Georgie grinned as Viv said she'd do anything for her, ignoring all of the emotions that a comment like that evoked in her. She accepted the glass of lemonade and took a long sip from it. Her phone buzzed with a text, and she grinned a little to herself as she saw it was from Hayley, asking her if she wanted to go for a few drinks. She fired off a reply, saying she was having dinner with her family and Viv so she couldn't do tonight, before shoving the phone back into her pocket and taking a seat at the table.
"This all looks and smells fantastic, Viv, thank you so much. So, Georgie tells us you're a dancer," David said as he took a seat beside Georgie. "That's wonderful, I think dance was about the only thing Georgie never really took to. She wasn't the most coordinated of children," he added playfully, and Georgie rolled her eyes. "Great, you're here for a full five minutes and the embarrassing childhood stories are already coming out," she said, but in reality, she liked that Viv had made such a good first impression and that they already seemed to like her.
Viv's food certainly didn't disappoint, and the conversation flowed easily, with plenty of embarrassing childhood tales being told. But it was the perfect distraction from everything that was stressing Georgie out, and by the time they finished eating, Georgie was feeling incredibly relaxed and warm. So when her phone rang and she saw it was Hayley, she just raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Sorry, I should probably get this," she said, heading into her bedroom as she answered the call.
"Hey. Everything okay?" She asked.
"Fine. Sorry, I'm not interrupting dinner or anything, am I?" Hayley asked, but there was an undeniable edge to her voice.
"No, we've just finished. What's up?"
"Why didn't you tell me your dads were coming to town?"
"I thought I did? Sorry, Hayley, my head has been so fried with work-"
"And why is Viv meeting them?" The cutting tone to Hayley's voice almost made Georgie wince.
"Because she's my roommate and one of my best friends? Hayley, I didn't mention dinner with them to you because I didn't want to make a big deal over us or anything," she said, instinctively lowering her voice. "They wanted to come over for dinner and Viv offered to cook-"
"I'm done." The two words made Georgie freeze, frowning.
"What?"
"I don't even think you're actually trying to get over her. I was fine with this, but for fuck's sake, Georgie, she's meeting your parents?"
"As a friend, Hayley-"
"Yeah, you keep saying that, but I don't think you're convincing either of us."
"You knew what you were getting into when we started this. It was your fucking idea, Hayley."
"Yeah, and now I'm seeing what a dumb fucking idea it was. So I'm done. I can't do this any more. I don't want to do this any more. So I'm done. We're done."
"Hayley, can we talk about this tomorrow? You sound like you're drunk-"
"I am and I don't care. I should have done this sooner. I don't want you to call me or text me. Bye, Georgie."
The call ended abruptly, and Georgie found herself just staring at her phone. She didn't know how to feel or what she was even supposed to feel. Anger, hurt, sadness, but... a tiny bit of relief too, which was the messed up part. She could feel tears burning behind her eyes, but she blinked them away, wiping her face to make sure her mascara hadn't run. She wasn't going to let this ruin seeing her family for the first time in six months, she told herself. They hadn't known about Hayley, they didn't need to know about this either, she told herself. She fixed a smile back on her face and went back out to join the others. "Right, what awful stories were you telling Vivian about me in my absence? The green hair incident?" She asked, possibly a little too brightly, as she took a seat back at the table.
"This all looks and smells fantastic, Viv, thank you so much. So, Georgie tells us you're a dancer," David said as he took a seat beside Georgie. "That's wonderful, I think dance was about the only thing Georgie never really took to. She wasn't the most coordinated of children," he added playfully, and Georgie rolled her eyes. "Great, you're here for a full five minutes and the embarrassing childhood stories are already coming out," she said, but in reality, she liked that Viv had made such a good first impression and that they already seemed to like her.
Viv's food certainly didn't disappoint, and the conversation flowed easily, with plenty of embarrassing childhood tales being told. But it was the perfect distraction from everything that was stressing Georgie out, and by the time they finished eating, Georgie was feeling incredibly relaxed and warm. So when her phone rang and she saw it was Hayley, she just raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Sorry, I should probably get this," she said, heading into her bedroom as she answered the call.
"Hey. Everything okay?" She asked.
"Fine. Sorry, I'm not interrupting dinner or anything, am I?" Hayley asked, but there was an undeniable edge to her voice.
"No, we've just finished. What's up?"
"Why didn't you tell me your dads were coming to town?"
"I thought I did? Sorry, Hayley, my head has been so fried with work-"
"And why is Viv meeting them?" The cutting tone to Hayley's voice almost made Georgie wince.
"Because she's my roommate and one of my best friends? Hayley, I didn't mention dinner with them to you because I didn't want to make a big deal over us or anything," she said, instinctively lowering her voice. "They wanted to come over for dinner and Viv offered to cook-"
"I'm done." The two words made Georgie freeze, frowning.
"What?"
"I don't even think you're actually trying to get over her. I was fine with this, but for fuck's sake, Georgie, she's meeting your parents?"
"As a friend, Hayley-"
"Yeah, you keep saying that, but I don't think you're convincing either of us."
"You knew what you were getting into when we started this. It was your fucking idea, Hayley."
"Yeah, and now I'm seeing what a dumb fucking idea it was. So I'm done. I can't do this any more. I don't want to do this any more. So I'm done. We're done."
"Hayley, can we talk about this tomorrow? You sound like you're drunk-"
"I am and I don't care. I should have done this sooner. I don't want you to call me or text me. Bye, Georgie."
The call ended abruptly, and Georgie found herself just staring at her phone. She didn't know how to feel or what she was even supposed to feel. Anger, hurt, sadness, but... a tiny bit of relief too, which was the messed up part. She could feel tears burning behind her eyes, but she blinked them away, wiping her face to make sure her mascara hadn't run. She wasn't going to let this ruin seeing her family for the first time in six months, she told herself. They hadn't known about Hayley, they didn't need to know about this either, she told herself. She fixed a smile back on her face and went back out to join the others. "Right, what awful stories were you telling Vivian about me in my absence? The green hair incident?" She asked, possibly a little too brightly, as she took a seat back at the table.