Disclaimer: I do not own Girlfriends.
*Maya/Toni ship requested.
Girlfriends Season 3 Episode 10 Like You Like That: During Maya's stay at Toni's house, true feelings come out.
Opening Theme Song:
"My girlfriends, there through thick and thin.
My girlfriends, there for anything.
My girlfriends!"
Like You Like That
Toni stood before her closet wall mirror, admiring the newest addition of designer handbags. In preparation for an upcoming client meeting, she roleplayed a house tour to imaginary prospective buyers. 'And over here, you have the double oven,' she said, pointing with the Dolce & Gabanna handbag. 'Oh, you love it? Thanks! I bought it for $2,745; it was on sale- but, why am I stating the obvious?' she said, referring to the handbag.
She would have continued flaunting her designer piece had there not been someone knocking on the door.
"This better not be Carmela begging for some more overtime." Toni Childs walked through the living room, looking stunning as usual. Her black long-sleeve v-neck complemented her breast and name-brand faded denim jeans. She opened the door to Maya Wilkes, who had a roller suitcase in tow.
Toni aimed a perplexed look at her friend before secretly admiring her outfit; she wore a chocolate brown tanktop with khaki pants. Usually, Toni despised khaki pants on anyone, but she found the two colors integrated well with each other. Although she admired her style, Toni could never envision herself owning anything off the rack that was less than three figures.
"Maya? What're you doing here? If you decided to give a second thought to cleaning my place, the gloves are on the mini table," Toni took Maya's free hand to pull her inside. "Oh, and please dispose of them after you're done. Yes, I know they're reusable, but I don't want anything used left in my house."
"Toni, you know damn well I'm not here to clean your place."
"Well, you must be suffering from amnesia because apparently, you think you're at Joan's house."
"Apparently, you're the one with amnesia. Girl, we just spoke an hour ago over the phone about how I'll be staying here to give Joan a break. I told you I was dropping Jabari off at his dad's before I was heading over here."
"Now I know you're lying because I've never heard you speak of anyone named Jabari!"
"Well, let's call Joan and tell her that you changed your mind. See how receptive she'll be to seeing your movie suggestion on the next movie night, considering it'll be your turn to choose."
Toni sighed. "Okay, fine. Make yourself at home."
Maya walked into the kitchen to fix something to eat but only to find FIJI water in the fridge and bare cabinets.
"Toni, girl, where's your food?"
Toni slapped her own forehead, recalling something to mind. "Oh, that's right, I forgot I fired one of my maids today. You know she was taking total advantage of me! Collecting points off of my groceries by using something called a... r-e-wards card."
"Well, the least I can do, girl, is make dinner. I'll go to the store."
"Wait, don't buy anything with strong smells. I don't want any lingering food odors in my apartment," Toni called after her friend who was walking out the door. "Also, nothing that can be heated or microwaved!"
Sometime later, at the nearby market, Maya pushed a grocery cart full of items that mostly followed Toni's food preference. Toni, who decided to accompany her, dropped a box of cereal in the cart.
"See," Toni said. "I'm being considerate. I'm buying you something to eat for breakfast."
Maya fetched the cereal to view the front of the box. It resembled Cheerios except with a slightly different texture and contained more protein and less sugar. "Honey Grain-Free Cereal… wow. Sounds appetizing."
"I know, right!" Toni grinned, oblivious to Maya's sarcasm.
After a few more aisle trips, they finally made their way to the checkout lane. Maya placed the items on the conveyor belt.
Toni scrunched her nose, grabbing the tray of ground beef recently placed on the belt.
"What is this?" Toni asked.
"Ground beef. I'm making pasta for dinner."
"You don't make it, you cook it."
"Whatever, Toni, I'm cooking pasta for dinner."
"I said no foods that can be heated. I'm not paying for this."
"Fine, I'll pay for it," Maya reached for the divider to separate the beef, pasta noodles, and sauce.
"Do you plan on cooking this outside? Because you're not about to have my place smelling like food."
"Okay, you've got to be kidding. Girl, I know you're not just going to eat lettuce all day. Look at you, you need some meat on them bones; shoot, you're skinny enough to hula hoop with one of these copycat Cheerios," Maya pointed to the Honey-grain cereal box.
"I do just fine with my Beverly Hills takeout."
The cashier, a young male, admired the two ladies as he scanned their items. The groceries consisted of mostly lettuce and salad toppings.
"How long have you two been together?" he asked.
The question caught both Toni and Maya off guard as their initial response was silence and surprise that they emanated a 'couple vibe.' The two glanced at each other, and Maya broke the silence with hard laughter before responding.
"We are definitely not a couple," Maya said.
The cashier blushed with an apology and continued scanning the few items remaining.
Later in the evening, the sun had set behind some clouds, offering the view of Los Angelos under a red sky. It was then when Toni and Maya arrived back at the apartment.
Maya was in the kitchen removing their groceries to store in their proper place. It was agreed that a pasta salad would be for dinner, a compromise they could both live with. She continued talking about her work life at the law firm, revealing how she manages to squeeze in hair appointments during work hours without being caught.
"And that's my secret, girl," Maya said. "That's how I was able to get those box braids that took eight hours to do."
Toni remained on the sofa, folding towels in silence; this was the first sign that something was wrong, considering that Toni never bothered herself with menial house chores. It was always flipping through the latest jewelry magazine or going on about how certain people find her popularity to be intimidating. It was at that moment when Maya sensed something was off about her friend.
"Toni, you haven't said a single word since we stepped foot in here. I'm not going to cook the meat in your kitchen, girl. I'll save it for when I go back to Joan's."
"Well, maybe you should go back now," Toni stood, crossing her arms.
"What? No, I can wait."
"I can hardly tell. It seems like you'd be eager to get away from me."
"Toni, what're you talking about?"
"Uh, I don't know, how about 'we are definitely not a couple,'" Toni mocked with air quotes.
"Okay, first of all, I do not sound like that. Secondly, are you mad that I said that or something? Because it's true, we're not a couple."
"Yes, that's obvious to me, but it wasn't the fact that you said it, it was how you said it."
"So, you're mad at me?" Maya smiled, amused by this.
"Didn't I just say that I'm upset?!" Toni threw her arms up in frustration.
"I couldn't tell. You didn't seem upset driving back from the store when you were rapping to Ying Yang Twins' Get Low."
"Don't change the subject. What the hell is so wrong with me that would make us definitely not a couple?"
Maya's smile faded as she surveyed her friend for a moment.
"I didn't mean anything by it," Maya finally said. "Like come on, you're gorgeous!"
"I know I'm gorgeous! I'm confused, not crazy," Toni flipped her own hair before walking past her friend. She busied herself in the bedroom for the rest of the evening while remaining suspiciously silent.
To be continued…