to you tomorrow, is that okay?"
"A date, huh?" Lauren says, teasingly. "With Jess or have you moved on to a new one?"
"Lauren," Amy warns. "Jess and I have been together for a couple months now. Can you please stop it?"
"It is weird that you guys are still having dates and not moving in together or talking about turkey basters."
"Lauren!" Amy yells, but her sister simply laughs. "I'm gonna go now."
"Sure, Amy. Whatever you say. I'll call you tomorrow morning. Love you."
"Love you too," Amy says, hanging up the phone and looking around.
"Hey stranger," she hears from behind, as arms wrap around her waist. "Who was that on the phone?" Jess asks as she kisses Amy's cheek and turn her around so they face each other.
"Sister," Amy responds before placing a kiss on the other girl's lips. "It's good to see you."
Jess is about as tall as Amy, but with long black hair and green eyes. She had a flower dress on, and light make up.
"I've missed you," Jess responds, placing another, longer kiss on Amy's lips. "Come on, we are late for our reservation."
"So, what did Lauren want to talk about?" Jess asks before sipping from her glass of white wine.
"She needs help with our ten-year high school reunion, so I'm going to Austin to help her in a few weeks," Amy says as she plays with the label on her beer bottle, tearing it slightly off.
"That sounds like fun," Jess asks, her eyes bright. "I'll take some time off work to go with you." At those words, Amy looked up, like a deer in headlights.
"No, you don't have to," Amy says, sitting up straight, discomfort in her eyes. "I mean, it's going to be boring and you are going for that promotion at work..." Amy trails off as Jess closes her eyes.
"Look, Amy," Jess sighs, opening her eyes, now piercing Amy's. "I'm trying here. I am trying to connect with you. I'm trying to move our relationship forward. We've been stuck in this weird thing for the past six months-"
"We've been together for six months?" Amy asks, surprised, but immediately regrets when seeing the hurt in Jess' eyes.
"I can't believe this," Jess says, looking down.
"Jess, I'm sorry. Time just flies for me, and I've been so engrossed with work, and-"
"Stop, Amy," she says, her voice cracking slightly. "I can't do this anymore. I thought I could, but I just can't," Jess pulls back her chair and walks out of the restaurant, covering her face.
"You seriously didn't know you guys had been together for six months?" Reagan asked, mockery in her tone.
"I'm not used to being in one spot for this long. Time seems to pass differently and…" Amy stops, her face scrunched as she shakes her head. "I'm such an asshole."
"Yes," Reagan says, handing her friend another beer. "Yes you are."
"Was I this bad when we dated?" Amy asks as she pops her beer open.
Reagan sits on the couch next to Amy and seems to ponder on that question for a second before shrugging her shoulders.
"You were sixteen. Most people are self-absorbed assholes at that age," Reagan snickers, receiving a shove in return.
"I just don't know if I can handle Austin by myself, and I've been stressed about that. But I surely could NOT handle Austin with Jess around." Amy says, but Reagan raises her eyebrow, knowing well that Austin is not the main issue. "Come with me?" Amy pleads, with a forced smile and begging eyes. Reagan snorts.
"I think Karma might actually kill me if she sees me," she says, taking a long sip of her beer, not missing Amy's twitch at the girl's name.
"That makes two of us," Amy says, taking an even longer sip of her beer.
##
"I can't believe we have our own place," Amy said, placing down a box and looking around at the white walls of their living room.
"Well, there was no way I was spending senior year of college in the dorms," Karma said placing another box and standing next to Amy.
"No more roommates to complain about our late night sessions," Amy wiggled her eyebrows, as she embraced Karma, who blushed.
"To a new beginning," Karma said as she looked into Amy's eyes.
"A great, new beginning."
