Intermission - Drinking loosens lips (Part 2).

Diana managed to buy herself a bit more time, escaping Holly’s question by doing two things. One, she offered Holly another drink, which the older woman graciously accepted. And two, she threw Maria under the bus.

“I’m more curious about how Maria feels about her boyfriend going on a date with Isabelle.”

“Wait, that’s right!” Holly turned her attention to Maria, shooting her a confused look. “How come you let him do that?”

Maria’s cheeks reddened, but she snorted and shrugged it off. “Please, like I have anything to fear. You should’ve seen him when he asked me if it was a good idea or not. He was almost shaking. I swear, he’s too cute. Anyway, I trust him. If it gives him some peace of mind to not get hit on all the time, then it’s more than fine.”

“...You’ve never been the jealous type, huh?” Diana realized.

“Guess not. I mean, I don’t think I’d be willing to share like you are, but… Yeah, jealousy is just wasted energy. If they’re gonna cheat on me, I’ll get mad when it happens, not before.”

“Never been cheated on?” Holly asked, surprised.

“Not that I know of, at least. I’m either lucky or very blind, haha!”

“I don’t think it has happened. You’re the kind of person one feels guilty lying to,” Diana said before getting to work on Holly’s second drink.

This time, she mixed gin, lemon and lime juice, simple syrup, some heavy cream, one egg white and three dashes of orange flower water. She shook it first without ice and did it for a long, long time. Enough that Holly had to ask her if she was fine.

Diana smiled. “I’m used to it.”

She then added the ice to the shaker and shook it some more. And instead of refilling Holly’s glass, she took it from her and made a quick trip to the kitchen to get a chilled glass from her fridge. She strained the drink into the chilled glass and poured some soda water on it. Done.

“Here you go,” she said with a proud smile, sliding the glass towards Holly. “A Ramos Gin Fizz.”

“Oh my God…!” Holly’s eyes shone.

Maria whistled, impressed. “That looks nice! I almost want one, too.”

“Do you?”

“That looked like a lot of work…”

“It’s fine.” Without waiting for a reply, Diana started making another Ramos Gin Fizz while Holly tried hers.

“Oooooh, mother of all…” she groaned in pleasure, practically melting after that first sip. “What the hell? Can cocktails actually taste this good?”

“There’s more to it than just throwing liquors together,” Diana said. “Drink mixing is an art form in itself.”

“Well, consider me a believer now. I just liked cocktails because they felt nicer than drinking a beer out of the can, but this is next level.”

Diana couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you very much.”

Holly then frowned. “And you want Oliver to do this kind of stuff, too? He’s hardworking, but I doubt he’ll pick it up in a month or two.”

Diana chuckled. “I’d seriously question my own skill if he did. No, he’ll mostly help and serve simple drinks while he learns. I think he can do it.”

“I want to agree, but this isn’t the same as serving coffee, you know?” Maria told her, getting giddy when Diana served her her drink.

“It’s not like we’re forcing him. If he tries it and decides it isn’t for him, he can always work on something else. Still, he’ll do it.”

“Mmm… If I remember correctly, you introduced Diana and Oliver to each other, didn’t you, Maria?”

“Uh… W-Well, yeah…” Maria said, smiling sheepishly. “That was, um…”

“Oh, I’m not blaming you. There’s nothing to blame you for,” Holly said with a soft chuckle. “No, it’s just interesting. They seem so compatible but it’s possible that they would have never gotten together or even met if things didn’t work as they did.”

Diana sat down again and refilled her own glass. She smiled at it and took a sip. “Yeah… I really have too much to thank you for,” she told Maria.

“Nah, you two would’ve gotten together eventually,” Maria said, laughing it off. “I mean, you’re too perfect of each other. You would’ve given in and talked to him eventually even if I didn’t intervene.”

“I’m not so sure…”

The three women drank and talked. Diana tried to move the topic away from her and Oliver and asked Holly questions about her job. But the more they talked, the more they drank, and the more they drank, the more Maria’s inhibitions loosened. Yeah, that was a problem in university, too.

“Okay, okay, but be honest, Holly,” Maria said, red-faced and grinning. “You’re single and still pretty damn attractive. If I had to guess your age, I’d confidently say 30. Both your kids are well grown now. Don’t you ever feel like you wanna go back to the dating game?”

“Pfff, no!” Holly said, laughing loudly. She was already in her fourth gin fizz. “To be honest, I never really cared about dating that much. Plus, I actually have a really low libido, much more so now at this age.”

“But don’t you get lonely?” Maria asked.

“Mmm, not really. I have my friends and coworkers and I get along well with our neighbors. Is it that weird that I don’t need a romantic partner?”

“A little, I think,” Maria admitted.

Holly laughed again. “I suppose it is, isn’t it? Well, my mother used to say we were cursed to have bad luck in our relationships, and so far Oliver is the only one in the family to subvert that. Wouldn’t you agree, Diana?” she asked with a knowing smirk.

Diana felt her cheeks heat up, and while it could easily be from her third glass of scotch… “I have a hard time believing in supernatural stuff, but it IS true that Oliver is lucky in that regard. Don’t know how, but the fact that he’s dating so many girls with so little drama is the most shocking part of it all.”

“I guess the overwhelming sex works wonders to keep everyone happy, huh?”

“MARIA!”

“I KNEW it! Hahaha!” Holly laughed while Diana’s face fell in horror. “Seriously, this kid! ALWAYS the quiet ones, ALWAYS!”

“...And you’re too happy to hear your son is a beast in bed,” Diana muttered, pouting.

“Hey, he’s possessed by a sex demon. I already made my peace with it. Besides, I always worried he’d never find his happiness. Now he’s having the time of his life. So long as none of you suddenly come up with a positive pregnancy test, I won’t complain.”

Diana scoffed. “W-Well, and what if we WANT to have a baby?”

“Hah! Good luck trying to convince him of that before he’s 24. Kid didn’t want to have a cat! You think he’ll want a child when he doesn’t believe he can take care of himself?”

“You’ll be 32 by then,” Maria told Diana, grinning teasingly. “Too late for you?”

“Are you kidding? I’d be willing to wait until my 40s.”

“Ooooh, so you’re already thinking of kids, then? How many?” Holly asked.

“And how’re you gonna name them?” Maria joined in.

“H-Hey, that’s not what I said! A-And besides, are you forgetting that there are five other girls? I’d be shocked if any one of them didn’t also want a kid of their own.”

“Right, so I’m looking at six grandkids, at least…” Holly said, nodding to herself. “What sports can you play with six people?”

“Volleyball is the only one that comes to mind,” Diana said.

“Then they’ll play volleyball.”

“Hey, hey!” Maria started giggling on her own. “Imagine… Imagine all of you have twins!”

“Then they’ll play football,” Holly said.

“A football team has 11 players, not 12,” Diana corrected.

“I’m sure one of them won’t like football.”

“But if they’re 12, they can have two volleyball teams and play each other,” Maria suggested.

“Ah, that’s true.”

…

“W-Wait, what even IS the possibility of that happening!?” Diana asked, suddenly aware of what they were talking about.

“With Oliver? Could either be 0% or 100% for all we know,” Holly said, shrugging. “You know that stuff he can do with a table? Who says there aren't crazier magic tricks.”

“There are,” Diana casually confirmed, having a long sip of her scotch.

“Wait, huh? M-Magic tricks? Actually, I just realized! You said something about a sex demon! What the hell?” Maria asked, taken aback.

“Oh, Thomas hasn’t told you?” Diana asked her.

“What!?”

“Yeah, Thomas should know,” Diana said. “Oliver is possessed by Frey, a woman who calls herself a Spirit of Lust. She gives him magic sex powers and feeds on sex energy. So he says, anyway.”

“...Did I know this? I feel like I heard something about it…” Maria wondered. “I… I think Thomas mentioned something but then told me to forget about it.”

“I bet. He doesn’t seem the type to go revealing a friends’ secrets,” Holly said. “To be honest, I don’t know what makes me happier. That Oliver has you girls or that he became friends with Thomas.”

“Oh, those two are so damn cute!” Maria said. “I love to see them banter. Thomas loves him. I’m more jealous of Oliver than I am of Isabelle taking him to prom, actually!” Maria said, laughing.

Diana chuckled. “Male friendship is weird. Sometimes they’re so mean to each other but they just laugh it off.”

“That’s what I mean,” Maria said. “They call each other out on the smallest thing! It’s so funny. And yet every time something happens, Thomas goes to Oliver before me!”

“He’s a firm follower of the bro code, then,” Holly said.

“What even is the bro code?” Diana asked.

“Do I look like a man to you? All I know is that Thomas won’t lay a finger on Isabelle, you can be sure of that.”

“Good. Now, going back a bit… What’s this about magic tricks?” Maria asked, leaning in.

“Ah. Well, Oliver can write something on a table, for example, and it gets stuck in place. You could kick it and it wouldn’t move an inch,” Diana told her.

“What the hell? Seriously? That sounds… useful, actually. How boring…”

“Come on, you said there are crazier tricks,” Holly said. “Spill it.”

“I don’t think I should…”

“Tell me or you’re never setting foot in my house again,” Holly threatened.

At that, Diana crossed her arms and tilted her head with a thoughtful frown. “Does that even matter? He’s moving out soon, right? AND he can always come to my place, so…”

“Just tell me, woman! Oliver will never tell me on his own.”

“Of course he won’t,” Diana said. “Why would he tell his mother he now has a spell that lets him openly fondle tits without anyone noticing?”

“Hold up, what?”

“Oh my God! Hahaha!” Maria burst out laughing while Holly’s eyes went wide as plates.

“See? See? That’s why I didn’t want to say anything!”

“God, my son is a pervert… You were right, maybe that was too much. Hit me with a scotch now, Diana!” Diana did as asked and served Holly a glass of scotch, which the older woman immediately took a swig of. Then, after a short pause, “...So he’s fondled you in public?”

“Stop asking!”

“Fine!”

This was, without doubt and by far, the strangest day in Diana’s life. Oliver could tell her anything regarding magic and supernatural bullshit, but nothing would ever beat talking about sex with him with his mother. That said… Any ice that was left between them had definitely melted.

Holly may have had many cups in her, but at no point did she lose control. The woman had tolerance. And more importantly, at no point did she judge her or question her. Holly had accepted her, and not just as her son’s girlfriend, but… apparently also as a friend.

Weird day for sure, but welcome.

---

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