Undercurrents

“Good evening everyone! Thank you all for coming to our Grand Opening!” Viv welcomes her invited guests.

The guests all cheer and clap, forcing Viv to pause before she continues her speech. You can clearly see how most of the guests are excited and happy for Viv, and are hoping for the continued success of her restaurant now that it’s open. Some, including you, Tanya, and Maddy, even give her a standing ovation. That being said, the festive nature of the guests only make it a lot more noticeable when there are people who don’t seem as jovial as the rest. It’s even more jarring for you, since everyone you notice that isn’t in the same mood are four of your girlfriends. Stella, Cassie, Brooke, and Becca all have smiles on their faces and are clapping for Viv, but you can tell their minds are elsewhere.

Cassie seems to have her mind racing. Any attempt you’ve made to converse with her back at the apartment only showed you how scattered her mind must be. You can only assume, but you’re guessing it’s the multitude of things that have happened today (that are coincidentally centered around her) that must be occupying her mind. From her and Stella’s argument, to Stella eventually agreeing with her to get a trait in order to help normalize their relationship, and the possibility of Courtney creating openings for Mr. Hoffman to reemerge as a nuisance — you understand why her mind isn’t a hundred percent focused on celebrating today.

Meanwhile, Stella’s concern is clearly pointed towards Cassie. If you’ve noticed Cassie’s mental state, you’re not surprised that Stella has too. With everything that went on between them last night, you can tell your daughter is wracking herself with guilt by being partly responsible for one of the things Cassie’s worried about today. When Paige broke the news of Becca’s request to stay away from the restaurant until after she dealt with her unexpected ‘guests’, and Becca even phrasing it as ‘another shitstorm’, she looked even more worried than Cassie was. Possibly fearing it’s another problem that’ll just get added to Cassie’s plate.

Most unnerving is how Becca is currently. When Becca’s dealing with guests, she’s the same Becca you’re familiar with. Hell, she’s a lot warmer with these guests now than when you first met her at Dorsia. However, outside of that setting, it’s undeniable that she has her mind elsewhere too. Her demeanor reminds you of how **** she looked when you talked to her back at the presidential suite. A stark contrast with how she was before you left to try and find Courtney. You remember that it was Becca who told you how important tonight was for both Viv and her. That you and the girls shouldn't miss out on celebrating despite what’s happened today. That tonight was a celebration. But now, Becca has a thousand yard stare that you’ve never seen her have before. What makes it more troubling for you is that you know it could get worse — You haven’t even told her about the mysterious woman who has apparently met up with Courtney.

Speaking of, it’s clear that that’s what’s keeping Brooke from celebrating too. Brooke has the same determined look on her face that she’s been putting on since you’ve left the library. But based on your brief interactions back at the apartment, it’s very apparent that this determined look is only a mask of her worries and guilt about the situation with Courtney.

You desperately want to comfort all of them, make sure they’re all alright, and allow all of them to celebrate tonight like they’ve all been planning to do the past week. But ironically enough, tonight’s Grand Opening is neither the time nor place to do any consoling.

‘Why did it have to be today?’ You ask yourself, cursing whatever deity it is that allowed for all of these things to happen. Even worse, it targeted your girlfriends right before what should’ve been a much needed celebration for your relationship.

Despite all your worries about them, you also don’t want them to feel like they’re burdening you with those worries. More importantly, you don’t want Viv to feel like this isn’t a time to celebrate her achievements too. So you remind yourself to smile and cheer like Viv’s other guests, just as she finishes her welcoming speech.

“With that being said… it’s time to party everybody!” Viv shouts jovially, snapping you out of your own rabbit hole of concerns. You, along with Viv’s other guests, woop, cheer, and raise their glasses to support Viv’s sentiment. Tanya, and Maddy are the quickest ones to follow suit, while the others take a moment to do so. Almost as if they’re mentally reminding themselves to not make it obvious that they’re minds are elsewhere. Paradoxically making it more noticeable that they’re just going through the motions.

You place your attention back towards Viv, trying to be influenced by her jovial mood. She smiles and waves, even giving quick bows to her other guests, as she makes her way towards your table. As soon as Viv makes eye contact with you, you give her a genuine smile of pride. To show her that you’re proud and happy for her achievements. But as soon as she sees your smile, her’s fades. Replaced by furrowed brows, lips holding back a scowl, and almost a fire burning inside her eyes. Just like that, you’re reminded how much of a master Viv is at masking her emotions.

“Tell them.” Viv forcefully instructs as she remains standing, her eyes directed solely at Becca.

Viv’s sudden shift in tone and look from when she gave her speech just a few seconds ago is a surprise to everyone other than Becca. You, Tanya, and Maddy all share looks of worry, but you can tell that Brooke, Stella, and Cassie’s looks of surprise are more in the vein of ‘what the fuck now?’

Becca’s eyes glance towards you and Cassie, before taking a deep breath and collecting herself. This pause was enough for Cassie to cut through the tension that Becca inadvertently created.

“It’s about me, isn’t it?” Cassie asks, already sounding fearful of Becca’s answer.

“No.” Viv answers, surprising Cassie.

“Oh, thank God.” Stella utters with a heavy sigh of relief.

“It’s worse.” Becca says after Viv, and whatever breath Stella let out, she sucked back in with her gasp.

“Did you two fucking practice the worst fucking way to tell us news!?” Stella asks back in a shout. You can tell that multiple sets of eyes dart towards your table’s direction after Stella’s outburst.

“Baby,” You say with a concerned tone, trying to remind her not to let her emotions take over in this setting.

“I’m not in the mood to be lectured about my fucking language right now, Dad.” Stella fires back at you.

“I wasn’t.” You say in reaction. Hopefully, she recognizes that your tone was one of concern with how stressed she must be rather than sounding defensive.

“He’s just reminding you not to scare my guests, Stella.” Viv says in a soft tone, trying to clarify your intent for you.

“Then don’t scare me like that!” Stella still replies in a shout.

“We get it, Stella.” Tanya says authoritatively. “But the more we delay this news, the more we’re all going to stress ourselves out.” Tanya points out, trying to stop the discussion from going off the rails.

“What’s this about, Becca?” Maddy asks, supporting Tanya’s effort to get back on track.

“I wish I could tell all of you that I can deal with this on my own, that you shouldn’t concern yourselves with my problem, but I would be lying.” Becca prefaces ominously.

“This is about all of us.”