Work Text:
The three women were chatting over drinks, waiting for Rio, when a familiar voice reached their ears. "Mrs. Boland, what a surprise to see you in such a place."
"Trouble!" Ruby mumbled into her glass so the newcomer wouldn't hear.
"This is going to be fun." Annie clinked her glass with Ruby, who just shook her head.
Beth bit her cheek to keep from giving her a scathing reply. "Amber. I didn't think I'd ever see you in Detroit again, let alone in Ashfield." After all, she'd given her an envelope full of cash to leave.
"Oh, I'm just passing through. I have a business meeting with a local dealership and just wanted to grab a drink before I leave." When Annie and Ruby gave her a dirty look, the young woman added. "Oh, don't worry; it's not with your husband."
Beth replied nonchalantly. "I wasn't worried, and he's my ex-husband."
"Really?"
"Yes." It had taken her longer than necessary, but... better late than never.
"Well, to be honest, I'm surprised."
"And why that?" Beth took a sip of her bourbon, knowing she'd probably need it to hear her answer.
Amber cleared her throat. "I thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with him. You know, you're... you're not that young anymore and..."
"Both feet in the bowl." This time, Ruby said it out loud. She knew Amber hadn't invented butter cream, but still.
Amber continued, ignoring the brunette's comment. "I thought you were afraid you wouldn't find another man."
Beth pursed her lips and clenched her fist against her thigh. "It's very kind of you to worry about my old age, Amber." Amber gave her a shy smile. "But my love life is just fine."
"Really?" Ruby whispered to her, surprised by the answer. She didn't know that she was in a relationship.
"Yeah, my sister is still into it."
Annie and Ruby exchanged a silent conversation under Beth's almost amused gaze. Of course it wasn't true... I mean, was it? Anyway, she had started this story, she couldn't back out now. Especially not in front of Amber.
"Oh, that's... nice. And what's his name?"
Beth's brain raced to come up with a name, but just then she saw a familiar figure enter the bar. And before she could bite her tongue to stop herself, she said, "Well, he's coming."
The other three women turned their heads, almost craning their necks to see, who this famous person was.
"Yo." As usual, Rio greeted them, or rather greeted Beth, his eyes only on her, as if the other women didn't exist.
"Hey!" Beth put her hand on his thigh and got a surprised look from Rio. Not that he didn't like it, but he was surprised that she did it in front of her sister and best friend. "Honey."
Ruby choked on her mint diabolo while Annie giggled.
"Uh... Hey, darling." He took the opportunity to put an arm around her shoulders. He didn't care how crazy this was, he wanted to play along.
Amber's jaw dropped wide open. She looked like a character from the Looney Tunes. "Is he...uh...is he your boyfriend?"
Beth leaned slightly toward Rio, her cheek brushing his shoulder for a few moments. "Yes."
"And is he...?"
"Oh. Amber, this is Rio. Rio, this is Amber, Dean's former secretary at the dealership."
Rio looked between the two women and understood. Her stupid ex-husband must have cheated on her with this very young girl. What an idiot! When you've got a goddess for a wife, the most idiotic and incomprehensible thing you can do is to look elsewhere. Anyway, Carman didn't radiate intelligence, so he wasn't surprised.
Amber held out her hand to the newcomer. "Nice to meet you."
Rio ignored her hand and began to roll one of Elizabeth's blonde curls between his fingers. "Nice to meet you." Actually, he wasn't. He didn't care.
"You work at a dealership too?"
Rio let out a laugh. "No, I don't. Cars aren't my thing, well, except the ones I drive."
Amber laughed as if he had told the joke of the year, which he hadn't.
"Rio is an independent contractor. He owns several businesses in various fields." Beth stroked the hand that was playing with her hair.
Ruby tilted her head. "Mm." My ass, yeah. He owned stuff, that was for sure, but it was more along the lines of guns and counterfeit money.
"Yeah, and we work with him." Annie said proudly, raising her glass, but Rio shook his head. "We work for him." She emphasized the word "for" and sighed.
"It must be a change from being a housewife."
"I manage to balance the two without a problem." Beth gave her a fake, strained smile. Who was she to judge her? She'd see when she had kids.
"Yeah, babe, you're a boss bitch."
"I'm sorry, a what?"
"Basically, she's in charge."
Beth looked at him in surprise. She knew he was faking it and playing along, but... he'd never directly complimented her on her work, quite the opposite. It touched her that he would do that in front of Annie, Ruby and even Amber. Maybe he didn't mean it, but it was so nice to hear it from him. And it stirred something in her.
"I'm sure you don't care what I think, but... I think not being with Dean is working out for you. And as you told me, neither of us deserved to be mistreated by Dean. So I'm happy for you, I really am."
"Amen." Ruby thought involuntarily that was probably the smartest thing she'd ever said.
"Wow, that was...profound." Annie raised her glass in the young woman's direction.
Beth could only thank her and smile sincerely.
"Anyway, if you ever change your mind about cars, I'd love to work with you, or even you, Mrs. Boland, uh, sorry..."
"Marks."
"Mrs. Marks."
"We'll think about it."
"Good evening." Amber left them, a strange atmosphere in the air.
With Amber out of sight, Beth thought Rio would immediately remove his arm from her shoulders, but she felt his fingers continue to roll the tips of her blonde hair.
She cleared her throat almost shyly. "Thank you."
"Hm?"
"For what you said about me."
Rio gave her a bright smile. With his free hand, he pushed a lock of hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "I meant it."
Beth's mouth formed a perfect "o." "She's not here anymore, you know?"
A smile formed on one side of his fleshy mouth. "I know."
Beth, who, without realizing it, still had her hand on his thigh, squeezed it lightly.
Ruby cleared her throat, pulling the "fake couple" out of their bubble. Beth withdrew her hand from his thigh as if it had been burned, and Rio gently removed his arm. He drank his glass of bourbon in one gulp and stood.
"I'm going to the bathroom."
Beth's blood ran cold. The last time she'd used that phrase, she'd watched him from a distance, her hand playing with his hair as he sat at the bar. She'd gone to the bathroom and he'd followed. This time, his brown, almost black eyes had met hers. He knew she would remember and understand. It was an invitation, as she had done before. But she wasn't alone, Annie and Ruby were there, and unlike Dean, they weren't stupid.
Annie waved at him with two fingers raised to her forehead. "Cool."
"Now that we're alone, can you tell me what just happened?"
"What do you mean?" That's right, Beth, play innocent.
"You were flirting. And he had his hand all over you."
Beth cleared her throat. She knew she couldn't lie to her best friend. "I have to go to the bathroom." It was a half lie. She wanted to go, but it wasn't to relieve herself...well, it was, but not like that.
"Beth, wait!"
But Beth took off running almost to the back of the bar. Fortunately, the girls couldn't see what she was about to do from where they were. Even less could hear them.
Beth pushed the door open gently and stepped inside. Rio turned to face the door, as if waiting for her. "How did you know I would follow you?"
Rio let out an amused chuckle. "Oh, mama, your eyes were begging me to fuck you."
Beth rolled her eyes. "How arrogant can you get?"
"Yeah." He said it proudly. He wasn't ashamed of it. "But I'm right, aren't I?"
Beth took the few steps between them and said, grabbing the flaps of his shirt. "Shut up."
~~~~~
Annie looked at the back of the bar, where the only bathroom was. "See, I told you this would be fun."
Ruby looked at her like she was crazy. "Fun? That's not the word I would have used. More like, oh my God!"
Annie gave her a nudge. "Oh come on, you knew this was going to happen sooner or later. I mean, they're always eye fucking each other."
Ruby sighed. "Yeah, unfortunately for us."
"Besides, I'm sure it's not the first time."
Ruby widened her eyes. "What? She couldn't have kept something like this from us."
Annie wiggled her eyebrows. "Are you sure?"
"Oh, that bitch. She's already banged him. I don't believe it."
"Well, you're slow on the uptake."
"Because you knew?"
Annie took a sip of her drink and let out an exaggerated sigh. "Not 100%, but I suspected. I just used my eyes."
"Yeah, well, I'd rather not use them to watch them flirt, or I'll have to burn them out with lemon juice to forget about it."
"And how are you going to make your brain forget about tonight?" She tapped her forefingers together and made kissing noises. "Gangfriend and Beth sitting in a tree, kissing and more affinity..."
Ruby grunted and put her hand over Annie's mouth. "Please, shut up! It's weird enough as it is."
Annie shrugged. "As long as he gets her off, I don't care. She deserves it, right?
"Yeah, but gangfriend?"
"He can't be worse than Deansie."
Ruby let out a humorless laugh. "That's for sure, nobody can be worse than Deansie."
"See."
"All right, all right. But we're going to have a long talk, and she'd better tell us everything."
"Everything?" At the almost horrified look on her companion's face, Annie laugh hard.
"No... well... not in detail, just... if he's a good lay."
"Amen." Annie lifted her glass and clinked it against her neighbor. "Cheers, to gangfriend, who I hope is a good fuck for Beth's sake."
Ruby drank her glass, trying not to think about the fact that her best friend was being fucked by a dangerous gangster a few feet from their table. "So what do we do now? Do we wait for them to come back or...?"
"We'd better not. Even though it'll probably be quick, it could be the beginning of the evening for them."
"Oh shit. Come on, I'm off. I'm going to find my lovely husband and my two angels. Bye."
Annie finished her drink and walked home alone. But once she was on her sofa, she had fun sending lots of eggplant, peach, and saliva emoticons to Beth, and also to Ruby.
~~~~~
"You still don't want us to put a label on our relationship, Miss Marks?
"Hm...It might be time."
"Yeah." He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and leaned in to give her a tender kiss. "You need to come home or..."
"The kids are with their dad, so no." She played with the collar of his shirt.
"Do you want us to go to your place or mine?" Beth shrugged. She didn't care, as long as they ended up naked, sweaty, and tangled. "My place, then."
"Wait!" She looked at herself in the mirror, checking her general condition. She untangled her hair with her fingers and straightened it. "It's fine."
In the car, she checked her messages and shook her head in amusement at Annie's messages, or rather her emoticons. And she knew she was in for an interrogation from Ruby, but at least she didn't look angry.
What she'd told Amber hadn't been a complete lie; there was an element of truth in it that she was willing to accept. So, yes, it was indeed time for them to put a label on their relationship and, above all, to stop hiding.