Chapter 797: Fire & Ice Cafe

Thursday, March 30th, Evening

The night had started to settle in. She walked through the front door and sat in a booth by the front door, looking out upon the street and watching the people walking towards their various destinations. Christy looked over to see the menu come down and the server, Eilish, standing at the table.

"Welcome to Fire & Ice. My name is Eilish, and I'll be serving you today. Of course, you know that," Eilish said.

"I do," she nods, her mind clearly elsewhere.

"It's been a few, Christy; how have you been?" Eilish asked.

Christy looks up, "I'm alive at least?" She doesn't want to talk about what's going on much.

"Alive? More like mopping," Eilish said.

"Yeah, you would, too, if your mother treated you the way I was treated," Christy scowled. She suddenly wasn't hungry.

"Parents are jerks," Eilish said.

"Especially when they're homophobic," Christy sighs.

"You just say fuck'em and move on," Eilish said, "That's what I said to my dad."

"Yeah, it's not that simple for me," Christy mumbled. Can we please stop talking about it?"

"Sure, just stop internalizing it; the more hate you swallow, as they say, you are what you eat," Eilish said, "Speaking of eating, what can I get you to drink."

"Hard liquor," she mumbles, an amused look on her face.

"I would suggest Rerun's or Chase's place; they have all the liquor you could want," Eilish said.

Christy blinks, "You want me to go—ah, never mind. Just a large Coke, please, and thank you. I'll figure out food in a few minutes."

"Do you have any friends?" Eilish asked.

"Here? No, up in New York, more than a few," she says.

"Color me impressed; you're in a mood every time I see you. What is really wrong, Christy? Life can't be that bad? " Eilish said.

"Says the girl whose mother would die for them? You can't possibly be so naive?" She mumbles.

"Also says the girl whose dad was murdered by a family member," Eilish said, "Try going through school with that hanging over you."

Christy shook her head, "Jesus, Eilish, I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, that is life, Christy; not everyone's life is peaches and cream," Eilish said.

"And not everyone has to deal with a mother like mine," she says wistfully.

"Do you?" Eilish asked, "You say a coke?"

"No, I guess cutting ties with her is a good idea, and yes, a Coke. Thank you," Christy says.

"I'll be back," Eilish said and walked away.

Christy took out a photo, smiling. It was the moments after Lizzie had entered the world, and she was holding her, Johnny leaning over to join them for the photo his sister had taken.

Eilish returned with a Coke and placed it in front of Christy. Eilish looked over at the photo Christy was looking at it.

"Who is that?" Eilish asked.

"The man or the baby?" She smiles.

"Both," Eilish said.

"The baby is now my eight-year-old daughter and the man in the picture with us is her father," Christy said.

"Eight-year-old? I remember when my niece Raegen was eight—that was eight years ago," Eilish said, laughing.

"Time flies," Christy nods in agreement.

"That it is, now she's a cheerleader," Eilish said, "Taught her how to do shooters not that long ago."

"That's amateur status," Christy laughs, "We were shooting whiskey at sixteen."

"Yeah, she was fifteen when I taught her," Eilish said.

Christy sips slowly on her Coke, "I figured out what I'd like to eat."

"What would you like to eat?" Eilish asked.

"What's today's special?" She asks.

"Well, they are on the board over there," Eilish said.

"The grilled chicken sandwich sounds great," Christy says.

"Fries for the side good?" Eilish asked.

Christy smiles, "Perfect."

"Okay, I'll be right back," Eilish said.

"Appreciate it," Christy says, sipping slowly on her Coke.

Eilish nodded and walked across the cafe. She returned and took a seat across from Christy. "So, I heard my mom introduced you to one of her friends," Eilish said.

"Yeah, she did," Christy smiles, "Sasha, I believe her name was?"

"Oh yeah, she is looking to find you a place to live," Eilish said.

"She's so sure I'm settling here?" Christy laughs.

"Why not settle here?" Eilish asked, "You have me to keep you on the straight and narrow, and our food, plus have you had Rerun's tacos yet?"

"I haven't, but from what you're saying, it seems I should stop there next," Christy grins.

"Yes, his tacos with cerveza and basketball, oh, it's to die for," Eilish said.

"Then it's definitely my next stop," Christy nods.

"So, are you going to check out the cottage?" Eilish asked.

"Why not?" Christy shrugs with a smile, "I don't have anything to lose if I do."

"You should, and if it's the one I think it is, it's cute," Eilish said.

"I'll check it out," Christy agrees, smiling.

"I think you'll like living here," Eilish said.

"Maybe I will," Christy smiles, thinking of the people she did know who called this quaint town home.

"Are you into nightclubs?" Eilish asked.

"My dear, I grew up in New York City; of course I am," Christy laughs.

"What type of clubs?" Eilish asked.

"Well, I went to ones that hosted musicians," she admits, "My friends? Well, they were at clubs to party hard, so..."

"If you're into the darker side, check out Absolution; if you like things vanilla, you go to Club TRIC," Eilish said.

"Noted. People have been mentioning TRIC. Is that where I go for the bands?" She smiles.

"Yes, that's Chase's place; it's just a bar where they don't have live music," Eilish said.

Christy's face told an interesting story, and she exhaled. It had been years since she'd heard her name, and well, she would hear it a lot being here, but that didn't mean the memories weren't playing in her head like a highlight reel: "Seems like the place to be for music when they have it."

"Yeah, Chase walked into a good deal when Peyton moved RBR out of the building. She needed someone to run Club TRIC, and Chase was next up," Eilish said.

Christy's eyes sparkled, "Sounds like a super sweet deal."

"Yeah, she takes after Peyton as well; she has an eagle eye for trouble," Eilish said.

Christy laughs, "Hopefully, she's keeping people out of trouble more than she's getting into it herself these days."

"Chase doesn't drink a drop; she's like the most boring person I know," Eilish said, rolling her eyes, "She's such a mom."

Christy nodded, "And I'm pretty sure she's a great one."

"Her little boy is so cute; her stepdaughter is a total badass," Eilish said.

"Anyone who knows her kind of has the badassery rub off on them," Christy grins.

"Oh, Brett, she's surrounded by badasses," Eilish said.

"I bet that's true," Christy nods.

"According to my niece, she rules the school with her friends," Eilish said.

"The same thing's been said about the group of people I ran with in high school," Christy smiles.

"Yeah, well, why do you want to stay in New York?" Eilish asked.

"My daughter and her family are good people, and my father and brother are there," Christy admits.

"But it seems that you, a grown woman of a certain age, are being dominated by their mom," Eilish said, then held up her hand, "Yes, my mom runs my life because I live rent-free in her house, and I am taking over her business, that was my choice my brother on the other hand no, she doesn't dominate him."

"Breaking free isn't easy when it's all you know," Christy sighs, "But the other part of me really wants to. I guess you can say I'm torn."

"You came in here broken up because of your mom. To me, if I were you, it would be easy to break away," Eilish said.

"You don't realize how complicated the relationship was," Christy shakes her head.

"Not complex, if it's toxic, cut out the infection," Eilish said.

"Someone sounds like their mother," Christy smirks. But Eilish is right. She was letting the fear of letting go take over her thought process.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Eilish said.

"For me, it would be, but I will say this," Christy looked Eilish dead in the eye, "You're right about not living in fear. What more does my mother provide or offer me at this point?"

Eilish shrugged, "I don't know; it seems that all she does for you now is live in your mind rent-free," Eilish said.

Christy shivered, "Yeah, I got my own kid to think about."

"You would also have to think, do you want your kid exposed to what is causing you pain? My brother tries to keep his daughter away from her mom as much as possible," Eilish said.

"Yeah, I really don't want her exposed to that, and if I can't avoid it, visits will have to be supervised."

"I enjoyed growing up here; I think your little girl would too. I was a cheerleader in high school," Eilish said.

"I was the star jock," Christy laughs, "I went to an all-girls school."

"I'm a public school kid. There is nothing wrong with private schools; I can't speak to it," Eilish said.

"Did I mention all the women in my family went to school there?" Christy shrugs.

"Okay, the same thing happened with my family; they all went to the same public school," Eilish said with a laugh.

Christy chuckled softly, "Yeah, I was the spoiled little rich girl; what can I say?"

"Well, one, you better leave a solid tip, and two, I think you're going to learn how the other half live," Eilish said, smiled, and walked away with a laugh.

"More money, more problems, Eilish!" She called back. She had planned to tip very well anyway and didn't need a reminder.

Eilish came back and placed Christy's dinner in front of her. "So, are you going to see the cottage?" she asked.

"Yes," Christy smiles.

Eilish smiled. "Good," she said, "You'll love being here." Eilish smiled, nodded, and then walked away.

Christy sighed and then smiled; yeah, she thought, maybe things wouldn't be so bad if she moved down here.