36. The Girls at Royal Oak

The Girls at Royal Oak

"I want to, Meg, but I'm not sure I'll fit in," Hadley said through a mouthful of liverwurst, doubting her decision.

"What do you mean? The girls loved you," Meghan countered as she ripped off bite size chunks of her pastrami and rye.

"I don't know…"

"Trust me, they wouldn't have invited you if they didn't want to. They're pretty picky."

"Well that's reassuring," Hadley laughed.

"You know what I mean." Meghan sucked in a strawful of diet coke. "They both thought you were the sweetest and wanted to get to know you more."

"I'm just not sure a bar is the right place. I, um, I don't drink."

"That's okay. As long as you're okay with us drinking, but it doesn't mean you need to. It's more a chance for us to hang out and catch up."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I have an idea, I mean, only if it makes you more comfortable. When I was in the beginning of my pregnancy with Amelia, before I told anyone, I would order a club soda with a lime. Everyone assumed it was a vodka tonic and I just didn't correct them. Why don't you try that?"

"Okay, I think I can manage that. It would be nice to leave my apartment for a change."

"Yay,"Meghan squealed. Hadley rolled her eyes at Meghan's outburst but followed it with a genuine smile.

***

Hadley got home from work on Thursday with an hour to spare before she'd need to head back out to the Royal Oak Bar & Grille. She wasted the first twenty minutes staring at her closet without a clue what to wear. She thought back to Amelia's birthday party and what the women were wearing. It seemed like Helen and Cathleen both had distinct styles. What was Hadley's style? Thrift shop chic? Ugh. She finally settled on a plain v-neck shirt with an acid washed denim skirt. She secured the mid-thigh length skirt in place with a chunky white belt and slid on a pair of second hand tailored linen pumps. She gave herself a nervous once over in front of her full-length mirror. She wasn't positive her mossy green heels matched her dusty rose shirt but decided from a distance it worked, plus she didn't have a huge selection anyway, so this would have to do. She tossed her hair up into a ballerina bun and applied grocery store makeup before she grabbed her embroidered raffia handbag. The handbag belonged to her mom and though the style was outdated, Hadley loved the flower detailing and wooden handle.

She stood by her front door and squeezed her eyes shut wrinkling her nose and held her breath to the count of three. She released her muscles in tandem with her breath then opened her eyes and quickly left before she had the chance to change her mind.

She spent the entire drive to Royal Oak distracted by ‘what ifs'. What if no one showed up? What if they didn't want her to show up? What if they know she's drinking club soda? What if they teased her? She considered the biggest ‘what if' as she pulled into the parking lot. What if this was a mistake? She looked down at her white knuckles and peeled her fingers from the steering wheel. She turned off the engine and sat in her seat for a few minutes with her eyes closed, searching for a sense of calm. She pictured herself on the back of Snow White with the wind blowing her hair from her face. She pictured Dorothy pulling freshly baked muffins out of the oven. She pictured her mom and the Pink Ladies dancing around the living room. She could hear their laughter ringing in her ears. She opened her eyes as a tear slipped free. She gently patted her cheeks with the back of her palm, careful not to mess up her mascara and released a deep, slow exhale.

She entered the bar, clutching her handbag tight to her side. Her eyes searched, hoping to quickly find Meghan among the splattering of crowded high top tables. She finally spotted ginger curls bouncing back and forth in the corner of the room, and knew it was an animated Meghan sitting with her back to the door in a semi-circle booth. As if on cue, Hadley heard her name being shouted from that same corner. She squinted slightly to see Helen waving dramatically in her direction.

As Hadley approached, the ladies all welcomed her. Meghan scooched over giving Hadley room to sit. "Oh, I love your bag," Cathleen gushed.

"Thanks," Hadley beamed. "It was my mom's. I guess it's practically vintage now."

"It's so pretty and the embroidery is so detailed. I love it," added Helen. Hadley smiled and set it against her side. She noticed a drink already sitting in front of her.

Before she had a chance to panic, Meghan chimed in. "I got the first round of drinks just a minute ago." She winked at Hadley.

"Oh, so generous. Thanks!" Hadley took a tentative sip, relieved to be met with the fizz of a plain club soda. "Thanks for inviting me tonight, I haven't gone out…well, pretty much ever."

"Never?" Helen's eyes bulged. "Girl drink up!" Hadley giggled and took a convincing sip of her drink. "Do you like potato skins?"

"Doesn't everyone?"

"You got that right," Meghan responded. "Let's place an order before we get lost acting like a bunch of… what does Henry call us?"

"Chatty Cathies." Cathleen rolled her eyes.

"Henry?" Hadley's eyes were already tired bouncing from one woman to the next in their conversation.

"He's my lovely husband," Cathleen giggled. "You may have noticed, I'm a bit of a gabber so he called me Chatty Cathleen at first, but eventually it shortened to Chatty Cathy. Our daughter even has one of those dolls."

"Ohmigod, there's a Chatty Cathy doll?" Hadley laughed.

"Yeah, who was named after who, I don't know," Helen laughed as she tossed back the end of her french martini.

"Anyway," Cathleen continued, drawing out the word for emphasis. "He mighta thought I talked a lot but when he saw us all together in action – well, I'm pretty sure he went straight home that night, swallowed an aspirin and collapsed on the couch," she cackled. The ladies all laughed along. Hadley smiled, relaxing her muscles into the plush ink blue velvet cushion.

Meghan turned her attention to Hadley and explained how Cathleen is their resident wife. She's been married to Henry for eight years and they have a six-year-old son, Leo, and a three-year-old daughter, Lizzy.

"They are adorable, even if they wreaked havoc on my body," She laughed. "It's why I wear so many oversized shirts," Cathleen said, sipping her ruby red cosmopolitan.

"You can't mean that." Hadley wiggled her finger at the fitted burgundy low cut top that Cathleen was wearing and added, "plus, based on this, I would die for your curves."

"I'll trade you these big ol' curves for that ballerina body any day," Cathleen smiled. "But thank you, that's about the nicest thing I've heard all week."

"I'll cheers to that!" Helen said, before realizing her drink was empty. "In a minute…" The ladies all laughed at that as they fell into easy conversation. They ordered a few more rounds of drinks. Hadley, relieved the bartender recognized she was secretly sober, opened up more as the night went on. She participated in gossip over people she'd never met and became invested in several stories the women willingly shared.

As Hadley finished her soda, Helen flagged down the waitress and asked for a round of melon balls, also pointing to the empty plate of loaded potato skins. "Maybe more of this, too."

"I'm guessing she doesn't mean the actual fruit," Hadley whispered to Meghan.

"Oh, it's – I'm not even sure what it is actually. Something mixed with vodka. Definitely not fruit." Hadley tried not to panic. She didn't want to be the outcast but up until this moment had never even sipped alcohol before. She evaluated the ladies surrounding her. Meghan and Cathleen still had their wits to them. Even Helen, who seemed a drink or two ahead of them, seemed okay. Their laughter got louder and their lips a bit looser, but everyone was happy. Maybe this would be okay.

"You can just slide yours down to me if you're not comfortable," Meghan reassured as the waitress returned with another tray of potato skins and four bright green shooters. To Meghan's surprise, Hadley grabbed the fourth shooter and held it in her hand. She gave Meghan a small smile as she shrugged and looked back at the women across from her.

"Ohh, let's toast," Cathleen gushed, holding her shooter glass toward the center of the table. Hadley and Meghan followed suit, also bringing their glasses to the center.

Helen was the last to join, but the first to speak. "May all your ups and downs in life be between the sheets."Hadley's eyes bulged as a snorty laugh spilled out of Cathleen.

"Oh my god, Helen. Always with the classy toasts." Meghan shook her head. "How about we just toast to our friendship?" Meghan nudged Hadley as they shared a smile.

"To friends!" the ladies all exclaimed. One by one, they tossed their shooters back. While the women looked satisfied as the sweet drink hit their throats, Hadley reacted differently. Her cheeks and throat immediately burned as she swallowed hard. Her face contorted as if she sucked a lemon and she let out a huff. This drew the attention of Cathleen and Helen, as well as a sympathetic look from Meghan.

"So you can drink vodka tonics all night but a melon ball does you in," Cathleen giggled.

"Oh, um, it just surprised me. Not used to the whole shot thing," Hadley said. She had no idea if her cheeks were burning from the liquor or the embarrassment, but was relieved the ladies had already moved on. She picked up a potato skin and took a big bite, letting the cheesy potato soothe the burn.

Conversation returned to normal as Hadley looked at the three women surrounding her. After trying alcohol, even that tiny bit, she feared she'd unravel, but as she sat and waited, she realized she was fine. She smiled to herself, recognizing she was not her father and there was no anger building inside of her. While she didn't care to try another shot or a full drink, she was thankful to have made it past this hurdle, which allowed the weight of the unknown to finally lift from her shoulders.

With a sigh of relief and ears full of laughter, she allowed herself to think that maybe, just maybe, the next generation of Pink Ladies was forming. Could she have found the group of friends she dreamt her whole adolescence about? She smiled to herself as the women were fully invested in Helen's retelling of her latest escapades. Hadley thought Helen reminded her a bit of her mom's best friend, Jeanine. Jeanine was always the life of the party and never afraid to speak her mind. Helen definitely seemed the same.

Hadley shook away her thoughts when she felt Helen's eyes land on her. "So, enough about me and Lance…" She giggled. "What about you?Anyone settin' their boots under your bed," she asked with a dramatic wink.

"Oh, uh, no. I'm not much for dating. I usually just hang out by myself at home."

"Boo, that's no fun! There's gotta be someone you find cute!"

"I mean, I don't know, not really. I just moved into my new place so I'm still settling in."

"You stumbled in the beginning there a little. Who is it!"

"Who is who?" Hadley asked Helen as the other girls giggled but leaned in.

"The guy you just thought about as you were saying you didn't know."

"Oh. Uhh…" Hadley tried to buy time but had no idea what to say. Feeling the pressure as the ladies waited, she finally said, "I mean Andrew was pretty cute."

Hadley smacked her hand over her mouth. The table grew quiet for a minute and Hadley wanted to die right there in her seat. Oh my god. Why's that the name you said? Why didn't you say Josh. Josh would've been better. Or just make a name up. Why didn't you make up a name?

Cathleen broke the silence with a loud laugh. "Pshh! That's not even news. Just wait until you're on the receiving end of one of his little winks," Cathleen gushed. She leaned her head against Helen's as they swooned theatrically before they broke into laughter. "That's why Helen is waitin' on Meg to get back together with him. Never gonna find a hotter man than that guy."

"Hot or not, we're better as friends," Meghan laughed.

"Sorry, I don't know why I said his name," Hadley mumbled. "It's not like I'm actually interested."

"Because he is cute," Helen laughed.

"Preach."

"Yeah, yeah." Meghan smiled.

"That's low hanging fruit," Helen continued. "I want the scoop when there's someone new. We all have crushes on Andrew." The ladies clinked their glasses together in silent cheers to Meghan's ex-husband. Hadley felt sure she ruined the evening and was afraid to look over at Meghan, who surely was mad. That's her ex-husband after all. Her father never missed an opportunity to remind her how difficult she was, and how she always said and did the wrong thing, and here she was, still saying the wrong thing.

The group however seemed to grow happier, not angry. Hadley released a deep exhale of relief as she looked over to Meghan who was sharing neighborhood gossip completely unphased by Hadley's comment. As the night continued, she relaxed her shoulders and sucked down her ice cold club soda. She let herself smile, laugh, and let loose.

The ladies started to quiet down after the second round of potato skins were polished off. "I better call Henry to pick us up," Cathleen said with a hiccup.

"Had-ney, you needa ride," Helen bumbled.

Hadley giggled before letting Helen know she'd be fine to get home. She thought Helen was a blast, even though she noticed her drink several more cocktails than the others. She had also learned, throughout the evening, that Helen was single by choice. Her exotic look and almond shaped eyes drew a lot of interest, even from passersby this evening, but there was never someone she wished to entertain for longer than a weekend. A true, free spirit.

The ladies all tumbled out of the booth and made their way to the front of the bar. They exchanged rounds of compliments as they waited on Cathleen's husband to arrive. As Henry pulled up in this Ford Escort, Hadley promised the group that she would join again next time.