Come As You Are Ch. 11

Previously on "Come As You Are" - Four lifelong friends reunite for their ten-year high school reunion -- professional chef Brenda Lattimore, video game streamer Sadie Bedford, ski instructor Michelle Min, and local business owner Colette Hansen. Over drinks and dinner the night before the reunion, the girls discover that they all share a secret lover in one of their classmates, the quiet social outcast Garrett West.

It's the grand opening of Emerald Pine's newest business, Candy by Colette, the result of months of hard work by Colette. The first days are busier than expected, and as such Colette finds herself with a new employee -- Garrett West, recently returned to Emerald Pines after nearly seven years and press-ganged into helping Colette by Garrett's long-time friend and Colette's recently-made friend Vienna Polley.

Despite the extra help, a particularly busy day causes Colette to have a panic attack. Vienna drives her home and offers to spend the night, joining Collette in the shower...

X X X X X

Come As You Are

Volume IV - Colette's Story

Chapter Two - "Do You Sleep?"

X X X X X

Garrett looked up from the counter as Colette and Vienna let the front door close behind them. "Good morning," he smiled cheerfully.

Vienna pointed towards her friend. "See what I mean? He is way too bright and chipper for this early in the morning, the bastard."

"I'm glad to see you too," Garrett responded. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a plain dark blue t-shirt. "How are you holding up?" he asked Colette.

"As good as can," she said while shrugging off her coat. "So what's left to be done?"

"Nothing, I think. Displays are stocked, refilled the bulk candy, swept and mopped the floors. Unless I missed something, everything's good to go."

"You did all that this morning?" Colette asked, shocked.

"Figured it would be easier to head right here from swimming instead of going home and coming back." He sent a pointed glare towards Vienna. "Plus I was tossing and turning all night because someone didn't text me back until this morning."

"We completely conked out," she replied. "I slept right through your text."

"Well next time, don't keep me worried," he said before turning to Colette. "There were no problems whatsoever after you left. The sink in the back stopped up but we handled it. Well, Ryan handled it. That kid's a machine. Didn't bitch or complain once."

The smell of coffee tickled Colette's nose. "Is that a fresh pot?" she asked, pointing towards the coffee maker behind the counter.

"It finished brewing when you walked in," Garrett answered. "Want a cup?"

"Just bring me the whole pot and a small plate."

"Oh, boy," Vienna laughed as she saw the look of confusion on his face. "Hold on to your cute butt Garrett. You're about to see Colette violate the laws of nature."

Garrett did as Colette asked, grabbing both the pot of fresh coffee and a small ceramic side plate. Lovely vapors of caffeinated steam rose from the glass container. "Now grab me a can of Coke." Garrett opened up one of the coolers along the back wall. As he grabbed a can from the bottom shelf, Colette's eyes were drawn downwards. "Damn," she whistled. "That is a cute butt."

"You think that's nice," Vienna immediately chimed in, "you should see his dick."

"Someone's a bit randy this morning," Garret remarked, standing up with a red can of Coke in hand.

"I'm happy because my best friend's back in town," countered Vienna. "And besides, it is a nice dick. I've seen a lot of dicks in my life His? Top three."

"When did you see his dick?" Colette motioned to the two of them. "You guys haven't..."

"Oh God no," Garrett proclaimed.

"Hell no," Vienna said at the same time. "We've been friends for over twenty years. I've seen him naked, he's seen me naked, hell, we've both seen Gio naked. You've never seen any of your friends naked?"

"Yeah," Colette said as she took the cold Coke from Garrett. "But we're all girls. You guys are mixed."

"It's never been a big thing between us," Vienna admitted.

Before Garrett could say anything, his eyes widened while he watched Colette pour the entire can of soda into the pot of hot coffee. Somehow his eyes got even wider when she picked up the pot of coffee and began drinking. Vienna watched with disgusted amusement as Colette proceeded to chug half the contents without blinking.

Garrett's nose wrinkled as he caught a whiff of the fumes coming from the concoction. "What the hell? That stuff smells like it could clean the grease off an engine block!"

A big smile sat on Colette's face as she set the half-empty pot on the ceramic plate. "It's called Cokefee. I discovered it in college. It's what I drink when I need to wake the fuck up right the fuck now."

"And I thought I saw some messed up stuff living in Florida," Garrett exclaimed, still in shock from what he had just seen. "That can't be good for your kidneys, or the rest of your body."

"Oh, it's not. Today nothing else but water is going into my system. But like I said when I need to wake up nothing in the world tops it."

"You think that's bad, her normal coffee is usually strong enough to crawl over the rim of the cup and slap whoever's holding it." Vienna glanced down at her watch. "And on that note, I've got a bunch of errands to run. We're still on for lunch," she said to Garrett as she got up from the barstool and put on her coat. "And remember what we talked about this morning," Vienna added for Colette.

"What you talked about this morning?" Garrett asked once Vienna had left the building.

"She told me in the car," Colette lied, "to take a pill the moment I start feeling anxious and to make sure I'm out the door by nine o'clock. I've got to check with Ryan, make sure he's OK to close tonight." She sighed before taking another large gulp of Cokefee. "I feel horrible messing with someone's schedule. Hopefully, he won't mind."

"I can stay..."

"You worked eight hours on Monday and pulled twelve yesterday, as well as closing and opening this place. You're done at six tonight so you can go... well, apparently you don't sleep, so you can go do something that doesn't involve you going feral... actually, wait. Vienna wanted to have a drink or two with me before I headed home. You're coming to Pike's with me," she said, draining the last bit of Cokefee and ignoring the pained look on Garrett's face while doing so. "We're going to have a few drinks, have fun, and then you're going to drive me home." Disgust turned to confusion as Garrett raised an eyebrow at her. "This way you'll make sure I head right home from Pike's and go to sleep. I think Vienna would approve of this plan."

"This all goes back to being Vienna's fault? I can work with that."

X X X X X

"Wait a second," Garrett said as he heard the music drifting from the inside of the crowded bar. "It's Wednesday. It's Karaoke Night, isn't it?"

"Yep," Colette answered as she held the door open. After pausing nervously, Garrett stepped inside. Colette was right behind him, taking off her long coat due to the transition between the frigid Colorado air and the warm interior of Pike's. Each barstool was occupied, while the shelves on both outer walls held patrons packed elbow-to-elbow enjoying their drinks and conversations. In one corner of the bar sat a temporary platform. At the moment it held three post-college age women managing not to butcher "Love Shack" by the B-52's while they followed the words on the monitor in front of them.

Colette craned her neck. "You see Vienna anywhere?" Garrett pointed towards the back of the bar after a few moments, where a trio of long communal tables sat parallel to one another. Two of them were overcapacity, but the third one, where Vienna sat at one end waving her arm, still had room.

Garrett led the way, weaving his way through the crowd with Colette following. "I didn't think Karaoke Night would still be this crowded," he said while squeezing in across from Vienna.

"Blame the Ski Festival." She slid over to give Colette the end spot. "You give a bunch of drunk tourists the option for karaoke and they will show up for it." Vienna leaned in and gave Colette a peck on the cheek. Both women missed the raised eyebrow from Garrett at the friendly gesture. "I ordered a round of Ruby Red when you texted you were on your way over," Vienna told them before asking Colette, "So how did you hold up today?"

"Piece of cake," she answered, squeezing Vienna's knee underneath the table. "I didn't even need to take a pill today... it's OK," she said as she saw a look of frustrated concern cross Vienna's face. "I had one at the ready just in case, but I didn't need it. And since I didn't take one that means I can drink tonight without worrying."

Vienna sighed but gave Colette a nod of agreement. "Alright. Just don't get cocky kid."

"Are you quoting A New Hope at me now?" Colette grinned.

"Not on purpose!"

"Someday someone's going to explain to me how this happened." Both women looked at Garrett who was looking back at them with a confused look on his face. "This," he said, motioning with one hand. "I'm still trying to process you being in Vienna's shower the other morning and now... driving her home last night? The whole kiss on the cheek thing?"

"Ah." Vienna nodded knowingly. "I get it. You're confused that I made a new friend. I decided that Colette is as cool as you and Gio and therefore worthy of being in my social circle."

"Humble much?"

"Walk with pride, girl," Vienna teased. "You're in an exclusive club. And Sadie's knocking on the door. Seriously, once I got away from all the high school bullshit and started living in the real world, it turned out some people weren't so bad, rarely."

Colette felt someone reaching over her shoulder. "Here you go," the waitress said as she put a pint glass full of amber beer in front of her before handing the other two beers to Vienna and Garrett. The cold beer soothed Colette's throat as she took a deep pull.

"Speaking of friends," Garrett noted as he set his beer down, "I haven't had a chance to ask you how the girls are holding up."

"Pretty well! Sadie's got her YouTube and Twitch channels going and, to quote, she's banging her way through the entire Roaring Fork Valley. She's gonna blow her stack when she sees you. Michelle is down in Telluride with her boyfriend, working as a ski instructor, and I bet she's gonna have a few words for you as well. And Brenda's in Denver working as an assistant chef at some high-end restaurant."

"Are Michelle and Brenda coming back for the reunion?"

There was a hesitancy in Garrett's question that Colette didn't pick up on until she was answering his question. "They'll be in town next Friday, which is also when Sadie's getting back. We're having dinner over at Comstock's. You know, catch up on all the stuff you can't talk about over the phone or through text."

"So they're all going to be in town for the reunion? Cool." Garrett nodded as he sipped his beer, his eyes not meeting Colette's as he repeated, "cool, cool."

Before Colette could say anything, Vienna set her glass on the table before looking Garrett directly in the eye. "Enough catching up. You want in on Karaoke Roulette?"

"Depends," he hesitated. "What's Karaoke Roulette?"

"It's her fault," Vienna said, motioning towards Colette who waved her hand in acknowledgment. "She came up with the idea one night when we were in here drinking and neither of us had the ovaries to get up there and sing. I know karaoke isn't your thing..."

"Eh, what the hell? I'm in. What are the rules?"

"That's the spirit," Colette smiled brightly.

Vienna slid several pieces of paper and a few pencil stubs towards the middle of the table, bringing the pile to rest between the trio. "Here's how Karaoke Roulette works. I pick two songs for Colette, Colette picks two songs for you, you pick two songs for me. Keep them turned over. When it's someone's turn they pick one of the two slips of paper and they either sing that song or turn it down. If they turn it down though, they have to sing the second song. No ifs, ands, or buts. And you don't get to know what it is until they call your name to sing."

Garrett took one of the pencil stubs from the center of the table. "Sounds more like Suicide Karaoke to me."

The next few minutes were spent sharing the binder of songs between the three of them. Colette resisted the urge to chew on the pencil stub as she looked through the listing. One song immediately popped into her head, and after scribbling that one down Colette found herself studying Garrett. He was taking a sip of his Ruby Red, pencil stub resting on the table as he pondered his options. "I have no idea what to pick for you," Colette said quietly enough that she heard her words inside of her head more than her ears. As she watched, Garrett nodded before scribbling something on both pieces of paper. Seeing the other two pint glasses were empty, he pointed to them, getting nods from both Colette and Vienna.

Colette observed Garrett for a little longer before writing down her second song option before it slipped from her mind. By the time the waitress brought over the next round, all six slips of paper were turned over in front of their respective owners. "I didn't know what to choose," Colette admitted to Garrett. "I have no idea what kind of music you like or don't like. So in advance, sorry for my song choice, not sorry for my song choice."

"I'll go first then," he offered, "before I lose my nerve." He pointed to one of the slips of paper in front of Colette. She flipped it over, showing the song underneath. Garrett took one look at the title and laughed loud enough to be heard over the din of the bar. "Oh, man? 'Call Me Maybe?'"

"It's a go-to karaoke song. We hear it all the time."

"I'll take my chances with the other one then."

"Just remember," Colette said as she put her hand over the second slip of paper, "that means you have to sing this one. No refusal, no weaseling out of it, no changing your mind once you're up there. Sure you want to pass?"

"Pass," he nodded with confidence. He then turned to Vienna. "Your pick."

"That one." Vienna pointed with her pencil stub towards the slip of paper on Garrett's left. He slid it over to her. As she picked it up and turned it over, a smile crossed her face. "Wow. This is a fucking deep cut here, Garrett." She picked up the paper and showed it to Colette. Written on the paper in clear, slanted print were the words "All You Zombies - the Hooters." "Now that I think about it," Vienna added, "this song title might be more appropriate for you, Colette, considering how much you enjoy horror movies."

"Alright, let's see what you hit me with." Colette looked at the two pieces of paper that Vienna had used. "Hmm... I'll take this one." Vienna nodded and flipped the paper over. Colette leaned in close to read it. As she did, she caught a whiff of rosewood -- Vienna's perfume. "I've never heard of this song," she said after rereading the paper a few times. "Or this band. I'll do it. I'm always up for a new song."

Vienna took the chosen slips of paper and scribbled the appropriate name on the back. She handed the slips to Garrett. "Run these up to the DJ?" He took them with a nod and slid off the end of the bench. Vienna and Colette watched as Garrett sidestepped and turned his way through the crowd of patrons towards the elevated stage. "Sadie got him to dance," Vienna said, "and you got Garrett to sing. Apparently, vaginamancy IS a valid form of magic."

"I didn't get him to sing," Colette said. "I didn't say anything to him about karaoke. He worked here in high school, you think he'd remember. So he's not a singer?"

"I've heard him sing, but like in the shower or while we're in the car. Karaoke? Nada." Vienna took a sip from her fresh beer "I want to see what song you picked for him."

"I'm kind of having second thoughts now," Colette admitted. "I thought he had done karaoke before. It's not a tough song, just a very bombastic one." She motioned with her chin towards Garrett, who was handing the song slips to the DJ. "How's it been having him back?"

"Fantastic." Vienna glanced over her shoulder, but Colette could still make out her wide smile. "I hadn't seen him in four years. Being able to give him an actual hug... and you can not tell him I said that. If only he wasn't so fucking gunshy about living here."

Colette recalled the haunted look in Garrett's eyes she had seen the other night. "He doesn't seem gunshy," she noted. "At least not on the surface."

"I can tell," Vienna countered. "He's been running on the emotional equivalent of that Cokefee junk you drink ever since he got back. Once that wears off..."

She fell silent as Garrett sat back down. "About five, ten minutes," he told them.

"You've never done karaoke before," Vienna pointed out. "Why tonight?"

"Trying to get my life in order, right? Might as well do something new and exciting."

"If karaoke is new and exciting for you," proclaimed Colette, "you've gotta up your game. How about a tattoo? That's what I did!"

"No thanks," he smiled. "My body's a blank canvas and I plan to keep it that way."

"How about a piercing then? Or learning to play guitar?"

Vienna practically jumped in her seat. "Ooooh, I've got it," she cried. "Become a sex addict with a drug problem or a drug addict with a sex problem! Either way, at some point you'll be doing a line of cocaine off an eighteen-year-old cheerleader's ass!"

Garrett's entire body shook as he tried to contain his laughter. "How about we save that until my midlife crisis?"

"Fine. Shake on it." Garrett rolled his eyes in good humor as he rose from the bench and stuck his arm across the table to shake Vienna's outstretched hand.

"So how is being back in Emerald Pines?" Colette asked. "Any life-changing insights yet?"

"Not a glimmer. I've been decompressing more than anything else."

"You should try reacclimating," suggested Colette. "I didn't feel like I was back home until Michelle broke out my skis and we hit the Drop. Living at sea level for seven years, you should get used to being in the mountains again."

"Maybe. For now, I think I'm gonna just drift until after the reunion. That reminds me," Garrett said as he turned to Vienna, "you made up your mind about going yet?"

"Depends," Vienna answered. "Have you?"

"I'm still waffling back and forth," he quietly sighed. "There's no one else I want to see... no offense Colette," he quickly added. "Maybe Evelyn Ballion just to see if she's changed at all, but that's it."

"You wouldn't want to see the girls?" Colette said with a friendly pout.

"Counterargument -- would they want to see me? We weren't friends in high school." Vienna was looking down at her phone as Garrett continued. "There would be ten, maybe fifteen minutes of catching up in the high school gym followed by standing around for two-to-three hours before coming back to Pike's to drink until close. No marriage, no kids, nothing really interesting going on... hell, I'd probably just end up sitting in the corner."

"You asked about Sadie the other night," Colette pointed out.

"Yeah, but... that was, you know..."

"He's not going to be in town."

Garrett and Colette both looked at Vienna as she held up her smartphone. "He's on an East Coast swing next week starting Sunday in Philadelphia, nationally televised. You can go without running into him." Out of the corner of her eye, Vienna saw Colette staring at her in confusion. "Danny," she explained.

"He's not the..." Garrett's words died in his throat as Vienna gave him a look of distilled annoyance with narrow eyes and pursed lips. "I haven't thought of him since graduation," he said weakly.