Roxy Muñoz (sticksandrox) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-04-07 14:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | #october 2017, roxy, roxy x spence, spence |
Who: Spence and Roxy
When: Late afternoon, Monday, October 16th
Where: Joyland Coffee
Status: Complete
Spence had done pretty well at waiting… one day before texting Roxy. It was probably stupid of him, since she had a long term boyfriend, but he told himself he wanted to catch up as friends, and that was enough to justify sending her a text Sunday evening to see if she wanted to meet at Joyland for coffee. It had been a long time since they had spoken and Spence was eager to hear what she had been up to during all these years. Selfishly, he figured it would be nice to know a friendly face in town. He was still getting used to being home, and being around his family. It was becoming clear just how little he knew about all of them now, and while that was something Spence was determined to change, it could also be rather exhausting. Sure, there was a pretty good chance the same could be said about Roxy, obviously, but old friends were somehow easier to deal with than his family.
They agreed to meet at Joyland around two o’clock, so Spence headed over around a quarter til, once he’d showered and actually tried to do something with his hair. It was probably time for a trim, but he just hadn’t had the time or energy to do it. At least his beard was no longer unruly, and Spence had dressed in jeans and a button down flannel shirt, not wanting to look too ‘dressy’ for simple coffee. He got there first and found a table in the back of the cafe, not wanting to order coffee before she got there. There was maybe a tiny bit of apprehension, the fear that maybe she wouldn’t show up. But that was more Spence’s issues than something Roxy would actually do. So he waited, resisting the constant urge to check his phone.
Roxy’s heart had given a jolt every time her phone went off since Spence Wheeler had come into the bar. She’d swung between calling herself absolutely crazy for giving him her number, and genuinely anxious that he would never text her. It probably would’ve been for the best, it wasn’t like she was in a position to bring anything but trouble into his life. Caden didn’t like her having male friends in the first place, much less male friends she used to date. All the false alarms on Sunday had been Mila, until it finally wasn’t a false alarm and Spence wanted to meet for coffee the next day. Roxy had eyed Caden where he was already passed out drunk and snoring on the couch when the text came through, then sent a reply that suggested two in the afternoon. She had the day off, but Caden would be at work. Not that that should matter, but it did.
When the time came to get ready, she spent forever getting her hair to curl how she liked it at the ends, and to pick out something to wear. It had to be casual but flattering, he’d already seen her in scuzzy work clothes. Roxy went with some dark jeans that were a good fit for her ass, and a flowy sort of top that hid the bit of tummy she’d gotten since high school. Not too much cleavage, of course. They were just friends meeting for coffee. Roxy walked in right at two, pushing her sunglasses up on her head, glancing around before she spotted Spence. There went her stomach again. Fuck. Still, she smiled as she walked over and took the seat across from him. “Hi ... I’m not late, right?” she asked lightly, wrinkling her nose at him a little. She hoped he hadn’t been waiting for her long.
Spence saw her when she walked in, and a smile spread across his face rather instinctively. That was a familiar feeling. Just not one he'd had in twelve years. Well, unless he counted Saturday when she'd appeared from behind that bar counter. "Hey, no, you're on time," Spence said. "I just got here." It was a fib, but that was okay. She wasn't late. He had just been early. He tried to stop smiling, because it was probably going to get creepy, but it was fucking hard. "You look really great," he added. "Thanks for finding time to entertain me for a bit. Is there something you like to get when you're here?" Spence was a black coffee kind of guy, but he wanted to make sure to get what Roxy wanted, even if it was one of those drinks with sixty different instructions.
That smile of his looked good to Roxy. It had always lit up his face, but it seemed to do so even more now. Maybe it was all the extra hair. Or that he looked genuinely glad to see her, and she wasn’t really used to that. Or compliments. So both of them together caught her a little off-guard and Roxy felt some more color come into her cheeks. It was a good feeling though. “Aw, thanks,” she said first, glancing down at herself. When was the last time Caden told her she looked great unprompted? Not ‘sexy’ or ‘hot as fuck’ or even ‘cute,’ but great? Not that she needed to be comparing the two in the slightest. “Um, probably just a caramel macchiato, that’s kinda my go-to. And it’s not problem, you actually saved me from a boring day off, so.” Roxy shrugged and chuckled.
"Oh... well, good. I'm going to try really hard to pretend that's not a lot of pressure," he teased as he pushed his chair back to stand so he could go order their drinks. "I'll do my best not to bore you here, or you might end up r-regretting not being bored by yourself, in the comfort of your own home." Yeah, it really felt like Spence was being lame now, but that was okay. He'd find his footing. He took the few moments at the counter where he ordered their drinks to refocus and promise himself he wouldn't tell anymore awful jokes. A couple minutes later he was carrying their coffees back to the table where he offered Roxy hers as he sat. "Okay, so that leads to my question... what'd you do when you're not working? This town hasn't changed a whole lot since I left it. Keepin' yourself b-busy?"
Lame or not, what he said made Roxy grin a bit, and she felt another pleasant flush of surprise when she realized Spence was getting up to go get their coffees for them both. She tried not to stare at him over there in the line and at the counter, checking her phone without really seeing the screen instead. God, her heart was beating fast, and her stomach felt all fluttery. What the fuck was she doing there? She accepted the mug with a murmur of thanks and took a small sip before she answered. “Nothing super interesting,” she told him with a sheepish little grin. “Hang out with friends when they’re not working ... I help with the church day care sometimes. Drink a bottle of wine and watch Bravo. Go out to the town festivals, that kinda thing.” Roxy chuckled. Sometimes she just sat in her car and listened to music and stalled on going home, pretending she had some different life, but Spence didn’t need to know about that. “So don’t worry, the bar is super low,” she added to tease him.
"That doesn't sound boring to me at all," Spence said, once she had described everything. "Funnily enough, I also enjoy a bottle of wine while watching Real Housewives of.... Atlanta? There seem to be so many of them," he added with a grin. No, he didn't do any of that, but it was still fun to tease her a bit. "No, seriously though, it sounds like you keep y-yourself pretty busy. I'm definitely not going to live up to B-Bravo or festivals, but I'll try." Spence with his stutter and his black coffee. Honestly, there was probably a small possibility he could bore her. "Mom tells me you're living in Seaview now?"
Roxy made a face at him for the tease, but it was an amused one. She could’ve listed off all the Real Housewives shows to him so he could hear how right he was about that, but she resisted the urge. She was so used to Caden rolling his eyes and sighing with annoyance whenever she talked about anything she liked, Roxy had just gotten out of the habit of doing so. Spence’s demeanor was light hearted though, so she didn’t take offense to it at all. “Oh I doubt that,” she told him with a little grin, then nodded. “Yeah, in Seaview, me and Caden have a place ... it’s really close to one of his brothers and Mila Moretti ... do you remember her?” Roxy almost blurted out that she was pregnant, but stopped herself at the last second. Not that Spence would probably tell anyone, but just in case Mila didn’t want the whole world knowing.
Honestly, Spence didn't care what people liked to watch. He had his own guilty pleasures and it wasn't his place to make anyone feel stupid for them. He nodded as she spoke, sipping his coffee that was still a bit too hot, but he didn't mind it. For a moment he had forgotten she had a boyfriend - one she lived with, apparently, which made sense if they had been together for a few years already. It was probably serious. His brows furrowed a bit at the name, before the face surfaced with it. "Oh yeah, Mila. She lived next door to Caden, didn't she? I remember you two were friends in high school. I don't know why I'm always so surprised to hear people were still living here. It doesn't seem like many people ever get away. Or if they do, they somehow make it back, like me. It's kind of weird sometimes."
She nodded as Spence remembered Mila, smiling a bit and trying not to think about Caden, still living in Seaview, still close to Mila, with Roxy right there too. She loved living close to her bestie, of course, it was just awkward to think about the rest of it at the moment. “Yeah, she’s still my best friend,” she told Spence with a smile, sipping on her drink. “I’ve noticed that too though, it definitely seems like a thing with this town.” She herself had never tried to leave. She’d resisted leaving, in fact, when her family moved back to Portland when she was in high school. Now she just daydreamed sometimes about leaving, just driving as far as she could on a tank of gas and starting a new life wherever she landed. They were very private and only-occasional daydreams, so they didn’t worry her. Everybody thought about shit like that, didn’t they? “So what brought you back?” she asked Spence, looking at him curiously.
Spence thought it was actually a good thing to still have the friends she'd made back in school. That kind of loyalty was hard to come by these days. It seemed like a lot of people he knew in high school were still hanging around Point Pleasant. Not that there was anything wrong with that. He was back now too, wasn't he? It had been his choice, sure, but there was a small part of him that had wondered if it had really been his only option. "Ah," he said with a small chuckle, shifting a bit uncomfortably in his chair. Of course Roxy had to ask him that question. The answer was just a bit more complicated than he wanted to try and explain. "It'd be easy enough to just say I was feeling homesick. The truth, as s-simple as I can make it sound is, a relationship ended and I didn't really know if I had anything keeping me in V-Virginia anymore. And I did miss my family, so... here I am. Not that exciting."
Roxy hadn’t been expecting exciting. Most people came back because it was familiar, or their family was there, or because the cost of living was low, or they just liked small-town life, or any other myriad of excuses that this town inspired. A breakup seemed even more valid than most. It also meant that Spence was single -- which Roxy did not care about, she didn’t. Besides being interested in him as a person. A friend. Because that was all they were and could be. “Sounds like a good reason to me,” she said, giving him a sympathetic little smile. “Sorry to hear, though. About the uh ... your breakup.” She took another swallow of macchiato, then went on. “So what are you up to now? Got a job lined up or anything? Just taking some time off?” She had no idea what his money situation was like, if he still got money from the Marines or whatever for getting injured in the line of duty. It crossed her mind to tell him they needed more hands at the bar, but if how her stomach currently felt was any indication, that would’ve been a terrible idea.
Spence smiled faintly and shrugged one shoulder when she sympathized over his break up. It wasn't her fault, of course, but he appreciated the sentiment. He also didn't want to get into the details of it, so he was relieved when she moved on. "Right now I'm just getting settled, spending time with my mom and Greg," he explained, bringing his coffee back up to his lips to take a small sip. "As for a job, I've got a few leads that I'll be acting on this week, but nothing solid yet. I was doing maintenance work in V-Virginia, so I'm kind of hoping to do that here too. I've got enough savings that I'm not stressing about a paycheck yet, but I also get antsy w-when I don't have much to do, so... the sooner I get back to work, the better." Even if the offer had come, there was no way Spence would have wanted to work at Caden's bar. He and Roxy were friends, of course, and that was all, but it would still be strange, for obvious reasons. "This town doesn't seem like it's changed much, so I'm not even sure I need to go around and get acclimated, you know? "
Maintenance work was good honest work. Roxy had always been kind of partial to blue collar men who came home with dirty hands and smelling like just the right amount of sweat. She’d briefly dated a guy over one summer who worked construction, and she’d always wanted to jump him as soon as she saw him after work, because he smelled like sun and sawdust. Roxy tried not to picture Spence with dirty hands. Or at all, because she really didn’t need to be doing that. “Yeah, I can’t just sit around at home either,” she agreed, huffing a soft laugh. “So I don’t blame you. Hope you find something you like. But yeah, the town is pretty much exactly the same. Cold and weird and beautiful. We’ve been through a few different priests here lately, had a few new businesses open up ... there was some fog a couple weeks ago that was apparently like, toxic? It drove some people crazy, caused some fights.” Roxy made a ‘what can you do’ face and shrugged. Spence knew how this town was, weird shit happened there.
Spence cocked a brow and took some of that in, though none of it really surprised him. It was like the rational part of his brain wanted to stay away. Move far and be done with it. But there was just something that tugged him back home, and there he was. Was that homesickness? Something more? Spence had lived in Point Pleasant long enough to know weird things happened. His cousin was forever immortalized as one of those weird things - an urban legend to people who didn't actually live in Point Pleasant, but heard of its stories. "You keeping yourself safe?" Spence asked after a moment, aware that it was a stupid question, because she was sitting there across from him, looking healthy and beautiful, but... he couldn't help it. Bad things happened to people here, and he didn't want Roxy to be one of those people. He'd never had.
It was a much more loaded question than it would have been in most any other place in the world, and Roxy knew that as well as Spence did. She didn’t usually waste energy trying to figure out the whys of the bad things that happened, people far smarter than her had tried and failed over and over again. Roxy just tried to keep her head down and mind her own business and pray a lot. But God, it tugged at her heart that Spence was asking. She gave him a soft smile and nodded. “Trying to, anyway,” she answered. She went to church pretty much every week and prayed for protection, the house had plenty of guns, and she had Caden. Most of the time, at least. Roxy gazed at Spence for another few heartbeats, studying his face. “Are you all right?” she asked quietly. “Like, for real. I heard you got pretty hurt ... over there.”
Spence didn't try to figure out why things happened the way they did.He just accepted that the bad shit was a part of life as much as the good shit. He'd stopped praying a long time ago, and nothing had really changed either way, so he was pretty much okay with it. He just tried to take care of himself and the people he cared about as much as he could. Roxy's question prompted Spence to raise a brow for a moment, a faint smile on his lips as his finger tapped lightly against his coffee cup. There was no bullshitting Roxy. He'd never been able to, and he doubted he could now. "I'm all right," he said finally. "For real. I wasn't for a long time, but I am now. I s-still go to physical therapy, and I'm probably going to be stuttering for the rest of my life, but it could've been worse. I w-was lucky."
There, that was a more honest answer. Roxy did have a pretty good bullshit detector, for most people, at least. She nodded a bit, watching his eyes as he talked. It was so strange how he looked different and so familiar at the same time. “Still sucks, but ... yeah, you were.” There had been another guy they’d gone to school with who had his leg blown off. At least Spence was in one piece. Impulsively, she reached over to cover his hand with hers. “I’m glad you’re back,” she said, a little quickly. Roxy pulled her hand back and gave him a smile that felt stupid on her face. “I mean, I’m glad you’re okay. And here.” It wasn’t a backtrack, more an awkward bit of ramble so he could ignore that first part. “And that you wanted to do this,” she added, gesturing between them. “I hardly talk to anybody from back then anymore, just Mila.”
Yeah, it did still suck. Because he was whole, at least physically, but he still felt broken sometimes, like he had been knocked off his axis ever so slightly and he'd never feel right again. It could be frustrating, and he had his bad moments, but thankfully there weren't many people around to witness them. Spence returned her smile with a small one of his own, and he was proud of himself for not reaching out to grasp her hand before she could pull it away. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable. "I'm glad I'm back too," he said. "Like I said, it's nice to see a friendly, familiar face. I hope we're... f-friends. And that it's not too weird for you." It probably wasn't. Their relationship ended a long time ago, and they were both different people now. Spence had been engaged, and Roxy had a boyfriend she lived with. But Spence was hoping they could be friends, because those seemed to be in short supply at the moment.
It was weird, but probably not in the way Spence meant. After being with Caden for so long and so vehemently exclusively, actually feeling attracted to another man was throwing Roxy off balance. Maybe it was just familiarity flooding back into her or something, but she couldn’t really deny it to herself. Her body didn’t lie to her. She would just have to deal with it. She chuckled faintly and shook her head a little. “It’s not too weird,” she told him. “I was mad at you for a while, back then. Then kinda ... I dunno, butthurt sometimes, to hear you’d swung back through town and didn’t say hello, but I get it. It was all a million years ago anyway, seems like. Water under the bridge. We’re definitely friends.” She couldn’t quite admit that she’d missed him a lot for a long time after their breakup. It didn’t matter anymore. He’d moved on, she’d moved on, now she could just appreciate him as the good guy he was.
Spence nodded, not wanting to protest that she had been upset with him. He couldn't blame her for that. The break up felt necessary, but that didn't mean it hadn't been hard. Getting over Roxy had been difficult. Still, he felt like he should try to explain a bit why he never called her up when he came home to visit, because he didn't want her to think he was purposely avoiding her - even if he had been, on some level. "My days on leave were so far and few in between," he explained, grimacing a bit. "I usually had enough time to see my family before I had to leave again. And honestly, I kind of figured you wouldn't want to see me, and even if you did, it was just..." Spence shrugged softly. "... easier to not see you. I know that sounds shitty of me." Knowing he had to leave would have made seeing her more difficult, because there would have been no option to stay. "But I'm glad we can be friends now. I don't want there to be any hard feelings."
“It doesn’t sound shitty, it sounds normal,” Roxy assured him with another smile. It was crappy at the time, and she had felt like he didn’t want to see her, and all that breakup talk about still caring about her and all had been bullshit. But as she got over it and matured some, Roxy understood. It had probably been for the best, seeing him again back then wouldn’t have been easy. Especially considering how she was feeling seeing him now. “And probably kinder to both of us in the end,” she added, just so he knew she really did get it. “All water under the bridge, like I said.” Roxy smiled at him again, then took another swallow of coffee. She was tempted to say that all of it turned out for the best, but that didn’t ring true in her head, and probably would be mean since Spence had just been through a breakup, so she refrained. “Have you caught up with anybody else yet?” she asked instead.
He really hoped she meant it, that it was water under the bridge. Spence didn't want them to part ways today and then Roxy go out of her way to avoid him because talking to him now had dredged up bad memories or whatever. It had been kinder to both of them to do what he did, of that he was sure. But now it felt like enough time had past that they could see each other again without it being awkward or painful. And it was nice to see her again. More than nice. He drank more of his own coffee, thankful to be pushing past the topic of their past. Sometimes the less that was said, the better, because it could easy escalate into something else. "Uh, no not really," he admitted with a sheepish grin. "I mean, been spendin' most of my time with my family, and trying to make my apartment look livable. I mean, a few friends know I'm home, but I haven't been able to find the time to sit down with them like this yet. But I will. I'm constantly being pushed to be social, supposedly it's good for me or something. I told Greg I was gonna hit up the football game Friday night. Not sure if he'll be playing, with his concussion and all, but I'm going to go anyway. It's been awhile since I've seen a high school game."
She shouldn’t have, but Roxy felt kind of warm inside that Spence had invited her out for a chat before anybody else. She knew he had to still have old friends hanging around town, but he’d wanted to see her first. Like two days after he’d turned up at the bar. It wasn’t something that should’ve pleased her, but it did. “Hey, that’ll be fun,” Roxy said with a brighter smile. “I haven’t been in a long time either, the only kid I know in high school would die before he ever played football. But I hear all about every game from people who turn up at the bar afterward. Not the kids, obviously, they all still go to Moxie’s, seems like, but y’know. People.” The word ‘concussion’ caught up to her and she lifted her eyebrows. “Concuss-- oh! Was Greg in that bus crash? I heard about that. Shit, he’s okay, right?”
Working at a bar, Spence figured Roxy didn't get to a lot of the football games in town. And even if she had the night off, football might not really be her thing. Spence had always loved playing, even if he'd never been good enough to make a career of it. But, he was looking forward to going Friday night, if only for the nostalgia. Spence straightened a bit in his chair and he nodded. "Yeah, Greg's fine. Sounds like those kids were pretty lucky. I saw pictures of the bus and it was pretty jacked. I think they said the truck driver who hit them fell asleep at the wheel. But Greg seems to be doing all right, though. It's just a matter of if a doctor will clear him to play. Either way, I know he's expected to be there, so I want to be there too. Besides, I want to see if they're still selling the watered down hot chocolate at the concession stand," Spence added with a grin.
Roxy was glad that his brother was okay. Greg had always seemed like a hard-headed kid in the literal sense, so she wasn’t surprised to hear he could walk out of a bus crash unscathed, but it was still good news. “I bet you five bucks they still are,” she said with a grin in return. She’d completely forgotten about that until he said it, but that gross only-vaguely-chocolate tasting stuff came right back to her, and Roxy laughed a bit. She’d never loved going to football games even back in high school, sports had never been her thing, but it had been fun to hang out with other barely-interested friends. And to watch Spence play. He’d looked hot in a uniform. Most of the boys did, honestly, all that spandex over cute butts. Roxy pressed her lips together briefly against the suggestion that he should come to the bar afterward. She had to quit wanting to do that. “Have fun anyway though, shitty hot chocolate aside. Seems like the place to be on Friday nights.” She smiled faintly.
"I'll take that bet, though I'm pretty sure I'll be losing it," Spence said with a grin. Plus, it gave him an excuse to come by and see her - if only to give her five dollars. "It's October, though, so it may be watered down hot apple cider. We'll see." A lot of Spence's priorities had changed since high school, but he still loved football. Leaving town to watch a pro game had always been one of his favorite pastimes. Traveling from Maine to New York could be a major pain in the ass though. "Yeah, well, it's Friday night in Point Pleasant. If you're not at the football game, you're up to no good." He chuckled. "You guys ever get a Friday night off? I'm sure the weekend is your busiest time at the bar, but that's got to be a bit of a downer, never having a weekend night to yourself."
Roxy laughed softly at the up to no good part. That had definitely been true back in school. Adult life was a little different, what with having bills to pay and all that shit. “We do sometimes, yeah,” she answered, lifting her mug again for another sip. “We’re kind of short-handed right now, so I haven’t had a full weekend off in a long time, but they try to rotate the schedule to keep it fair. Caden and Gavin are almost always there though, they don’t trust Aaron to do much but clean and tend bar, so they stay busy.” She shrugged a shoulder -- sometimes she hated that Caden spent so many hours away, other times it came as kind of a relief. It depended on how much they were fighting. “Weekends are definitely our money-makers though. I keep telling Caden we need to serve more food, we could draw in more of a lunch crowd, but he doesn’t listen.” She shrugged about that too.
Spence could imagine how tiring it was having to work so much due to being short staffed. He knew nothing about owning a business, so he didn't feel right asking why they didn't hire more people. It could be they couldn't afford it. "That's not a bad idea," Spence told her. "A lot of bars serve food these days. Not a full menu, but like... chicken fingers, fries, sliders..." He trailed off before reaching up to scratch idly at his beard. "Sorry, I realize how ridiculous I sound. I don't know a thing about running a bar. But, from a patron standpoint, it's a good idea. Besides, there're studies that show alcohol makes people hungry. So you give people a couple of beers, they get hungry, order some food, maybe another drink to have with their food, you make more money. Makes sense to me, honestly."
She grinned at him. “Right? Thank you, that’s what I keep saying,” she said, giving an amused roll of her eyes. Okay, so she didn’t harp on the point a lot, she’d just mentioned it to both Caden and Gavin more than once and gotten shot down. “A sports bar is for getting drunk and eating carbs and yelling at big televisions.” They had some simple appetizers and stuff, but drunk people got hungry and wanted beer and pizza and wings and nachos. Especially if they were watching a game. “Oh well. Their bar, their decisions. It would mean hiring more servers anyway.” She didn’t know the ins and outs of the finances of the bar, Caden had snapped at her for prying once or twice. Maybe they couldn’t afford more wait staff. Roxy had always heard you had to spend money to make money, but what did she know?
It was instinctive to want to tell Roxy her opinions and thoughts matter too, that she actually had a pretty good idea and they should recognize it. But while he believed that to be true, Spence understood it might sound bias from him, and he really didn't want to purposely cause any strife between Roxy and her boyfriend. "More servers would mean more time off for you, right?" Spence pointed out before lifting his coffee cup to his lips. That would benefit Roxy as much as the extra money would benefit the brothers who owned that bar. What was life if one had to work every minute during it? And he was also being a little selfish, because if she had more time off, that meant there was a better chance of seeing her out and about, than having to go into that bar where her boyfriend worked just to have a drink he may not even want.
“Yup, sure would,” Roxy confirmed a bit wistfully. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like the money from all this overtime, but having some more downtime would be good too.” Though honestly, she wasn’t sure what she would do with it. Watch more Bravo? Keep the house cleaner? Caden would probably expect the latter, if she wasn’t working as much. It wasn’t like she had any kids to take care of. Except Mila’s incoming little one, whom Roxy was already itching to babysit. “We’ll need to be hiring servers anyway, I think Mila might quit,” she commented, picking up her mug again. Roxy hadn’t gotten the full story on that yet, just that Mila was upset with Gavin for some reason and taking some time off. They really needed to catch up. “Maybe I’ll bring up it up again, see if they want to kill two birds with one stone.” Roxy caught herself and gave a little laugh. “Sorry, boring work talk, right? So how ‘bout that, uh ... sports team.” She grinned at him, teasing.
Spence grinned at her. "Sports is great, but I don't mind the work talk. We're catching up, right? That includes work. Not that I have much to complain about, but maybe eventually. Why is Mila quitting?" Had she mentioned Mila worked at the bar too? Spence couldn't remember, but he couldn't tell if that was just distraction or he was being forgetful again. Either way, he just wanted Roxy to keep talking, because if she didn't, they might fall into silence and she might start to feel awkward and think it's time to leave. He would happily listen to her ramble about the bar the rest of the night if she wanted to.
Roxy kind of wished that she had more to talk about than work, especially since her job was so closely tied into her relationship. This was why people had actual legit hobbies instead of wine and television. He at least gave her a direction to go in by asking about Mila, but Roxy didn’t want to spill too much of that family tea, at the same time. “She’s ah ... well, she just found out she’s pregnant,” she told him. “And waitressing can be hard on you, especially when all your energy feels drained anyway, so ... she might leave, who knows.” There, that sounded plausible without exposing the family bullshit. “I’ll miss her, she the only thing that makes that place bearable sometimes.”
Spence's brows lifted in surprise, though he wasn't shocked. Women got pregnant all the time. "Yeah, I'm sure that's got to be exhausting. But that's great for her, having a kid. Maybe she can find something less physically exhausting until the baby comes, who knows. Or maybe she can just take a break and come back, if she wants to." He shrugged softly, not at all equipped to speak for Mila, or what she may or may not want to do. He barely knew the girl, only through Roxy, and he hadn't spoken to Mila even longer than he'd spoken to Roxy. "You said she lives in Seaview, though, right? So you two will probably still see plenty of each other." Which... was something she probably already knew, but it was instinctual to try and make Roxy feel better when she was obviously bummed about something.
It blew Roxy’s mind a little to hear Spence say it was great for Mila that she was pregnant, mostly because all the other men around her seemed to see it as some huge disaster. Granted, Spence didn’t know it was Aaron’s baby, or why that might even be challenging, but still. It was nice to hear for a change. “Yeah, and you can bet your ass I’m going to spoil the hell out of that kid,” she said with a faint grin. “I wasn’t around the family when Gavin’s kids were really little. I just wanna be Auntie Roxy to somebody.” She adored Amelia, of course, but she was already so grown and mature. Roxy wanted to snuggle a baby and tickle bitty toes and sing it lullabies in Spanish. She really wanted her own, of course, but she wasn’t allowing herself to think about that too much lately. Talking about babies with Spence Wheeler probably wasn’t the smartest, either. “But we’ll see. So what kind of maintenance did you do back in Virginia? Was it like, apartment complexes, or business buildings, or what?”
"That's a good goal to have," Spence said with a grin, thinking of Roxy cuddling a baby or two. He couldn't even imagine being an uncle right now. Probably because Greg was still in high school, but even so, picturing his kid brother with a kid of his own was just... mind blowing. He could only hope that wouldn't happen for several years. He wasn't even going to ask about her own future, parenting plans. That could be an awkward conversation, and he'd been told by Molly once to never ask women when 'they're going to have a kid' because it was rude. He took that to heart and kept his mouth shut. Her question prompted him to laugh a little. "See, I wanted to hear about your work, not talk about mine. It's really boring. I mainly worked in business parks and a few apartment complexes. I did some home maintenance here and there, but not much. Lights, plumbing, that kind of stuff. Got certified and it paid pretty decent. Not sure what else I'd do here, so it's probably best to stick to what I know."
Roxy laughed a little and rolled her eyes. “You say that like slinging beer for drunken idiots is super fascinating,” she pointed out, amused. Spence’s occupation didn’t sound terribly interesting either, but the fact that he could do it was still a technical skill that was good to have. Roxy knew her job could be worse; there were benefits to dating one of the owners, especially when it came to harassment. Nobody tried to grab her ass anymore, and she knew a lot of waitresses didn’t have that luxury. It was just making her feel kind of ... stuck. Directionless. Like she needed a change, something to put her energy into. Like a baby. “You’ll find something,” she said to Spence, leaning her folded arms against the table and smiling at him. “And hey, at least you know you can fix anything that’s wrong with your place, right? Being handy is handy.”
"Slinging beer for d-drunken idiots can be fascinating, if you get the right drunken idiot," Spence pointed out with a grin. He was pretty sure he'd never want to work in a bar, or anywhere that required a lot of talking. Maybe before he joined the Marines, sure, but now, the idea of having to socialize was a difficult one. Unless he knew the person well, like Roxy, but even now it caused him a bit of anxiety, mostly because of the stutter. Not that she'd pointed it out or anything. He rubbed his thumb against his coffee cup and the Joyland logo, still grinning at Roxy. "Yeah, it's handy being handy. And if I ever start my own business, I'm usin' that as my motto. I'll give you two percent for it," Spence teased. "But yeah, I'll find something. I'm not worried about it yet. Keep me in mind if something goes to s-shit at the bar."
If ‘right’ drunken idiots actually existed, Roxy was pretty sure she’d never met one. Mostly they just wanted to wolf whistle as she walked by and get pissy about their teams losing and general bullshit like that. But men being dumbasses wasn’t something Roxy wanted to dive into with such a pleasant one sitting right across the table from her. He was smiling a lot, which was currently much more noticeable to her than the stutter, and he was actually listening to her and seemed engaged and just ... it made something in her chest feel kind of wistful. That was probably a sign that she ought to wrap this up and go home, but Roxy really didn’t want to. “I’ll take three percent,” she joked back, grinning and winking at him. “But I will. Our air conditioner gets fucky sometimes, but the season for that’s about over, so. I’m sure it’ll just get ignored until spring at least.” She finished off what was in her mug and rolled it idly between her hands. “So uh ... got any other plans for the day?”
Spence sucked in a sharp breath and squinted thoughtfully. "Damn, didn't know you were a negotiator," he said. "I'll do two and a half percent, but that's as high as I go." He was decent with air conditioners, as long as the problem wasn't too complex. But that was when he referred people to an expert, and hopefully Spence could make a few contacts here in Point Pleasant like had in Virginia. He had no idea how willing Caden would be about Roxy having an ex-boyfriend tinkering around in the bar, but the offer was there regardless. His brows raised at her question and he pulled out his phone to check the time. He hadn't really been thinking about anything else since Roxy sat down. "Goin' to visit my m-mom soon. She's got some kitchen stuff for me to take h-home. Probably check on Greg too, make sure he's feeling all right. What about you?"
Roxy felt equal stabs of relief and disappointment that he had stuff to do. It wasn’t like she needed to go traipsing around in public with Spence Wheeler, not with how people in this town liked to talk. And how many of them knew the two of them used to date. She didn’t really want to part company though, pretty certain that they probably wouldn’t do this again. Hanging out with people as an adult seemed to be much harder than it was before. Spence would get a job, get busy, get a girlfriend ... they might say hi in the grocery store if they crossed paths, but she doubted he would keep in much better touch than that. Still, it had been nice to sit and chat with him for a while. The idea of leaving was just kind of bittersweet. “Well tell them I said hi,” she told him with a little smile. “Greg probably doesn’t remember me, but tell him anyway. I’m kinda plan-less ... probably just gonna head home and do some cleaning and stuff.”
Spence wasn't terribly concerned about parting ways with Roxy. He hadn't been lying when he told her it was nice to see a friendly face, and to be friends. It was a small town, and as long as Roxy was willing, Spence would likely call, or text, her up again for coffee, or... whatever. He knew there were boundaries, since she was in a relationship, and he needed to be careful not to overstep them. "I'll definitely tell them you said hi. I'm going to bet Greg does remember you, even if he was younger." Spence raised his brows and picked up his cup, though he didn't take a drink yet. "You're going to go home and clean on your day off? When there's wine and Bravo to be ingested?"
Roxy hoped Greg did remember, silly as that might be. She’d had fun playing with him when he was a kid and she and Spence were dating. He’d been super rambunctious but sweet at the same time. Being the youngest, she’d never gotten to play with baby siblings, and it was nice. It was crazy to think how big they got, so quickly. Roxy gave a soft laugh at his question. “Oh believe me, wine and Bravo in the background happen a lot when I’m cleaning. That, or music. But definitely the wine.” That was, unless Caden was home, he didn’t like her blaring anything, but that was what headphones and Spotify were for. “Sober chores are boring as fuck. Just as a pro-tip. Though I guess you probably did plenty of them in the Marines. Scrubbing the floors with toothbrushes and all.” She grinned at him.
Spence laughed softly. "You know, I've seen that happen in basic training, but I never had to do it. Generally punishments were much worse. I do agree that sober chores are the worst, and I've never tried drunken chores before. I may have to try it sometime, though I fear I'll just make the mess worse instead of getting it clean. You can come over and show me how it's done sometime." Spence had actually carried on the desire to keep things meticulously clean since leaving the Marines. He couldn't stand living in a mess now, even a small one. It was just second nature to him, but they were teasing each other, so it didn't really matter.
He hadn’t said it in any suggestive way, just rolling with the teasing that was happening, but the words sent a little quiver through Roxy’s stomach anyway. It had been years and years since she and Spence had had sex, of course, but there was something familiar about that warmth. She’d always enjoyed sleeping with him, though she knew her tastes and standards had changed a lot since she’d been a teenager. Still, some fond memories bubbled up in her mind. “The trick is to get to just the right amount of drunk,” she explained, doing her best to ignore the heat in her cheeks to carry on bantering. “Enough of a buzz to enjoy yourself, but not so much that you’re sloppy. It’s a delicate balance.”
"I may have to practice then," Spence said. "Because I'm either buzzed enough to want to have fun, but not clean, or I'm straight up sloppy. There's usually no in between." He was kidding, of course, but it was easier to just roll with it and have a light hearted conversation. His coffee was nearly finished, and was only lukewarm now, so he set the cup back on the table. "You should go home and just relax and enjoy your day off, especially if you haven't been getting many of them. No cleaning." It was just a suggestion, anyway. From what she had said, it sounded like maybe she could use some downtime, even from household chores - wine or no wine.
Roxy gave a light laugh, definitely not thinking about getting drunk with Spence, most certainly not? Sweet Jesus, what was wrong with her? She needed to pray about this internal mess. “Yes, boss,” she teased Spence with a grin. Roxy knew she would clean, if only because it would be distracting ... and it would at least keep Caden from falling into a worse mood when he came home. She didn’t need to give him more reasons to bitch on top of whatever else he already had. Because it was always something. “Hope you enjoy yours too, though. Hanging out with the fam and all that.” Ugh, she sounded like an idiot, didn’t she? Since they seemed to be wrapping up, Roxy twisted to pull her purse off the chair and back onto her shoulder.
"Not as fun as buzzy cleaning, but what can you do," Spence said with a small smile. Since it seemed like she was getting ready to go, Spence pushed his chair back, wanting to walk her out. "Thanks for coming out to see me," he said as he stood. "It was nice to catch up a bit. Hopefully we can do it again." Spence really didn't want to piss off her boyfriend, or create any problems there, so it felt like the ball was in Roxy's court at the moment. He was hoping she would want to hang out again, but Spence felt a bit awkward asking.
It felt so bizarre to be thanked for her presence, Roxy almost laughed. It wasn’t a bad feeling at all. She smiled brightly instead. “Oh we totally will,” she said, even if she thought they might not. Not that she didn’t want to, but that was just how it went with things like this. ‘Let’s hang out again soon!’ turned into ‘oh hi, it’s been so long! Let’s have lunch soon!’ and so on until one person died. She did want to see Spence again though, so she would act like it. Roxy stood too and walked out of Joyland with him, since he was leaving too. Once they were officially in the parking lot, she turned to smile at Spence again. “Take care, okay? And text me whenever.” She moved to give him a hug, because that was totally what you did with friends.
Spence understood how difficult it could be to make plans with people, especially people he barely knew anymore. But it was a small town and Spence felt a bit alone, despite having his family nearby. It was probably a bit embarrassing, but he would likely be shameless when it came to reaching out to people he legitimately wanted to see. Including Roxy. "Yeah, I will," he promised, smiling when she leaned in to hug him. Spence lingered with his arms around her for a moment before finally letting go. "You take care too. And you know... text me whenever." He knew he sounded lame but Spence hated goodbyes. They were always a bit awkward for him.
Roxy closed her eyes while they embraced, trying not to enjoy it too much and failing. Spence was definitely thicker than he used to be, firm and good smelling. She didn’t mind a bit of an extended hug in the slightest. It just could never happen around Caden. Not that there would likely be an opportunity for that, but whatever. “I will,” she promised once they’d parted, giving him another smile. She probably shouldn’t, but ... who knew. Roxy would just have to be careful, if she did. Managing Caden’s emotions was such an integral part of her life now, she didn’t even question thinking so much about him in relation to how she dealt with other people. Roxy wasn’t sure how to say goodbye either, so she started backing up toward her car, giving Spence a little wave -- ugh, dork -- and a “see ya” before she turned to really go.
He wasn't sure if he would or not, but he hoped she did. Friends was better than nothing, especially in a town like Point Pleasant. Spence grinned and returned her small wave with one of his own before he watched her turn away to head back to her car. Waiting just a moment longer, he turned to climb into his truck and get on with the rest of his day. At least he was in a much better mood now than he'd been when it started.