Page 11 of Always Been You

“Of course, Matt will be down for that. Let me know when you book your flight and I’ll pick you up at the airport.”

“Will do. I have to go. I’m meeting with a study group. Love you Liv! Happy birthday.”

“Love you too, Gi! Talk to you soon.”

I put my phone away and turn the corner toward Sammy’s. We stumbled upon Sammy’s one of the first weeks after I moved into my apartment; after we had been drinking at my place while catching up, and found this little twenty-four-hour diner down the street and decided to try it out. We have been coming here ever since.

I slide into the booth and greet the girls just as Sam walks up to our booth. Sam is the owner of Sammy’s and regularly works the floor serving. She is tall, with long blonde hair that she usually keeps up in either a ponytail or bun, with deep blue eyes. She’s in her late 40s or early 50s and is one of the friendliest people I know.

“Hello, girls. So nice to see you all. How are you?”

“Hey Sam, we’re good,” Zoey says. “Nursing some nasty hangovers after Liv’s birthday party last night. We need some good, greasy food!”

Sam smiles at me, “Happy Birthday, Liv. Well, I can do that for y’all. Pancakes with hash browns, eggs, and bacon for the table?”

We all look at her with a smile and a universal, “Sounds great!”

Sam walks behind the diner counter and puts our order in, and returns with four coffees. “Anything else I can get you, ladies?”

We all shake our heads and say thank you before she returns to help the rest of the customers in the diner.

I look over to Eliza and ask, “So, what’s going on with you and Caleb, Liz?”

She groans and rolls her eyes at me. Using the spoon she just stirred her coffee with, she points at each of us. “I’m gonna say this once, got it? Nothing is going on between me and Caleb. Is that man fine as fuck? Yes. You’d have to be blind to miss that, but that’s the extent of it.”

“So…” Zoey starts and I know she’s going to dig. “You’re saying that if Caleb asked to sleep with you, you’d turn him down?” Zoey asks, quirking her brow at our friend, who is the more serious of the group.

“If Caleb asked, no, I would probably be down, but right now I am perfectly content with enjoying the view. Plus, Ihave no desire to get involved with a cop. Liv, what happened with Josh after he took you home last night? You were all over him,” Eliza says, trying to move the conversation off of her, and it worked.

Shaking my head, I look at my friends’ curious faces. “Nothing happened. Josh is an old friend. He took me home, put me to bed and left me a bottle of water and a couple of Advil on my nightstand. That’s it. Plus, Josh knows I am with Drew; he wouldn’t try anything, and I won’t cheat. I’d end it before that.”

Hannah sighs into her coffee. She puts it down and reaches across the table, taking my hand and squeezing it. “Liv, why are you still with Drew? The guy doesn’t treat you right. You deserve to have someone who will worship you. You are a fierce girl, but you’re also smart, kind, funny, and loyal as hell. The guy couldn’t even make it to your birthday party last night, and he barely texted you at all yesterday, and he didn’t call you once, did he?” I can hear the emotion in her voice as she talks to me about this.

My friends haven’t said much about my relationship with Drew, so this is new. It does hurt that Drew didn’t make it to my birthday yesterday, but I know he has been dealing with family issues. I have to allow him the space and time to be there to support his family.

I squeeze her hand back. “I love him. We have been together for two years now, and are planning on moving in together. I know that he is a good guy; he just has a lot going on right now. Once he figures everything out with his family, it will all go back to normal. But thank you for looking out for me. I love you, Han.”

Eliza adds her hand on top of Hannah’s and looks at me. “We’re here for you if you need us, babe. You just have to text or call, you know that, right?”

Zoey places hers on top of Eliza’s. She adds, “Liv, we want you to be happy. You are such an amazing person. You deserve the world, babe.”

I look at them with tears in my eyes and place my free hand on top of Zoey’s so the three of their hands are between the two of mine. “You guys are the best friends a girl could ask for. I love you all. How did I get so lucky to deserve you all?”

“We are just as lucky,” Hannah says. We each give one more hand squeeze before taking our hands back. As we separate, Sam comes back with our food, and we dig in. We talk about our upcoming week–Hannah is working a few shifts at the hospital, Zoey has classes and is studying for her upcoming finals, and Eliza has her regular workweek. I have parent-teacher conferences to get ready for next week, so I have half days of teaching all week and my afternoons and evenings will be full of meeting parents.

We pay our bill and head out. Outside of Sammy’s, we all hug and agree that they will all meet at my place on Saturday for a night out. As I walk to the SkyTrain, I pull my phone out and call Matt.

“Hey Liv, how’s the hangover?”

“Better, thanks. I just left Sammy’s, the girls and I had breakfast. How are you after last night?”

“Oh, my head isn’t killing me anymore,” he chuckles. “Josh took you home last night, right? I’m assuming you made it home safe and sound?”

“Yeah, Josh took me home, Caleb took Han and Liz to Liz’s place, and Grayson took Zo home. Your friends madesure your little sister and her friends made it home safe and sound.” I smile and laugh.

“Well, I am glad. Did you talk to Drew after last night? I noticed he didn’t make it.” I can feel my stomach clench at his comment. Both my brother and my friends noticed my boyfriend didn’t make it to celebrate my twenty-fifth birthday.

I sigh, “No, he texted me last night to let me know he wouldn’t be able to make it. We are supposed to go look at a couple of places today. I’m on my way to his place now.” There is a pause on the other end of the line, and I can tell that Matt is thinking about what he wants to say. After a few seconds, I can hear him let out a breath.

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