FSE

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I don't know that love changes. People change. Circumstances change. - Nicholas Sparks

North watched the sun fall into a rain-stained grey through the kitchen window. He finished washing the dishes from today's flimsy excuse for a lunch and was now drinking the rest of his Cola as the Xbox in the living room updated. Sarah had stayed at their place all day, practicing her violin. She was presently resting on the couch in the living room, her instrument on the dining room table, looking very abandoned and alone in the gloom of the dwindling day. Whenever she watched TV, it was always CNN. North didn't understand the coyote's obsession with staying up to speed on current events. Upon securing another can of Cola, he opted to join Sarah. She maintained an expression of perfect, scrutinizing neutrality when watching the news, as if she inspected each and every segment. The cat sat down beside her and cracked his can open. "Didn't think of asking me if I wanted one?" Sarah asked in an over the top sarcastic tone. North rolled his eyes and got up, fetching a second can for her. "A foot massage, perhaps?" he asked as he handed her the beverage. It was Sarah's turn to roll her eyes. Silently they watched a report on Syria. Michael descended down the stairs with his laptop under his wing.

"Evening, boys and girls." Michael said and ran his free hand through the feathers on his head "I hope you're ready to relinquish the TV sometime soon. I've got Adam coming over for the Rangers game tonight."

"We'll get right out of your way." Sarah replied and looked at North, silently questioning if they had anywhere to go "Where's Liz by the way? Wasn't she supposed to be back from her interview by now?"

"She sent me a text half an hour ago saying that her cousin intercepted her as she was leaving the building." He said and plopped down on the sofa, his legs crossing themselves on the coffee table automatically "Won't be back until much later. So yeah, you guys got any plans?"

"Nope. Movies at my place?" Sarah replied and turned towards her feline companion, who suddenly went as red as a tomato. "Why the hell not?" He replied and laughed uncomfortably. She was actually inviting him to watch a movie with her at her place. North had seen enough romantic comedies to know where this is going. If this wasn't going to help him win her over, nothing will. His plan for the evening was to lounge on the sofa with her, occasionally putting his arm around her for good measure. His mark got up and walked to the door, silently humming some tune to herself. He threw himself off the sofa, bode farewell to the eagle, and followed her out the door.

"Heh, young love." Michael said and closed his eyes, silently wondering what Liz said on the topic of her new boyfriend.

***

The bar to which Susan dragged Liz was the definition of a 'dive'. Everything looked cheap and smelled cheaper. The walls were lined with cheap folksy paintings, several booths were occupied by men and women of dubious origin, and the man behind the bar looked like someone who kept a shotgun under the register. Not to mention that the moment the two snow leopards walked in, every man in the bar turned his head. Susan stood slightly taller than her cousin. Her eyes were sky blue and her fur was brown, rather than grey. But even from a distance it was obvious they were related. The only major dissimilarity were the two tails that moved from side to side behind Susan as she walked. That trait was a genetic mutation that ran on her father's side. Her great-grandmother had five tails. As far as her facial features were concerned Liz was fairly sure that no one knew exactly how Susan looked. She half wanted to make a quip about how her cousin's idea of putting on make-up in the morning involved opening the appropriate drawer and flinging the contents against her face. Not that Liz cared. Each to his own, she would repeat frequently, almost as a mantra. With a sullen face Liz had been following her relative who was excitedly prattling about her friends and how 'amazing' they all were for going shopping with her. They sat down at the bar and ordered their drinks. Susan ordered a double screwdriver and Liz a shot of bourbon. The day of the latter was long and exhausting and the last thing she needed now was her fucking cousin. But hey, it just so happened that the two met in front of the building right after Liz's seventh interview of the day, and she felt that she wasn't in a position to decline the pleasant and slightly slurred invitations to a drink. She checked her watch. It was almost eight. Every muscle in her body ached for a little rest.

Alas, her cousin kept talking. She was switching between topics all the time, all of them usually involving her or one of her friends in one way or the other. Liz sighed and drank her entire drink in one forceful swallow. Michael would know what to do. No matter how much he hates to admit it, her boyfriend has a way with people. But she doubted that his literary advice would add to the conversation. With another sigh, she resigned herself to her fate of tipsily eyeing her cousin from an angle, her mind replaying everything that Michael said about his own work. She found herself drawn in by the way Michael spoke of his books. She could tell from a mile away that he loved his job, no matter how much he enjoyed his role of the cynical straight man. Looking down at the bottom of her glass, Liz found herself rationalizing why she loved him and what reasons he could possibly have for loving her back. A sudden thought appeared in her head, like the flash of a candle in a brilliant sort of darkness. He was the man she was going to marry. No doubt about it. It could be no one but him. The alcohol is thinking for you again, Liz, she thought but happily resigned herself to that train of thought. Images of her in a wedding dress rolled through her imagination. Vows wrote themselves as she finished off her second drink. And still Susan talked, about fucking nothing at all. If only she knew. Finally, the inevitable happened.

"So, do you have anyone?" Susan asked, her eyes wide with anticipation.

"Yeah, yeah I do." Liz replied and rolled her glass through the air, her fingers resting firmly on the edges of it "I'm living with the man of my dreams."

"Oh, what's so special about him?" Susan queried with just a hint of pertinence in her voice, and continued in an aside manner "Men are a dime a dozen, darlin'."

"No, this one's different. Can't find anyone like him for miles. Not in this fuckin' world." Liz replied, nonplussed by her cousin's manner of digging through other people's lives. Susan broke out into another soliloquy about how men are scum who just want to fuck you and dump you and so on. The same story over and over again. Something tensed up inside Liz. This woman, she didn't know her. She was a stranger. For fuck's sake, she couldn't even remember the last time they talked. She had half a mind to just get up and walk away. Considering how wrecked her cousin was, she probably wouldn't notice until Liz wound into the driveway. Maybe she could fake a phone call? She needed to make one anyway. No way in hell was she going to drive home tipsy. Michael didn't need to bury her just yet.

"I gotta go home, Susan." Liz said and edged towards the floor, slipping down from the stool. Her cousin still talked, completely unaware that her relative was making her escape. Finally, the right pair of wires in Susan's brain made contact and she swung her entire upper body towards Liz.

"Why the fuck do you have to go home?" The barman counted the cash Liz left for him, watching the ensuing argument from a safe distance "You middle-class bitches are all the same. Obligations this and family that. I ain't never had any fuckin' family and now look at me."

"Susan, you're drunk. Goodbye." With that, Liz turned on her heel and made for the door. Just as she was about to go home and forget about everything here, she stopped herself, her paw lingering on the door. Slowly she rotated and faced Susan, her eyes aflame with a type of rage she didn't know she had.

"Actually, no, I'm not leaving." Liz said and leaned against the bar, outwardly appearing calm and collected but inwardly holding on for dear life as the floor swung from side to side. Susan eyed her from a distance, craning her neck backwards as if to say 'what now'.

"I've grown up around you. We were friends when we were younger. Believe it or not, I never liked you, and here's why." She began, smiling defiantly and staring her cousin right in the eye "You're a good-for-nothing flop of a human being. Your father was the sweetest goddamn man I've ever seen. For a moment or two in my youth I thought my family broke the cycle of piss-poor fathers. He'd stand up for me when I came running to him with bruises. He knew all along who beat me. You knew too, and whenever I went to your dad, Jacob would find out. Yeah, I don't call him dad anymore. Not since he died. He's been Jacob to mom for ages now too. I'd get double beatings. And I knew who ratted on me."

Susan gasped and stood up, seemingly disgusted but Liz raised her index finger to indicate she wasn't finished.

"And I was there to see your dad pay your tuition again and again. First came high school. You sucked and fucked your way through that. Then came college. Probably did that there too. Dropped out in third year, never got a job, and became an alcoholic. Sure, look where you are now. You're fucking nowhere. You're in a dive bar surrounded by men who'd fuck you in a second and never look at you twice, you've got your liquor, and your welfare. That's all you fucking need, right? Not even there for his funeral. You're the bitch here, not me." Liz continued and motioned to the barman, who poured her another shot of liquor, his eyes agape with awe "Not once did you say 'thank you' or 'I love you, dad'. Some kids would kill for an opportunity like that. Maybe it's the alcohol talking, but you know what? I'm glad you ended up like this, a fucking no-name. Stay away from your two sisters. One's a doctor in D.C., doing well for herself last I heard. Second's in motherfucking congress. The last they need is to know what and who you are."

"How dare you?" Susan replied as her face grew red ever so slowly "How fuckin' dare you? Wanna take this outside, cunt?"

"Sit the fuck down before you hurt yourself, Susan." The barman cut in, not even raising his eyes from his glass "This here lady's right. I've been seeing your for years now. Always told 'ya to straighten the fuck up. You'd laugh me out every time. Figured it was none of my business. Gets me cash, don't it?"

"Shut the fuck up, Jerry." She said, briefly turning towards him with one of her paws clenched into a fist "Fuckin' faggot."

A click echoed through the suddenly dead-silent bar. Even the music stopped. She turned around, only to find Jerry with a double-barrel in his paws.

"Tell you what. Either you get the fuck out of here right the fuck now or I'm introducing you to a world of hurt." He pulled down both hammers with one swift motion of his thumb, briefly swinging the barrel towards the door "I'm legally allowed to kill you. No one here would vouch in your favour. The way I see it, you are on my property and I don't want you here. You've done this before. Strike three of three. I'm banning you."

Susan pulled her nose up and walked out of the bar with her chin held high. The door swung three times behind her. Once everyone was sure out of earshot, a round of applause rocked the bar.

"You'd think these guys to be a bunch of losers, right?" Jerry began as he put his shotgun back where it belonged, releasing the hammers one by one "Most of 'em are decent people. They just like to come here for a drink. Sure I get the odd strange-lookin' fella, but most of my regulars are locals who are down on their luck and just need company or a shoulder to cry on. No criminals here, no sir. Don't serve their kind. Susan's the worst we've had. Just needed a reason, she gave me one."

Liz finished her last drink of the evening.

"Tell ya what. These are on me." he said and gave Liz her cash back "So, tell me, who's this guy you've got?"

***

Liz came home at three o'clock in the morning. Blindly she stumbled through the hallway and into the living room, where she found Michael curled up on the sofa and snow on the TV. Even in the dark of the living room she could see the bright blue Rangers uniform he was wearing. Must have been watching a game. Signs of guests lay scattered everywhere. Sarah must have been long gone by now and North was probably in bed. A note sat taped to the TV. Liz slipped it off the screen and walked into a kitchen where she read it by the light of the fridge.

Michael fell asleep a couple of hours ago. Was afraid to move him. Went home, locked up behind myself. Borrowed your keys. I'll have them back by tomorrow. Said he wanted to stay awake and wait for you. Said he was worried about you going out with your cousin. Would've stuck around but I gotta work in the morning. Until next time.

-A.

Liz closed the refrigerator and rolled the note up. She threw it at the waste paper bin and missed. For a while she just lounged by Michael's side. One of her paws just sat on his back and felt every breath he took. With the other she stroked one of his wings. Her movements got slower and slower until she too fell into a state of overwhelming fatigue. Together, they snored their worries away.