Lissa
“WherethehelldidI stick those?”Lissa muttered to herself, opening and closing her cabinets.She could have sworn she put the box of glassblown ornaments in a cupboard to hide them from Ria, but now she couldn’t find them anywhere.She was trying to get as much packed up before the realtor arrived tomorrow, since she didn’t want any of her glasswork getting knocked over when lookie-loos started traipsing through her beloved cottage.
Not that it was going to be hers for much longer.Slamming the last cabinet shut, she abandoned the search and plopped down at the table to open her laptop.She kept hoping each time she opened it there might be an email from Art, Inc.saying they realized what a huge mistake they made, but alas, there was nothing.Just a few responses from studios up near Seattle that might have an opening for her to lease a space.The contracts they were offering were tragic, but it was better than the alternative—returning to Ohio.She wondered if Ria knew how lucky she was to have a good relationship with her mom.
Stop, her brain argued.You can’t keep tying everything back to thoughts of Ria.
But I miss her so much, her heart wailed.
Absently rubbing her chest, Lissa shut the laptop and dragged her ass into the living room.Collapsing face-first onto the couch, she wrapped herself in her grandma’s blanket.Ria’s scent was starting to fade, and soon she would have nothing left to cling to.The witch had even stopped posting to her social media, leaving Lissa with nothing but old videos and bittersweet memories.
The back door banged open, and Lissa grimaced, preparing herself for another useless attempt by Daria to cheer her up.
“Damn, you’re pathetic,” her bestie said, draping her long body over the top of Lissa like a second blanket.
“Oof!If you’re just here to make me feel worse, can you at least get off me first?”Lissa grunted, trying to buck her friend’s weight from atop her back.
“Nope,” Daria replied, wrapping her arms around Lissa to hold on tight.“And I’m not here to make you feel worse.I’m here to make you feel better.”
“Really?”Lissa asked cautiously.“Does this mean you changed your mind, and you’ll move with me up north?”
Daria laughed into the back of Lissa’s head.“Oh, hell no.Winters in Seacliff are cold enough.Hard pass.I’m planning to stay right here, thank you very much.And you should too.”
Lissa rolled to the side in another futile attempt to shake off Daria, but she wasn’t budging.“And what would I even do here?”Lissa asked, surrendering to her new life with a bestie barnacle.“Give up glassblowing so I can work in a grocery store?Or worse, some nine to five office job?My soul is already broken, Dar.Let’s not stomp on the pieces, okay?”
“I wasn’t planning on it.Like I said, I’m here to cheer you up.”
Lissa sighed.As much as she loved Daria, the only woman who could cheer her up wanted nothing to do with her.Unfortunately, trying to fight off Daria was like the Titanic trying to fight off that damn iceberg.Might as well surrender to your fate and get it over with.No point in dragging it out into a three-hour movie.
“Okay.”Lissa huffed.“Let’s hear it.How do you plan to cheer me up?”
“By dragging your butt out of this cottage and taking you to the studio,” Daria answered with a level of giddiness Lissa usually only witnessed in her after six cups of coffee.
Lissa smushed her face deeper into the throw pillow.The last place she wanted to be today was the studio.The Art, Inc.guys were showing up to finalize the sales paperwork and pick up the keys.Lissa had cleaned her stuff out yesterday and asked Daria to handle the transfer.She couldn’t bring herself to watch Marge gloat about how badly she’d failed everyone.
“I thought you said you would handle that?”Lissa whined as she twisted to look at Daria, not even caring how pathetic she sounded.Her days of keeping up a strong front were over.
“I know I did, and I will,” Daria replied.“But there’s something you need to see first.”
“Can’t you just let me wallow in peace?”she asked, her voice muffled by the pillow she shoved her face back into.
“Hmmm…let me think,” Daria mused.“Nope.Can’t do it.Come on, get up and get dressed.You’re coming with me.”She placed a sloppy wet kiss on Lissa’s cheek and hopped off the couch, her bony knee digging into Lissa’s right butt cheek in the process.
“Ouch,” Lissa grumbled, rubbing her ass and glaring up at her friend.“Was that necessary?”
“Necessary?”Daria mused.“Probably not.But there’s more where that came from if you don’t get your sorry booty off that couch.Trust me when I say you’re going to like this surprise.”
Lissa briefly let herself wonder if there was a slight chance the studio had somehow been saved.Maybe the Art, Inc.guys had a change of heart?That was highly unlikely.Ria said Lissa didn’t have a heart, but she’d clearly never met those corporate jagweeds.
What did I say about tying everything back to Ria?her brain demanded.
I don’t care what you think, her heart shot back.If you had listened to me in the first place, this never would have happened.
With a long-suffering groan, Lissa dragged her butt off the couch.She gave herself a quick sniff, wrinkled her nose, then headed for the bathroom.“Let me shower first.Then we can go.”
“I am in full support of this plan,” Daria called after her.“Maybe do something with that stringy hair too.Oh, and put on some makeup while you’re at it.If you have time you should also…”
Lissa slammed her bathroom door shut, effectively cutting off Daria’s litany of advice.She knew she looked and smelled tragic; she didn’t need the running commentary.Ultimately, her lack of basic hygiene was how she knew Ria had been the one for her.No other breakup even came close to hitting this hard.Even if the studio had been saved by some eleventh-hour miracle, Lissa didn’t know if she wanted to return.Everything about Seacliff reminded her of Ria, and it just wasn’t home anymore without the witch.
