Almost Easy

Third Person POV

Liz’s arms outstretched over her head as she opened her eyes, the dark room around her left her somewhat disoriented. She sifted her hands. Through the sheets around her to realize she was on a couch, a pout settled on her lips as she sat up. The clock on the cable box read three in the morning. She groaned and ran her hand down her face as she sat up, thankfully however she managed to get home she got her shoes off. She noticed her phone laying on the cushion beside her and picked it up, blinking a few times at the mass of missed calls, messages, and voicemails from Matt she looked around harder.

Liz recognized the family portraits on the credenza and sighed in relief, she was crashed on Jimmy’s couch. Thank god. She held her head and mumbled to herself before falling back on the couch and ignoring her phone going off once more, falling in to another state of blacked out intoxication.

The next time she woke up, the room had transformed to an overly lit living room with Jimmy mere inches from her face with a cup of steaming coffee, “Good morning sleeping devil.”

“I think the phrase you’re looking for darling is sleeping beauty.” Leana laughed from the recliner beside Liz.

“Nah, she’s the literal devil.” Jimmy handed off the cup of coffee to Liz’s needy hands as she sat up, almost inhaling the liquid as the pounding headache settled in to the crown of her head, “Alright, let me fill you in on how the night went after your husband showed up which I’m assuming you remember?” Liz nodded, “OK cool, good place to start because that’s where shit started hitting the fan. Our little conversation outside went nowhere. You said three years of marriage was enough for him which I still require an explanation to. Then you decided to stay on the dance floor all night, continued to drink, then when you came up to the booth where Matt was disgustingly sober for his birthday party, you picked a fight with him.”

“Sounds like drunk me.” Liz clutched her head and eyed her now dead phone, “And why he blew my shit up last night.”

“No, he blew you up because he has no idea you’re here.” Leana spoke up, eyeing her sympathetically.

“Exactly. You literally fought him, and got kicked out-“

“And puked on a bouncer.” Leana smirked, “I’m actually impressed.”

“Fuck.” Liz stared at her bare feet.

“Your shoes are in my car,” Leana pointed at the door, “You took them off outside the club and started throwing them at Matt when he tried to calm you down to get you to go home. That’s when he pointed out you weren’t wearing your ring and…”

“It got ugly.” Jimmy picked up where Leana stopped, “You obviously ran out of shoes to throw pretty quickly, and the issue about wearing your ring pissed him off so he shattered the drink in his hand at both of your feet and you stepped in the glass trying to square up with him… Zack picked you up and brought you out back towards the cars while Brian and I pushed Matt back to the building. The girls wrangled your shit you threw and got you in to Leana’s car since she was my designated driver anyways, Zack sat with you until we had Matt under control enough for me to sneak away and leave with you, Leana, and Jacky. Zack didn’t tell Matt if you were at my houses or his, he assumed Zack’s since he stopped calling me around one.”

“What time did we get in?” Liz asked as Jimmy’s ramble died down.

“Right before one. Early night.” Leana laughed, “I have to say, you haven’t gotten rusty in your old age Lizzy.”

“That’s generally how any outing with me goes these days.” Liz mumbled, “So… Yeah. Our marriage isn’t shit, it’s fine. I just require more attention than he has time for right now. You guys are so busy and I just…” She threw her hands up, “I’m over the coming home drunk bullshit and always being busy and never having time for the two of us to do shit together is all. I don’t know. It’s a lot of little things building up to one giant blowout and obviously that was last night.”

“He’s worried that wasn’t the big one.” Jimmy rocked on his heels, still perched in front of Liz, “He’s worried, and we all are, that you’re going to actually lose your shit on him soon… So we’re going to take a break from the studio-“

“NO!” Liz groaned, “Not this shit again. It’s not even that! It’s him! He only goes to the studio a few days a week! It’s the rest of the week where he’s out, god knows where because he wont tell me, drinking and coming home all hours of the night drunk as shit and he passes out on the couch not even in bed. I don’t get my husband like I thought I would, it isn’t the experience I thought it’d be, being married. I expected to be able to have couples nights at least sometimes. Do dinner parties, go on trips when he’s home, stuff I see other couples doing and just… we don’t. I don’t think we ever will, but taking a studio break is not the answer.”

“Well… We’ll be wrapped up soon, Liz, and then I bet you guys can do all that stuff.” Jimmy smiled, taking Liz’s hands, “But for now, everyone minus your husband is on their way over to have a movie day to recover from last night, and we’re going to eat really crap food, and Liddy’s coming with Jacky and Zack so we have a reason to watch cartoons, then Zack’s gonna take you back home later to mediate the impending explosion.”

“That sounds good to me.” Liz nodded and sipped the coffee in her hands, “Sounds real good to me.”