The Ones that Matter (2/?)
Chapter Two
“Hey, any of you ladies want to go see Leon’s band play tonight?” Gladys asked, glancing around the lunch table. She immediately lost the eye contact of Carol, who wouldn’t be allowed to leave her house if she was headed anywhere with Gladys, never mind that particular destination, and also Betty, who suddenly became very interested in the “Don’t Throw Things” poster on the wall.
“Sure thing, I’ll go,” Vera flashed that brilliant smile at Gladys, having gotten back a good deal of her self confidence in the month since she’d returned to the factory.
“Betts?” Gladys maneuvered her face in between Betty’s and that darn poster.
Betty sighed, “I’d say no, but I get the idea I don’t have a choice. So, count me in.”
Gladys clapped excitedly, causing Vera to laugh, Betty to roll her eyes, and Carol to look embarrassed for her. “Okay then! Girls night it is. Let’s meet over at the boarding house and have a couple first.”
“Now that sounds like an idea,” Betty added, with a tilt of her head and a raised eyebrow. She hadn’t actually been back to the bar since the night she’d kissed Kate. Truth told, she’d been avoiding it like the plague. First, she’d been terrified to show her face there, since both Leon and at least one of the bartenders witnessed the scene between her and Kate. She knew the bar was pretty open in terms of clientele, and she’d even met a few… acquaintances there since coming to Toronto. But it wasn’t until Leon had smiled and nodded at her at VicMu a few days later, that she felt it would really be okay to go back. Then the dilemma became whether or not she wanted to. When it came down to it, she didn’t have the stomach to go alone. Not that she ever actually had the opportunity do anything alone these days, what with Gladys becoming her shadow, but she supposed she more meant she didn’t have the stomach to go without Kate. Plus, Betty was too afraid, and embarrassed, to bring Gladys. It was the same bar when Gladys had first given her that knowing look, when they’d been talking about Kate. Now, with the way things were, Betty didn’t want to make Gladys go, and then have her shoot looks of pitying concern at her all night.
But, if Gladys was going to suggest it, then Betty figured it was worth a shot. Could be fun. And with Vera there too, all of the attention wouldn’t be on her. Hopefully Leon would be playing tonight, and they could all focus on the music.
****
Gladys, true to her word, had provided them with enough whiskey to be good and liquored up by the time they got to the bar. It was packed, usual for a Friday night, but they managed to snag a table in the corner-one that gave them a good view of the whole place. Leon wasn’t playing yet, but Betty could see him standing in the corner by the bar, talking to his trumpet player. Betty’s glance slid from him to the piano. She remembered how Kate had slid closer to her as soon as soon as she sat down, and how good it felt when Kate started rubbing her shoulders. And how stupid she was to misinterpret that so completely. Regardless of the possibility raised in the conversation she and Gladys’d had the other night, about why Kate might have run away so quickly and completely, Betty still couldn’t truly believe that Kate would ever want anything to do with her in a romantic way, now. Funny how she’d found it easy enough to believe that night she kissed her. But all that led to was the loss of the most true friend she’d ever had.
She needed a drink. “Anybody else’s mouth feeling a little dry?” She asked with a smirk.
“I’ve got us!” Vera exclaimed, before nearly dashing off to the bar with her purse, as they yelled their drink orders after her, while she was busy making eyes at one of the men she passed on her way.
“Hope she heard that,” Gladys muttered. She then turned and looked at Betty, “You all right?” she asked. She’d watched the direction of her friend’s gaze a few moments ago, and the subsequent play of emotions across her face. Gladys was wondering if maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to get drunk and go to the scene of the…scene, after all.
“Just thinking what I fool I am, once again. But I’ll survive. I wish they’d get this hack off the stage and get the real band going.”
“Oh Betty! They aren’t that bad!” She looked across the bar, catching Leon’s eye and waving. He immediately nodded at them, and came walking over.
“Betty! So glad to see you decided to come by again,” he smiled broadly at her while taking her hand, “We’ve missed you. In fact,” he added this in a stage whisper, “people have been asking about you.”
“Two Whiskey rocks and a gin and tonic, here we are!” Vera yelled, interrupting, after the fastest trip to the bar in world history. “Leon, hello there.”
He nodded back at Vera, before addressing the other two. “Almost time for my set, hope to see you up there dancing.” They nodded back at him, before he turned to head up toward the stage.
“Thanks for the drink Vera, you’re the best! You missed Leon telling us how people here have been asking for Betty.”
“Oh? Do tell, Betts. Who do we think might have been asking for you?”
Betty looked at the drink in her hand, and could feel the blush rising to her cheeks, “Ah, no one, you know Leon, he just…you know, wants to cheer me up.”
“Hmmph, find that hard to believe. I mean, sure, he wants to cheer you up, but, not sure he’d just flat out lie.”
“All right all right, it doesn’t matter,” Betty waved away the uncomfortable track the conversation was taking, particularly as she could imagine various people who would have been asking for her, and didn’t necessarily want to discuss details of why they might be doing so, with her two friends.
“Bettyyyyy’s embarraaaaassed,” sang Gladys, smiling.
“Princess, you’re even more irritating drunk than sober. Don’t you want to go dance or something?”
“Is that an offer?” she asked playfully
“I’ll dance with you Gladys,” Vera piped up, “Maybe we can tempt some nice fellow to cut in.”
Betty watched the two of them spin around the floor, and before the song was even finished, Vera had a new partner, and Gladys was winding her way back to the table.
“I’m so happy to see Vera back to her old self, or, even, a better version of her old self, where she can see she has more to offer than just her looks. Though she’s still a looker. ” It was the first time Betty had said any such thing to Gladys without feeling the need to immediately comment that she just meant it as a friend. She decided she didn’t miss that feeling at all.
“I’ve got to give her credit. And you-you encouraged her to come back, and she did. Like you said, everyone has scars. We just need to find a way to keep going anyway.”
Betty gave Gladys a look, which Gladys understood immediately. “I didn’t mean you. Well, not specifically. It wasn’t a veiled attempt to give you a pep talk or try to-“ she threw up her hands as Betty started to laugh at her, “sometimes you’re not even worth the trouble!”
“Ah Princess, sometimes, I don’t know what I did to deserve you.” Betty smiled and linked arms with Gladys briefly, before returning her hand to her drink.
“Oh look, there’s your friend!” Gladys said, waving at a woman across the bar, wearing a tie.
“Okay there, settle down Princess,” Betty said, nodding nonchalantly at her “hep” friend, as Gladys had called her last time.
“How do you know her?”
“She’s one of those, uh, fish in the sea you were referring to the other night.”
Betty almost snorted her drink out of her nose trying not to laugh as Gladys’ eyes widened to the point of comedy, before she quickly tried to regain her expression of cool propriety-though there was really very little place for such an expression in this place.
“Oh! But, how do you-have you-are you-“ Betty watched in great amusement as the normally verbose woman tried to stumble through a question. The whole debacle with Kate, and all the worry she felt when she first confided in Gladys, was almost worth it just for this moment.
“Spit it out sister,” Betty said, laughing out loud by this point.
“Give me a second, and I will,” Gladys said seriously, frowning at Betty, “all right, where did you meet her? And how did you know about her? Well, I supposed she is wearing a tie, which is slightly unusual for most women,” Gladys said this almost to herself, before returning to Betty, “Was that how you knew?” Gladys watched Betty, who was now becoming slightly fidgety. “Is this making you uncomfortable? You don’t need to answer.”
“I’m fine, just, it’s not as if people have asked me this kind of thing before. At least not…people like you. But all right. We met here, and I knew because…well, she made it known. We had a little…dalliance, as you might call it, and that’s about as far as it went. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted, at the time. But, uh, Her name’s Shirley, she’s from Buffalo originally, but had family up here, so here she is.”
“Buffalo! Maybe James knows her.”
“Right, I’m sure they used to run in all the same circles.”
“Well, you and I know each other.”
“Point taken. I’d love to see you try to word that in a letter to him though. ‘Darling James, ran into Betty’s-no, try again-Darling James, have you been to any of the underground bars in Buffalo?’
Gladys nudged Betty with her elbow as they both laughed.
“It’s nice to see you happy, Betty.”
“Well, it’s nice to be happy, Princess”
To be continued….
“Hey, any of you ladies want to go see Leon’s band play tonight?” Gladys asked, glancing around the lunch table. She immediately lost the eye contact of Carol, who wouldn’t be allowed to leave her house if she was headed anywhere with Gladys, never mind that particular destination, and also Betty, who suddenly became very interested in the “Don’t Throw Things” poster on the wall.
“Sure thing, I’ll go,” Vera flashed that brilliant smile at Gladys, having gotten back a good deal of her self confidence in the month since she’d returned to the factory.
“Betts?” Gladys maneuvered her face in between Betty’s and that darn poster.
Betty sighed, “I’d say no, but I get the idea I don’t have a choice. So, count me in.”
Gladys clapped excitedly, causing Vera to laugh, Betty to roll her eyes, and Carol to look embarrassed for her. “Okay then! Girls night it is. Let’s meet over at the boarding house and have a couple first.”
“Now that sounds like an idea,” Betty added, with a tilt of her head and a raised eyebrow. She hadn’t actually been back to the bar since the night she’d kissed Kate. Truth told, she’d been avoiding it like the plague. First, she’d been terrified to show her face there, since both Leon and at least one of the bartenders witnessed the scene between her and Kate. She knew the bar was pretty open in terms of clientele, and she’d even met a few… acquaintances there since coming to Toronto. But it wasn’t until Leon had smiled and nodded at her at VicMu a few days later, that she felt it would really be okay to go back. Then the dilemma became whether or not she wanted to. When it came down to it, she didn’t have the stomach to go alone. Not that she ever actually had the opportunity do anything alone these days, what with Gladys becoming her shadow, but she supposed she more meant she didn’t have the stomach to go without Kate. Plus, Betty was too afraid, and embarrassed, to bring Gladys. It was the same bar when Gladys had first given her that knowing look, when they’d been talking about Kate. Now, with the way things were, Betty didn’t want to make Gladys go, and then have her shoot looks of pitying concern at her all night.
But, if Gladys was going to suggest it, then Betty figured it was worth a shot. Could be fun. And with Vera there too, all of the attention wouldn’t be on her. Hopefully Leon would be playing tonight, and they could all focus on the music.
****
Gladys, true to her word, had provided them with enough whiskey to be good and liquored up by the time they got to the bar. It was packed, usual for a Friday night, but they managed to snag a table in the corner-one that gave them a good view of the whole place. Leon wasn’t playing yet, but Betty could see him standing in the corner by the bar, talking to his trumpet player. Betty’s glance slid from him to the piano. She remembered how Kate had slid closer to her as soon as soon as she sat down, and how good it felt when Kate started rubbing her shoulders. And how stupid she was to misinterpret that so completely. Regardless of the possibility raised in the conversation she and Gladys’d had the other night, about why Kate might have run away so quickly and completely, Betty still couldn’t truly believe that Kate would ever want anything to do with her in a romantic way, now. Funny how she’d found it easy enough to believe that night she kissed her. But all that led to was the loss of the most true friend she’d ever had.
She needed a drink. “Anybody else’s mouth feeling a little dry?” She asked with a smirk.
“I’ve got us!” Vera exclaimed, before nearly dashing off to the bar with her purse, as they yelled their drink orders after her, while she was busy making eyes at one of the men she passed on her way.
“Hope she heard that,” Gladys muttered. She then turned and looked at Betty, “You all right?” she asked. She’d watched the direction of her friend’s gaze a few moments ago, and the subsequent play of emotions across her face. Gladys was wondering if maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to get drunk and go to the scene of the…scene, after all.
“Just thinking what I fool I am, once again. But I’ll survive. I wish they’d get this hack off the stage and get the real band going.”
“Oh Betty! They aren’t that bad!” She looked across the bar, catching Leon’s eye and waving. He immediately nodded at them, and came walking over.
“Betty! So glad to see you decided to come by again,” he smiled broadly at her while taking her hand, “We’ve missed you. In fact,” he added this in a stage whisper, “people have been asking about you.”
“Two Whiskey rocks and a gin and tonic, here we are!” Vera yelled, interrupting, after the fastest trip to the bar in world history. “Leon, hello there.”
He nodded back at Vera, before addressing the other two. “Almost time for my set, hope to see you up there dancing.” They nodded back at him, before he turned to head up toward the stage.
“Thanks for the drink Vera, you’re the best! You missed Leon telling us how people here have been asking for Betty.”
“Oh? Do tell, Betts. Who do we think might have been asking for you?”
Betty looked at the drink in her hand, and could feel the blush rising to her cheeks, “Ah, no one, you know Leon, he just…you know, wants to cheer me up.”
“Hmmph, find that hard to believe. I mean, sure, he wants to cheer you up, but, not sure he’d just flat out lie.”
“All right all right, it doesn’t matter,” Betty waved away the uncomfortable track the conversation was taking, particularly as she could imagine various people who would have been asking for her, and didn’t necessarily want to discuss details of why they might be doing so, with her two friends.
“Bettyyyyy’s embarraaaaassed,” sang Gladys, smiling.
“Princess, you’re even more irritating drunk than sober. Don’t you want to go dance or something?”
“Is that an offer?” she asked playfully
“I’ll dance with you Gladys,” Vera piped up, “Maybe we can tempt some nice fellow to cut in.”
Betty watched the two of them spin around the floor, and before the song was even finished, Vera had a new partner, and Gladys was winding her way back to the table.
“I’m so happy to see Vera back to her old self, or, even, a better version of her old self, where she can see she has more to offer than just her looks. Though she’s still a looker. ” It was the first time Betty had said any such thing to Gladys without feeling the need to immediately comment that she just meant it as a friend. She decided she didn’t miss that feeling at all.
“I’ve got to give her credit. And you-you encouraged her to come back, and she did. Like you said, everyone has scars. We just need to find a way to keep going anyway.”
Betty gave Gladys a look, which Gladys understood immediately. “I didn’t mean you. Well, not specifically. It wasn’t a veiled attempt to give you a pep talk or try to-“ she threw up her hands as Betty started to laugh at her, “sometimes you’re not even worth the trouble!”
“Ah Princess, sometimes, I don’t know what I did to deserve you.” Betty smiled and linked arms with Gladys briefly, before returning her hand to her drink.
“Oh look, there’s your friend!” Gladys said, waving at a woman across the bar, wearing a tie.
“Okay there, settle down Princess,” Betty said, nodding nonchalantly at her “hep” friend, as Gladys had called her last time.
“How do you know her?”
“She’s one of those, uh, fish in the sea you were referring to the other night.”
Betty almost snorted her drink out of her nose trying not to laugh as Gladys’ eyes widened to the point of comedy, before she quickly tried to regain her expression of cool propriety-though there was really very little place for such an expression in this place.
“Oh! But, how do you-have you-are you-“ Betty watched in great amusement as the normally verbose woman tried to stumble through a question. The whole debacle with Kate, and all the worry she felt when she first confided in Gladys, was almost worth it just for this moment.
“Spit it out sister,” Betty said, laughing out loud by this point.
“Give me a second, and I will,” Gladys said seriously, frowning at Betty, “all right, where did you meet her? And how did you know about her? Well, I supposed she is wearing a tie, which is slightly unusual for most women,” Gladys said this almost to herself, before returning to Betty, “Was that how you knew?” Gladys watched Betty, who was now becoming slightly fidgety. “Is this making you uncomfortable? You don’t need to answer.”
“I’m fine, just, it’s not as if people have asked me this kind of thing before. At least not…people like you. But all right. We met here, and I knew because…well, she made it known. We had a little…dalliance, as you might call it, and that’s about as far as it went. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted, at the time. But, uh, Her name’s Shirley, she’s from Buffalo originally, but had family up here, so here she is.”
“Buffalo! Maybe James knows her.”
“Right, I’m sure they used to run in all the same circles.”
“Well, you and I know each other.”
“Point taken. I’d love to see you try to word that in a letter to him though. ‘Darling James, ran into Betty’s-no, try again-Darling James, have you been to any of the underground bars in Buffalo?’
Gladys nudged Betty with her elbow as they both laughed.
“It’s nice to see you happy, Betty.”
“Well, it’s nice to be happy, Princess”
To be continued….