10 September 2012
"Hello housewife! How's it all going?" Kim said as she bounded up to Tiffany with the rest of her gang in pursuit. "Ignore her babe, you look great by the way, a hundred times better than when we last saw you" Milly said, smiling and kissing Tiffany on both cheeks. "Thanks" Tiffany said, half heartedly, with a hint of remorse. "What's wrong?" Mollie asked, her tone reflective of how she used to address Tiffany when something was wrong. "It's nothing, I'm just being stupid" Tiffany replied, whilst all the girls lead her to the nearest bench to sit down on. "Tell us" Milly said, putting an arm around her. "It just sounds petty and pointless when I say it though" "Say it anyway, we won't judge" Mollie said, placing a reassuring hand on Tiffany's knee. "I thought that having a husband would be the best thing: having someone always there for you, being number one in someone's eyes for life, sharing everything with them and enjoying every second of their company. And it was just like that" "What's the matter then?" Kim asked, confused by the whole situation. Mollie however, had picked up on Tiffany's past tense verb, and knew otherwise. "Is he not like that anymore?" she asked, starting to rub Tiffany's knee, as if that would cause her to suddenly gush about it all like turning a tap on. "Today, he promised me he'd be home as soon as his exam finished, so about 1.30pm, but he rolled in at 5.30, drunk. I've spent the whole day alone with the baby, cooking, cleaning, changing endless diapers, rocking her to sleep, and don't get me wrong, it's so great looking after her, but I just hate how Nate's suddenly become. His arms are always full with the baby and never me, he barely talks to me about anything anymore, and vice versa. I was on Facebook today and I totally regretted marrying and having children. I want to live like you guys, not knowing who I'm waking up next to, not waking up at 2am because of a baby but because someone's calling you, going to bed at some outrageous hour, not 10pm because you're absolutely shattered" "Babe, we all want your life! You've got a steady partner, who just happens to be the most perfect man that ever lived, you have a child together who, even though she doesn't have a name yet, is absolutely gorgeous. You think we like having one night stands? You get to have the same man night after night, we all dream of that!" Kim said, loosening her grip whilst she dreamed of such things. "Look," Mollie began, shaking her head at Kim's response "Nate is perfect. I'm absolutely sure it can't be as bad as you're making out, because before the baby you and Nate were the happiest couple I've ever known, which obviously I hated" "I've got an idea" Tiffany said, wiping a single tear from half way down her cheek. "And?" Mollie asked, teasing out these answers slowly. "I want you to come and stay. Come and see what it's really like for me. We need to catch up anyway, and even if you just sit on the couch all day you'll give me something to hang onto and some conversation" "I don't have any exams for four days. I'd need to revise and stuff" "That's fine, Nate will be too, and I'll make sure you go back to school the night before your exam so you get a really good night's sleep" "This is happening?" "If you want?" Tiffany asked, her eyes wide and hopeful, just as they were earlier when Nate let her down. "Yeah. You're my best friend, we need to do something like this" "Ahh!" Tiffany squealed, launching herself onto her best friend and squeezing her tight. "Can we please go out already?" Kim asked, growing impatient with how often Mollie slithered back into Tiffany's heart. "My place. We've got some drinks, call up some people, preferably boys, and let's go!" Mollie cried, linking arms with her best friend and skipping off through the streets of Manhattan.
"Mollie, this is awesome!" Tiffany cried with a half full glass of mojito in her hand. "Glad you think so!" she shouted back over the thump of the music, swaying her hips with her hands in the air. Mollie had this incredible ability to make any dance totally suit the music, whilst never making a fool of herself, despite the fact that if anyone tried to copy her moves they'd look like a fish that's out of water. The large glass wall on the other end of the apartment showed a much less glamorous view of Manhattan than Tiffany's mother's apartment, but it was still impressive, as the view from any tower in New York was. There was a large dark area, that was Central Park, but dotted around its rectangular exterior was blazing lights that got brighter than the last, illuminating the city with signs of life that were present every night: in the north were the parties at Columbia University, getting lower in the island was the endless house parties like this, then the civilised cocktail parties in the affluent houses of the Upper East Side. The city was more alive at night than it was in the day, and Friday summer nights were the most alive. It was growing dark outside, but Tiffany didn't care. She didn't feel like she had to be home for the baby because Nate was with her, and she didn't miss him one little bit. "What time are you leaving?" Mollie called, then explaining that she'd pack a bag and come with her. "Whenever everyone else does. 3am?" Tiffany called back, grinning cheekily and downing the rest of her drink as the fifty or so other guests danced around her, downed shots or kissed each other in the darkest corners of the room. "Shouldn't you say goodnight to your two?" Mollie asked, comparing Nate to the child. "They'll be fine for one night" she called back.
Meanwhile, down the road from Tiffany's wild party, Nate sat up in bed alongside his daughter, who was lying on the sheets, wide eyed and very awake. "Sorry baby girl, looks like mummy won't be home" he said, looking at the clock and sliding down the bed and laying alongside his child, stroking her cheek delicately and kissing the top of her head. "You're very lucky to have mummy's eyes, you know that don't you?" he said, gazing at her large brown eyes, wide and petrified by the lack of her mother. Nate then looked again at the baby's eyes, and thought about how long it had been since he'd appreciated his wife's eyes. How long it had been since she dressed up enough for him to be able to appreciate her. He thought about how long it really had been since Nate had been close to Tiffany, and how long it was since he'd told her something as simple as 'I love you' or thanked her for all the things she's done for him, like bearing him a child. Without a second thought, he rolled over as quickly as he could whilst making sure he didn't disturb his now quiet baby, and he grabbed his phone off the bedside table. He pressed recent calls, before noting that there was five missed calls from Tiffany today, but none returned. He pressed one of them, dialling out to Tiffany, wherever she was. "Nate?" she called, over loud thumps of music that reverberated down the phone to Nate, causing him to turn the volume down on his phone. "Hey, where are you?" "Mollie's. Why?" "What time are you home?" "Don't know, are you calling to set a curfew?" she said, giggling incessantly down the phone. "How much have you drunk?" "Only a little bit" she whimpered, before laughing again. "Get home right now. You know you can't drink when breast-feeding, so stop right now and come home" just as Nate said this, the party seemed to go quiet. Perhaps it was because Tiffany had stepped into another room, but it was actually because she'd turned the music off and silenced everyone. "No" she said defiantly. "Yes?" he argued, as if he was talking a small child out of another ice cream. "What do I have to come home to?" "A child, a husband?" "A child, yes. You don't feel like my husband. You're just the father of my child" she said, while Mollie, who was still sober enough to know that this wasn't going in the right direction, grabbed the phone and told Nate that she'd be home in about half an hour. "Tiffany?" Mollie asked as soon as she'd hung up the phone and handed it back. "I feel a lot better. More drinks anyone?" she called before Mollie kicked everyone else out. "You need to go home" "But I thought I was supposed to stand up to him and tell him how I feel?" Tiffany said, drunkenly confused. "In perhaps a half hour conversation, not half second. Can you imagine how you'd feel if he said that to you?" Mollie asked, a serious tone about her voice. She was still very protective of Nate, despite knowing now that he was off the cards. "I'd laugh. I'm not the father of his child" she cackled, flopping onto the couch and picking up a can of beer that still had a little left in the bottom. "Come on. We're going now" she said, plucking the can from Tiffany's hands and heading quickly into her room to pick up a change of clothes for tomorrow in a handbag. "Now? Can't we stay with everyone?" "You're so drunk, no one else is here. Now!" she called, dragging Tiffany by her arm back to her child and incredibly emotional husband.
Love You Too: PART NINETY SEVEN • Opuss № I