Welcome to the Party

So I had sex with someone in a cab last night and then again at his apartment. Does that make me a big ol’ slut now?

Molly had free tickets to the show she is in last night and gave me one since I was off. It was great and the guy who played the lead was super hot. Molly did a great job. I went backstage afterwards to give her some flowers I had bought earlier and congratulate her.

“Faith, these are gorgeous!” She said as I handed the flowers to her and gave her a hug.

“You were amazing!” I said.

“Thanks, the cast is having a party tonight, you should totally come as my date!” She said pulling out of the hug, “I’d love to introduce you to everyone!”

“Um…okay.” I said shrugging. It had been awhile since I’d been to a party without babies present.

I waited as Molly changed.

“Who are you?”

I turned around and blushed; it was the super hot male lead.

“Oh, uh, I’m just a friend of Molly’s; I came to see her performance tonight. I’m just waiting for her.” I said looking down at my shoes.

“Are you coming to the cast party? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the show tonight.” He gave me a wink.

“Yes.” I said as Molly came out of her (shared) dressing room.

“Oh, Faith, you met Luke. Luke, this is my friend Faith.” She said.

He shook my hand and then told Molly the address of the bar that everyone was meeting at before he left. I stood there stupidly waving at him.

“Yeah, he has that effect on people.” Molly smirked, “Let’s go.”

We hailed a cab and headed over to the bar. The night was kind of a whirlwind. I met everyone in the show and after awhile they all just blurred together. There were a few people I remembered hearing Molly talk about, then there was Luke, and Calvin was apparently in the show, but I don’t remember recognizing him on stage.

The party had an open bar and I took advantage. I haven’t had a night out like that in a long time. I was on my third vodka and water when I felt a hand on the small of my back.

“I knew you were a vodka girl.” Luke said leaning up against the bar. He ordered a gin and tonic before taking a seat next to me.

“Oh, hi.” I said blushing.

Luke has deep green eyes and dark hair sort of like Robert Pattinson’s and he has a great laugh.

“Did you like the show?” He asked taking a sip of his drink.

“I did,” I said enthusiastically, “I thought it was very well done. The design elements were very interesting and Molly did such a great job with the costumes and acting, too, of course.”

I was rambling but he hung onto every word. We kept drinking and the flirtier we both became. Eventually, though, I thought I should call it a night.

“I had a great time tonight, but Molly and I should probably go.” I said standing up and looking around for her.

“I think Molly is a little preoccupied.” Luke laughed and pointed behind me.

Molly and Calvin were basically a tangle of arms and legs in a dark corner of the bar and she didn’t look like she was interested in having that situation changed.

“Oh.” I said.

“We could get out of here.” Luke said touching my back again.

I thought about it for a second.

“What the hell.” I said shrugging.

Luke and I walked out of the bar and quickly started making out against the front window. Eventually he hailed a cab and before I knew it I was straddling him in the back seat without any shame. In retrospect, I feel very bad for the poor cab driver, I hope Luke gave him a big tip. When we got to his apartment, he offered me coffee but before he could actually get all the words out we were making out again and eventually ended up completely naked in his bed.

I woke up this morning with no clothes on and his arm around my hips. I slipped out while he was still sleeping and had a very difficult time finding my clothes. I was looking under the bed for my underwear when he woke up.

“Hey, leaving so early?” He asked sleepily.

“Yeah, I should go.” I said poking my head above the bed.

He pulled me to him and gave me a really hot kiss.

“I had fun.” He said.

“Me, too.” I smiled.

“Your underwear is on the bookshelf over there.” He pointed.

I blushed and thanked him before putting my clothes back on. Meanwhile he got up and made some coffee. I didn’t stay to drink any with him, but he asked for my number and then kissed me again before I left.

When I got in this morning, Molly was just walking into our apartment. Apparently I’m not the only one who had to do the walk of shame this morning.

“Good morning.” I said, “How is Calvin.”

“His penis is as good as it’s always been.” She said smirking at my disheveled appearance, “Apparently I’m not the only one who had a good night either.”

“Yeah….” I said smiling to myself.

“I’m proud of you. Luke is really hot. You bagged yourself a good one.”

I didn’t say anything; I just drank the cup of coffee I had made.

“I take back what I said about you going out n a date with Brad. You should totally date Luke. Or just make him into the dude you like to bone whenever. Brad will deal.”

Dealing With It

Molly and I have been redecorating the apartment for days but we’re both really happy with it. The kitchen is no longer blindingly yellow. We painted it a deep teal which really brings out the darker toned granite countertops. We put up a chair rail on the walls for the rest of the living room so only the bottom part is the deep teal color. The upper part is a light blue and the chair rail itself is a white color. It looks very classy.

Molly made an orchid purple slip cover for the couch and chairs and it looks GREAT with the color scheme. The entertainment center is also white, as is the dining table set. We’re both really pleased with it. Molly is great at this kind of stuff and it was a lot of fun to do it with her. I doubt it would have been as much fun settling into a new place by myself.

I started back at work a few days ago. Cara and Brad knew what happened and offered me support and well wishes which I appreciated. Bruno was there, too, he gave me a hug and made it clear that if I needed anything, all I had to do was ask. Tony made me his famous grilled cheese, which is quickly becoming my favorite sandwich. It’s been slow since I came back but I’m sure it’ll be busy over the weekend for the college crowd.

“You know you could come over tonight, if you want.” Brad said as we were closing up.

“Maybe another time.” I said, “I’m still getting back on my feet.”

“I understand.” He said. He look a little disappointed, though.

Speaking of boys…

Adam is doing okay. He e-mailed me a few of his freelance articles which were all really good. I haven’t heard from Suzy and Dina for a long time, or Steve for that matter. I should really try to get in touch with them and see how they’re doing, maybe go out to dinner or something.

I don’t have to work tonight and Molly is acting in a show so I have the apartment to myself. I think I’ll grab a book (Molly has an amazing personal library in her studio that she has been more than happy to share), order some Chinese, and relax out on the balcony since it’s so nice outside. I could get used to this.

Living with Molly has been so easy and nice, even if she does keep telling me to go out on a real date with Brad. I never realized just how lonely it can be to live by yourself sometimes. Just being able to talk to or come home to someone every day has made this whole situation so much easier on me. I’m so glad I have the friends that I do.

Settled In

I moved in to Molly's today. It wasn't a very stressful move, to be honest. I didn't have much to move. My parents had a new bed delivered and I had a few pieces of furniture delivered, too, but Molly's apartment already has a lot of stuff in it so I didn't have to worry about furnishing any other are of the apartment except my room.

My room is pretty nice. I have a walk-in closet and my own bathroom. Molly has her own room but no bathroom. She and her previous roommate agreed to him having the larger room and private bathroom because she has her own office that she uses as a costume shop for her costuming work. She calls it her studio. I don't really need my own office, so I'm fine with the arrangement. The rest of the apartment is really great, we have a balcony and a nice, open floor plan. The kitchen area, dining area, and living room area are all combined together in a comfortable and easy way. The apartment kind of screams, "Molly!!!" though. I'm worried I'll never feel like this is my home and Molly was picking up on it as I looked around after everything had been unpacked and moved in.

"You know, we can re-decorate, if you want." She said.

We had decided to order a pizza after all that hard moving work which wasn't that hard but I'll take any excuse to eat pizza.

"I'm fine." I said.

"Faith," She said grabbing another slice, "You couldn't look more uncomfortable right now."

"It's...just...kind of...bright?" I said looking around.

Molly's kitchen was a bright sunshine yellow and the accent colors around the apartment were bright oranges and reds. Not my kind of color scheme, to be honest.

"We can re-paint. I can make a slip color for the couch." She said.

I started thinking about what colors I would like to tone things down a bit.

"Um, what about a sky blue and dark teal?"

"I think we can make that work." She said with a smile.

We decided to go to the hardware store tomorrow and buy some paint and then hit up a fabric store.

"I need to get rid of some of this stuff anyway," she said looking at some of her nick-knacks, "I can donate it to the thrift store down the street and we can buy some stuff that isn't orange or red or yellow."

"Okay, but only if you're okay with it." I said.

"I'm more than okay with it." She said.

We watched some movies and then Molly had to go to work.

Molly works as a costume designer and an actress but in between working on shows she also works as a suicide hotline counselor for gay teens from 11:00pm-4:30am. I don't know when she has time to sleep!

My favorite thing about my new apartment is definitely the balcony. I could sit on the balcony forever. Molly has it decorated with hanging plants and flower boxes and it feels really private and quiet. There's even a small fountain in one corner that adds a soothing sound to the ambiance.

Starting over feels weird but I'm slowly getting back on my feet.

Out of the Ashes

I’ve been trying to get back on my feet since the fire. It’s been hard trying to rebuild, especially knowing that I won’t have Murphy with me when I finally do get my life back. Zoey and Wesley have graciously allowed me to stay in their guest room until I’m ready to leave. Anna and Zoey were able to get me some new clothes from work to try and replace some of the great clothes I lost in the fire. Molly has made me a few shirts and dresses, too.

Zoey took me to the store and I bought underwear, socks, and shoes but that’s about as far as I’ve gotten. I called my parents to let them know what happened and that I was okay but that Murphy died. Just typing that out was painful.

I’ve been scouring the city looking for apartments but my heart just isn’t in it. I don’t have to worry about renewing or not renewing my lease now since there is no apartment for me to live in. I have to replace all of my furniture, linens, food, electronics, and it’s incredibly overwhelming. I don’t have a lot in savings because of unemployment so I have no idea what I’m going to do. My parents offered to buy me a bed and have it delivered but I don’t have an address to have it delivered to. My dad also told me that he would give me some money for a down payment on an apartment and groceries, I just have to ask.

Adam (Stormy, this is still weird) called me as soon as he saw the paper the day after the fire.

“Are you okay!?” He practically screamed into the phone.

“I will be.” I said.

We met for lunch and I told him about what happened and about losing Murphy.

“Faith, I’m so sorry. If you need a place to stay or anything, feel free to call me, okay?”

I nodded.

“Where were you when the fire broke out?”

“I was…uh…at work.” I said.

It didn’t feel appropriate to say that I was in the middle of having an orgasm with a guy I work with, especially considering that Adam and I never got together because we worked together.

“You’re lucky you weren’t there and were safe.” He said.

“If I had been there, I might have been able to get Murphy out.” I said, “All I can think about is how scared he must have been; how he must have thought I’d abandoned him…” I started ugly sobbing in the middle of a very public sandwich shoppe.

“Faith…” Adam didn’t know what to say.

“I know I sound stupid crying over my dead cat when 11 of my neighbors are dead. I feel TERRIBLE about how many people died and I feel even worse for feeling so bad about my cat but I miss him. I can’t stop thinking about what he went through in that building. I try to sleep at night and it’s all I can think about it.”

Adam ushered me outside and into a park so people would stop staring.

“They still haven’t caught the person?” He asked after I stopped crying.

“No.”

We talked for a little longer but then said good-bye, when I got back to Zoey’s Molly was there.

“You’re moving in with me.” She said.

“What?” I asked.

“I just kicked my roommate out. You’re living with me.”

I looked at Zoey who had an amused smirk on her face.

“Did you kick them out so I would live with you?” I asked with confusion as I sat down at the table across from her.

“No. He wanted to know if I would be cool with him running a meth lab out of his bedroom. Plus, he would never take out the trash.”

“Is she serious?” I asked Zoey.

She nodded with the same smirk.

“Molly, he didn’t actually start making meth in his room, did he?”

Molly’s smile went away as she thought about it.

“Um, you know I’ll get a cleaning crew in there before you move in, okay?”

“Okay.” I said.

Molly and I discussed rent and utilities payments among other things. She was on her way out when she stopped.

“My landlord allows pets.” She said gently, “In case you were interested in adopting again. And I wouldn’t have a problem with it.”

“Oh.” I said, I hadn’t thought about it and I’m still not ready to.

I’m going to move in with Molly in about a week. She has to get me added to her lease which will take a few days and her current roommate needs to get his stuff out. Zoey is going to let me stay until I’m ready to move in. I found some bedroom furniture online that I’m going to order when I’m ready for it and because I’m a glutton for punishment I ended up on the cat furniture page and sobbing well past midnight.