Archive of Our Own

The sandy-haired dork in the stained polo is holding the ugliest fucking ring Shauna has ever seen.

It looks like something that came out of a gumball machine. It's huge and tacky, the size and shape of a Superbowl ring, scattered with blue and green and red gems, clearly twice the size of the finger it's going to be placed on. She's pretty sure it's made of nickel. That if she bit it, it would dent beneath her teeth.

But the ugliest part of it is the beaming smile of the guy holding it. He just looks so fucking proud of it. Like he put thought into it.

He's visibly in his thirties, bits of grey coming in at his temples, lines on his face, an overpriced watch on his wrist. Shauna thinks he might have got the ring for free with the watch, given how blindingly shiny the gold and diamond face is.

'So yeah,' the guy continues, 'I thought you could put it in a glass of champagne, and bring it to us at the end of the meal. That cool?'

'Sure,' Shauna replies, her customer service smile fixed firmly in place.

'No, I mean is it like… cool, you know? Like… I've been planning this for about fifteen years. I don't want to screw it up. I want to do something cool that she won't expect,' he explains, rubbing the back of his neck in an attempt at awkwardness that doesn't counteract the indomitable smugness in his manner. 'She's a great girl, I wanna really wow her.'

Shauna's smile pinches until her lips are a thin line. Because no girl would ever expect a ring in fucking champagne in a classy restaurant on Valentine's day. 'I'm sure you will,' Shauna says, and she's glad she spent nineteen months eating people in the wilderness, because it gave her the exact right poker face to pass that off as genuine.

The man smiles, and hands her the box with a slight tremor that means she almost drops it, and she asks, 'you okay?'

He pauses, smile flickering, and sighs, and then the words spill from his lips like he's been dying to get them out all day. 'It's just one of those things you have to do, you know? Don't get me wrong, she's great, I just never thought I'd settle down. Be a one-woman man, all that shit.'

Shauna wants to say that yeah, she guessed that, after fifteen fucking years of not proposing to whoever this poor stupid woman was. But she can see Mari straightening place settings from the nearest table that don't need straitening, and when she catches Shauna's eye she gestures for Shauna to keep going, clearly trying to eavesdrop, and Shauna decides to humour her sort-of-friend and her interest in shitty gossip.

She pours the man a shot, sliding it onto the wood in front of him, and when he frowns up at her she says, 'liquid courage.' He nods and downs it. 'So what's going on?' Nat was meant to be the bartender. That was the deal when Lottie got them all jobs at this place. Mari waitressed, Van did dishes, Nat tended bar, Shauna was a hostess, but Nat had tried to quit drinking and Shauna got sick of dealing with idiots and they ended up trading. Nat hadn't seen the point in warning Shauna about how chatty people get. They see a bartender, they think they care about their life story, like something out of a sappy movie that ends with the bartender telling them how to fix whatever they fucked up and them running home to whoever they fucked over. Shauna wasn't good at that part, but when she had tried to switch again, this time with Van, they discovered that Van's drinks were better suited for fuelling cars than people. It was just until the settlement came in, at least, but some people were still so stupid that Shauna's teeth itched to bite them.

The guy is already talking, and he won't stop, and Shauna is only half listening but Mari is paying complete and utter attention as he says, 'she said she wants to get serious. Like we already have a kid! How much more serious can you get? But she's gonna leave me if I don't propose, so I'm just gonna pop the question, she'll say yes, and drag out the death march down the aisle for as long as humanly possible.'

'So you're proposing but not marrying her?' Shauna doesn't mean to sound judgemental, and behind the loser's back Mari shakes her head ferociously, telling Shauna to cut it out.

The guy doesn't seem to catch the judgement, grinning and saying, 'you get it,' and then leans closer, talking lower, 'besides, she's already doing all the wife shit, and she's smoking fucking hot, and we've been together forever. She won't even notice that I don't let her go all ball and chain on me. She's just flipping out on me, but we've got a kid, she's not going anywhere.'

Shauna thinks she hates this man. Like actual bone-deep hatred. He just fucking sucks. Shauna isn't really one for marriage, either. It's not like she hates the concept, she just has other priorities, like not being eaten by her teammates when their plane crashed, or going to Brown after the settlement money comes in, or taking care of her daughter, which she definitely didn't need marriage to do. But this guy's girl gives a shit about it, and he's planning Schrodinger's engagement to keep her on the line because he's too pathetic to tell her he's a raging twat. Shauna almost hopes that she sees the ugly fucking ring in the cheap fucking champagne and throws both things in his smug fucking face.

'What are the names again?'

'Jeff Sadecki. My girlfriend is Jackie.'

'Got it.'

Shauna doesn't say anything else, and the man sits straighter for a second, waiting for Shauna's sage advice like she isn't a goddamn teenager, before deflating and leaving when he sees advice isn't coming.

Mari is leaning over the bar in an instant, 'that dude fucking sucks.'

Shauna snaps the ring box shut, 'obviously.'

'Is the ring at least-' Mari takes the box from Shauna, opening it, and grimaces, 'ew.' She drops the red velvet on the bar, like touching it burns her fingers.

'Give me that,' Shauna snatches it back and shoves it beneath the bar. Mari reaches for it again, and Shauna grabs the knife she uses to chop fruit, making Mari flinch away, remembering the last time she was on the wrong end of Shauna's knife. She glares and saunters off, sticking her tongue out at Shauna as she goes.

Van visits Shauna next as she sets up the bar, hopping up onto the stool.

'So how are we freeing this poor woman from Wiskayok's own Mr T?'

'What?'

'I pity the fool that puts on that jewel!'

'Oh, that,' Shauna says, slicing lemons, 'so you want to… what exactly?'

'We have to stop it, obviously!' Van says, eyes wide and fiery.

'Obviously,' Shauna replies in a deadpan, 'we have to stop a moron proposing to another moron when we're only being paid to work.'

'We don't know she's a moron,' Van objects.

'She's willing to shackle herself to that loser, she's not acing any IQ tests,' Shauna snorts, dropping lemons into the icebox.

'Like you shackled yourself to-'

'Don't say his name,' Shauna snaps, 'you promised me you wouldn't say it.'

'And I won't,' Van says, holding their hands up in surrender, 'but you had a whole arse baby with a moron, doesn't make you a moron. She might be getting strung along, too.'

'I had Callie because I couldn't get Plan B delivered to a cabin in the woods, and I dumped my moron the second we got back.'

'Cos you got all kissy with Melissy and realised you're a huge dyke,' Van says, kissing the air between them and scrunching her face up.

'Because I'm not raising Cal with an incompetent loser. If,' Shauna pauses for a second, searching for her name, 'Jackie wants to get engaged to a guy who won a ring in an arcade machine, that's her business. We work for tips, Van. That's not enough to get involved in customer bullshit.'

'Come on, Shipman. It's Valentine's Day! At least pretend to be a romantic!'

'Where's the romance, exactly?' Shauna asks, placing the knife down and putting a hand on her hip. 'This guy with no taste is proposing to this girl he's leading on and he's going to waste the rest of her life because she isn't going to leave him. And then in ten, maybe twenty, years he's going to leave her for someone our age, have another kid with her, and never speak to her or their kid again.'

Van is silent for a second, and then says, 'damn, your dad really fucked you up.'

Shauna offers a wry smile, 'you're underestimating my ability to create miseries from thin air.'

Nat comes to Shauna last, 'you know Mari and Van are planning to stop that proposal, right?'

'Figured,' Shauna says, not pausing her wiping down the counter.

'You gonna stop them?'

'You think they have a shot at pulling it off?'

'All I know is that Mari is planning on spilling the champagne on the guy.'

'That's fine,' Shauna says, 'he picked the cheap stuff.'

'And you're not concerned?'

Shauna drops the cloth in the sink, 'why would I be concerned? I don't know these people. My only concern is going home to Callie with a reasonable tip pile. I promised her ice cream tomorrow if she was good for Lottie tonight.'

Callie would absolutely be good. Callie had had Lottie wrapped around her finger since before she was even born. Lottie had held Shauna's hand as Shauna pushed Callie out, and when Shauna passed out, spending the better part of two days sleeping through the pain, while Lottie held Callie, letting the newborn grab her finger and pull her hair until Shauna woke. Callie had become a Yellowjacket the day she was born, and the team had worked together to make sure she was sheltered, warmed, and fed, but Lottie always had a particular weakness for the baby, now toddler. Whatever Callie wanted, Auntie Lottie delivered.

'Oh, well, Lottie already promised her ice cream tonight if she was good for her,' Nat tells her.

Shauna sighs. 'Of course she did.'

Jackie is gorgeous.

Angular face, eyes so bright Shauna can see them from across the restaurant, a blinding smile, dark blonde hair and soft pink lips.

The guy isn't back, so Nat sends Jackie to sit at the bar, gesturing subtly to her ring finger to tell Shauna exactly who she is.

When Jackie perches on the stool, the black fabric of her dress spilling over the seat, Shauna contemplates jumping over the bar just to see how the plush of her thighs settles against the chair, how her heels make her calves flex against the footrest.

'Hey beautiful,' Shauna says without thinking, and is graced by a rosy blush on Jackie's tanned cheek, she offers a smile and asks, 'what can I get you?'

Jackie hesitates for a second, then asks, 'what do you recommend? I'm not much of a drinker.'

Shauna would normally be annoyed, would tell her to look at the menu and take her pick, would expect a grown woman to know what her goddamn drink is, but she's eager to offer suggestions when her voice sounds like that, and her dimples are framing her smiling lips. 'Well, what do you like? Something sweet? Sour? Bitter? Spicy?'

Jackie's pink tongue sweeps over her glossy bottom lip, and she asks, voice light, 'what do you think I'd like?'

Shauna would have shoved a menu in her face if she were anyone else, but she leans forward, and makes a show of slowly eyeing Jackie up and down, lingering on her mouth as she says, 'sweet, with a little bit of edge to it.'

Jackie sucks in a breath, and nods, 'yeah, that works.'

Shauna makes a negroni with only slightly shaking hands, pushing it towards Jackie, their hands brushing as Jackie takes it. Her skin is warm and soft, and Shauna cannot even begin to think of a single reason that anyone would wait over a decade to marry the woman across from her.

'You waiting for someone?' Shauna asks, like she doesn't know.

'Yeah, my,' Jackie looks hesitant as she says, 'boyfriend. Sort of.'

'Sort of?' Shauna asks, checking her tickets for something to do other than staring at the woman at her bar.

'It's one of those things where we've just been together so long it feels like he should be more than a boyfriend, you know?' Jackie traces the rim of her glass with a fingertip, and Shauna's eyes follow her finger as it circles the liquid. Shauna doesn't know, but she doesn't want Jackie to stop talking. Jackie looks at her and chuckles, 'you probably don't, I guess. You're what? Eighteen?'

'Nineteen,' Shauna says, 'nearly twenty.'

'God,' Jackie chuckles again, low and sultry, 'I was graduating high school before you even left kindergarten. Isn't that weird?'

Shauna shudders and squeezes her thighs together. 'Not that weird,' she says.

'It's just like we have a kid together, this perfect little boy, and we've been together forever, and he still hasn't proposed because it's too traditional or whatever but he wants all the other shit that comes with marriage. We moved in together after a year. I've made him lunch for work every day for fourteen years. I've given him a son. It's like… what's the hold up, you know?'

'Yeah, what is the hold up?' Shauna asks, then shakes her head, 'sorry, I shouldn't have said that.'

'It's fine, I don't get it, either,' Jackie snorts.

'So what do you do?' Shauna asks, snatching a ticket and heading to the beer taps, starting to pull a pint.

'I coach soccer at Wiskayok high.'

'Seriously?' Shauna asks, the beer slopping over the side of the glass and drenching her hand.

'Buzz buzz!' Jackie grins and winks as Shauna slams the tap off.

'I was on the team,' Shauna tells her, clearing her throat and looking away, adding quietly, 'a couple years ago.'

Jackie's eyes widen in understanding, and her gaze softens as she says, 'oh, honey.'

Shauna hates being patronised, but there's something about the tilt of Jackie's head and the softness of her tone that makes her feel seen, rather than talked down to. She sniffs anyway, wiping the beer from her hand, wrist, shirt sleeve, and says, 'it's fine. I'm here.'

'You are,' Jackie confirms with a soft smile. 'Can I ask which one you are?'

'Shauna. Shipman. Midfielder.'

Jackie nods, raising her glass, 'then this is to you, Shipman.' She lifts her drink in a toast, 'to surviving, and making it here, so we could meet. I'm glad you're here. You're a good conversationalist.' She sips her drink, and moans softly, 'and a phenomenal bartender.' She puts the drink down, and her pink lip gloss decorates the rim of the glass. Shauna wants to taste it.

'Thank you,' Shauna breathes, dredging up a smile to match Jackie's own. Jackie's smile is too bright, and her eyes are too lively, and Shauna has to change the topic, quickly, 'so this guy?'

Jackie rolls her eyes, 'Jeff. Yeah. I don't wanna talk about him, tell me about you, Shipman.' The nickname slips into Jackie's vocabulary as if it was always there, and it slides over Shauna, warming her inside and out. 'Do you have a boyfriend?'

'God, no,' Shauna says immediately, 'I'm a-' she stops herself, biting her lip. Jackie seems amazing, but it's not the sort of thing she tells strangers. She wants to tell Jackie, though. She feels like Jackie would be good with it.

'If you stopped yourself saying what I think you stopped yourself saying, I should remind you that I coach women's soccer,' Jackie says wryly. 'Safe space.'

'Okay, then, yeah, that. No girlfriend, either, just me and Callie.'

'And Callie is your?' Jackie prompts, and Shauna smiles.

'My daughter,' she reaches under the bar for her wallet. Another thing she wouldn't normally do. Her knuckles brush the red velvet box as she grabs the black leather, and she opens it to show Jackie a polariod of her toddler.

Jackie's entire face softens as she lets out a loud, 'awwww.'

'I know,' Shauna says, smug, 'she's adorable, isn't she?'

All kids are adorable, Shauna knows, and all parents say their kids are the cutest, but Callie Shipman is, by far, the cutest kid to ever exist. Missing teeth in her wide smile, her black hair in braids that Shauna had arranged it in, the biggest bluest eyes Shauna had ever seen. Her kid is adorable.

And then Jackie reaches into her own bag, and finds her purse, and Shauna is willing to admit Callie has competition. A little blond boy, blue eyes, button nose, wearing a Muppets shirt and waving at the camera, his tiny hand blurred from the motion.

'How old is he?'

'Five. Yours?'

'Just coming up on two.'

'We should do a play-date,' Jackie says, and Shauna isn't sure a toddler and a school-age kid are the best pairing for that, but Jackie looks so eager and she's smiling so widely, the same smile as her son, so Shauna nods.

'Totally,' she says with a smile.

'I love toddlers,' Jackie says with a smile, 'they're like tiny little rockets you can cuddle.'

'Or drunks in the bodies of rabid hamsters,' Shauna snickers. 'Mine apparently bargained ice cream for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow.'

'Yeah, mine had that phase, too,' Jackie's voice is incredibly warm, and she continues, 'I always wanted another kid, but Jeff's been dragging his feet on everything. Hopefully we'll have another when we get married.'

A knot forms in Shauna's stomach, tightening until she can't breathe around it, but she nods and says, 'yeah, guess you will.'

She turns away from Jackie, busying herself with the steady stream of drink orders she's fallen hopelessly behind on, and the conversation comes to an end as Shauna finds herself firmly in the weeds.

When Shauna has cleared the worst of the tickets, she turns back to Jackie, who is still staring at her, and she feels herself blush, 'sorry, it's just-'

'You're working, I can see that,' Jackie says, 'it's okay, Jeff will be here soon. I don't need you to entertain me.'

'Right, got it,' Shauna replies, suddenly awkward at the reminder of Jeff. 'What, uh… what was your son's name?'

'Oh, it's-'

'Hey babe,' Jeff appears over Jackie's shoulder, 'sorry I'm late. Let's sit.'

Jackie looks over her shoulder at Shauna, and Shauna wonders if Nat could just sit the pair there, even if it means dealing with Jeff all night. Jackie follows Jeff to the table, and notes that he doesn't even pull Jackie's chair out for her, but does notice that he winks at Shauna as she sits, and the brunette bristles briefly on Jackie's behalf before remembering the ring and realising it has to be about that.

Shauna focuses on tearing through the remaining tickets and not looking at Jackie, and she only succeeds at one of those.

When Mari comes over to take a tray of drinks, she leans towards Shauna and says, 'so? Do they deserve each other?'

Shauna rolls her eyes, 'no one deserve that jag-off, but that woman is so far out of his league he can't even see her ranking.'

'I know, right? She's insanely sexy.'

'She's not just sexy,' Shauna says, offended on the blonde's behalf, 'she's sweet, and considerate, and kind, and a great mom, and she coaches the fucking Yellowjackets, Mar. She can't say yes to that asswipe.'

'Do you have a thing for her?' Mari asks, delighted.

'Shut the fuck up,' Shauna mutters, reaching for the knife again.

'I'm so happy for you. What's the plan? Poison the asswipe? Or I can do the spilling thing? Get him to go to the bathroom and you can go propose to her instead?'

'I'm not proposing,' Shauna rolls her eyes, only somewhat sure Mari is joking.

'Well, you should decide what you're doing. They're nearly ready for their champagne.'

Mari whisks the drinks away, leaving Shauna behind the bar, helpless and confused.

'Can I get another one of these, Shipman?'

Shauna freezes at the voice, and looks over to see Jackie holding out her glass, a smear of lip-gloss still on the rim. She makes Jackie another negroni, sliding it over to her, and Jackie's eyes lock onto her arm. Shauna had rolled her sleeves up after a recent spill, and Jackie's hand falls to Shauna's tattoo, a hand-poked set of antlers, courtesy of Nat, on her forearm. Neither Nat nor Shauna could believe that Shauna let Nat and a needle so close to her skin after everything they did to each other in the wilderness, but Nat had offered to do it, and Shauna had taken the peace offering for what it was, letting Nat mark her.

'This is gorgeous,' Jackie says, tracing the shaky lines, 'you like deer?'

'Not really,' Shauna replies, 'just…'

'Miss it?' Jackie asks, head tilted. Shauna nods. Jackie narrows her eyes slightly, then says, 'you seem more like a bear to me.'

'A bear?'

'Yeah,' Jackie says.

'Because I'm big and hairy?'

'You just seem like you'd do well with paws,' Jackie says thoughtfully, 'and like you could fuck up a salmon.'

Shauna snorts, 'thanks, but has anyone ever told you that you give weird fucking compliments?'

'Once or twice,' Jackie says, her fingers still tracing the antlers on Shauna's arm.

Over Jackie's shoulder, Jeff shoots Shauna a thumbs up, and Shauna takes that as her cue, removing her arm from Jackie's hold, making the older woman start. Jackie smiles at her, and thanks her for the drink, shoving cash into the tip jar before returning to Jeff.

Shauna takes the stupid shitty ugly fucking bullshit ring out of the box, pops the cheap champagne, and plunks the hideous lump of metal into the piss coloured liquid.

Nat appears opposite Shauna, 'pass it, I'll take it over.'

'I don't wanna,' Shauna replies.

Nat sighs, 'what is it now?'

'She's so cool, and he sucks so much.'

'I know, but that's how the world works, Shaun. The hottest women in the world marry the ugliest men and have unfulfilling lives. That's how straight culture operates.'

'Are you sure we can't pull a fire alarm?'

Nat raises a brow, 'so we can get fired and he can wait another fifteen years to propose? Come on, Shaun.'

'I'll take it,' Shauna says, and Nat snorts.

'So she can see you, her bartender, one last time before she accepts?'

'Drinks are literally my job, Nat,' Shauna says, holding the stem of the glasses tighter.

Nat sighs and raises her arms in surrender, 'fine, just don't be weird about it.'

Shauna slips out from behind the bar and walks to the table, placing the drinks down before the couple.

'Thanks, Shipman,' Jackie says, but Shauna doesn't wait around to acknowledge it, just turning on her heel and walking away.

She's not fast enough to avoid hearing Jackie's gasp.

She tells Nat she's going on her break and slips out of the back door, lighting up in the smoking area immediately.

Jackie bursts through the exit before Shauna is even halfway through her cigarette, leaning against the brick wall and taking in great lungfuls of air. When she sees Shauna, she bolts up, finger pointed at Shauna in accusation.

'What the fuck, Shipman?'

Shauna stubs out her cigarette on the wall. 'Excuse me?'

'You knew?'

'You didn't?'

'Of course I didn't!'

Shauna can't help but roll her eyes again, 'it's Valentine's day. You've been talking about marriage. It's a swanky restaurant. Of course he proposed. And I met you both today so I don't think you can be mad I didn't tell you.'

Jackie sighs, lowering her hand and settling her head back against the wall. 'That ring is so fucking ugly,' she says, and Shauna snorts.

'I know, right?'

'It looks like it came out of a cereal box.'

'I think Callie made it out of play-doh.'

'Oh, I figured Jeff did it blindfolded.'

'I think Magneto killed someone with it.'

Jackie laughs, then, light and airy. It floats through the cold alleyway air and strokes Shauna's cheek. Jackie's laughter settles, and she says, 'I said no.'

'Shocker,' Shauna snorts, then winces. 'Sorry, that was insensitive.'

'It's fine, Shipman.'

'I am sorry, for what it's worth,' Shauna says.

'You've got nothing to be sorry for,' Jackie replies.

'And I'm guessing you don't want that play-date still?'

Jackie turns to Shauna at that, 'I didn't say that. When did I say that?'

'Oh, I just assumed.'

'Of course I wanna see you,' Jackie says, then coughs, 'for the kids I mean.'

'Right,' Shauna says, 'sure.'

'Come here,' Jackie says, reaching into her purse and pulling out a pen. She extends her hand to Shauna, and scrawls a bunch of numbers in red pen, right beneath Shauna's antlers. 'I feel like I should leave before Jeff gets out here, but you better call,' Jackie says with a wink and a smile. 'For the kids, of course.'

'Wait,' Shauna says, checking her watch, 'I get off work in an hour, I can drive you. You can hide in the back.'

Jackie looks like she might refuse, but she hesitates, then bites her lip for a second, drawing the plump and shiny flesh between pearly white teeth, 'and Jeff won't see?'

'Promise,' Shauna pledges, 'and if he comes looking for you, I can point him in the wrong direction.'

'Fuck it, let's do it,' Jackie says, and Shauna holds out an elbow, which Jackie loops her arm through. She guides Jackie back behind the bar, and shows her to the storeroom. She sees Jeff, sat alone at the table, wiping champagne from his shirt.

Shauna sends Nat back to the hostess stand and pokes her head in the back, 'holy shit, dude, what did you do?'

Jackie bites her lip again, 'he called me desperate.'

Shauna nods, 'then it was deserved. Stay here, I'll come get you.'

'Thanks, Shipman.'

Shauna calls in a favour to shove her side-work onto Van, who is too focused on congratulating her to object.

Shauna opens the door for Jackie, and she settles in the passenger seat of Shauna's shitty little truck, looking like a million bucks and making Shauna even more aware of how shitty her little truck is. Jackie is the kind of girl - woman - who should be driven around in a limo. Or a rolls royce. Or a private jet. Something suitable of a face like that. Something an ordinary mortal could only dream of.

Jackie gives Shauna her address, and Shauna starts the drive, and Jackie fiddles with Shauna's ancient cassette player. She settles on some Liz Phair, but turns the volume down to almost nothing. She looks at Shauna, then away, and her mouth opens, then closes.

Shauna knows the look she's getting, but she finds that she doesn't mind it as much from Jackie, so she says, 'you can ask me.'

'What was it like?'

Shauna starts to talk, about the wilderness, the cabin, the team, the pregnancy, the sacrifice. She doesn't mention the cannibalism yet, but everything else pours out and fills the car, and Jackie keeps the same soft look the entire time.

She doesn't judge, doesn't panic, doesn't flinch.

The older woman just sits, and listens, and smiles devastatingly sweetly at the younger woman.

Shauna pulls up in front of Jackie's place, which she realises is also Jeff's place, but Jackie sighs with relief after glancing around, confirming Jeff's car is nowhere to be seen.

'Are you gonna be okay?' Shauna asks, and Jackie chuckles.

She leans over, and brushes Shauna's hair behind her ear, and Shauna lets her eyes shut and leans into the touch, and Jackie strokes her jaw. 'I'll be fine, Shipman. But you better call me. I know where you work.'

'Yes, ma'am,' Shauna replies, and Jackie laughs as she climbs out of the truck. 'Let me know if you need anything. Anything at all.'

Jackie bites her lip again, and grins, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes deepening from the action, 'there is one thing,' she says.

'Yeah?'

'I left my car at the restaurant. Could you give me a lift back on your way to work tomorrow?'

'You had a car?' Shauna asks, eyes wide.

'You were just so sweet to offer me a ride,' Jackie says.

Shauna sputters, 'but you had a car?'

Jackie shrugs, 'you offered to drive me.'

'You're insane,' Shauna replies.

'I've had a rough night,' Jackie corrects, 'you need to be nice to me.'

Shauna shakes her head, 'I'll come by tomorrow at ten.'

'Make it eight, I have to get the kiddo to school.'

'Fine,' Shauna says, 'but only because that ring was so fucking ugly that you should get emotional compensation.'

'Thanks, Shipman,' Jackie beams, leaning into Shauna's open window to kiss her cheek, 'see you tomorrow.'

'See you,' Shauna replies, watching as Jackie walks down her drive, stops at the door, looks back and waves, and then enters the house.

A text from Nat, asking if she's okay, jolts her out of her stupor.

She puts the car into drive, Jackie's number burning into her arm.

'That woman's gonna fucking kill me,' Shauna grins as she heads home.