When she awoke, light was streaming into the cabin. It somehow seemed bigger now that she was there alone, and she had to fight her fear of the unknown. Climbing from beneath the sheets, she went to shower and get ready for work. She scowled as she looked into the mirror, noting the puffy, splotchy mess that looked back at her.
Pulling a bag of peas from the freezer, she pushed them against her face as she walked around getting her clothes together, letting the cold reduce the tell-tale signs of a night spent crying too hard and too much. By the time she was ready to leave, she looked presentable. At worst, she would appear a bit hungover, but around there, most people did on a Sunday morning, even those coming in before and after their church sermons. Still, she felt numb.
“Are you okay?” Leyla asked as they put together some drinks in the kitchen galley.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? You look like you lost your best friend.”
“Something like that,” Autumn replied.
“Want to go out for a drink after work? We can swap shit stories about what ails us.”
“I’d love to, but I’m driving. Last thing I need is to get racked up for DUI or run some poor soul down on the highway.”
“No problem. Come home with me. There’s a little bar just down the street. We can park at the house and walk down there, then stumble home together.”
Autumn thought about it. It did sound a sight better than going home to an empty cabin, but she couldn’t afford to start blowing her money on partying. Still, today had been a bad day, and spending the evening alone in the cabin was going to make it a worse night. Once couldn’t hurt.
“Sure. Sounds like fun, and I’m off tomorrow anyway.”
“Me too. It’s a plan then. We’ll drink our asses stupid and sleep in tomorrow.”
“Thanks,” Autumn told her, grateful for the intervention.
“No, thank you. I haven’t had a girls’ night out in forever. It’ll do us both some good. You’ll love this place. The owner is an old Native shaman type. She’s cool as hell.”
“Sounds great. Let me get these drinks out. Looks like it is getting busy out there.”
“Yeah, it does. We’ll catch up when we’re done.”
They hardly had a chance to speak after that, both working through the lunch craze and into the afternoon before finally getting relieved by incoming servers. It had been a really good day of tips, which gave Autumn a decent feeling about things. Perhaps Malcolm had been right to go. They had zero chance of happiness together. It was best that they end it before they got any more attached than they already had, or at least, than she already had.
Leyla loaned her a dress and shoes to wear to the bar so that she didn’t have to drive back to the cabin to change. Of course, she didn’t have any nice clothes there either. Most of her stuff was very much functional.
She looked at herself appreciatively in the full-length mirror of Leyla’s tiny apartment. The soft red material of the dress hugged her curves perfectly from the waist up and flowed outward in a flirty short skirt at the bottom. A simple pair of black pumps made her longs look much longer than usual.
“That dress fits you way better than it ever has me. You should keep it.”
“Oh, no way. I couldn’t.”
“Sure, you can. I’ve lost weight and it just hangs on me now. Plus, my ex bought it, so it’s not like it cost me anything. As a matter of fact, let’s go through my closet. I bet I have a whole bunch of stuff you can wear, if you want it. I know some people are peculiar about secondhand clothing, but it’s just hanging there losing color.”
“Seriously? That would be great. I left home without almost nothing and can’t afford to invest in a new wardrobe right now. If you’re sure you don’t want some of your things, I’ll happily take them off your hands.”
“Hell, you’ll be doing me a favor. Otherwise, they’re going to end up boxed up in the spare room or bagged for the thrift shop. Come on. Let’s see what’s in there.”
Autumn felt like she’d won the lottery. Leyla was very thin now but had once been a couple of sizes larger, which still wasn’t very big. All of the size eights in her closet had since been replaced by fours, something that had happened while she was mourning the loss of said ex-boyfriend, who bought a great deal of them. By the time they were done, Autumn had a huge box full of clothes to take back to the cabin with her, as well as a few pairs of nice shoes.
“This is so great. Thanks again, Leyla.”