Estrangement

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N:

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Chapter 26 (Advice from the Best Friends)

After a couple minutes and practicing with a few more smoothies, Tori looked to the doorway to see a couple women walking in. At first she thought they were customers, but further inspection revealed otherwise. They were Trina's friends, Kate and Emma. They smiled at her and started for the smoothie stand. "Hi Miss Emma and Miss Kate." The women shuddered, but held their smiles.

"Please, just call us Emma and Kate," Emma stated, "We're the same age. Or, well, I'm younger than you by a year or two." She winced and shot them an apologetic look, embarrassed by her outburst.

"Sorry." They brushed it off, saying it was fine and she didn't need to apologize for anything. She was just tense, in reality, because she never quite knew what to say to these two.

"So how is your first day on the job?" Kate examined the smoothie stand with eager eyes. She locked her hands together at her waist and started to smile. "Melinda working you hard?"

"Not yet," Melinda joked. Tori started to blush as the woman cleaned out the blender. "I've got her learning the menu first. I have faith she'll get it down." Kate and Emma exchanged pleased expressions and nodded their heads. "She's been doing the best she can, and is a great learner. Attentive, not at all selfish."

"Why do I feel like I'm being puffed up here?" Tori raised an eyebrow as the women laughed. She cleared her throat and bounced. "Would you two like a smoothie? Oh, and is Trina around?"

"She's around," Emma replied, "Talking to Nancy right now." Emma looked up to the menu and started to smile. "I think I'll have my usual, actually." Tori could only give her a confused look, but fortunately Melinda picked up on that and started reaching for the fruit.

"What is your usual, Emma?"

Kate answered for her, which wasn't too surprising. "Emma's always getting the Tropical Burst smoothie. Basically the passion fruit, mango, and other tropical fruits with a metabolism shot, coconut milk, and orange sherbet." Kate then put her hand to her chest and closed her eyes. "I always get the Berry Blast." Tori looked to the menu and studied the Berry Blast.

Kate's smoothie would consist of raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and it was to be combined with strawberry yogurt and ice. "You have a preference for a metabolism shot?"

"I only put protein in mine."

Tori was eager to prepare another smoothie, as the more practice she got, the better she'd be. "Would you like your usual?" Kate smiled at her and nodded.

"Yes please."

Melinda pointed to the stack of blenders behind them, "Grab one and prep it, dear."

"Yes ma'am." Tori immediately went to work, doing the best she could to make the smoothie exactly the way Kate asked. To a degree, Kate appeared to be difficult by telling her exactly how many berries she wanted and how much yogurt to put in. It wasn't done rudely, Tori could tell Kate was doing it on purpose, especially since Melinda whispered that Kate did not usually do that. When she was done, Tori handed the woman her smoothie. "Here you are, enjoy the drink and thank you for your time and patience."

"Thank you." Kate paid them for the smoothie and Melinda hurried to the cash register. This would be a later part of Tori's training. Everything today was training for her, to the point that she wondered if Trina had anything to do with her friends ordering the smoothies, or if they came on their own whim. "You really have become a hard worker, Tori. I think Trina's impressed…"

"Like I said," Emma sipped her smoothie, finishing with a dreamy sigh. "Anyone can do anything they want with the right amount of motivation and determination."

"That's true," Tori cleaned out the blender she used and looked to the two women. "I just really want to show Trina-and myself-I have what it takes."

"And I think she sees that. You are doing the best you can, after all. Right?"

"Right, and I'm going to keep it up. I don't know…if Trina trusts me or not, or if she believes in me or not-"

Kate waved her hand in the air, snapping her fingers in the process. "Let me stop you there. Trina does believe in you, especially after this last month." Her heart lifted up and she began to smile, turning to Kate with high hopes. "I think she might be afraid of whether or not you'll keep working at it even after she accepts you back into the fold. I know she hasn't gotten to that point yet…but she's getting there. At least she's been talking about the possibility of really working on the sibling relationship again. She just needs to see certain things first…How's your college search going? She did mention you were looking into college."

Tori slouched and slowly shook her head. "Bad so far. I mean it looks good that I can get into one, but at the same time, it looks like it might be hard for me to do so with everything on my record."

"Have you considered apprenticeships? There are a lot out there. Also they tend to be better than most colleges these days, and sometimes the right mentor will help aid with school, so long as the classes you take are geared towards that particular trade. They'll sign off by teaching you the material. You can easily earn a bachelor's degree and a master's by following an apprentice."

"Yeah. I've heard that." She actually did like the sound of it. At the same time, it would mean leaving Gold's Gym, and she was truly afraid of what Trina would say if she did that. She bowed her head as the women sipped their drinks.

"Something wrong?"

"It's just…Trina expects me to work here. I'd love to work on an apprenticeship, but that would mean leaving Gold's Gym to work for the mentor that would be paying me and all that stuff…and I don't think Trina would take that very well because I don't know if she'd see that as me just quitting something."

"Ah. That's what you're worried about? Have you talked to her about it?"

"No…"

"Why not?" Emma inquired.

"Because I'm afraid of what she'll say. I think…I just need to show her that I can stick with something, and that means sticking with where I am." Emma hummed and closed her eyes.

"That's admirable. Good devotion, which like we said, I think Trina sees and appreciates. Talk to her about it, who knows what she'll say. She's starting to open up, we can see that, so you never know…Listen to your heart and do what you feel is best."

"I will…think about it."

"The idea isn't for you to become successful like her," Kate assured, "The idea is for you to learn valuable skills. I think that's what she said. To be able to do what is in your heart, what you want to do, and to be able to work hard for whatever it is you want out of life. Whether or not that is following an impossible dream-but in order to do that you have to be prepared and can't slack off on important parts of life like she says you've been doing."

"I know, I know. Thanks for the advice." She would definitely listen, she didn't want to take anything they said for granted or without a grain of salt. These were her sister's closest friends after all, if anyone knew what Trina wanted or what she was expecting, these two would! "I guess I shouldn't be so nervous. I keep waiting for her to reach out to me too, because that's what I think she wants."

"Well you have been apart for twenty years, it isn't like her pride's going to allow her to simply pick up the phone and call you out of the blue. Still, it is a two way street, but she's been more focused on her children and husband than anything."

"Still, I feel like I'm being punished, or that I have been. How long do I have to keep working at it before I get any respect back from her?" Emma bowed her head and chuckled as Kate slowly shook her head.

"She already is starting to respect you a little. Just a tip. Keep doing what you're doing, as long as she sees growth, she's happy. You're working hard, you're learning new things. What's it going to hurt to keep it up?"

"Nothing. I won't give up. I just…I want to be a part of her family too."

"I think that's a different thing altogether," Emma marveled as she tapped her finger on the cup. "It's hard to keep a relationship going with family, I know from my brothers and sister…they're all over the place and we sometimes lose touch. It's hard to do what you know you need to do when there are many factors affecting the situation." Kate nodded and Tori began to be pulled in, listening attentively to the woman. Melinda returned the blenders to their proper spot and looked up as Emma continued. "The thing with Trina is she values family above all else, so she would do her best to keep communication open. However, with you it's different, and I think she's afraid."

"Of what? Of me?"

"Maybe, maybe of how you'll behave around her family. Maybe she's afraid you won't keep in touch, and at the same time, I think she's a little resentful of the fact that it has been twenty years. She doesn't think she should just welcome you with open arms. I think she's just biding her time because of all the pride she's got stashed away."

She paused to consider Emma's words. What could she do to get Trina to trust her? Just be patient as Melinda was saying? How much longer would she have to wait? Granted this promotion was a sign of Trina's trust, but that was only at holding a job. When would Trina trust her with her family? "Kate? Emma? I have to ask you…Does Trina-does she blame me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…I don't know everything, but I know some things that Trina's been through."

"Nancy did say she told you some stuff, not a lot though."

"Yeah…I was wondering if she blames me for everything that went wrong for her." Kate and Emma glanced at each other for a moment before Kate answered her.

"Simple answer? No, she doesn't." Tori smiled sadly as Kate shrugged her shoulders. "There's been a lot that happened, and Trina blamed herself for the majority of whatever happened in college. She's upset because you purposely stole your parents attention away, and she was hurt over the miscarriage-not thrilled that Nancy told you about that, but she's over it. Other than that, anything else she went through, she's moved past and is no longer affected. I don't remember her ever saying you were the source of all her problems."

"Well…That is comforting to know…"

"All right!" Melinda grabbed the attention in the room and pointed to the clock. "Business is about to start, girls. Tori, I need your focus here. Emma, Kate, I hate to send you off but I need my worker focused. Okay dears?" The women smiled and said their farewells. Tori watched as Trina entered the café and met up with her friends. She attempted eye contact, but Trina didn't look over, she had something urgent to discuss with her friends. She felt a nudge and looked over to see Melinda's warm smile. "You going to be okay, dear?"

"Yes ma'am. I'm ready now." She adjusted her shirt and put her hair up in a ponytail. Trina and the women left the café, leaving Tori alone with Melinda. "We have a busy day coming up, right? I'm ready to learn all I can."

"All right then."

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