When We Were Us

Finn's mother

"I am not going in there." I told Angela.

"Why not?" Angela said sounding exasperated.

"It's a bar! I thought you said you were taking me out for lunch."

"Bar Crispi isn't a bar!" She said defensively.I stared at her. "Fine, okay, it is. But it also doubles as a restaurant and they have the best burrito in town."

I was still unconvinced. Angela grabbed me by the arm and dragged me inside despite my protests.

"See." She said, once we were inside. I looked around. It looked like a normal restaurant. In fact, it was cozy and I was quite impressed with the huge black and white portrait of the first owner of the bar, the Italian Mr. Crispi. It told me that this place has been around since colonial times so it must be well established. I decided to comply.

Angela and I took a seat and ordered. Angela ordered two beers. I protested but she hushed and told me they were both for her.

"Just pretend one is for you. I don't want to look bad being the only one day drinking."

Despite feeling uncomfortable, I started enjoying myself. It had been long since I hung out with a friend. School was getting the best of me. I was in college most of the time and when I came home for the weekend, it was for research purposes. And, well, Finn of course. The problem with that is that when I hung out with Finn, his friends would often join us, including Kay. Kay was an asshole, yes, but I could tolerate him. However, Dora has been avoiding him like the plague after she cheated on Karl with Kay. I couldn't risk hanging out with Dora and Finn, and Kay dropping by unannounced. I haven't been hanging out with Savannah either because of her busy schedule. I barely see Amy either because she always seems to have a date. Despite Angela being my roommate, we haven't hung out like this in ages. I felt lucky that both of us decided to come back home on the same weekend. It felt heavenly hanging out with a girl friend. That's when I got a text from Finn asking me where I was.

Me-Bar Crispi but you're not allowed to come. I wanna spend some quality time with Angela.

Finn-Aw, you suck. Pretty please. I haven't seen you since you came back. I miss you.

Me-Tempting but no. I'll call you after I'm done.

I started fantasizing about Finn and got lost in my thoughts.

"That woman keeps staring at you." Angela told me. I turned around to look at who Angela meant. I froze. It was Finn's mother. When she noticed me noticing her, she started to come over.

"Oh my God, that's Finn's mom!" I told Angela.

"Really?" She didn't seem perturbed at all.

"Hello, May." Finn's mother said. Both Angela and I stood up to greet her.

"Erm hello Mrs. Blake." I said. She glared at me. That's when I realized my mistake. Finn's mother had remarried! God, how could I be so stupid? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"Hello, Mrs. Blake. It's nice to meet you. I'm a friend of May and Finn." Angela introduced herself. Finn's mother, whose name I now realized I didn't even know, smiled graciously at Angela.

"Would you like to have a seat?" Angela asked politely, which I realize I should have done. But no, I was petrified and no word came out of my mouth. I expected Finn's mother to politely refuse but to my horror she pulled up a chair and sat with us!

"I see you're enjoying beer. Isn't it a bit too early?" She asked.

To my horror, Angela replied "It's never too early for beer." An awkward silence followed. Suddenly, Finn's mom burst into laughter.

"Ain't that right?" She said and ordered one for herself. That's when I noticed the smell, the strong stench of alcohol coming from Finn's mother. She had obviously been drinking. I started getting worried. I now knew she was bipolar and that she was taking medication. Was she allowed to even drink? I felt ignorant and realized I needed to do some research on mental illnesses. I took out my phone to tell Finn but his mother grabbed my hand. I gasped.

"Don't call Finn. He's such a party pooper." Finn's mother warned me. She must have seen the hesitation in my face because she forcefully took away my phone. I felt trapped and uncomfortable. I had mentioned to Finn that I would be at this place. I started praying that he'd decide to drop by to surprise me or something. That's the kind of thing he often did. I'd tell him I was with friends or family and to pick me up after I called. Instead, he'd drop by and take me away from them, telling me he couldn't wait that long and that he missed me.

Surprisingly, Angela didn't seem uncomfortable. She talked to Finn's mom like an old friend and they both seemed to have fun. I felt bad that Angela seemed to be getting along with her as opposed to me. I told myself to be more outgoing and try to talk to her.

"So Mrs. erm..." God, I was so bad at this. "How are the kids? Are they doing fine in school?"

I asked in reference to Finn's step siblings. I didn't know what else to talk about. Finn's mom glared at me and mumbled something about 'bratty kids'. She ignored me and went back to chatting with Angela. I felt lagging compared to Angela. She would have made the perfect girlfriend if she hadn't been so contrary to relationships. She was pretty and sociable, the kind of girl who was liked by parents, unless they found out about her party girl life. I started to wish that I was more like her.

"Is that Finn?" Angela asked. I turned around to look. It was Finn! And his long-time best friend Sara. Thank God, my prayers had been answered. I waved enthusiastically to capture his attention. His eyes widened when he saw who we were sitting with. I turned around to see that Finn's mom looked furious.

"You b....! I told you not to call him!" She shouted. I was shocked to see how angry she was and by the fact that she called me a b..... I scold my friends for using that word so much that they stopped using it altogether. And now it was being directed at me! By Finn's mother!

"I d-didn't." Was my lame response. Angela was more composed.

"You have May's phone. I'm sure it's just a coincidence that he's here." Angela defended me. But Finn's mother wasn't having any of that. She was twitchy and agitated. She got up from her chair and pointed at me.

"You cunning little b.... I knew there was something off about you from the moment I laid my eyes on you. You f...... c...! I'll f... you up."

At this point, Finn and Sara reached our table. Part of me hoped that Finn's mom would compose herself and pretend that she hadn't just cussed me out. But no, she was already far gone. Before Finn could even say his greetings, she was off on a tirade.

"I can't believe you're even seeing this plain mouse. Finn, I thought you had better taste than that." She said. Finn's eyes widened in confusion. His eyes moved to mine. I tried to stop the tears in my eyes.

"Finn, are you listening to me? I want you to break up with her, f...... b...."

I felt a tug at my arm. It was Angela. She looked worried.

"We need to leave." She whispered. I was too flustered to say or do anything so I just let her pull me away.

"Where do you think you're going?" Finn's mom grabbed me. It hurt so much that I involuntarily let out a gasp.

"Mom, enough is enough!" Finn shouted and pulled her away. Angela grabbed my hand and dragged me away from the bar. Everyone's eyes were on us. I felt so ashamed and humiliated. Tears finally streamed down my face.