Playing Host
I was a little surprised when there was a knock at the door of my apartment just before midnight. Not that I was about to retire any time soon (Dr Franklin had seen to that), but I was dressed in my relaxation robe, not what I usually greeted visitors with.
I peeped through my peep hole to see who was gracing my doorstep. It was Fred, looking a little lost and forlorn. I snagged a look at a side mirror to make sure I was presentable for her, then flung the door open and held my arms out for a hug.
"Fredikins! Come in, come in. You poor strudel. I should have called to see if you were going to be alright tonight, I am a bad friend. I'll make it up to you though, shall I call out for taco's?"
I noticed that Fred had her luggage with her. The poor lamb must have needed company tonight before the long trip tomorrow. I was surprised and flattered that she had not turned to Wes or Gunn for comfort. Well, it was understandable I supposed. She needed a sexless shoulder to cry on, someone who she could be safe with, emotionally.
"Kitten, you are more than welcome to stay the night." I gave her shoulder a warm gentle squeeze. I could see she was feeling delicate.
"So. Tea.... or Tequila?"
She opted for Tequila since it went better with tacos and informed me that Angel had offered to come on the trip, with Melissa the witch no less!
"That's my girl. I'm a tequila whore myself. I can make a magarita that will make you grow horns!" I grinned at her. I dialed 'Mucho Grande' and ordered up a feast for the two of us, making sure that they included extra hot sauce and extra sour cream, just how Fred liked it.
"Well, how did you manage to get Angelcakes to come along? And with Issa! Those two are like chalk and cheese, or pure sodium and water, or Tracey and Hepburn.....hey now there's a thought. Why didn't I think of that. Fred, you are a genius!"
I chuckled at the thought of those two in the same car. Sure it would be excruciating, but it was perfect. I loved my Mr Broodypants, he was a doll. But sometimes he was too remote, too disconnected from everybody, with all that constant need to save the world and guilt weighing him down. Of course I hadn't forgotten about Cordy. I knew that the moira was still there between those two crazy kids. But with Cordy separating herself from us, claiming that she was on a different road now, things weren't looking to good on that horizon. Maybe Issa was the right person to shake him up a bit.
The tacos arrived and Fred raced to get them, chatting all the while about the upcoming trip. "My only regret is waiting so long to get in contact with Gunn. I know our relationship has seen better days but I still really care for him." She said as she drenched her tacos with hot sauce.
"Dig in honey, I'll be there in a sec." I quickly blended up some magarita's and then presented the jug with a flourish, complete with quartered limes, salt frosted glasses and festive little paper umbrellas to garnish them.
"Voila! Or should I say Andale!" I served her a margarita, adorning the glass with a cheery neon orange umbrella which illicited a pleased giggle from Fred. "Party umbrellas are an essential item of any exotic drink." I admonished with mock severity, then gave a wink.
I sat down opposite her and began to eat with relish.
"About Gunn. I'm sure he'll understand. It's going to take time for things to smooth over between you, but it will happen sweetie. you'll see."
" Wow this drink is strong." Fred said as she sipped her drink. " But really good, all those years working in the bar probably rubbed off on you."
I watched her eat her tacos with gusto. That was one of the many things I absolutely loved about Fred. She was a just tiny slip of a girl, but she wasn't shy of food. She didn't pick at it tentatively or gaze at it with guilt-laden terror like so many of the starlets in Hollywood did these days. Eating was an unselfconscious pleasure for her. She warned that Angel was planning to start early so we might need to go to sleep soon.
"Sleep? But the night is young! And petal, you know as well as I do that Angel will claim the driving seat and insist on manning the wheel for the first leg of the trip. He's so darn predictable in that adorable alpha-macho way of his. So we can stay up and get as drunk as newts or play pictionary or do anything you want to do."
" Drunk as newts? Do newts get drunk? It makes me think of something drunk Biology majors would do in there spare time, get lab animals drunk. Not like I would ever do such a thing. Drinking was never really my poison of choice." Then Fred confided she was quite the wild child back in high school, taking after her grandmother.
"Our Fredikins a wild one back in high shool, huh?" I teased with a grin. "Now that might be worth turning back time just to see. Do shaman do house calls?" I quipped, pretending to reach for the phone for a moment. "Your nana sounds like someone I would have liked to have met. Frequently." I said with a twinkle in my eye. "What kind of hijinks did she get up to?"
Fred regaled me with stories about her nana going joyriding, being a big poker player and becoming a bookie and keeping a shotgun in her kitchen. " Ohhh do you have ice-cream?"
"Do I have ice cream?! Puhlease, do I have horns and a tail!?" I exclaimed, then wondered if I had ever let on to anyone else about that second part. Oops. "Ahhh, it's small nonprehensile, hardly worth umm noting, really. Barely a nub." Why was I yammering on like a fool? Fred hadn't seemed shocked by that revelation though, merely curious.
"Ice cream!" I repeated, trying to refocus myself. "Well, let's see I have pistachio, cherry shortcake and chocolate fudge overload...."
"I always wanted to ask you, but was afraid it might come off as well.. flirting. Usually if you as someone about something that is in there pants.." She chuckled a little, finally choosing pistachio.
"You mean you noticed? Have you been eyeing my derriere Miss Burkle?" Was this the tequila talking or what? Zowieeee. Note to self, more lime juice next time, gazillion parts to one. I quickly scuttled off to the kitchen. "One jumbo sized serving of pistachio ice cream coming up."
"So....your nana, the bookee. I bet there's some mileage to be had out of that story."
Fred revealed that most of what she knew was rumor and had one day hoped to her about if from her grandma herself, but that was not to be. "I never told her about Pylea, I don't think she could have understood. I just hated keeping secrets though."
She began to tear up again. I handed her some tissues, and patted her hand soothingly.
"Fred, even the people we work with everyday don't understand Pylea the way that you and I do. They never had to live there for years on end, feeling trapped, stifled, fearful of showing your true self. Perhaps your nana would have understood that better than most, sounds like she broke the mold too on occasion."
Then Fred asked me if I missed my family. I had to turn away for a second. This was a touchy subject for me. But I owed it to her to be honest.
"No. I don't miss them. I don't regret leaving Pylea one bit. I don't miss my mother, or my siblings. I don't miss the sky, or the food, or the complete and utter lack of singing or joy or compassion that place held for me.
LA is my home now. This is where I belong. And you, and Angel and Cordy and Wes and Gunn are my family now."
Even I was starting to tear up.
"Okey dokey. Looks like we are getting to the maudlin stage of the evening." I reached for a tissue myself and smiled at Fred ruefully.
"Only thing missing from this scene is a sappy movie where someone dies of cancer. Terms of Endearment or Beaches would work. You know, the type of movies I could never get Gunn to watch with me. We should do that one night, rent one of those horribly sad movies and eat popcorn and drink tequila. A girls night out... I mean oops please just write that off to the tequila."
She looked so mortified I burst into a fit of giggles.
"Welllll...girlfriend." I replied overdramatically, putting on a nasal voice and snapping my fingers in the air. "I think I have just the thing."
I went to the dvd cabinet and pulled out some titles for her to look over.
"Are we in a 'The Little Mermaid' mood? Or 'Thelma and Louise', or, my personal fave: The Red Shoes. You make the choice kitten, and get it set up in the player there and I'll rustle up some popcorn. Microwave, double buttered to be exact. Now I don't have any footie pajamas to lend you, but I am totally game for a pillow fight later. And I warn you I am a champion at cushion combat."
" Ohhh Red Shoes!" She decided. "Only thing better than a woman dying of cancer is one plunging to her death because she can't choose between her love and her career."
"I never get tired of watching this." I murmured as I joined her on the couch with huge overflowing bowl of freshly popped snacks. "I've seen it 35 times, and I remember exactly the 'when' and the 'where' each time."
Fred was cradling the tissue box to her, and I pulled a woollen blanket around us to keep us warm. She snuggled close and I pushed play on the remote.
"Number 36, with Fred, after too much tequila." I noted, with a smile.
I peeped through my peep hole to see who was gracing my doorstep. It was Fred, looking a little lost and forlorn. I snagged a look at a side mirror to make sure I was presentable for her, then flung the door open and held my arms out for a hug.
"Fredikins! Come in, come in. You poor strudel. I should have called to see if you were going to be alright tonight, I am a bad friend. I'll make it up to you though, shall I call out for taco's?"
I noticed that Fred had her luggage with her. The poor lamb must have needed company tonight before the long trip tomorrow. I was surprised and flattered that she had not turned to Wes or Gunn for comfort. Well, it was understandable I supposed. She needed a sexless shoulder to cry on, someone who she could be safe with, emotionally.
"Kitten, you are more than welcome to stay the night." I gave her shoulder a warm gentle squeeze. I could see she was feeling delicate.
"So. Tea.... or Tequila?"
She opted for Tequila since it went better with tacos and informed me that Angel had offered to come on the trip, with Melissa the witch no less!
"That's my girl. I'm a tequila whore myself. I can make a magarita that will make you grow horns!" I grinned at her. I dialed 'Mucho Grande' and ordered up a feast for the two of us, making sure that they included extra hot sauce and extra sour cream, just how Fred liked it.
"Well, how did you manage to get Angelcakes to come along? And with Issa! Those two are like chalk and cheese, or pure sodium and water, or Tracey and Hepburn.....hey now there's a thought. Why didn't I think of that. Fred, you are a genius!"
I chuckled at the thought of those two in the same car. Sure it would be excruciating, but it was perfect. I loved my Mr Broodypants, he was a doll. But sometimes he was too remote, too disconnected from everybody, with all that constant need to save the world and guilt weighing him down. Of course I hadn't forgotten about Cordy. I knew that the moira was still there between those two crazy kids. But with Cordy separating herself from us, claiming that she was on a different road now, things weren't looking to good on that horizon. Maybe Issa was the right person to shake him up a bit.
The tacos arrived and Fred raced to get them, chatting all the while about the upcoming trip. "My only regret is waiting so long to get in contact with Gunn. I know our relationship has seen better days but I still really care for him." She said as she drenched her tacos with hot sauce.
"Dig in honey, I'll be there in a sec." I quickly blended up some magarita's and then presented the jug with a flourish, complete with quartered limes, salt frosted glasses and festive little paper umbrellas to garnish them.
"Voila! Or should I say Andale!" I served her a margarita, adorning the glass with a cheery neon orange umbrella which illicited a pleased giggle from Fred. "Party umbrellas are an essential item of any exotic drink." I admonished with mock severity, then gave a wink.
I sat down opposite her and began to eat with relish.
"About Gunn. I'm sure he'll understand. It's going to take time for things to smooth over between you, but it will happen sweetie. you'll see."
" Wow this drink is strong." Fred said as she sipped her drink. " But really good, all those years working in the bar probably rubbed off on you."
I watched her eat her tacos with gusto. That was one of the many things I absolutely loved about Fred. She was a just tiny slip of a girl, but she wasn't shy of food. She didn't pick at it tentatively or gaze at it with guilt-laden terror like so many of the starlets in Hollywood did these days. Eating was an unselfconscious pleasure for her. She warned that Angel was planning to start early so we might need to go to sleep soon.
"Sleep? But the night is young! And petal, you know as well as I do that Angel will claim the driving seat and insist on manning the wheel for the first leg of the trip. He's so darn predictable in that adorable alpha-macho way of his. So we can stay up and get as drunk as newts or play pictionary or do anything you want to do."
" Drunk as newts? Do newts get drunk? It makes me think of something drunk Biology majors would do in there spare time, get lab animals drunk. Not like I would ever do such a thing. Drinking was never really my poison of choice." Then Fred confided she was quite the wild child back in high school, taking after her grandmother.
"Our Fredikins a wild one back in high shool, huh?" I teased with a grin. "Now that might be worth turning back time just to see. Do shaman do house calls?" I quipped, pretending to reach for the phone for a moment. "Your nana sounds like someone I would have liked to have met. Frequently." I said with a twinkle in my eye. "What kind of hijinks did she get up to?"
Fred regaled me with stories about her nana going joyriding, being a big poker player and becoming a bookie and keeping a shotgun in her kitchen. " Ohhh do you have ice-cream?"
"Do I have ice cream?! Puhlease, do I have horns and a tail!?" I exclaimed, then wondered if I had ever let on to anyone else about that second part. Oops. "Ahhh, it's small nonprehensile, hardly worth umm noting, really. Barely a nub." Why was I yammering on like a fool? Fred hadn't seemed shocked by that revelation though, merely curious.
"Ice cream!" I repeated, trying to refocus myself. "Well, let's see I have pistachio, cherry shortcake and chocolate fudge overload...."
"I always wanted to ask you, but was afraid it might come off as well.. flirting. Usually if you as someone about something that is in there pants.." She chuckled a little, finally choosing pistachio.
"You mean you noticed? Have you been eyeing my derriere Miss Burkle?" Was this the tequila talking or what? Zowieeee. Note to self, more lime juice next time, gazillion parts to one. I quickly scuttled off to the kitchen. "One jumbo sized serving of pistachio ice cream coming up."
"So....your nana, the bookee. I bet there's some mileage to be had out of that story."
Fred revealed that most of what she knew was rumor and had one day hoped to her about if from her grandma herself, but that was not to be. "I never told her about Pylea, I don't think she could have understood. I just hated keeping secrets though."
She began to tear up again. I handed her some tissues, and patted her hand soothingly.
"Fred, even the people we work with everyday don't understand Pylea the way that you and I do. They never had to live there for years on end, feeling trapped, stifled, fearful of showing your true self. Perhaps your nana would have understood that better than most, sounds like she broke the mold too on occasion."
Then Fred asked me if I missed my family. I had to turn away for a second. This was a touchy subject for me. But I owed it to her to be honest.
"No. I don't miss them. I don't regret leaving Pylea one bit. I don't miss my mother, or my siblings. I don't miss the sky, or the food, or the complete and utter lack of singing or joy or compassion that place held for me.
LA is my home now. This is where I belong. And you, and Angel and Cordy and Wes and Gunn are my family now."
Even I was starting to tear up.
"Okey dokey. Looks like we are getting to the maudlin stage of the evening." I reached for a tissue myself and smiled at Fred ruefully.
"Only thing missing from this scene is a sappy movie where someone dies of cancer. Terms of Endearment or Beaches would work. You know, the type of movies I could never get Gunn to watch with me. We should do that one night, rent one of those horribly sad movies and eat popcorn and drink tequila. A girls night out... I mean oops please just write that off to the tequila."
She looked so mortified I burst into a fit of giggles.
"Welllll...girlfriend." I replied overdramatically, putting on a nasal voice and snapping my fingers in the air. "I think I have just the thing."
I went to the dvd cabinet and pulled out some titles for her to look over.
"Are we in a 'The Little Mermaid' mood? Or 'Thelma and Louise', or, my personal fave: The Red Shoes. You make the choice kitten, and get it set up in the player there and I'll rustle up some popcorn. Microwave, double buttered to be exact. Now I don't have any footie pajamas to lend you, but I am totally game for a pillow fight later. And I warn you I am a champion at cushion combat."
" Ohhh Red Shoes!" She decided. "Only thing better than a woman dying of cancer is one plunging to her death because she can't choose between her love and her career."
"I never get tired of watching this." I murmured as I joined her on the couch with huge overflowing bowl of freshly popped snacks. "I've seen it 35 times, and I remember exactly the 'when' and the 'where' each time."
Fred was cradling the tissue box to her, and I pulled a woollen blanket around us to keep us warm. She snuggled close and I pushed play on the remote.
"Number 36, with Fred, after too much tequila." I noted, with a smile.