It’s tear-down day at Drip, which means we’re closed and there’s a small crew of us here to take down all of the holiday decor and signage and set the store back to ordinary-time rights. Ian’s up on a ladder, Mel’s yelling at him not to break his neck and die, I’m checking items off our to-do list, Phoebe’s keeping Rose occupied, and Theo is taking inventory, and not paying any attention to the rest of us.
Sounds about right.
This crew has become so important to me and to Rose over the past few months, and I can’t imagine our lives without them. Even if Mel is about to strangle Theo with a string of lights.
“Oh, my God. I know you’re getting paid by the hour, but Jesus on the cross, Theo. You’ve been shelving that row of cups for the last ten minutes.”
He shrugs. “They need to be spaced evenly. I’m not gonna do a crappy job. I like taking my time.”
“Taking your time? At this rate, we’ll be here until midnight.”
Theo frowns, not knowing quite how to take Mel. She’s a force, for sure, and he’s so reserved, so concentrated that I’m pretty sure she confounds him. And vice-versa. They fight like siblings, and like the great mediator he is, Ian intervenes.
“Mel, my love. Would you mind checking the syrup stock in the back? I just got a text from Delilah at the downtown store. They’re running low on a couple flavors and I want to make sure we have enough before I start giving ours away.”
Mel makes a face, likely because she knows exactly what Ian’s up to, but she heads to the back anyway. I turn my attention to Rose who’s stacking blocks with Phoebe.
“So, what’s new?” I ask Ian. “I live in the same house with Phoebe, and I worked with Theo yesterday, but I feel like it’s been too long since we’ve had a chance to catch up. But maybe that’s because my life has been a little crazy lately. In the last six weeks I ran into my ex, told him we had a kid, fell back in love with him, and realized his mother is a hateful woman who basically set out to destroy his life, and mine, though we’d never even met. So yea, things in my world have been pretty crazy lately, so maybe that’s why I feel like I’m out of the loop when it comes to my friends’ lives.”
“Not much new in the thrilling life of Ian McBride. I work here, then I go home to sleep. Then I wake up and work on my thesis. I opened Grindr the other night and fell asleep before I could swipe right on anyone. That’s my life right now.”
“Don’t look at me for thrilling news,” Theo says. “I just perfectlyand equidistantly aligned six travel cups on this shelf. And that's the most exciting thing that’s happened to me in months.”
I look to Phoebe, who’s cooing to Rose. “What about you, Miss James-soon-to-be-Marshall?”
She blushes but can’t resist looking at the rock on her finger. It’s an antique, filigree band with an opal stone and it’s stunning.
“We set a date,” she says excitedly. “That’s probably crazy, right? We’re still in school, and we live together, so there’s no actual reason to make it legal in a hurry, but neither one of us wants to wait, so we’re getting married in September.”
“That’s so exciting,” I tell her. I’ve thought about what it will be like when Knox and I get married. We’ve talked about it, too. Right now, our priority is Rose, and finishing school, but the commitment we’ve made to each other is strong. I imagine in a year or two, we’ll have a backyard barbeque with a bonfire and get married surrounded by our friends. But I have a feeling Ty and Phoebe are going in a more formal direction. She showed me her Pinterest board the other day and I couldn’t believe there were that many different styles of wedding dresses. It’s a whole other world, but she’s living in it, and loving it, and that makes me happy.
“That’s our girl,” Ian says. “Love looks good on you, kiddo.”
“Love is a social construct fabricated by the patriarchy to enslave women and perpetuated by the capitalist market to profit off the idea that women need partners in order to be validated,” Mel reminds us as she walks back in the room. “And we’re low on Cinnamon Spice, but stocked on everything else,” she adds.
“No, baby doll, that’s marriage. Love is real and can’t be tainted by the fucking patriarchy,” Ian says. “Though I have a shit track record with men, so what do I know?”
“That’s because men are assholes, statistically speaking,” Mel answers.
“What the hell statistics are those?” Theo asks. “I would like to see this research. Did you find it in a peer-reviewed journal?”
“The statistics of my life and Ian’s,” Mel tells him. “Phoebe’s an exception. Same for Willa. All the guys I’ve dated are either colossal disappointments or ghosts. Usually both. That’s why I’m a strictly-sex gal now.”
“And that works for you?” Theo asks.
“Not as well as my vibrator, honestly.”
Ian chokes on the water he’s drinking. “While I’m not quite as cynical as Mel, I can see where she’s coming from.” He blanches. “Oh my God, pun not intended. Anyway...I’m still holding out hope that my Prince Charming is out there somewhere. But given my luck, his schedule’s as crazy as mine, and he’ll probably be in school forever just like me, and by the time we meet we’ll be too tired and exhausted to do anything about it.”
“No way,” I say. “I have a feeling he’s closer than you think.”
“Now that you’re in love, you’re going to start matchmaking?” Ian asks, quirking a brow in my direction.
“Not at all,” I say honestly. “Knox is my first actual boyfriend, and we had a kid together long before we found our way back to each other. My plate’s too full for matchmaking, and I wouldn’t have the first clue how to go about it. I just think love is closer than you think it is. You just have to be open to it.”
“She’s right,” Theo pipes up, surprising all of us, since he’s usually pretty quiet. “You have to be open to it. I’m not saying you have to be on alert or anything, just that when it comes your way, don’t let it pass you by because you think the timing’s off, or you’re too busy, or it doesn’t fit the way you thought it might. ‘Cause that’s a dick move and you’ll regret it.” And after imparting those words of wisdom, he walks to the back to get the broom and starts sweeping as though he didn’t just drop a truth bomb in the middle of the coffee shop.
I check the time and see that Knox won’t be much longer, so I hustle through the To-Do list, eager to get home to my boyfriend. It may have taken us a while to get here, but now that we’re together, I’m not letting anything stand in our way.
