Yumi went to the nearest bar she could find and sat on the stool, William sitting on the one next to her. Yumi immediately ordered two shots of whiskey, slid one to William and downed the other.
"I just made a few hundred thousand, it's on me," Yumi said and ordered a beer to follow.
"What is it about Selena that makes you drink?" William asked and Yumi laughed and shook her head, "She really isn't that bad."
"She cheated on her husband and didn't tell him she was pregnant. Not exactly a great start," Yumi said and sipped her beer. After two sips she remembered something and groaned, "I might be pregnant."
"It doesn't happen that fast," William said.
"Still," Yumi said and flagged the bartender, "I'll have water."
The bartender moved to take the beer but William reached over and grabbed it, "I'll take it."
"Did you hear the way she said it. Condescending bitch," Yumi said and felt her fist clenched.
"They are still married," William said and Yumi shrugged.
"Barely, days away from a divorce. Literally a stroke of the pen."
"We all like Selena…"
"Why?"
"Because we know her," William said and Yumi rolled her eyes, "If you actually came to these get togethers, you'd know her better. I met my wife through Selena, I've double dated with them. Selena drove Aelita to the hospital when she had Ginny. Don't you dare tell any of us to question our friendship to her."
Yumi looked away and suddenly wanted her beer back.
"I didn't know all of that."
"Because you're not here anymore," William said and took a gulp, "Selena sent Odd a care package last month. Did you even know Odd was deployed to Africa?"
"No," Yumi said and felt herself sinking into the seat more.
"What's my wife's name?" William asked and Yumi turned to him, "You missed our wedding, which is fine, you aren't alone, Odd did to. I've sent cards, emails. My wife is really into the seasonal card and family newsletter, which I personally don't like but it makes her happy. She signs all of them with love William and...what is my wife's name."
Yumi reached back across him and grabbed the beer and drank all of it.
"You come back and start laying down rules like you've been here the entire time, like you're the real friend and Selena is encroaching on your territory."
Yumi looked at the bar then felt the need to cry but held it back and then said, "I became a stranger to my own friends."
"I'm sorry, I know what I'm saying is harsh."
"I think you're actually being very fair," Yumi said and smiled, "I can tell you could be a whole lot meaner to me."
"I think you got the message," William said and ordered another round.
"What was Ulrich like around Selena?" Yumi asked, William smiling at her.
"We're surprised it took them six years to get married," William said and Yumi looked down, "Selena brought something out in him we hadn't seen, well since you.
"I didn't really notice it, none of us did until it wasn't there anymore. Ulrich shut down after you and him broke up. He was still a great friend, but his relationships were empty, because if it didn't work with you, why would it with anyone else? Do you know how they met?"
"I didn't even know they were married, take a wild guess."
"She ran him over," William said and Yumi laughed, "With a bike, not a car. She rode her bike around campus and her bag slipped off her shoulder. When she looked away to adjust, Wham!" William said, slapping the bar, "She literally flipped off of her bike, landed square on her back and was expecting to get yelled at. The first thing she heard was, 'you okay?'
"She just rammed him at full speed and he's asking her if she's okay. Selena loved that about him immediately. They went to the campus nurse together and just talked.
"I saw him two weeks later and he was different. I didn't know what it was, until he said he met a girl and he was worried about asking her out. I hadn't seen him with butterflies since you. It was the first time he was willing to take that chance again.
"No one is saying you're the reason he's getting divorced, we know that isn't true. You might be the reason it sticks though. I'm not going to defend Selena's discretion, that is between her and Ulrich, but as someone who is married, I understand it."
"It sounds like you're defending it."
"You feel trapped. You feel unloved, unwanted, unappreciated. Then someone shows you those things, even at a shallow level and it's amazing how fast the thought crosses your mind. Aelita told me the easiest way to fix it. I came home and my wife was ready for a fight, don't even know what about. Before she could start I kissed her and just said I appreciated her, and I'm sorry I didn't say that more."
"Damn, that would loosen my panties a little," Yumi said and they both laughed, "Allison," Yumi said, making him smile, "Your wife's name is Allison."
"You remembered."
"I shouldn't have to remember, I should just know."
Yumi and William arrived back at the house three hours later. William stepped in while Yumi pulled out her phone on the porch to call Monica who filled her in and asked her to hurry up with the outlines. Scrolling through her phone she heard a chime and saw she had a new message.
'Can we talk?'
'Who is this?' Yumi replied to a number but not a name.
'Selena.'
Yumi looked at her phone, and fought her desire to be mean and replied with.
'Where?'
Yumi drove to the park where her and Ulrich took the kids a few days ago. Three hours had passed since she drank, so she was more than confident about driving. Arriving there thirty minutes later Yumi stepped out of her car and saw Selena sitting on a log on the side of the trail, her belly in her lap.
"It's really convenient you tell him when he's about to sign," Yumi said and Selena blinked, "Is it even his?"
"Yes, and before you have the right to criticise me, he is still married, and that is not a technicality. As of right now, you are not my husbands friend, you're his mistress, since we're bringing up inconvenient truths."
"Fair enough," Yumi said and tucked her hands into her pockets, "What do you want exactly?"
"I remember when I met you the first time. Ulrich walked through the door of Aelita and Jeremie's cramped apartment they used to live in and you lit up. Like a girl who was finally going to tell him. Then I walked in behind him."
Yumi looked away slowly turned back, "So what. Maybe I finally decided I wanted a real chance with him. Maybe I thought I was ready."
"My first impression of you, was not kind I admit. You wore your heart on your sleeve for my boyfriend, then preceded to get so drunk, you broke their Television, and dropped their newborn…"
"I what.."
"No one ever told you?" Selena asked and Yumi looked at her, and knew it was true, "You drunkenly stumbled into Aleta's room and picked her up. You stumbled out, and I barely caught the baby you dropped as you passed out. That's my first impression."
Yumi felt her right hand shaking and grabbed her wrist with her left.
"That's actually my only impression, the next time I see you, Ulrich's walking into their house, and you light up and kiss him, then look at his pregnant wife like she's the problem."
"Bad time to say I might be pregnant?" Yumi asked and Selena stood up and looked at her, "I'm dead serious, all night, all natural."
"Do you think you're still in high school or something? Ulrich isn't the team captain, he's my husband. Maybe he wouldn't be, if you had some balls and planted roots when he was yours. It's not my fault you let him go."
Before either of them knew it, Yumi punched her across the face. Selena feel back and over the log she was sitting on, landing on her back. Selena leaned up and grabbed her stomach as Yumi heard a siren. She turned and saw a police officer stepping out of his car.
"Oh fuck."
