Chapter 19: Just Friends
It was now Saturday and Rae headed to meet Ashley to go see their friends' band play. They were a cover band called Wild Magnolia. They did mostly pop and rock covers, but occasionally they'd surprise their audience with a country song or two. It'd been a couple of years since she'd been to one of their shows and she was excited to see them again. She picked Ashley up after she'd left her parent's house from their regular Saturday night family dinner. Ashley wore a red dress decorated with black flowers and black stilettos. Araeyah had decided to wear dark blue jeans and a floral shirt that tied up to show off her flat belly. She settled on red pumps to match her red bra that could be seen through the thin fabric of her top. They arrived a half hour before the show started and went to the bar to have a drink. Rae had a huge grin on her face as she was texting back and forth with Olivia.
"Who are you texting?" Ashley said noticing Rae's smile. "Just a friend." she said. She didn't want to explain the whole complicated situation to Ashley. "Seems like more than just a friend with that smile you got goin' on." Ashley said. "Who is she? Or is it a he?" Ashley said teasingly. She remembered one time Rae had told her she was open to dating anyone as long as they were a good person. She wasn't really into labels. "It's a she." Rae said slightly rolling her eyes. "Ok, so who is she?" Ashley was not letting it go. "The show's about to start." she said trying to get out of telling Ashley what she wanted to know. "This isn't over. You're gonna tell me." Rae just ignored her. She sent one last text to Liv telling her the show was starting before turning her attention to the stage.
The guys played three sets and they were great. They crowded into a booth to hang out after the show had ended to have a few beers and talk about the show. "You guys were awesome." Rae said complimenting the guys the umpteenth time that night. She picked up her beer and took another gulp. "Better than you remember?" Colin asked. Colin was the drummer in the band. He was the boyfriend that she'd told Olivia about. Nothing really serious had happened between them but Rae knew Colin had wanted it to. She suspected that maybe even now he still wanted her. "Yes. You're sound is amazing. I'm really impressed" she said smiling looking at the guys. "So maybe you'll come back and sing with us again, huh?" Matty asked. Matty was lead singer in the band and he also played guitar. He had heard Rae sing when Ashley signed her up for that open mic night without telling her and had talked her into doing a couple shows with the band. "I don't know", Rae said shrugging her shoulders. "Oh, come on. You guys were great together." Ashley said nudging Rae with an elbow. "You should do it." Rae picked up her beer and finished it off. "I'll think about it" she said. "We all know that's a yes" Brad, the bassist, said getting a laugh from everyone. 'We'll send you a list of our rehearsal days and times. Let us know when you can come out." Matty said. Rae couldn't say anything so she just smiled and nodded her head.
They left the bar around one thirty in the morning. Rae paid for overnight parking and she and Ashley took a cab back to her apartment. They went inside after a brief run in with Paul the nosey neighbor and got ready for bed. Rae wore her underwear and an oversized shirt while Ashley picked a small cut off tank top and boy shorts. She found herself staring at Ashley a little longer than she probably should have. She quickly shook it off and continued getting ready for bed.
When they got into bed, Rae could feel Ashley's eyes on her. She looked over and found that she was indeed staring at her. "Why are you staring at me?" she asked.
"You didn't think I forgot did you?" she said referring to their earlier conversation. "I'm waiting for you to tell me who she is?" Rae rolled her eyes and turned her back to Ashley. She felt Ashley move and turned to find her sitting up on her knees. "You're not going to sleep until I get some answers." She paused and waited for Rae to something but the room remained silent. "Come on. Just tell me" she said shaking Rae's shoulder.
"Ugh. What Ashley? Tell you what? I told you she's just a friend." Rae said sitting up against the headboard.
"Oh bullshit. I know I never smile like that over "just a friend"." Ashley looked at Rae with raised eyebrows waiting for her to say something else. She was a little jealous and was working hard not to let Rae see it. "Ok fine. Who is this friend?"
"She's...she's..." Rae couldn't get anything out. She tried to find words to describe Olivia but nothing would come out.
"Oh my god. She's so more than a friend. You can't even talk straight." Ashley said teasingly, laughing at her friend. Rae took a pillow and swung it at Ashley, hitting her in the side. "Shut up!" She was so embarrassed that she couldn't articulate her thoughts when it came to Liv. "We really are just friends. I'll admit that I do want us to be more but she's...she's just not sure that's what she wants yet. I have to convince her that it is."
"Oooo...so you're wooing her" Ashley said settling back down in the bed, continuing to hide her jealousy. Rae followed Ashley's lead, taking her pillow back and laying down. "Yeah, I guess I am."
"Well if I know anything about you and your charm it's that you can convince anyone of anything. I would say good luck but you're not gonna need it." Rae smiled at her friend and how supportive she was being. Rae really liked this new side of Ashley. "Thanks Ash." She turned over putting her back to Ashley and both girls drifted off to sleep.
Ashley woke up to the sound of knocking. She rolled over and saw that Rae was gone. The clock on the bedside table said it was twelve thirty in the afternoon. Whoever was at the door continued to knock so she got up and went out to the living room. "Where the hell is Rae", she thought as she walked to the door. She opened the door to find a blonde standing there. She held two coffees in her hands. Ashley stood there in nothing but her cut off tank top and boy shorts looking her up and down. "Can I help you?" Ashley said breaking the silence between them. "Yeah, you can get out of my way." Maureen said stepping past Ashley into the apartment. Ashley rolled her eyes before shutting the door and going back into Rae's bedroom to get her phone. She came back out into the living room and sat down on the couch. Maureen sat down at the bar in the kitchen and waited for Rae to come in.
Rae felt casual when she woke up that morning so decided to wear a blue sweat suit and black sneakers. She'd taken a taxi back to the bar they'd been to last night and picked up her car. She went to get Maureen and they stopped for coffee on their way back to her place. On their way inside she realized she'd forgotten her phone in her car. She handed off her coffee to Maureen and ran back to get it. When she walked into her loft, she saw Maureen at the breakfast bar and Ashley on the couch. Both girls were ignoring the existence of the other. She shook her head and rolled her eyes before grabbing Maureen and leading her into the living room. "So what do you two wanna do today?" Rae said breaking the silence between them. She handed Ashley her coffee and took her cup from Maureen. Neither of them said anything so she tried again. "Hello. I'm talking to both of you."
"What I'm gonna do today I haven't decided yet", Ashley started, "but what I'm not gonna do is spend my day with her."
"Great. I wasn't planning on spending my day with you either." Maureen said glaring at Ashley.
"Guys come on. This is ridiculous. You two have to stop fighting." Rae said. She hated being in the middle of their feud.
"Not today we don't. I just talked to Scott. He's on his way to pick me up." Ashley got up from the couch and walked into Rae's bedroom, taking her coffee with her.
"Good riddance." Maureen said under her breath.
Rae let out a frustrated groan. "You know you two are really starting to piss me off." She got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen. She opened the frig and tried to decide on something for lunch. All she had was soy milk, apple juice, grapes, and a bunch of condiments. "Forgot to go shopping again", she thought to herself. She went back over to the couch and sat down. "I don't have any food so we're gonna have to go out. Where do you wanna go?" Just as Rae finished the question Ashley emerged from her room. "I can give you something to wear home Ashley", Rae said when she saw she was wearing her dress from the night before.
"That's ok. Scott's here so I'm going." Rae sighed. "I'll walk you out." Ashley turned and headed for the door and Rae followed behind her. Maureen remained seated on the couch to wait for Araeyah to come back.
They got outside and saw Scott's red convertible waiting for Ashley on the street. Scott was a freshman in college that Ashley had met a week earlier at some gallery show. He was an art major and really cute. He and Ashley clicked right away and they'd been hanging out since. They approached the car and Rae reached out and grabbed Ashley's hand forcing her to turn and look at her. "I really wish you wouldn't leave", she said sadly. "What am I gonna do Rae? Stay and hang out with you and the ice queen all day? No thanks. You two have fun." Ashley turned and tried to get in the car but Rae didn't let go of her hand. She turned and saw the hurt look on Rae's face. She took a step closer to her and look her in the eyes. "Araeyah...its fine. Maureen and I aren't friends and that's ok. That doesn't have to affect us. We had a great time last night. Now you should go have a great day with Maureen. I'll be fine. Ok?" Rae gave a small smile, "Ok." Ashley gave Rae a quick kiss goodbye before letting go off her hand and getting in the car. Rae watched until the car was out of sight before turning and going back inside. She hadn't noticed Olivia standing at the end of the parking lot watching the entire scene. When she saw Rae go back inside, she quickly got back in her car and left.
Rae and Maureen decided to go to lunch at a café and then hit some stores to look for costumes for Halloween which was only a week and a half away. Rae sent Olivia a few texts while they were shopping but she never responded back. "Maybe she's just busy" she thought. She didn't want to seem desperate so she just let it go. Maureen decided on a Batwoman costume. Rae teased her about being totally predictable. She'd been a female super hero every year since they met. Rae took a little longer to decide but finally settled on a flight attendant costume. It was a short sleeve pink dress. When she tried it on, it stopped just a few inches past her butt. It had two black stripes down the sides and on each sleeve, black lace trim along the neck line and revealed a very generous amount of her bust. It even had a cute little hat. It was perfect.
"Who are you trying to impress with that costume?" Maureen said eyeing her friend as she assessed her appearance in the dressing room mirror. "Olivia's gonna love this" she thought.
"No one. It's a cute costume. I like it and I'm gonna get it." she said. There was no way she was gonna tell Maureen about the conversation she'd had with Olivia and that she was trying to pursue a real relationship with her. Rae bought their costumes and they left the shop.
Later when Rae took Maureen home, her parents had insisted that she stayed for dinner. Rae loved the Stablers. Sometimes she was jealous of the family dynamic they had. When dinner was over Rae said her goodbyes and headed home. When she arrived home, she changed into pajamas and set out the homework she needed to finish on the coffee table before heading into the kitchen. She pulled down a glass and a bottle of red wine that Ashley had given her and poured a glass. Once back in the living room and set up to get her homework done, Rae stared at her phone sitting on the couch beside her. "Should I call her or just wait for her to call me? She didn't answer any of my texts today. Maybe she's working on an important case. Or maybe she changed her mind about us. But why would she do that so suddenly?" Rae's mind was going a million miles a second. "Just call her. Yeah. Just pick up the phone call her."
She unlocked the phone, found Olivia's number and hit the call button. It rang twice before going to voicemail. "Did she just send me to voicemail?" Rae said talking to herself. Whenever she'd called Olivia before and gotten her voicemail the phone had rung at least five times. Rae hung up the phone and tried again. This time it went straight to voicemail. She was confused about what was happening. She didn't understand why Olivia wasn't talking to her. "Hey, Liv. It's me Rae. I've...ummm...I've been trying to talk to you all day and you haven't responded and now you're sending my calls to voicemail. Did I do something wrong? Because if I did, whatever it is, I'd like to fix it. So please call me back and talk to me. Ok? Bye." Rae hung up the phone, took a gulp from her glass and tried to focus on her homework. It was nearing midnight when she finally finished. Olivia hadn't returned her phone. "God, I wish I knew where she lived." Rae thought as she contemplated dropping in on Olivia the way she'd done to her the night she just stopped by. Realizing there was nothing she could do if Olivia wouldn't answer her calls, she did her homework and then went into her room and went to bed.