Jack & Lucy

Jack

I thought I had already lived through the worst day of my life. 

Twice in fact. The first time was in the eighth grade when I was dared to depants a girl in gym class, not thinking about how depantsing a pubescent girl would go, and ended up getting expelled from prep school. My mother swore that she officially disowned me and I had to finish the rest of that year being homeschooled by my pill-popping aunt. 

The other worst day was a bit less dramatic but still made me feel incredibly shitty. It was when the love of my life announced she was engaged and leaving the bar we worked at together in Phoenix to move to New York City. Now, however, said love of my life is apparently back in Phoenix and planning to come back to bartend while she eat, pray, loves herself back together after her broken engagement. 

I should be happy about this. This should be the best day of my life. Her coming back here, single and uncoiled from her fiancé's rich-boy finger. Instead, it ranks as my third worst day because I just made out with one of her best friends last night. The same best friend that is the manager of the bar we work at and recipient of two drunken make-out sessions from yours truly. I thought Lucy was gone forever. I thought my anxiety-riddled, cookie-making ballerina was strolling around Central Park feeding bagels to her douche bag fiancé. I thought my sloppiness would never matter. Now it matters a great deal. 

Maggie waves her hand in front of my hazy gaze as she says, "Jack, hello! I thought you'd be thrilled! You'll have Goose back! The dynamic duo behind the bar again! Just in time for spring break." Maggie is ecstatic to have her best friend and bartender back in the city. And even though I have been diligently checking Lucy's Instagram and Youtube channel since she left, I haven't seen any sort of announcement that she's back in Phoenix. Her social media is basically her diary, but she's definitely left, "IT'S OVER!" off from all of her recent posts. 

"I am. Trust me, Sabrina couldn't handle the chaos of spring break. It's just...I thought Lucy was with what's his face in New York. Now she's single? And coming back here? She left what, two months ago?" Sixty-seven days ago in fact, but who's counting?

"Ugh, I know. I'm sure she'll tell you all about it. Fucking Blake had an affair with one of his firm's secretaries," she says as she zips up the blue bank bag and shoves it into the safe beside her desk. I freeze at the gossip and am shocked their engagement ended so quickly. I'm not shocked Blake cheated, but damn he wasted no time in doing so. "So clichè. Lucy just got back here on Thursday. She's hiding her heartbreak well though, she's not a weepy mess." She shoves the chair out with her tailbone and it rolls a foot away from her as she whirls around the small back room, grabbing her jacket off the desk and then pulling her purse out from her locker. There are so many questions I have whizzing through my mind, but I need to be tactful in how I ask them. I want every detail, but I also don't want to seem too interested either. I've created the slippery slope I now find myself flailing around on.

"Why is she coming back here though? Back to Mag's?" I ask her, wondering why the hell Lucy would come back to bartending when she was supposed to be in prep mode for opening a bakery. I know a part of her left so she'd be pushed out of her comfort zone and start going for what she wanted, which used to be Blake and a bakery on the upper east side. Maggie slides her arms through her black leather jacket before flicking the office's lights off. I follow behind her as she checks to make sure the rest of the bar is in order. 

"She spent her savings on the move. She has to jump right back into work to get a place. She's staying at Steve's at the moment. Thank god her best friend manages a bar and can squeeze her back onto the schedule." Maggie winks at me before kicking the men's bathroom door open with her black boot to make sure there were no passed-out patrons left behind inside. 

"Steve?" And then a face floats to mind and I add, "Parnell? From Marco's?" When the girl's bathroom also reveals no one, she answers, "Yep. Remember he has that studio he rents out."

 "We gotta get her out of there," I mutter as we finally make our way to the front doors. I watch as Maggie makes sure the deadbolt is secure and then she finally looks back at me. 

"No shit. That's why I gave her her job back. Maverick and Goose will ride again!" She slugs me in the shoulder but I felt it in my stomach. I want to ask her if Lucy knew about us. Not that there is necessarily an us, but there is an aspect to us I think Lucy should know about. Maggie also doesn't know how I feel about Lucy, so this could get really tricky. 

Maggie is striding off toward the employee entrance and I knew we were both ready to get the hell out of here. It's almost three in the morning and we're both wiped out. When we make it to the side door, she punches in the code to set the alarm and I push the door open while the alarm beeps, telling us to get the hell out of here already. 

She ducks under my arm to get outside and I let the door swing shut, silent while I process everything she just told me. I walk her to her car as she continues to babble on about Lucy.

"She's super pessimistic right now, and I get it, your engagement and life just blew up in your face, and then you have to come crawling back to the place you said you never wanted to see again and like, fall back into work and all that. And her parents, can you imagine what those fucking squares think? But also, no one was that surprised Blake cheated, right? Oh my god do not tell her I said that!" She abruptly stops, forcing me to knock into her and she swings around, "Do not tell Lucy I said that." I held my hand up in a "Scout's Honor" fashion and she gives me a wry grin while reaching for my open button-up. "Going home after this?" She asks with a suggestive gleam in her eye. One she's had lately, one that scares the shit out of me. 

I quickly nod, "Yeah, I have school tomorrow soo..." I watch her deflate, it was minimal but noticeable. She rises up on her tiptoes to give me a kiss on the cheek before saying, "Okay cool. I'll see ya tomorrow then?" I give her a short wave and watch as she drops into her white Volkswagen. I wait until she's pulling onto the street, and around the dumpsters before spinning around and walking over to my Jeep. 

As I climb inside the driver's seat, the overhead light floods the visor area and I spot the "I'm Meowgical" kittycorn pin Lucy stuck into the visor last summer. I suddenly remember her sitting next to me, towel around her lower half, reeking of lake water and sticking my AUX cord into her phone to take over the music selection. She sat next to me and worked next to me for years and I stupidly never realized how I felt about her until she was leaving. I always found some excuse not to see her as more than a friend and this might be the universe giving me a second chance. We are both finally single, at the same time. Maybe I can finally tell her how I feel about her and not completely fuck it up like I did the last time I tried to tell her. If only I hadn't stupidly started anything up with Maggie and picked a fight with her hours before she left, my stomach might be a bit less twisted up at the moment.