S2/02. Bad Blood

2.4 Diana Foster

Spring 1998, a supermarket in Easternrose Bay, San Myshuno

The last few days Diana had left work on the clock. She picked up her daughter on schedule, got groceries from the local supermarket, and was a lot less tired than before. No one in the hospital semed to care if she stayed longer or not so she decided to only stay longer if overtime was inevitable.

Admittedly, she'd initially kept her schedule because she'd hoped to run into Ben again. She hadn't seen him since he helped her with Martin. At least she hadn't run into that jerk either – and to be sure she left the building just right in time to catch the bus so he wouldn't have time to bother her even if he wanted to.

Diana hadn't fixed a day to meet with Ben again as she'd simply assumed they'd meet anyway, nor did she get the adress of the place he'd invited her to. Now she regretted it. She'd loved to make new friends, it was tiresome to be on her own all the time and Ben would've probably been a good start.
Anyway, she hadn't revived her social life – yet, but nevertheless she loved the unexpexted extra time she'd gained by trying to.

"What you'd like for dinner tonight?" She asked her daughter while they strolled down the aisle.

"Apaaaagu!" Lana pointed at the green sticks in one of the boxes.

"Yes, yes, that's asparagus," Diana confirmed, proud that her daughter knew such a complex word already; and liked to eat the vegetable too. "Do you want to eat asparagus?"
Lana nodded excitedly and Diana racked her brain how to cook it so it wouldn't taste like cardboard when she didn't have an open fire grill.

While she reached for a bunch she caught another hand instead.
Lana squealed joyfully at the sight of the other person.

It was Mae.
Of all people, Diana had to run right into her. 

That lying, cheating tramp who had no sense of loyalty or friendship!

"That's a good one," Mae said, "very fresh." She picked another bunch of asparagus and left.
Diana was taken aback. She'd expected to be trapped by Mae in an atempt to redeem herself and pull her to her side, but Mae hadn't even tried to start a conversation. She'd smiled, friendly, but Diana saw the sadness in her eyes.

It struck her deeply and she started to feel sorry about how she and her friends had treated the redhead.
"Coincidences do happen," Frank had said. Honestly, it seemed he was right and Mae leaving for San Myshuno on the same day as Rosa's husband wasn't more than that: a mere coincidence, not them running away together. Certainly Mae wouldn't shop in a cheap supermarket in the Bay if she'd really lived with a successful rock star!
Instead Mae might have to struggle too and Diana couldn't help but feel for the other woman.

"Mae!"
Diana had to go after her. "I know it's not gonna make up for what happened, but – I want you to know I'm sorry. We've all treated you like crap instead of listen to your side. I... I hope you can forgive me."

Mae was visibly surprised, but it wasn't long and her face lit up.
"I'd be happy if we could be friends again," she said.

"Me too!"
Diana was relieved. She always got along well with Mae and it'd be fun to hang out with her again. 

Lana seemed to agree, she started babbling to Mae and clapped her tiny hands in joy.

"Hello Lana," Mae greeted her, "are you helping your mommy to buy groceries? What a big girl you are!"

Lana giggled and nodded, hiding her face with her tiny palms. She'd always liked Mae too, who'd spared a minute to play with her every time she was around.

"I'm cooking dinner for friends today," Mae pointed at her shopping basket filled with fresh produce, "would you like to come too? We have to catch up. Tell me what got you here to San My!"

Diana remembered the heavenly buffet Mae had served at her wedding and some other mouthwatering treats she'd brought occasionally when they hung out. And Diana thought about her own attempts to cook healthy food that was also tasty – with rather underwhelming results.

"I'd love to, if it's not too much of a bother," she readily accepted.

"Not at all, I cook anyway," Mae smiled.

To Diana's surprise Mae's apartment was only a street further from her own. It was funny that they hadn't run into each other so far.

"The neighbors come over for dinner every Thursday night," Mae said as she opened the door. "We used to get take out, but recently I cook for us instead. The share on groceries is cheaper and I won't get rusty!"

 

"Oh – how much is it?" Diana asked. She was very embarrassed to have expected free food when the other woman was likely not much better off than she.

"You don't pay!" Mae waved it off. "I invited you both. We need to celebrate our restored friendship."

"Thanks... next time will be on me," Diana said. She'd hate to mooch off of someone, even though her budget was quite tight for the rest of the month.

Mae smiled. "How about coffee?"

Half an hour later Diana was on her second cup while her daughter was busy drawing and Mae prepared dinner.

Diana had told Mae all about her transfer to the San Myshuno University clinic and they'd moved on to talk about Mae's reasons to come to San Myshuno.
It had absolutely nothing to do with Rosa's husband. The redhead never made a secret of her knowing Francesco for a long time, though she hadn't ever talked much about their past. According to Rosa, neither did Francesco. Not that it mattered, Mae declared she had never reconnected with him in Oasis Springs and on that fateful wedding day, it'd been nothing but small talk between them either.
So far it was the same story Mae had told in Oasis Springs when no one believed her.
But today Mae spilled a few more details about her marriage to Herbert.

"It's just... sad when you got up before dawn to have his favorite cake ready for his birthday – and he oversleeps – though you woke him up! Then he just left with a slice of toast – no goodbye kiss, no 'have a nice day'... he barely even looked at me!" She complained. "Even Mariella was sad. She'd helped me with the cake, you know..."

Goodness, it was sad, Diana couldn't even imagine living in such a loveless relationship and inwardly applauded Mae for her decision to divorce that jerk.

"What's wrong with him?" She exclaimed. "He didn't deserve you if he couldn't appreciate what he got." Mae was so pretty, nice, and fun to be around. "And then he's going around telling that you cheated on him!"
The nerve.

"Well, that idea he didn't get by himself," Mae quipped.

The jab against Bedrock Strait wasn't lost on Diana.
"Okay but... at least Rosa's suspicion wasn't sooo far fetched," she said meekly, "her ex was barely ever home and you had some sort of history with him... though that's not a reason to blame you," she rushed to assure Mae before she'd unintentionally damage their freshly renewed friendship.
"Anyway, there must've been someone – a woman knows if a woman knows, right? He hasn't even called Rosa yet and she'd been worried sick about him!"
It'd been more than a month already, almost two since he'd dumped the poor woman.

Mae snorted. "Honestly, that sounds exactly like him – ditch everything and leave without even saying goodbye." She peppered the meat with unnecessary violence. "I bet it's nothing but his stupid. Music. Again."

Diana pricked her ears. 'Again'? Whenever Mae spoke of her past with Francesco it sounded so platonic, but Diana had always wondered if there had been more than that between those two. She didn't want to make wrong assumptions, but curiosity got the better of her.
"I get if you'd kept it to yourself to not add fuel to a burning fire but – just between us – before you married Herbert – were you and Rosa's ex ever...?" She asked hesitantly, making sure her question sounded as little accusing as possible.

Mae slammed down the pepper shaker and sighed dramatically.
"It was... complicated. We sorta... kinda... were in love, but it was never meant to last. But I got to know him very well and it seems he didn't change, married or not."

More like Mae was the only one in love since he dumped her so casually too, Diana thought. She wondered why it was always the nice and caring girls like them that were played by those selfish jerks, and she felt more connected to Mae than before.
She sighed.
"I'm starting to believe all men are crap."

And rock stars were probably the worst of them.

"A good reason not to date them," said a flippant voice behind Diana. A woman passed her, she was most likely Mae's roommate. She had a mad sense for fashion and a wicked smirk that flustered Diana a little.

"Hi Nia," Mae greeted her. "These are Diana and her daughter Lana; they'll stay for dinner today."

"Neat," Nia said as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"That Feng woman must've completely lost her mind," she continued and sat down at the table. "Can you believe –"
She suddenly stopped and twisted her perfectly made up lips in disgust.

 
"Didn't Kacey finally pick up her beast today?" She groaned as a big fluffy cat strolled around her legs.
Diana wondered how she could've missed it until now. It must have hid well. 

"Nope," Mae smirked, "but look, Oli likes you so much! We should keep him."

She snickered as the cat rubbed its head against the hand with which Nia tried to shoo him away.

Before Nia could retort the door bell rang and she went to open it, the cat in tow.

"His name is Oliver Twist," Mae giggled and returned to prepare the food. "He belonged to Nia's ex but she just left him here when they split up, the poor thing."

In that very moment Lana expressed very loudly that she had enough of drawing.
"Lana huuungry," she blared and slammed her tiny fists on the table.

"Oh no," Mae looked concerned, "it'll still take a while until food is done."

"It's fine," Diana said and rummaged for some cookies in her bag that were always there for emergencies like this.

"Here, for you, Lana." Mae brought her a glass of milk. "And hi guys," she said as she put it on the table. Diana turned around to see to whom else Mae talked to.

"Well well, new faces! Hi there!" Said a blonde guy with a smug smirk. "I'm Deandre. Did you move in recently? Do you need supply?"

"Seriously Dean," lamented a second guy, "the first thing you do when meeting someone new is selling your weed?! Sorry for that, new girl!" He smiled. "I'm Weston, by the way." He was cuter than the first guy and Diana wondered if he had a girlfriend.

"How else would I get new customers?" Deandre complained playfully, but Diana had to decline his offer. With a heavy heart – as a single mother with no one else to look after Lana she'd rather not consume.

However, she quickly got distracted by the third guy that arrived together with Nia.

"Hey – I know you!" He exclaimed. "This' your kid you'd told me about?"

"Ben – hi! Yeah, this is Lana," Diana almost tripped over her own words, it was such a surprise. But what a good one!

"Hi Lana, I'm Ben," he beamed at the girl.

Until now Lana had just warily watched the new arrivals while chewing on her cookies, but she dropped her guard at Ben's bright smile.
"Eat cookie. Then play 'pace ship," she said and held her milk-sogged, half-eaten cookie out to him.
"Woah, for me?" To Lana's delight, he played along and took her gift.

Diana had to laugh at his playful excitement.

"You know each other?" Mae asked.

"Ya, Diana did my cast!" Ben bit unfazed into the soggy cookie and showed off his bandage, which was already full with scribbles and a phone number that looked suspiciously like a sex hotline. His friends weren't so much different than hers in the Springs, Diana thought and grinned.

"And later he saved me from my persistent ex," she added and shortly summarized the event.

"Wow, what a hero," Deandre teased, and Diana could've sworn Ben turned a shade darker. Instead of a reply he picked up the impatiently jumping Lana.
"So what are we playing?" He asked.

The door bell rang again.

Soon the apartment was filled with other tenants of the building. It was lively and loud, and Diana felt right at home again. As the new girl in the party, she was quickly surrounded by people wanting to get to know her and she took the chance to meet all of them while her daughter alternated between pestering Ben and the cat, who both didn't really mind it.

Diana was as happy as she hadn't been since she'd moved to San Myshuno.

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Author's note:

Deandre Blanton (left) was donated by haswh and Weston Overstreet (right) was donated by AudreyFlyd.
You can read Audrey's story here! haswh did not write anything (yet?)
Thank you very much 🖤