Come As You Are Ch. 14

"Well this is a very nice surprise," Michelle proclaimed. "Do you need a hand with anything?"

"Nope! You're guests, I'm the cook, you just sit there and enjoy yourself."

A voice called out from the doorway. "Does that mean we get to skip the cleanup?" With a tired grin on her face, Sadie stumbled into the kitchen. "Everything smells freaking amazing," she said as she sat down next to Michelle and immediately poured herself a Bloody Mary. A nod from Michelle saw Sadie proceed to fill her glass as well before emptying the pitcher by filling Colette's and the one at Brenda's place setting.

Sadie took a long sip from the red drink and sighed contentedly as the cool liquid touched her throat. "I remember getting back here, and I saw the bottle of wine on the coffee table, but I was either too drunk, too tired, or a mix of drunk and tired. Did any other deep dark secrets get revealed last night?"

Brenda chuckled as she began to bring the food over to the table. "Not really. Michelle filled us in on Andrew, and Colette here was going to talk some more about Vienna but she ended up falling asleep first on the loveseat. I barely got the fold-out set up in time before both you and Michelle conked out too."

"Probably for the best," Sadie said as she grabbed a stack of Belgian waffles. "I was so out of it, I wouldn't have remembered a damn word of what Colette said about her and Vienna." She proceeded to drench the waffles with a mix of maple syrup and whipped cream before taking a huge bite. "Ooooooooh my God," Sadie moaned sensually, "these waffles are almost better than sex."

"Well if you're looking to climax there's a bowl of strawberries to your left," Brenda noted.

With the fruit added to the top of the stack, Sadie proceeded to devour the Belgian waffles in a matter of moments before going back for seconds. The rest of the girls loaded food on their plates as Brenda sat down to join them. The next few minutes were filled with words of praise and appreciation towards their chef friend, who took the compliments with quiet gestures and a lifting of her glass.

"You have no idea how much I missed this," Colette said as she helped herself to another baguette. "I always looked forward to spending the night here on the off chance you'd get up early to cook for us."

Sadie pointed to Brenda with her fork, a piece of waffle hanging off the end of it. "So Brenda's back from college one weekend," she said, "and we're hanging out in my kitchen when my Mom comes home from working a double at the VFW. She says hello and mentions she's hungry but too tired to cook anything. By the time she's out of the shower this one," she said, syrup dripping from her fork as she continued to gesture towards Brenda, "had half a sandwich and a cup of soup ready for her so my Mom could have something to eat before going to sleep. HALF a sandwich! I've never seen someone specifically make half a sandwich before! I was watching someone bend reality!"

"It's not that hard," Michelle said. "Just take one piece of bread and cut it in half vertically."

"I know that NOW!"

The girls finished brunch and then helped Brenda do some basic cleanup. "It's almost noon," Michelle pointed out while washing dishes. "I have to spend some time with the family before tonight. And you want to make sure the store is OK."

"Ryan and Dee Dee are probably handling things. But," Colette added, "I have to coordinate meeting up with Vienna." A smile bloomed on Colette's face. "I have a date for the reunion," she said with great cheer. "I asked Vienna last night and she said she'd go."

Brenda clapped her hands. "That's awesome. And adorable. Adorably awesome. Man, I can't wait to see you two together. I know it's been ten years but I still see the same anti-social, closed-off woman we went to school with. I'm excited to see how much she's changed, especially if she's making you this happy."

Sadie put a hand up, holding two fingers aloft. "I swear I will do my best to keep my teasing to a level matching and not exceeding Vienna's."

"And I swear to not be a raging bitch," Michelle added, also holding up her hand and the same two fingers. "Scout's honor."

Colette shook her head. "I'm calling bullshit. Neither of you were Girl Scouts."

Michelle grinned in response. "Not, but ask Andrew about my knotwork sometime."

X X X X X

Tyler looked up at the knock on the open door of his office. "Hey," a large blonde-haired young man grinned. "Is there where I sign up for some personal training?"

"Danny!" Tyler shot up from his chair. Barrelling around the desk, he boisterously embraced his smirking friend. "What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be starting a road trip!"

"Got put on the DL." The basketball star lightly rapped one knuckle against his upper arm. "Shoulder strain. Guess Coach is waiting until the last minute to let the league office know."

"Shoulder strain? Shit." Tyler motioned for Danny to sit down "How bad is it?"

"As minor as you can get." Danny got comfortable while Tyler took a seat behind the desk. "It's a precautionary measure with my history. Better to rest it now than aggravate it in the middle of a seven game series. Since I had a couple of unexpected days off..." He spread his hands and gave his friend a cocky grin "Surprise."

"Damn right, surprise! I haven't seen you since you invited me to Vegas for the Summer League last year! When did you get into town?"

"Early this morning. No one knows I'm here except for you and my folks."

"How long are you staying?"

"I don't know. I was going to leave tomorrow morning after the reunion, but as soon as I got to Castle Creek Road..." A whimsical smile touched Danny's lips. "I caught one look at the sun coming up over the mountains, shining off all that fresh snow, and the next thing I remember I was texting my dog sitter if she wouldn't mind keeping an eye on Magick a little longer."

"You're taking a vacation? 'Mr. No Days Off' Danny Eastman is going to enjoy some actual days off?"

Danny could only shrug. "When I drove past Speakman's and saw the '2-4-1 beers' sign, I knew I was gonna be here for a while. There's something about Emerald Pines that makes you want to hang up your sneakers for a bit. It's probably why my parents won't let me move them out to Salt Lake City. What was it the old folks always said? 'The world stops at Aspen?'" Danny looked around the neatly organized office. Various health-related posters and motivational sayings hung on its walls. "How's business?"

"Fantastic. Had a whole bunch of people signed up after New Year's, and most of them stuck around for a second month. There's been a healthy post-Ski-Festival bump this week too."

"And I see you have some competition." Danny jerked his thumb towards the front of the gym. "I don't know if opening a candy store across the street from a gym is good business sense or a slap in the face."

"Guess who owns that candy store? Colette Hansen."

"Didn't she marry some stupidly rich cattle guy down in Texas?"

"It didn't work out. She moved back two years ago."

"Don't suppose Brenda's back in town by any chance?"

"No, but I bumped into Colette at Pike's a few weeks back and she said Brenda was coming to the reunion."

"What about Amy?"

"She'll be there. I think she's looking forward to tonight more than anyone else."

"There's a surprise," Danny smirked, rubbing his face. "Tonight'll probably be like raising a championship banner for her. Amy, Brenda, and Anne Jackson. Those are three people... it's gonna be weird seeing them tonight, after how I treated them."

"Then don't see them," offered Tyler. "All of us from the basketball team are going to be there tonight. Hang out, catch up, have a great time, and we'll go to Pike's afterward and close the place down. Don't go chasing trouble and it won't come looking for you."

Danny smiled warmly. "Still the angel on my shoulder. Don't worry. Those relationships crashed and burned a long time ago. I just don't want to spend the reunion sharing awkward looks across the gym, you know? I'd rather get saying 'hello' out of the way so things don't get too weird. Make any apologies I need to make so that way I can sit back and enjoy my vacation."

"You still might catch an awkward look or two. I dropped off a gift basket to Colette last week, and she's got Garrett West of all people working..."

Danny immediately sat ramrod straight in his chair. "West?" he spat venomously, causing Tyler to involuntarily lean back. "He's in Emerald Pines?"

"Whoa." Tyler threw up his hands at his friend's visceral reaction. "Danny, chill out. Relax."

"How can I relax when that fucking asshole's right across the street? I thought once he left town he'd never show his face here again! He better not be coming to the reunion tonight." Tyler could see Danny's fingers digging into the padded handrails of the chair. "Damn it, now I'm all worked up. I came back to see some old friends and take a break, and instead... fucking Garrett West..."

"I said 'hello' to Garrett and he reacted like a squirrel having a heart attack. Trust me," Tyler insisted, "he's not going to want anything to do with you. It's been ten years since you saw him, anyway."

"Every time my shoulder acts up he sprints across my mind like he's on a fast break. Just thinking about that asshole's jacking up my heart rate." Danny chuckled darkly after a moment. "I should go out front and hit the weights, try to work all this off."

"Not with your shoulder. It wouldn't look good for business if an FBL superstar blew out their shoulder in our gym. You wanna work off stress? I'm off in half an hour. I'll meet you up at the Y and we'll kill time in the back gym before the reunion."

"Coach says I can't shoot. Basketball's off limits until the team trainer clears me."

Tyler laughed. "Then I'll shoot and you can catch my rebounds for once. I'll even let you critique my form like you used to."

"Better me than Coach Walters! And you can fill me in on what's been going on. Josh is a firefighter now? Someone's gotta explain that one."

After giving his friend a firm handshake and a rough hug, Tyler walked him to the front door. He watched through the window as his friend stared at Candy by Colette for several moments before turning and heading up the block, presumably towards his parents' house on Chestnut Street.

He shook his head as his friend stalked away. His and Danny's friendship had waxed and waned since graduation, but all it took was a text or a phone call from either of them to rekindle it. Danny had offered numerous times to hire him to be his training and conditioning partner in Salt Lake City, but Tyler always deferred. Danny was already in peak physical condition, supported by a well-trained, professional staff on call 24-7. For Tyler, it was about assisting people who had further to go - helping a mother-of-three drop her post-pregnancy weight or leading a scrawny young teenager on a journey to discover how powerful their body could be. There was little better than watching someone who caught a glimpse of themselves in a mirror and realized just how far they had come.

In all those years since Danny departed Emerald Pines, not once had Danny ever mentioned or asked about Garrett West. Even when talking about his shoulder, which Garrett had apparently tried to dislocate on graduation night, Danny never brought him up. A decade later, however, the mere utterance of his name and possible proximity had lit Danny's fuse.

When Tyler left Independence Fitness 30 minutes later, he walked over to Candy by Colette, only to be told by the young man behind the counter that Garrett had the weekend off. For a brief moment, he debated asking for his contact information but quickly decided against it. If Garrett was going to the reunion, the knowledge that Danny would be there might be enough to drive him away. And Garrett deserved to enjoy tonight just as much as everyone else.

"Besides," he thought as he headed towards the YMCA, "it's been ten years. What's the worst that could happen?"

X X X X X

Brenda craned her neck, taking in the front lobby. "It's like we never graduated," she told Michelle.

Both young women looked around the central lobby of Emerald Pines High School. Green walls with a fresh coat of paint lined a freshly scrubbed tile floor. Three hallways branched out from the large room, with soft music coming from the direction of the gymnasium down the hall to their left. In the far corner sat the main office. "It even smells the same," Michelle said. "Floor wax and pine needles."

"I feel like I should be running for my locker before first bell." Brenda sighed wistfully. "Ten years gone and I could still tell you the quickest way to get from Miss Harrison's room to the girl's locker room in under four minutes..."

"By shortcutting through the library." Michelle and Brenda both spoke the words at the same time. The ensuing laugh echoed softly across the open space. "Heaven help you if you were late for gym class," Michelle stated. "Coach Walters had no problems making you run wind sprints up and down the bleachers for every minute you were late." Brenda hummed in agreement.

Michelle turned and headed for a display case set into one of the walls. A large variety of trophies sat behind a thick plexiglass pane. She bent over, hands on her knees, studying the collection of awards. "Hey, come check this out," she called out. She motioned to a large trophy sitting off to one side, part of a group with several other trophies and a series of plaques. Beside the trophy, which proudly boasted "CHSSA SKIING CHAMPIONS," was a slightly faded newspaper photograph. A dozen young men and women stood in a line, all dressed for skiing. In the center of the line stood Michelle, ten years younger with a huge smile on her face. "There's me," she told Brenda, who was hunched over beside her. "And there's Gio, and Owen, and Scott... wow."

Brenda motioned to the other trophies in the grouping. "Ski team's still kicking ass I see."

"Oh yeah," Michelle said with pride. "If we don't score at least fourth-place in the state the whole year's a disappointment." She glanced down at the bottom level of the display case. Sitting at center stage in a manner meant to catch the eye of a passerby was a line of four identical trophies, standing about two feet tall. At the base of each trophy was a glossy photograph sitting inside a wooden frame. Just a dozen young men and several adults sat in parallel rows on the gym bleachers, clad in the white-and-green basketball uniforms of Emerald Pines. Front and center in each one, the biggest player on the team even in his freshman year, was the muscular and sandy-blonde-haired Danny Eastman, wearing a proud and beaming smile.

"Anything interesting?"

Brenda and Michelle both looked up as Sadie stepped into the lobby. "Reminiscing," Michelle said.

"Tell me about it." Sadie glanced around the lobby as she walked up to join her friends. "Every day for four years straight walking through those doors. I'm fighting the urge to keep on going and sit in the cafeteria until homeroom. Colette just texted me. She and Vienna will be here in a few minutes."

The trio spent the next few minutes chatting about their day, until, eventually, the front doors opened behind them. "I can't believe I'm back here. Four years trying to leave," the voice of Vienna Polley groused, "and I'm walking back in on purpose."

"And I appreciate it," Colette answered gratefully. "I know this isn't your scene. If you want to bail later..."

"No, I'm just being a tempestuous bitch. I'm here to have fun. However I might pretend to be grumpy and sullen," she teased. "I don't want anyone to think I'm having a good time. I have a front to keep up after all."

"And speaking of keeping a front up, nice dress," Sadie said with a low whistle. "Hellooooooooooooooo Vienna. That's a killer outfit you're rocking."

Laying eyes on the other three women in the front lobby, Vienna grinned softly at Sadie's wolfish compliment. "I told you that dress looked good on you," Colette said in a firm voice.

"But you're my girlfriend. And you also said this dress would look good on the bedroom floor,"

"I think Colette's in the right on that one," Michelle quietly noted.

For as long as she could remember Michelle had known Vienna to specifically dress in hand-me-downs, second-hand clothing, and thrift stores pieces, all part of what Michelle assumed to be a well-maintained fashion regimen to make it appear that Vienna didn't have a well-maintained fashion regimen. Now, however, she had on a sparkling dark gray dress that complimented her dirty blonde hair and faded rainbow stripes. The sleeveless dress was supported by two thick folds of fabric with a neckline that plunged in a "V" shape, coming to a point just below her breasts. The skirt fell to ankle length and was slit on the left side up to Vienna's mid-thigh. The outfit had the effect of showing off Vienna's toned body, not athletic like Michelle's but tight and lean from years of exercise. A pair of gray shoes completed the ensemble. Colette had on the same black pants from the night before, but this time she had gone with a red dress shirt and had replaced the tie with a pair of black suspenders.

"Seriously Vienna," Michelle said as she eyed her, "you look really good. Both of you look good... fuck, I'll say it. You two make a cute couple."

"Thanks," Vienna answered. "You look pretty amazing yourself." Michelle had gone with a black spaghetti strap top and a black jacket thrown over it, along with a black mini-skirt and black stockings, all of it topped off (bottomed off?) with black flats. Brenda was in a light green ankle-length dress that was slit up to her mid-thighs, while Sadie had chosen a form-fitting burgundy dress that left little to anyone's imagination. The color of both her shoes and her lipstick perfectly matched her outfit as well.

Brenda crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "So," she proclaimed, "you're the young lady who's fucking our friend."

Vienna's answer was immediate and direct. "Yes, I am, on what is rapidly becoming a frequent basis."

Brenda howled with laughter. "She can stay," she teased. "Good to see you again, Vienna. We were waiting for you two before heading in."

Vienna glanced up at the digital clock that sat above the hallway door. "Gio's going to be late but Garrett just parked. Mind waiting for him?"

A mischievous smirk slowly crept across Sadie's face. "Not at all. I definitely want to say hello to him."

"Warning you in advance, he might be a little on edge. My boy could power Coors Field with the amount of nervous energy he was putting out last time we talked."

"Believe me, we know how nervous Garrett is," Michelle said. "Colette told us last night about how he's been working at the candy store. She also mentioned that he was uneasy being back in town after all this time."

Vienna turned to Colette. "How much did you tell them about Garrett?"

"I told them everything," Colette said hesitantly. "I mean, I had to. I told them all about us, and he and I sleeping together was part of that. You're not mad are you?"

"I just wanted to know what details are out there." Vienna laid a reassuring hand on Colette's forearm. "I'm pretty sure you four are the type of friends who don't have any secrets between you. How detailed did you get? Just that we hooked up, or all the details?"

"All the details." Colette looked at her friends and then back at Vienna. "It was that kind of conversation. No filters, no holding back. Everything on the table."

Vienna shrugged casually. "Cool. Do me a favor, all of you. Don't get weirded out that he slept with Colette, OK? I don't want him getting all flustered if the topic comes up. Promise?"