Roxy Muñoz (sticksandrox) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2020-05-05 12:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | #january 2018, mila, mila x roxy, roxy |
Who: Mila and Roxy
When: Mid-morning, Sunday, January 21
Where: Word of the Redeemer Fellowship, car, Joyland
Status: complete
It had been a while since Mila had gone to church. Even before the tunnel, Mila had been questioning her faith, though she had kept that mostly to herself. After… well, she hadn’t really felt the urge to listen to scripture, especially now that she didn’t believe anymore. But Roxy had asked her to go and Mila wanted to spend some time with her best friend, so it didn’t seem like a chore to get dressed up a little and sit for a service.
It was easy enough to zone out during the actual service, ignoring the fact that she felt like everyone was looking at her. They weren’t, of course, but she couldn’t help but feel that prickle of anxiety that everyone knew what she had done to Aaron. There’s the woman that tried to kill her boyfriend. It was probably stupid, but it made her uneasy and when the service finally ended Mila relaxed and exhaled softly, as if she had been holding her breath for the past hour.
Despite how she had been feeling, Mila smiled at Roxy as people began to stand and gather their things. The place felt a bit subdued, but it was winter in Maine, so that wasn’t terribly surprising to Mila. “What did you think?” It could be that Roxy had been coming here for a while now, ever since St. Dismas burned down, but she knew how Catholics could be about their church services, having been raised Catholic herself.
Roxy wasn’t going to church every Sunday anymore, but sometimes she just got the urge. She missed St. Dismas and Father Dean and the stained glass window and going to confession. With as conflicted as she’d felt for the past couple of months, it felt worse now that the church was gone. She’d driven to Bangor for a few services, but she didn’t always have that kind of time on Sundays. So she’d given the Protestant church -- the only other one in Point Pleasant -- a try, and it hadn’t been so bad. There was no confession, but they’d done one communion at least, and that was a small comfort.
Having Mila with her made it feel more real somehow, and Roxy felt a bit uplifted as the service ended and everyone was getting ready to leave. She stood up and slipped her coat on, giving Mila a smile in return. “It’s different,” she answered, but that went without saying. “But I’ve been here a few times now and it’s not bad. He’s a good speaker.” Her eyes ticked to the preacher at the front of the room, shaking hands with people. Roxy hadn’t spoken to him much, but he was all right. “I miss St. Dismas though. But it is what it is.” She hooked her arm through Mila’s to stroll with her to the exit. “Want to get some coffee?”
The preacher had been a good speaker, even if Mila hadn't been all that caught up in what he was preaching. He was handsome too, and younger than she would have thought, especially with an adopted daughter. But he seemed to have more than a few people enraptured, and Mila supposed that was the point. She wondered if Aaron would like coming here. Maybe next time she would suggest Roxy take him instead. Not that she didn't want to spend time with Roxy herself, but she would rather be somewhere comfortable. "I definitely want to get some coffee," Mila said, squeezing Roxy's arm with her own. "Do you think they'll ever rebuild St. Dismas? It's hard to imagine Point Pleasant staying a one church kind of town, especially with how many Catholics live here."
“I sure hope so,” Roxy said with a sigh. She missed feeling at home in church, missed being there with her friends, especially back before everything had happened to poor Mila. Roxy thought wanting to turn back time was part of being human, but fuck, if anybody deserved it, it was them. “I’ve heard mention of some fund raising efforts by the diocese, but I haven’t really had time to keep up with it, or a lot of money to give.” She hated to think it, but part of her thought the Catholic church was gone for good in Point Pleasant. The town didn’t want God in it, obviously, and it would keep Him out. That was really how it felt, anyway. She didn’t want to mentally dwell there though, she wanted to enjoy time with her best friend. Roxy let them into her car once they’d reached it and started toward Joyland. “So how are you doing?” she asked, glancing over at Mila. “Are your parents driving you crazy?”
Deep down Mila didn't think the church would ever be rebuilt either. Sometimes she thought she would wake up one day and drive by and there would be a new restaurant or house being built on the land. Who wouldn't want the appeal of an ancient graveyard right in front of their dwelling? But while Roxy thought the town didn't want God in it, Mila was of the mind that God had never been there in the first place. The churches were just a glamour to hide all of the evil until people settled and got stuck for good. Those thoughts didn't depress her the way they might have in the past. Looking over at her friend, Mila managed a small smile. "I'm doing okay. Mom and dad were driving me crazy for a while, but they've sort of let up a bit. I don't know, mom's been sleeping a lot lately and dad sort of zones out in front of the television now when he gets home from work. I'm worried they're getting sick, especially since my mom would probably just try to pray the flu away instead of going to her doctor." Sometimes she thought that taking care of her, and worrying, had exhausted her parents. "I'm ready to move out, but now I'm kind of scared to leave them alone. Is that weird?"
Roxy frowned thoughtfully and shook her head. “Not weird at all,” she said. “You want to take care of them, they’re your parents.” She didn’t personally have that kind of relationship with her own parents, but Roxy knew that others did. And the Morettis had been taking care of Mila for a while now when she needed it, it seemed natural for her to turn that love back on them. The specifics of what Mila said tugged at something in the back of Roxy’s mind however. “It must be something going around,” she said, glancing over. “Gavin’s been looking more run down than usual too. And Caden said Amelia’s sick. That’s all we need this year, a bad flu season.” Roxy sighed and shook her head, then shot a faint smile at Mila. “I’m sure you can convince them to see a doctor though. Maybe it’s just stress and age mixed with the winter blues, you know? Hopefully nothing.”
Mila frowned, though it was perfectly normal for people to feel tired and ill this time of year. But given everything that happened in this town, Mila's mind automatically wandered to something else going on. Something worse. But she knew she would drive herself crazy thinking that way, so she forced it from her mind. Not everything had to be sinister. "If they don't start feeling better in a couple of days, I might do that. I was raised Catholic so I know all about piling on the guilt to get my way." Mila smiled, but hoped it wouldn't come to that. Maybe by the time she got home her mother would be up and cooking some big Sunday dinner. Mila could invite Aaron over and everything would feel normal-ish again. "How are you doing? How are things with Caden?" It seemed like she could get a different answer every time she asked that question, but Mila wanted to make sure things weren't in the shitter between those two again.
Roxy chuckled -- she’d been taught to be a master of the guilt trip too, but her own mother was the queen of guilt trips. “Nobody’s better at it than Hispanic and Italian mothers, so we were both taught by the best,” she said. The question about Caden made her sigh a little, even though she’d expected it. “I’m okay,” Roxy started, though it sounded on the crappier side of ‘okay.’ “I don’t even know, with Caden. I feel like I’ve hardly seen him in the past couple weeks. He’s been moody and working all the time.” She shrugged a shoulder. It was annoying to have to deal with his attitude sometimes, but they’d more or less been leaving each other alone. Roxy wasn’t even sure anymore if that was a good or bad thing.
Mila had been friends with Roxy long enough to recognize what I'm okay in that tone meant she wasn't okay. But that seemed to be the norm for Roxy, at least when she was with Caden. The urge to ask her friend why she was still in that relationship was strong, but they'd had this conversation so many times. There had been a spark of hope that Roxy would come to her senses when Spence Wheeler moved back to town, but now Roxy had a ring on her finger and Mila couldn't help but wonder if that was because Roxy truly loved Caden, or she just wanted the ring. Finally. "When is Caden not moody?" Mila asked instead, trying to keep her voice light. "Maybe things will get a bit better for you both when Aaron moves out. I'm sure having a third person there hasn't made it easy for you two to connect."
She tended to count herself as ‘okay’ when things weren’t actively bad with Caden. And Roxy’s sense of what was bad was likely skewed. They hadn’t gotten violent with each other in quite a while, so what did she have to complain about? He’d always been emotionally distant to some extent, and this just seemed like a normal period of him pulling further away to brood over something. Roxy knew that trying to prod him into talking to her would just piss him off, so why risk it? Sure, it was lonely for her, but ... she was used to that, right? She huffed a soft laugh, because Mila was right, he was moody all the time. But she could be that way too, so maybe they just deserved each other. “Aaron’s been much more tolerable lately,” she said, glancing over at Mila with a little smile. “So thanks for that. But maybe. We’ll see. I’ll just be so glad to see you guys move back in together and be happy. This family could use some of that.How are things going for you guys?”
The difficulty of being Roxy's friend was that Mila constantly wanted to try and show her how much better her life could be without Caden. But she couldn't force Roxy to do anything she didn't want to do. And maybe things were a bit more complicated now because Mila was dating Aaron. It was still frustrating, because Mila loved Roxy and she wanted her to be happy, not just existing. Mila chewed on her lower lip for a moment before smiling. "Things are going good. He's learned to walk lightly so he can stay the night and sneak out without my parents ever knowing." Something she still found to be pretty amusing, though sweet. "I think we're both ready to have a place of our own again, though. I'm still not sure if we're going to get an apartment or something bigger. I'm making pretty decent money now..." Mila trailed off. "I'm just trying to focus on normal things, but nothing really feels normal. Do you know what I mean?"
Roxy laughed a little at the mental image of big Aaron sneaking through the house like a teenager. She couldn’t blame him though -- she wouldn’t want to face Mila’s parents as a surprise breakfast guest either, but he and Mila needed that time together to reconnect. She wished the Morettis were a bit more open minded about that, but some things just wouldn’t ever happen. The rest of what Mila said was more serious though, and Roxy’s smile faded as she glanced over. “I do, a little,” she told her. “Probably not the same way you feel it, but yeah.” Roxy could only imagine what the landscape of Mila’s mind was like now, how strange or unnecessary everything must seem. She’d been acting more like herself lately, but that didn’t mean everything was okay upstairs with her. “How does it feel, if not normal? If you don’t mind talking about it.”
Mila hesitated, because she never really felt like she could be completely honest with anyone asking her that question. Not even the therapist the hospital had assigned her. She worried if she told them the truth, they would try to commit her. Telling her family, or even Aaron, was like burdening them with more worry and helplessness and Mila had already put them through enough. But Roxy was her best friend and maybe she would listen and understand instead of trying to fix it all. "It feels like... we're all kind of living our lives like most people are, but it's just sort of... hiding what's underneath." Mila licked her lips and spared a glance at Roxy, not really sure if she was explaining herself right. "I know it sounds morbid and scary, Rox, but it feels like this town is always ready to devour someone, and we know it happens but we pretend it doesn't, because if we... accepted it, I think we'd all go mad."
It was a chilling thing to hear, but some instinct deep in Roxy knew it was true. She thought most people who’d lived here a long time knew it too. They were the sorts of thoughts that she sometimes had as she was falling asleep, the drifting vague kind that made her heart trip up for a second before she dropped off. But Mila had been right in the middle of the part that wanted to devour, hadn’t she? Even though Roxy didn’t know many details about what happened, she felt like she knew enough to be sure Mila had some insight that no one else had. She licked her lips and sucked one into her mouth to nibble on, absently tasting her tinted lip balm. “Morbid and scary, maybe, but ... I dunno, it feels right, too,” she murmured. It was undeniable that a higher rate of terrible things happened in Point Pleasant, and Roxy had wondered more than once if the Lucas family wouldn’t be such a mess if they had grown up somewhere else. “I know what you mean. And I’m sure it’s even harder for you to deal with, after ... what happened.”
Mila often wondered if any of them would have been better off if they'd grown up elsewhere. She thought about Adrian and how he might be living a semi-normal life right now if he hadn't been born in Point Pleasant. It wasn't just Adrian... it was everyone. Even the ones who feigned ignorance. She shifted in the seat and clutched her hands together in her lap as they neared Joyland. "I don't know if it's harder. Maybe it's easier. Because I know what's underneath all of this. A lot of people might sense it, but they don't know for sure. I'm not trying to bring you down," she added quickly. "I guess a part of me wants to tell you everything. And my parents, and Aaron. I want everyone to know, so they'll be safe. But at the same time, I just want everyone to be happy too, and I don't know how possible that is sometimes."
“Is safe even an option, really?” Roxy asked, though she wasn’t sure if it was a question she wanted answered. None of them seemed to be safe. Bad things had even happened to the most innocent among them. She pulled into Joyland’s parking lot and slid into a spot, but didn’t turn off the engine yet, turning to look at Mila. “You’re not bringing me down,” she told her, reaching for Mila’s clenched hands to give them a soft squeeze. “And if you want to tell me everything, you know I’ll listen. I’ve wanted to ask you so many times.” Roxy didn’t know if knowing the truth would change anything -- she was pretty unhappy anyway, and there was a part of her that really wanted to know -- but she didn’t want to make Mila talk about anything she didn’t want to. “Hoenstly I don’t know why we don’t all pick up and move, for fuck’s sake,” she murmured.
Mila brought one hand up to cover Roxy's, her smile faint, but appreciative. "I know you'd listen. I've tried to compartmentalize some of it. I'm afraid if I talk about it, it'll paralyze me. But then I think if I say it all out loud I'd be able to accept it and move on. But I don't know. I think I'm just scared. I'm pretty sure everyone in my life has wanted to ask. My mom has... a lot... I know she couldn't handle it, though. Neither could my dad. I don't know if Aaron would be able to deal with it." Mila exhaled slowly and then looked out the window toward the coffee shop. "Maybe someday. Right now I just want to get some coffee. But it means a lot to me that you would listen, Roxy." A soft, humorless chuckle escaped her. "We could move, but we'd come back. Have you noticed that? How many people away, or leave for school or jobs but they always come back."
Roxy could see how parents couldn’t handle knowing how their child had suffered. A lover too, though she thought Aaron was particularly soft, especially at the moment. He’d been through his own kind of hell, and considering they’d just gotten him to stop overdoing it on the pain pills, he probably needed some mental peace for a little while. Roxy thought she would be able to handle it, though. She could imagine all kinds of horrible shit. It would hurt to hear, sure, and would probably give her nightmares, but it would be worth it to share the burden a little. “Yeah, I have,” she answered with a soft sigh. Roxy then pulled up a smile and squeezed Mila’s hand again before letting go and reaching for the door. If Mila didn’t want to talk about any of it right then -- and Roxy couldn’t blame her -- then they should let it drop. “C’mon, I need some damn caffeine too.”
Mila worried about Aaron more than anything. Aaron and Adrian both, actually. Knowing what they had done to release her from the tunnel still scared her. And Aaron was still recovering from what she had done to him, physically and she didn't doubt mentally as well. Piling all of her own trauma on top of him felt selfish and unwise. She followed Roxy from the car into Joyland. After ordering, Mila turned to Roxy and smiled. There was a need to talk about something else, and while Mila wasn't thrilled with the topic, it was still an important one. "So... have you started making any wedding plans? Did you guys set a date yet?" Knowing Caden, that answer was no. But she had been surprised to hear that he actually proposed, so who knew, maybe plans were actually underway.
Being engaged felt so unreal, in spite of the constant presence of a ring on her finger. It just hadn’t sunk in yet, possibly because they weren’t making any plans. It had also taken forever to happen, something she had to cajole Caden into, and he’d been so apathetic about it since the proposal ... Roxy didn’t feel like a fiancée. Her brows lifted slightly at Mila’s question, though it was a totally normal thing to ask an engaged woman. For some reason, the first thought that crossed her mind was Spence’s face when he spotted the ring at the grocery store. “Oh, uh ... no, not yet,” she said, giving Mila an awkward, brief smile. “I’m thinking about this coming fall, but we haven’t really talked about it yet.” Roxy already knew how that would likely sound to Mila; she was very aware of her best friend’s stance on Caden. “We’ll probably start planning when spring comes.”
Mila's brows lifted in surprise. "Fall. Wow, that's so soon. But fall weddings here would be really beautiful. If you want any help planning, you know I'm here for you." She sort of doubted Caden would be a very active participant in all of the planning and Mila had a feeling Roxy might get overwhelmed if she ended up alone with all of those preparations. It might be something fun for them to do, at least. Distraction, distraction, distraction. "Have you told your family?" They weren't close, but getting engaged was big news, especially for Roxy and Caden.
Maybe nine-ish months was a quick period to plan a wedding for most women, and it would’ve been for Roxy too if she wasn’t marrying Caden Lucas, she felt sure. He wouldn’t want to help plan, but she knew he would be unhappy with something big and too full of ‘wedding stuff.’ She had no doubt they would end up with a simple ceremony with only family and close friends there, and a low key reception. And that would be the compromise. Otherwise they would just get married at the courthouse, like Caden truly wanted. “Thanks, I appreciate it,” she told Mila with a smile that was a little sad around the edges. “I told my mom, yeah. I’m sure it’s trickled down to the rest of the family by now.” She’d gotten a text of congratulations from one of her brothers, and Roxy still wasn’t sure if it had been sarcastic or not. She hadn’t heard from anyone else though. “They don’t give a shit. I’d be surprised if any of them showed up.” Her tone was mild and resigned.
Mila reached out to put her arm around Roxy, hugging her gently as they waited for their coffees. Then she drew back and slipped her hands into her coat pockets. "Please don't take this the wrong way, Roxy, but... weddings are supposed to be happy occasions. You don't look or sound happy." She didn't know if that was because of Caden, her family, or Roxy's own feelings. Maybe a combination of all three. Mila knew when she and Aaron started talking seriously about getting married it wasn't likely that she would be able to stop smiling.
Roxy hated anything that started with ‘don’t take this the wrong way.’ She’d heard it too many times in her life. Possibly her own fault, because she did take a lot of things the wrong way, but it always felt justified at the time. She sighed softly out of her nose at Mila’s words, her lips pressing more tightly together for a moment. Maybe she didn’t want to hear it, but she couldn’t really deny it. “I don’t really know how to feel right now,” she admitted after a beat, glancing over at Mila. “It still doesn’t feel real. Like ... he just wanted to placate me or something, I dunno.” The barista brought their coffees to the counter and Roxy moved to take them, handing Mila’s off to her so they could find somewhere to sit.
Mila had prodded Roxy about her relationship with Caden in the past, and it hadn't always been a productive conversation. Roxy could get defensive sometimes, but Mila hoped she knew Mila's concerns came from a good place. She took her coffee from Roxy and waited until they had found a table before speaking again. "I don't know Caden Lucas to ever placate anyone," Mila said with a soft huff of amusement. "But you know him better than I do. I just really want you to be happy, Roxy." If Caden made her happy, then fine. Mila couldn't tell her how to feel. But she could be her friend and an earpiece if Roxy wanted it.
She slipped out of her purse and coat and hung them on the back of the chair before settling into it, her eyes mostly on her coffee. It was a valid enough point about Caden -- he definitely wasn’t a people-pleaser. But Roxy wasn’t people, she was his woman, and it definitely felt like something had shifted after she’d told him she wanted to leave him, however slightly. She still didn’t know if it was enough, but she’d taken the ring, and they hadn’t really been fighting lately, so ... didn’t that mean something? “I know you do,” she said to Mila, because that was important. She gave her a faint smile. “I just don’t know if that’s ... even really possible for me. And I’ve put so much time and energy in already ...” Roxy sighed, aware of how that sounded. “I love him, I do. And he loves me as much as he can, I think. At this point, it’s just either do this and get married, or break up and lose everything, you know? My job, my place to live, the only family that really speaks to me, fucked up as they are, the kind of sex I like ... I don’t know.” She shook her head and took a sip from her cup, then added a quiet, “My safety, maybe. You know how he gets.”
"It is possible," Mila protested, trying to keep the intensity from her tone. "It seems like you're getting married because you're afraid of what life looks like without Caden. It sounds scary, but it could also be really great, you know?" Mila nearly brought up Spence, but she thought that might be pushing it too far. "I'm always here for you. And if you ever decided you wanted to be on your own, I would help you with anything you needed." Caden might make it difficult, but he might not. Mila knew he could be violent, but she had seen him be completely apathetic too. She didn't want to suggest he might not care if Roxy decided to leave, but it was a possibility, wasn't it? Smiling faintly, Mila reached over to touch Roxy's hand gently. "I sound pushy, I know. I'm sorry. I just want you to know being happy is still possible, and you deserve it."
Roxy appreciated what Mila was saying, but she wasn’t sure that she would even be able to stay in Point Pleasant if she and Caden broke up. His presence was so huge and looming in her mind, could she just get another job and an apartment and have some peaceful life here? As peaceful as anyone’s life was, anyway. She was pretty sure she’d completely blown any chance she’d had with Spence -- and she didn’t blame him for that -- and who else would want her? Too many other men in this town knew Caden Lucas. The possibility that Caden wouldn’t care had also crossed Roxy’s mind, but somehow that hurt even more than thinking he might put her in the hospital for leaving him. At least when they were fighting she knew he cared on some level, but he had been distant and apathetic lately ... “I appreciate it,” she said, briefly covering Mila’s hand with her own. “You don’t sound pushy, I just know you care. I dunno if I agree about deserving it, but it’s nice to hear. And I don’t want to whine, because things haven’t been bad lately, he’s just ... quiet and distant. More than usual. He won’t talk about why. Maybe he’s getting cold feet too, who the hell knows.”
"You not knowing if you deserve happiness is Caden talking," Mila said simply. She pulled her hand back and took a sip of her coffee, mostly to shut her mouth for a brief moment. But she shook her head and licked her lip of the chocolate flavor. "You're not whining, Roxy. I know you can't really voice these things to him, so you know I'm here to listen. You guys just got engaged, so if he's getting cold feet then he can... well, I won't say it." She cleared her throat and then smiled faintly. "There might be more going on too. Maybe he doesn't want to worry you with it. I could check with Aaron, see if he knows anything." It wasn't like Caden was open with his brothers, but maybe he mentioned something, or Aaron saw something. Mila didn't think it would occur to Aaron to tell her if he had.
Roxy huffed faintly, very able to guess what Mila wouldn’t say. She knew Caden was an asshole, maybe better than anybody else. But sometimes Roxy liked that about him. She didn’t think she could be with somebody like Aaron, who seemed to be so sweet all the time. Roxy needed to be challenged sometimes, pushed, maybe even fought with ... she just needed the other side of that coin too. Intimacy, along with the passion. Caden was good at fighting, but he so often fell short on the rest of it. It seemed like an impossible ask to try and find that with someone else. “Yeah, maybe,” she murmured, taking another swallow from her coffee. “Thanks Mila. Let me know if he knows anything. I’m just ... not sure what to do at this point, so that’s probably why I’m not planning yet. And I know if I don’t plan it, we’ll just be engaged forever, so maybe that’s ... comfortable, right now.”
Mila nodded. She knew how different the Lucas brothers were. As far as Mila had observed, Caden was temperamental and emotionally closed off. Aaron was sweet and seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve. Gavin, well, he was there. It was like they all got thrown to one side of the emotional spectrum or the other. Maybe Gavin was somewhere in between but he never spoke enough for Mila to know for sure. A part of Mila wanted to tell Roxy she didn't need a man in her life to be happy. Not Caden, or Spence. But maybe that was a conversation for another day. "If you're comfortable with that, then I'm comfortable with it too. I just don't want you to be stuck, you know?" If she hadn't been with Aaron, or they had no plans to move in together, then Mila would have been begging Roxy to be her roommate. She still wanted Roxy to know she had options though.
Even if Roxy couldn’t personally be with him, she knew that Mila had gotten the best Lucas brother of the bunch, as far as a boyfriend went. And that made her happy, because Mila deserved that. Especially now. Roxy didn’t even want to imagine how Caden would be treating her if she’d been through what Mila had. He probably would’ve disappeared on her already. “I know,” Roxy said, dredging up another small smile. “And I love you for it.” She was stuck, and both of them knew it, more or less. Roxy just wasn’t ready to pull the plug yet. Besides all the reasons she’d listed, there was a small part of her that still held out hope that things would get better. That Caden would open up, even slowly, and they could really be together. She gave her head a little shake as if to shake off the topic. “Onto a more fun subject ... what’s it like to work for Anthony D’Onofrio?” she asked, smiling a bit easier.
Mila could only be there for Roxy, good times or bad. She knew Roxy still hoped that Caden would pull through and be the man she wanted him to be but... the two had been together for what, five years? At what point is someone just a lost cause? A dark part of her wanted to go to Caden, maybe threaten him a little, or try to scare him. But Mila knew that wasn't in her blood, no matter what kind of horrible things had happened to her. But Roxy was ready to move on from the topic, so Mila sipped her coffee again and felt herself smile. "It's been interesting, to say the least. He hasn't been in the office much lately... working from home, I guess? He's actually been really great to me." Her first paycheck had nearly made her choke. Mila knew enough to know he was overpaying her, but she figured that was because he knew there was something about her he could use. She was trying not to think too much about that. "He's much easier to work with than his son, Caius. But they're starting to plan some of the summer events on the harbor, and it's kind of fun to be a part of that."
Roxy only knew the D’Onofrios in a peripheral way, as their paths rarely crossed. But people talked about them enough that they seemed like characters to her, like people in a soap opera. She found them interesting in the same way, as she suspected a lot of people did. She’d been kind of intrigued to hear that Mila was going to work for them, but happy for her friend. They employed a lot of people in town, and Mila deserved to have a steady source of better income than waitressing could provide. “Yeah, I’ve heard Caius is a real dick,” she said, wrinkling her nose a bit. “Glad to hear Anthony’s been nice, at least. I hope it keeps working out, honey, it sounds like a good gig. And I know Aaron is way better arm candy? But I’m reserving my spot as your plus-one to at least one fancy party, okay?” She grinned and lifted her cup again. Getting all dolled up with her best friend to go rub elbows with Overlook assholes sounded like fun to her.
Caius could be a bit cold and short with people, but Mila tried not to take it personally. She did what she was asked of her though. The paycheck made some of the more stressful days worth it. Mila wrapped her hands around her coffee cup and grinned. "You're gorgeous eye-candy too, so you will definitely be my date if I ever have to go to some fancy schmancy party." She had no idea what kind of parties they would even have, but it was fun to think about. A nice distraction from all of the darker thoughts. "Do you work today?" she asked, sipping her coffee again. Maybe they could catch a movie or go shopping or something. Mila thought of trying to find some flowers to bring home to her mom. Maybe that would cheer her up a bit.
Roxy grinned back at the compliment and fluffed her hair with fake vanity, then laughed a bit. She could be gorgeous with some preparation, and for some reason the idea if dressing up and leaving Caden behind for an evening out with Mila was appealing to her. She knew that it was always difficult and not a great idea to try and make him jealous, but part of her still liked it when it did happen. Maybe she was just as fucked up as he was, who knew. “Nope, I am free and clear today,” she said to Mila, giving her another smile after taking another swallow of coffee. “You want to do something?” Roxy never minded getting away from town for a while for a shopping trip or to go to a restaurant she hadn’t been to ten million times, or just to breathe different air.
Aaron was working so Mila had most of the day to herself too. That was also a benefit of working for the D'Onofrio's. Having the weekends off. "I was thinking maybe going to a movie, or shopping. Or both. We don't even have to stay in town, if we want some more variety. We could go to the mall, or those outlet stores?" Maybe getting out of Point Pleasant for the day would do them both some good. The air felt so heavy here lately. And Mila could maybe find something nice for Aaron, just to thank him for being so supportive of her lately.
Shopping with her bestie sounded delightful, and Roxy’s smile said as much. “God yes, please,” she said with a light laugh. “Outlet shopping and lunch, away from here. Let’s do it.” She tipped back her cup to finish the last of her coffee. She liked getting out of town when she could, and this seemed like an excellent opportunity. Roxy pulled out her phone to send Caden a text to let him know where she would be for several hours, then started to pull her coat on again. She would likely find something for Caden too -- he was generally hard to shop for, but Roxy knew the kinds of things he liked to get, and maybe a small ‘thinking of you’ gift would cheer him up a little.