Prompt from SK-Scatenato: Gail and holly post 5x08, Traci sets Gail up on a blind date with a friend of her friend, who happens to be Holly
"Tonight 8 p.m. I'm sending you the address."
"What are you talking about?" Gail swirled her chair around to face Tracy.
"Your date, Gail,"
"I don't have a date." Her mood plummeted at the thought that she didn't have a girlfriend anymore.
"You do. You told me, and I quote 'Whatever. Okay.' when I asked you."
"That was just to shut you up."
"Well, too bad." Tracy shrugged. "I'm not going to call my friend and cancel."
"You set me up with your friend?" Somehow terrific images of double dates with her brother popped in her head. She quickly dismissed them. She didn't want it to work. She didn't even want to go on that date. Just because Holly was ready to move on, it didn't mean she was too. Or that she wanted to.
"Of course not." Gail glared at her. It sounded like she didn't want to 'risk' her friend with Gail. "A friend of her." Tracy continued.
"You don't even know this person, do you?" Gail quickly surmised. "For all you know you set me up with a sociopath psycho. It will be on you, Nash."
"There will be no psycho at the date." Tracy rolled her eyes. "Unless you count yourself," she teased her. "But she assured me that her friend can handle you."
"Handle me?" Gail scowled at her. "What did you tell your friend about me?"
"I need to go," Tracy hurried away as she was called by her partner. "Just show up. And give her a chance."
"Her?" she called after her in vain.
.
Gail took a chug of her beer and approached the woman before she could lose her nerve once again. "Hey."
"Oh. Hey."
"Waiting for," Gail tried to sound unruffled. "someone?" God. She hated that word.
"I think so?"
"So you're not sure?" she cringed at the mocking tone she immediately adopted.
"Blind date,"
"Me too," Gail volunteered, glad that she hadn't taken offense.
"Oh."
"Holly, you okay?"
"Fine."
Gail didn't comment on how she just gulped down her whole glass while Gail knew she liked to sip it. She used to tease her merciless on how much time it took her to finish a glass. "What happened to your last someone?" she asked instead.
Holly looked at her confused.
"When I brought you the thumb. You told me you were seeing someone. But you're here on a blind date…" Gail explained.
"Oh. That."
"Yes. That."
"Didn't work out."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm not." Holly gave her a look that said she knew Gail wasn't sorry at all either. Now it was Gail's turn to be confused. "I didn't want it to work out. They are just stupid set up."
"Then why you're here?"
"Why are you here?" Holly counteracted back. "I seem to remember you complaining about ridiculous blind dates your mom kept setting you up,"
"Tracy didn't give me any choice." Gail grumbled. "Whom are you waiting?"
"No idea, but she's late." Holly didn't seem upset by that. "She's a friend of a friend."
"Boob Job?" Gail spat out.
It took a moment for Holly to understand what Gail was talking about. "No. Lauren. She was out of town when…well, when everything happened. Your date?" she continued, not wanting to dwell on the past events.
Gail took out her phone and looked at the hour. "She's late too."
"She?"
Gail finished typing a message and looked up just in time to see Holly hiding her distraught face under a calm mask.
"What, Holly? You're okay with me going on dates but not if I date women?" Gail asked annoyed.
"I'm not okay with you going on dates." Holly muttered.
"But you have no problems doing it. You're the only one who can?" she was pissed. "You couldn't even wait a month."
"I didn't know there was something to wait for."
Gail looked at her hurt. "Not like that. Gail, had you asked me for time, I would have given it to you." Holly hurried out, not wanting Gail to leave thinking whatever was going on in her head. "All the time you asked for. All the time you needed. I would have waited for you. But you didn't. You disappeared. You didn't answer my calls, my texts, you never called back. It was just like I never existed. Like we never had anything. I wasn't going to stop my life for something that never existed."
"It wasn't like that."
"I know that now." Holly gave her a sad smile.
"Hol?" Gail asked after a while, both of them drinking next to each other silently, having forgotten all about their dates. "What was your friend's name?"
"Lauren, why?"
Gail hold out her phone.
Tracy: I told you I don't know your date. She's a friend of a friend.
Gail: Who's your friend?
Tracy: You don't know her.
Gail: name?
Tracy: why?
Gail: name
Tracy: Lauren
"What were the chances?" Gail broke the silence as Holly didn't say anything after reading the text exchange.
"It's a rhetorical question or do you really want to know…" Gail just looked at her. "Okay. What now?" Holly asked unsure.
"My date was late, but now she's here so…"
"I wasn't late!" Holly protested.
Gail grinned as if Holly admitting she was her date was her personal victory. "Now that we're here we can proceed with the date, then,"
"Gail," Holly's tone held a warning.
"Please, give me a chance to explain. I'm not asking for more. Yet. Please?"
"Okay."