Langer home August 2018
"You're not serious." Leigh laughed as the five of them sat around the dinner table.
"I am. I am" Joey replied with a grin, "They'll hang a toy phone around your neck and you have to wear it all day, maybe longer."
Steve took a swig of his drink as he silently listened to the conversation and Tara tried to smile through the story but she felt a little uncomfortable with this woman being in her home.
"Like a child's toy phone?" Leigh questioned in astonishment.
"Yes, it's like The Scarlet Letter for violating the phone rule." Joey continued, laughing along, "Improper use of a phone. They catch you, you wear the phone, like 'Let this be a chilling example to the others'."
"You...You can't make calls in the first 30 days unless a caseworker signs off, so..." Luke explained to the other three at the table as he picked at his food. He seemed to notice that Tara was uncomfortable so he reached his arm around her chair and gently rubbed her back.
"Well, that's a little harsh, isn't it?" Leigh frowned.
"It's not as harsh as an overdose," Joey replied bluntly.
"I mean, addicts," Luke said through a mouthful of food, "we're...we're pretty slippery in early recovery. That's why they confiscate our cell phones, you know, in case someone was to call a connection."
"Yeah." Joey agreed.
"What if you want to call your mom?" Leigh asked curiously.
"For some folks in there, their connection is their mom." Joey remarked, "Truly."
"It's true," Luke spoke through another mouthful of food and the three began laughing again while Tara and Steve sat there silently. The two shared a look. They both seemed to be uncomfortable with the woman Luke had brought home.
"So, Luke tells me you're a writer," Joey said, after a moment, turning to Steve.
"He did?" Steve questioned with a smirk, "I'm surprised he mentioned it."
"Where do you get your ideas from?" she asked.
He waited until he had swallowed his food before answering, "I write about haunted houses, mostly, and haunted people. I'm afraid there's no shortage of them."
"Must run in the family." Joey commented, "I mean, Luke's a great writer, too."
"Yeah?" Steve questioned in surprise.
"Yeah."
"No, I'm not." Luke shook his head and chuckled playing with the ends of Tara's hair.
"Stop selling yourself short." Joey laughed, "He's really talented. You should show them the one about the short story with the imaginary little friend in the garden. The one... Do you know that one?" She asked the three of them.
Steve chuckled sarcastically, "Yeah."
"Abigail," Tara replied quietly but they all heard her.
"Yeah," Joey said but never turned to look at Tara, she kept her attention on Steve.
"I put her in one of my books, too." Steve informed her with a chuckle, "Something tells me Luke won't get as much blowback for his."
"It's just... it's an essay." He said nonchalantly as he takes another bite of his meal, "It's not anything, you know."
"I keep telling him he should publish it." Joey leaned over to tell Leigh, "Off his name alone. Maybe get a sweet place like this for himself. I mean, you guys... This is so awesome." She looked around the room, "You guys got it all, man."
She continued, smiling brightly, "Where do you go from here? Nothing left to do except maybe fill this place up with some kids, I guess."
"Actually," Steve interjected, "This is Tara's house." He said nodding over to the quiet pregnant woman sitting between him and Luke.
"Oh?" Joey said in shock, finally looking over at the woman she had been trying to avoid all evening, "So what do you do to be able to afford a place like this, Tara?"
She gave Joey a tense smile, "I'm an artist, but I actually haven't lived here for very long."
"Oh?"
Tara nodded, "Uh, I lived in a small one bedroom apartment on the other side of town until about two years ago when my career finally picked up."
Joey nodded as she picked up a fork full of food, "So I guess when Luke finishes rehab he'll be moving in here with you?" she questioned curiously with a bit of envy.
Tara and Luke smiled over at each other lovingly, "That's the plan." She replied to the other woman.
"Do you know what you're having?"
Luke laughed and shook his head, "No, Tara wants it to be surprised."
Tara nodded in agreement and smiled, "But I do have a feeling it's going to be a girl."
"And when are you due, again?" Joey asked snidely, looking down at the young woman's belly, "I mean you're just so huge, you look like you're ready to pop at any moment."
Tara tried not to be offended by that. She was actually pretty small for how far along she was and the doctors had been worried about that, but she just couldn't seem to get her weight up, "I'm, uh, due September 30th." She replied as Luke grinned and reached over to give her stomach a rub.
Joey nodded along but didn't speak up again.
"So is this your first rehab, Joey?" Steve broke the silence.
Tara could sense that Luke's friend didn't really like her, and to be quite honest she wasn't too fond of the woman either. She could tell that Joey had a thing for Luke, and while she knew it wasn't reciprocated, it still made her uncomfortable. They spent all day together at rehab.
She hated feeling uncomfortable in her own home; this was supposed to be her sanctuary. She hadn't even wanted to have this stupid dinner. When Tara had found out about Luke's day pass she had been so excited to be able to spend a day with him and have a romantic dinner that night before he had to go back.
But then he had informed her that he had invited his new rehab friend to tag along and suggested that she see if Steve and Leigh could join them as well. So Tara's romantic night with her special dinner for just her and Luke became dinner for five.
She tried not to let her bitterness over their ruined dinner show, but Tara wasn't having a very good night, and Steve seemed to be the only one picking up on how unhappy she was. Tara just wanted the evening to hurry up and end, but of course, she didn't get what she wanted.
It was nearly an hour later when everyone finished eating the meal Tara had cooked, and they continued to sit around and chat for another forty-five minutes. She just wanted everyone to leave so she could go to bed and cry. This pregnancy had made her very hormonal.
Tara had finally gotten her wish and everyone was getting ready to leave. She was cleaning up the kitchen and Luke had come in to help her. He was unloading the dishwasher and putting everything away while she wiped down the counters.
"Is it normal to bring a friend home on a day pass?" She asked, breaking the silence.
"Yeah." Luke shrugged, "It happens. I just never really felt like it before."
"You must like her." Tara murmured turning to face away from Luke so that he wouldn't see her saddened face.
"I admire her." He corrected looking over at his girlfriend's back, "I feel like she's got her shit together."
Tara sighed, "Look, I get it. She's charming. She's articulate, she's funny."
"Yeah." He nodded in agreement.
She sighed, "And she knows exactly what you're going through because she's been there herself."
Luke looked over at his girlfriend in confusion, "Hey," He called walking over to her and turning her around to face him, "Are you okay, babe?" He frowned once he saw her tear-filled eyes, "What's wrong?"
She shook her head, "Nothing, just hormones." Tara replied as she turned and walked over to the sink and began rinsing off the dishes.
Luke walked behind her and wound his arms around her, laying his hands on her bump, "Are you sure you're alright? You're not jealous of Joey, are you baby?" he questioned placing his chin on her shoulder.
She jerkily shrugged her shoulder in reply, not turning to face him. She couldn't face him, Tara was too embarrassed. She felt like they were back in high school.
Luke let out a soft chuckle, "Tara, you don't need to worry about Joey." He turned her around to face him, "All my life only one girl has held my interest, no one else could possibly compare to you. You're everything I want; you and our baby are my life."
She sniffled and gave him a watery smile as he pulled her closed and leaned down for a kiss.
Steve's apartment October 28, 2018
Leigh had given Luke Steve's address and after leaving he and Joey began making their way over there, but just as Leigh had said, Steve wasn't home. So Luke used his foot to kick the door open and enter the dark apartment.
"Jesus, Steve." Luke muttered, shivering, as he began searching through drawers, "It's fucking freezing in here." He grabbed the camera and an iPad he found and headed back out of the apartment.
However, as he was coming down the stairs to leave, Luke encountered Steve coming into the building.
"Fother mucker." Steve sighed dropping his bags to the floor. As he looked up he caught sight of Luke standing at the top of the stairs.
Steve sighed, "Hey, Luke."
"Hey... Hey, Steve." He replied hesitantly, "This isn't what it looks like."
"How'd you know where to find me?" Steve questioned curiously but Luke didn't answer him, "Tell you what, I've got 200 bucks here." He pulled the money out and showed it to Luke, "You hand me that iPad, and you can keep the cash and sell that old camera. But, I need the iPad. It stays here."
Luke made his way out of the apartment building and began crossing the street back over to Joey, "Hey."
She jumped and threw her cigarette down turning to face him, "Hey. Oh my God, I saw him walking in, I thought you were fucked."
He shook his head, "It's all good." Luke showed her the money, "Should be enough for a night, maybe two. And some food."
They walked for a bit in silence before Luke spoke up shivering, "Goddammit, it's cold tonight. Are you cold?"
She ignored his question and asked instead, "Where are we? Seventh?"
"Yeah, almost." He nodded, "It's a few more blocks. I want a clean hotel, no junkies on the sidewalk."
"Man, I don't know if I'm gonna make it a couple blocks without a piss." She said as they stopped walking in front of an alleyway, "I'll just pop into the little junkies' room and be back in a minute." She joked before staring at him oddly, "Baby, you got a fever?"
"Yeah, maybe." He let out a soft chuckle, "It's my arms and legs, you know? Muscle aches. No, I'm fine."
"Hey, I... Thank you." She said staring at him lovingly, "For coming after me."
"Oh." Luke smiled kindly.
"It means a lot." She continued moving closer to him.
"You're welcome." He replied, slightly uncomfortable as she continued to invade his personal space, "Uh, what are you..."
"It's alright." She whispered seductively before she leaned forward all the way and kissed him.
Luke froze in shock for a second before he registered what was happening and tried to gently shove her away, shaking his head emphatically, "No."
"What's wrong, baby?" Joey asked confused.
"We can't... uh, you can't do that." He continued to shake his head, "I have a girlfriend, and I love her very much. I'm sorry if I led you on at all, Joe, but you know that I'm committed to Tara. I don't feel that way about you."
Joey frowned at the mention of his baby momma before pulling on a fake smile, "It's okay." She started walking towards the alley, "Be back in a flash."
He nodded, "Okay." He stood there waiting for her to come back out for a few minutes before calling out, "Come on, let's...let's keep going." But he was met with nothing but silence, "Joey?"
He waited a few more moments for her to come back before walking halfway down the alleyway, "Joey?" Luke reached back into his pocket only to realize the money Steve had given him was gone, "Fuck." He muttered as he took off to the end of the alley and looked around the corner, but there was no sign of Joey anywhere, "Joey!"
He ran back up to the street and looked around panting, "Joey!" He looked to the right of him only to catch sight of the bowler hat man waiting for him. Luke turned and jogged the other way down the street, "Joey!"