Sorry this took a bit longer. Thanks for all your reviews. I'm glad you all are enjoying this. This one's just a bit longer, but not terribly. : )
Naomi sipped carefully out of her wine glass, watching the red liquid at the bottom as it drained rather than the questioning green eyes across from her. She placed her empty glass on the tableclothed surface and used the napkin on her lap to blot the sides of her mouth before finally gracing Alice with eye contact.
She was met with two pairs of green eyes, which were emanating some sort of anger as she cut her steak.
"What?" Naomi questioned, eyeing her vegetarian lasagna and poking it carefully with the edge of her fork.
"What's gotten into you?" Alice questioned, pointing at Naomi with her fork, her sparkling engagement ring catching the dim light in the restaurant.
Naomi studied Alice, how she methodically chewed on her rare steak, spearing another piece with her fork before giving her a look that meant she was waiting for an answer.
"I don't know what you mean," Naomi muttered into her lasagna, cutting it into tiny squares she would most likely reorganize on her plate without actually eating them. She wasn't particularly hungry and she had a nice buzz from the wine she didn't want to disrupt with carbs.
"You've been distant, moody...well more so than usual," Alice said, her brow furrowing as she placed a green bean in her mouth. Naomi watched again as she chewed, counting each movement of her jaw instead of relaying the reason for her sudden reticent behavior.
When Alice and her met she was nursing her breakup with Emily with alcohol and drugs and her constant state was the one Alice was describing. She didn't understand why it was such a shock to Alice, then, why she was at that place again.
If Alice hadn't resuscitated her, bringing her back to the real world, getting her a job with a newspaper and wrapping her up in a cocoon of comfort Naomi effortlessly slipped into, her behavior would have stayed stagnant at that pace.
Shouldn't, then, Alice allow her times of reservation? Time to think and be by herself. In no time, Naomi had turned the situation around.
"Aren't I allowed to be? To think...by myself. Spend time...by myself," Naomi countered. She kicked herself for how childish she sounded, the words echoing in her ears as those she'd said to Emily in the past, back when she was far more scared, and far less mature.
"Okay fine," Naomi relented easily, way too easily. She couldn't quite lie to Alice as hard as she tried. The wine wasn't helping.
"I ran into Emily." she confessed. Or lied, rather. She kind of stalked Emily around Bristol until she plucked up the courage to corner her in the cafe and trick her into going to the wedding. But she wasn't about to relay that to her fiancé.
"Oh," was Alice's simple reply, but Naomi could sense the hidden fury behind it, and as she tipped her wine glass back, downing the chardonnay in a gulp, Naomi stared at the corners of her eyes, noticing the wrinkles there, the ones that only made appearances when Alice was on the verge of tears.
"I invited her to the wedding," Naomi confessed. She blamed the wine, and despite her earlier resolve, took a large bite of her lasagna. She chewed it slowly, reveling in the fact that it kept her from speaking.
"You did what?" Alice said, bring her glass down onto the table too harshly.
Naomi continued chewing. Waiting until tears began to fall down Alice's blushing cheeks before she swallowed and reached over the table, collecting the tears with her thumbs.
"I invited her. It's been a long time since we dated and I think it'd be unfair for her to be the only one of my old friends not invited," Naomi answered, composed. She had thought about this conversation. Tried to find a way to justify Emily's invitation that might make sense to Alice.
"But she isn't just one of your old friends, Naomi. You two dated. For six years," Alice reasoned, anger seeping into her words.
"And apparently, since you saw her, you've pulled away from me. You can't tell me that's a coincidence, Naomi."
"I haven't...I've just been...you can't just assume that, Alice. Work's been busy. The wedding's soon. I've just got a lot in my head," Naomi said, looking directly into Alice's sparkling green eyes for the first time that night.
"Okay," Alice said and she motioned for the waiter. Alice looked so small, sitting there wiping her mouth with her white napkin.
At that point, Naomi tuned everything else out. She knew Alice was asking for the check, she knew that she would pay for it, and thus find a way to filter her monetary dominance into their impending argument when they got home.
She knew she would be sleeping on the couch tonight.
Alice may have seemed small as she closed the argument, but the one thing Alice and Emily had in common was their tempers. She knew inside Alice was brewing a maelstrom of emotions and she would take them all out on Naomi when she got home. Naomi, in return, was building up her old walls, preparing for whatever Alice would throw at her, her only defense being stone cold stoicism.
Naomi lay on the couch, a bottle of vodka on her stomach on top of the duvet, a small, clear shot glass in her hand. She stared at it through bleary eyes as she poured the liquid into it. When her and Emily began their traveling, they decided on collecting shot glasses wherever they went. The one Naomi was currently tipping to her lips said 'SINGAPORE!' across it's glass surface, complete with a miniature skyline. Memories of their many trips were streaming across Naomi's subconscious, but at that point she was too drunk to focus on any one in particular. It was just flashes of red, moments of happiness, images of Emily's face, her legs, her milk skin. At this moment, she'd do anything to be inside that miniature skyline, with Emily, instead of lying on the couch, finishing off a bottle of vodka and feeling sorry for herself. Thankfully, the couch was comfortable. It had made the move from Naomi's university flat to her and Alice's house, it being the only acceptable bit of furniture Alice allowed Naomi to keep. It was tucked in 'her' room, which doubled as her office. She had bookshelves with her favorite books, newspapers she'd had pieces in, travel guides to places she'd been. This was the only place in the house where she had free reign in design. Plastered on the walls were posters from rallies Naomi had been a part of. She was glad for this room on nights like this when her and Alice would have fights so catastrophic Alice would fix her with a look she knew meant she'd be in her room that night. She didn't mind though. She had just hoped that she wouldn't end up here so close to the wedding. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to force all the thoughts out of her head. It was futile, as soon as she opened her eyes they were back. Memories. Moments. Thoughts too fragile to bother with analysis.
She tipped the vodka bottle to her lips, finishing the last of it before turning on her side, falling into fitful sleep.