Sasha returned from the restroom to an empty bar.
"Marcy?!"
"She sped off in a red convertible parked outside," the bartender stated while wiping down the counter.
"MY CAR?!" Sasha growled and chugged the remainder of her and Marcy's drinks, slamming each glass down after they were empty.
"I can get you a ride home if you'd-"
"No, I'll walk. I need to clear my head."
"Are you sure? This neighborhood is pretty dangerous at night. You know, we're about to close up soon. I could give you a lift."
"Really? I live just a few blocks away."
"That's perfect."
"Thanks, I'd really appreciate that."
During the drive home with the bartender, Sasha explained her entire situation to him.
"The same thing happened with my ex. She was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Never dated a woman since."
"Wow, that really made me feel a lot better." Sasha replied, sarcastically.
Sasha thanked the bartender for the ride and they exchanged phone numbers before she got out of the car and he drove away. She couldn't find her car in the parking lot which meant Marcy went somewhere else. Sasha decided to walk up to her apartment where she stumbled a few times in the process, unlock the door and go inside.
She tried calling Marcy but it went straight to voicemail, so she took a deep breath in and left a message. "Marcy. I know you have my car. Please just come home so we can work this out, I'm sorry." Sasha ended the call and threw her phone across the room. "DAMN IT! Everything was going so well till you decided to open your big stupid mouth Sasha!" She threw herself onto the couch. "Well hopefully she's getting the practice she needs and isn't wrapped around a utility pole or something. I should really go look for her, shouldn't I? But it's sooo late and I'm tired!" She eventually fell asleep pondering her next move.
Marcy arrived at Anne's house and parked next to the minivan in the driveway. She picked up her phone and saw the voicemail from Sasha which she ignored, and dialed Anne's number which she knew by heart since she got her first phone at 8 years old. To her surprise, her dear friend answered, groggily.
"Marcy, it's like 2AM, what's going on?"
"Can you come downstairs? I'm outside."
Anne came outside and couldn't believe her eyes as Marcy climbed out of the driver's seat and slammed the door shut. "Where's Sasha?"
"We were supposed to go somewhere to eat but we lost track of time and the only place we could find that was still open was a bar near our apartment. While we were there, she decided to get drunk and I told her to slow down because she needs to drive home and she got mad at me saying if I wasn't so clumsy I could drive."
"So you took her car?" They both began laughing hysterically.
"Yeah I took the key and left while she was in the bathroom." Marcy held the key up and waved it around, then dropped it in the grass. "Oh no!"
"And it didn't hit anything or go up in flames?" Anne asked, surprised.
"Nope, can you believe it?" Marcy located the key and picked it up from the ground.
"Oh my gosh." Anne wiped fresh tears from her face. "Let's go inside. My parents are sleeping so please be quiet."
As both women slowly walked up the stairs, Marcy felt an unpleasant and overwhelming sensation in her abdomen, clinging to it with one hand.
"I'm not sure if it's that bar food, stress or if I'm coming down with something, but my stomach really hurts. Actually… I think I know what it is. Can I use your bathroom?"
"You seriously have to ask? Marcy, it should always feel like home here."
"I know, I just don't wanna wake your parents."
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure they'll understand."
Anne could hear Marcy calling her from down the hall. She followed the sound of her name to the bathroom.
"Umm, I'm sorry I have to ask but do you have some clothes I can borrow? I kind of had an accident," Marcy closed her eyes, blushed and cringed all at once while letting out that last word.
"It's okay! After all, you weren't afraid to tell me about Sasha's in the middle of an entire restaurant. There's period products in this drawer there and painkillers in the medicine cabinet. Take whatever you need."
Marcy nodded while looking up shyly and smiling faintly. "Thanks."
Anne brought Marcy some extra clothes. She got dressed and headed back to the bedroom. "Sorry about that," she apologized. "My cycle has always been all over the place. Not even I can predict it."
"It's okay. Here, I set up the bed for you. I'll just sleep on the floor."
"No! I'll sleep on the floor, I insist. You have work tomorrow! I shouldn't even be here, maybe I should just go home."
"No Marcy. It's late and you shouldn't be driving without a license."
"I could reserve an Uber…"
"No. Get in bed now," Anne insisted, still carrying a bit of Sasha's influence with her.
"Fine," Marcy pouted then crawled under the blankets and lay in a fetal position, clinging to an extra pillow pretending she was cuddling in bed with Sasha and that everything was still civil between them.
Marcy tossed and turned in Anne's bed all night which made neither one of them able to get much sleep. Once she finally felt like she was falling asleep naturally, Anne's alarm went off, waking both of them.
"I'm so sorry Anne. You must be exhausted. Why don't you call out today?"
"I can't," Anne responded bluntly.
Marcy turned away to give Anne privacy when she noticed her trying to get dressed. "Well, is there anything I can do to make it up to you then?"
"If you're feeling better, I was hoping that maybe you could help my parents today. I'm sure they'd appreciate an extra hand at the register so they can concentrate on cooking. Ned has been on their asses for years but they still don't seem to trust him, not that I can blame them. He has always been quite pushy. After the pandemic, they had to lay him off to save money but he's been insisting ever since, even without pay. As for you, you'd probably have to surgically attach the money to their hands to keep them from paying you. They love you, Marcy."
Marcy blushed at the compliment. "I don't want you or your parents to think I'm doing this just for the money, but Sasha and I could really use it, or I could even put it towards my own place..."
"I know, Marbles, and even if you don't stay with Sasha, I could use the extra company so that wouldn't be necessary. I won't let you fall victim to this economy."
Marcy let out a sigh. "This is all too much. I'm sorry you have to deal with all of this and go to work on top of it. It's just the things she says sometimes kind of hurt and I have no one else to talk to about it. I don't even want to call my parents because they'd just say I'm being too sensitive and be disappointed with me for my chosen career path and lack of financial stability."
"Everything's gonna be okay Marcy. If it's alright with you, I'll text Sasha when I get to work letting her know you and her car are just fine so she doesn't worry, okay?"
Marcy nods. "I'm an emotional wreck and I'm not sure if I wanna see her or even talk to her right now. It's silly because last night I was laughing about the whole thing, now I just feel bummed out."
Anne grabbed her jacket and keys. "I'll tell my parents to wait for you while you get ready. My closet is your closet."
Sasha woke up on the couch late that morning with a pounding headache and a text from Anne.
"Your car is at my place. I'm at work and I'm not sure if Marcy wants to see you but she's helping my parents out at the restaurant for the day."
Sasha let out a sigh of relief and got up to use the bathroom and change her clothes. She got some water and sat back down. She tried calling Marcy again but was unsuccessful. At this point, she couldn't afford an Uber so she took an ibuprofen, put on a comfortable pair of shoes and walked to the Boonchuy's restaurant which was thankfully not far.
Sasha went inside and saw Marcy behind the counter adding something up on the register. She was noticeably borrowing some of Anne's clothes and an apron.
"Welcome to Thai Go! May I-" Marcy looked up and glared in disapproval and whispered "Dammit Anne," under her breath. "You."
"Yeah, me. Your childhood friend. Your roommate. Your lover."
"Anne didn't tell me she was gonna tell you I'm here."
"You know either way I'd come looking for you, and you went to Anne's the last time you walked out on me."
"As you see, I'm kind of busy here Sasha. What could you possibly say that I haven't already heard?"
"Marcy, I'm so sorry."
"I hope you had fun getting home last night. Why'd you say that Sasha?"
"I don't know, I was drunk. I swear I didn't mean it."
Marcy sighs as they take a seat at one of the empty tables. "I don't know if I can forgive you right away. You're confusing Anne and I, a lot."
"I know. Can I at least have my car key back?"
"You can have it after you tell me why you got so drunk last night. Everything was going so well. What happened?"
"I just wanted to have a relaxing evening with my girlfriend. He was the last person I wanted to see."
"Your ex?" Marcy cringed.
"He didn't show any remorse for how he treated me when we were together. He praised himself and thought I'd actually WANT HIM BACK! I fucking hate men!"
"Sasha, that was the past. You're with me now. Do you think it's fair that I have to pay for what he did?"
"No. I guess I just had so many feelings bottled up all night, I took it out on you and it wasn't right. I didn't want to talk about him after we'd just made love in the back of my car. That would've been selfish, and unfair to you, but I guess what I did instead was even worse."
"As long as it would've made you feel better talking about it, I wouldn't have been mad, or even jealous. Remember what I said? We're in this together." Marcy places the car key into Sasha's hand. "Look, Sasha, I need to get back to work. The Boonchuys are paying me for the day. I didn't tell them you lost your job. I don't think Anne has either. We can talk later, okay?"
"Please come home when you're done." Sasha begged, and Marcy nodded.
A few hours later, Sasha was sitting at the table on her computer with a glass of iced tea when she heard a key fill the knob to the front door and Marcy appeared from the other side.
Sasha closed her laptop and took off her reading glasses. "Hey, thanks for coming back."
"Well, all my stuff is here. Also I'd kind of gotten over everything that happened in the past 24 hours."
"Marcy, do you think I'm bipolar?"
"You definitely show many characteristics of someone who is bipolar, however, I'd recommend seeing a licensed professional for evaluation."
"That's exactly what the damn internet says."
"I might've memorized that actually."
"I made an appointment for a one-on-one anger management session. Maybe I'll actually get answers there instead of being called names because I'm in a same-sex relationship."
"I need to take a shower, then I'm all yours. I smell like Pad Thai, egg rolls, and dead fish." Marcy started heading towards the bathroom.
"Dead fish?" Sasha then realized. "Oh… Hey Marce?"
Marcy turned around. "Yeah?"
"Promise me you'll get your license before you take my car again? I'm already in enough trouble."
"I promise."
After Marcy showered and put on clean clothes, she poured herself a glass of water and joined Sasha at the table.
"All yours as promised."
"Marcy, how did you find out you're autistic, if you don't mind me asking? And when you did, how'd you react?"
"Well, I read a lot of books and did a lot of online research that recommended me to see a professional, as I told you I memorized for that reason. My parents were more worried about my behavior than I was. I mean, they practically ate up the fact that I got perfect grades in school, but they were worried about my attention span, lack of eye contact and making connections with other people besides you and Anne of course. Being diagnosed with autism was hard for me since I was only 10 years old, but I learned to accept that as a part of who I am, especially with that huge confidence boost after our adventure in Amphibia."
"Thanks to you," Sasha added, and they both laughed. "I love you Marcy." She got up from her chair and walked to the other side of the table to sit in Marcy's lap and plant a soft kiss on her lips, followed by several more.
"Mmm Sashy… I love you too," Marcy said quickly between kisses. "What you're doing right now is really hot, but I'm tired and in a lot of pain currently so…"
"Heating pad cuddles and ice cream for dinner?"
"Yes please."
Sasha got off Marcy's lap and made her way to the freezer.