Chapter 6 - out 'n in

When Allie showed up at her favorite bar that Thursday night, her friends cheered.

"You made it!" Skyler gave her a hug before she sat down. "Must have been an early wrap today.

"Yup! And tomorrow's call isn't until 3pm thanks to some night scenes we'll be doing so I can stay as late as we want!" Allie sat down at their usual table and poured herself a beer from the pitcher someone had already got.

"Well, we are so glad you are here! We don't like being a man down when your shows keep you busy!" Skyler smiled. Allie loved how her friends always made her feel they were excited she was around.

"You look terrible." Though Jess could work on her bluntness a bit.

"Thanks, I dressed up just for you." Allie rolled her eyes.

"I'm just saying it as I see it and you do! Doesn't she, guys? Ow!" Allie could tell from Jess's glare in his direction that Sean had kicked her in the shin.

"You look fine, honestly. Busy week, though?" Skyler guessed.

"Girl troubles?" Sean lifted an eyebrow.

"All of the above." Allie took a long drink of her beer.

"Ok, first, dish. Second, you better be on your game because Les Quizables are winning that gift card this week." Jess had already written their typical team name on the bar's trivia cards.

Allie thought back on her week. She had thought she had felt bad over the weekend, but her week was even more lousy. She had spent it trying to fade into the wall, attempting to be busy whenever a prop had to be taken to Tiffany. When she had brought a purse to her former lunch buddy, Tiffany smiled but looked through her like she was a nice painting on a wall, making Allie's stomach churn. It was only week two and Allie was eager for the show to wrap... months from now.

Allie had known better than to buddy up with one of the actors. Being cordial was one thing, but she should have known they move on from anyone who makes them feel the slightest bit unhappy pretty quickly. Now she just felt embarrassed that she had thought of Tiffany as a friend.

"Guys, I don't really want to talk about it."

"Why not? Just say how the bitch did ya wrong, we'll all sing a chorus of 'that bitch, how dare she!' and you'll feel bet- OW!" Jess rubbed her shin, giving Sean another glare.

"Please ignore Jess's signature rudeness and let's get to focusing on trivia."

"Sean that hurt!"

"Why don't I kiss you and make you feel better." He planted a peck on Jess's lips.

"You are so lucky you are the love of my life," Jess said, kissing him back. Allie and Skyler looked at each other and made barfing faces.

With that, the games began. Soon, Allie had forgotten about the rough week she had. She was laughing and thinking with the rest of the Les Quizables. They correctly guessed that Rihanna was from Barbados, Jess knew that Malala's last name was Yousafzai, and Sean remembered that the 4th amendment said "each man's home is his castle." They all groaned when the 30-year-old hipster who was running the event reminded them that the three bones in the arm were the humerus, radius, and ulna (not "ulma," as Skyler guessed).

They were trying to name all 7 countries that started with the letter U when a young women stepped into the bar and looked uncertainly around, clearly searching for someone. She spotted Allie's group in the far corner she made her way quietly over, keeping her face a little tucked down as if she was hoping no one would see it.

"We have Uganda?" Skyler was asking.

"Yes. We're missing 2." Sean said, counting the list he had written out.

"Do you guys have Uzbekstan?"

"No we- Oh, hey! A famous!" Jess exclaimed as the table looked up. The group stared a little dumbfounded at Tiffany Johnson as she stood before them.

"Hi Allie. Sorry to interrupt. Just noticed you and thought I'd come say hi." She gave a charming smile.

"Oh, well, hi then," Allie gave a tentative smile. "Uh, and these are my friends; Sean, Jess, and Skyler."

"Hi!" Jess said excitedly. "I LOVED you in that indie movie, what was it called, 'Lanes End.' You looked so cute. But, question; in the scene where you were baking and you tripped a little which spilled chocolate on your shirt, was that on purpose or did you actually- OW, Sean!"

Allie was stifling a giggle. "Sorry, she doesn't have a filter."

Tiffany grinned. "No, it's fine. Yeah, I did trip but the director loved it because it felt so 'honest and real' so it made the cut. Costumes was kind of mad I ruined the shirt though. We were so low budget they had left the tags on to return it!"

Jess punched Sean in the arm. "Told ya. You owe me a beer."

Sean groaned. "Why'd you tell her that, she's going to hold it over me for a week."

"'The director clearly built that moment in' my ass"

Skyler, Allie, and Tiffany laughed. When they stopped, there was a moment of hesitation.

"Well, good to see you Allie. I'll see you tomorrow." Tiffany said, not quite leaving.

"Why don't you join us for a drink?" Skyler offered pleasantly, her eyes fliting to Allie to see if it was appropriate.

"Yeah." Allie smiled. "Join us, I was about to get another pitcher."

"I'll get it! She seems to know 'U' countries and I got a D in geography in high school." Jess winked as she rose to skip off to the bar.

By the time Jess returned, Tiffany was part of the gang. They had turned in their sheet and cheered when they were one of 3 teams to get all the countries.

Tiffany did well, offering excellent guesses and groaning along with the group when they had the wrong answers.

Allie had felt a little nervous when Tiffany had first sat down, but found herself loosening up as it seemed she had been forgiven for whatever transgression Tiffany had gotten so upset about on Monday. She found the same friendly back and forth between her and Tiffany kicked up. It was like all those lunches a week before only even more relaxed as the beer flowed.

As the night drew to a close, Tiffany booed along with them as they came in third.

"Well, we have work tomorrow and I wanted to wax my eyebrows before bed. Thanks for coming by, Tiffany!" Jess said as she and Sean took off.

Skyler hung around, giving Allie glances every once and a while as if to make sure she was having fun.

Allie felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She looked down to see that Skyler had texted.

'I need to take off. You ok to be left alone?'

Allie looked Skyler in the eye and nodded with a smile. Skyler grinned before turning to Tiffany. "Great to meet you, thanks for joining the team! You two have fun. Come back any time, Les Quiz could use you!"

"What say you we switch to wine?" Tiffany asked as she poured the last bit of the pitcher into Allie's glass.

"Wine? In this low brow pub?" Allie grinned.

"Oh, will I offend the proletariat that frequent the establishment by requesting a bottle of the house red?"

"Offend? No. But I'll warn you that I'm pretty sure the only reason the wine won't be from 2017 is that it's been aging on this bar's shelf since the year it says on it!"

The wine wasn't particularly nice, but it went down fast. And soon they found the bottle empty. Allie could tell she was not driving home and hoped she wasn't pushing it for a Thursday night, even if she had to be at work late.

"Hey, I'm hungry. You hungry?" Tiffany ask. "Let's find an In 'n Out!"

"I feel like I really should be heading-"

"Oh come on, we'll just get a quick bite. My treat, I'll call a Lyft."

As they were leaving, the waitress who had been serving them ran up.

"Excuse me, um, Tiffany. Could I get a quick picture? My mom will never believe I served you if I don't get one!"

"Of course!"

Allie took the picture with the waitress' phone and as she did, two more groups of people asked for some as well. Once the pictures were taken, Tiffany graciously spoke with everyone before saying she had to be going.

"Sorry about that," Tiffany said quietly as she and Allie slipped out the door. "I was trying to be low key."

"It's fine, we can't disappoint your adoring fans," Allie said, putting a prima dona voice on for the last few words. Tiffany laughed as she led Allie to a black sedan where a driver in a sharp sport coat held the door open.

"This is fancy," Allie noticed they were slipping into a BMW.

"Only the best for such a lovely lady."

"Or, you want a more professional driver because you are a, what did Jess call you? A famous."

"One of the two." Tiffany laughed.

They drove off, giggling and talking. Soon enough, the driver pulled into the drive through and Tiffany rolled down her window.

"Can I get two double-doubles, animal style, and two large fries, animal style, and then a strawberry milkshake and... hold on." Tiffany leaned over to Allie. "What kind of milkshake do you want?"

"Um, that's a lot of food, maybe I shouldn't get-"

"Allie, we are drunk in a Lyft at a In 'n Out. Milkshakes are necessary."

"Chocolate."

"And a chocolate milkshake!" Tiffany called out the window.

Allie could tell she was way past her normal drinking limit because the next thing she knew, she was chowing down on her burger. She tried to stay neat, but her head was swimming. She felt the sauce getting onto her cheeks.

As she finished her burger, she sucked the sauce off her fingers and noticed Tiffany was watching her.

She grinned sheepishly. "Um, sorry..."

"No, Allie, don't apologize. Honestly, you're really cute."

Allie paused, completely taken off guard. Did Tiffany really just say that? She felt herself beginning to blush.

Tiffany kept eye contact with her. Then slowly, she started leaning forward.

Allie felt as if her mind was clearing, the alcohol was floating away into a new awareness. Tiffany closed her eyes and leaned closer.

And they were kissing. Tiffany's clean small lips on Allie's thick, sauce smeared ones.

Allie kissed Tiffany back, realizing only now how desperate she had been to do so.