garnigal | LJ Idol - Week 2 (Reply)

Her sigh of relief echoed in the silence that finally filled her home, even as she sank back against the locked door. It was exhausting, being Monica’s friend. They’d met in elementary school and had never drifted apart, no matter how much Kristy had tried. Somehow they’d ended up in all the same classes in highschool, at the same college and eventually in the same city for work. They’d ended up being the last two single girls of their group, and as everyone else drifted off into marriage and babies, Kristy had gotten stuck with Monica.

Fortunately, their lives were busy enough that Kristy could find excuses to avoid most long lunches like the one she’d just suffered through. Every six months or so, the guilt trips sent over email and text message and long rambling voice mails got too much, and she caved, inviting Monica over for a home-cooked meal and a long chat.

Kristy snorted as she cleaned the kitchen. Chat was the wrong word. Hard to chat when Monica talked non-stop. It was a performance piece, if anything. Kristy’s role was to sit there, faking attentiveness and caring, making encouraging sounds in all the right places while Monica described the pointless things that were dragging her down. Kristy found it impossible to care about Monica’s string of bad dates when Kristy herself hadn’t gotten a single swipe right in two months. Hard to give a damn about Monica’s over-protective parents when Kristy’s mom barely spoke to her, too charmed by her grandchildren to bother with single and childless Kristy. And it was truly enraging to hear about Monica’s money problems while she shoveled Kristy’s expensive shrimp pasta and elegant chocolate torte into her ever-moving mouth.

But the house was quiet now, her duty done for another six months. Maybe she could finally cut Monica out of her life before that. She’d spotted a job posting for an job in BC that she was thinking of trying for. There certainly wasn’t anything here worth sticking around for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monica pulled her seatbelt tight and turned on the radio before pulling away from Kristy’s house. For the first time in months, she felt lighter. She always did after a long chat with Kristy. She giggled. Maybe lighter was the wrong word, considering the amazing food Kristy had made for lunch. Kristy was such a phenomenal cook, and always went out of her way to make something special for Monica, knowing that Monica wasn’t much of a cook and certainly couldn’t afford the expensive ingredients that Kristy made such good use of.

Monica didn’t have much to offer except her company, so despite the exhaustion she felt after a full week of work and then adding the hour long drive to get to Kristy’s, she put in as much effort as she could muster to be entertaining. Bad dates may not be much fun to live through, but at least she could make them into a good story. And her mom was always good for a story or two as well, a little country mouse worried about her little girl alone in the big city.

Money was tight, but it was worth the half tank of gas she used to see Kristy. It happened so seldom; her place was small and shared with two roommates, certainly not a good space for entertaining, and her budget was too tight to take Kristy out for a nice meal in the city. She hated that she was always taking advantage of Kristy’s generosity, but that’s what best friends did. She was always there if Kristy needed her; she’d helped her move three times; no, four - she’d almost forgotten driving Kristy to Ottawa for her co-op work term in second year. She might not have much, but she had a car and she was strong enough to carry boxes.

Kristy didn’t have many other friends, and her family wasn’t particularly supportive, but at least Kristy could count on Monica.