All good things must come to an end: this is the final instalment in the The Mechanic series. Like my other stories, this is not a 'wham bam, thank you ma'am' story, and you'll probably want to read the other parts in the series first to understand the backstory. For those of you who have been following my characters every step of the way, trust me in saying that I will miss them as much as you will! But I hope you'll enjoy their finale. I'd love to hear from you; drop me a comment to let me know what you think. Happy reading!
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Megan shuffled the little envelope a little closer. The object had been lying on the breakfast bar between them for the best part of fifteen minutes. Megan seemed a bit shy about actually handing it over, but it had clearly been the thing on her mind; conversation so far had been awkward and a little forced.
"What's this? Is that for me?" Rowan decided to help her along.
Megan's face lit up. "Open it," she said, beaming.
Rowan took out the card within. It had a picture of a U-Haul moving truck and the words 'Housewarming Party' plastered across the top. Rowan dropped the card with a thud.
"You're moving in with her!?"
Megan nodded and looked at her expectantly; nervously. "I know it's quick..."
"It is... You've only known her for three months."
"I know but... When you know, you know. You know?"
Rowan smiled. There was entirely too much knowing going on in that sentence.
"It's going really well between us. I really like her. I want to spend the rest of my life with her! Plus, you've always said I need to get out of my tiny place," Megan rattled on.
Rowan had said that. She hadn't meant U-hauling with the first girl to come along, naturally. Jordan had certainly embedded herself into Megan's life very swiftly. Ever since the two had finally admitted they liked each other, they had been practically inseparable. Rowan had not seen much of Megan lately and she'd only met Jordan a few times, mostly in passing.
Megan and Jordan had met up with Rowan for a meal once, where they'd been properly introduced. However, the two love birds had been very busy with each other, which left little room for getting to know Megan's crush properly.
Admittedly, they did seem a very good match; endlessly chatting and bantering. They'd even finished each other's sentences a few times. Still, this talk of wanting to spend the rest of their lives together was giving Rowan heart palpitations. How could they possibly know that?
"Oh Rowan, it's the perfect place for us. And we're both in such dinky places now. She's in a student room! And don't worry, in the new apartment we'll still have plenty of space to avoid each other if we need to!" Megan laughed, but it still sounded slightly forced.
Seeing Megan's discomfort, Rowan realised she wasn't being the supportive friend she should be. The fact that she couldn't picture moving in with someone she'd just met didn't mean that it couldn't make her friend happy. Megan was well aware of Rowan's feeling on this topic, so she'd probably been dreading the moment she had to bring it up.
"Well, that's amazing then. I'm really happy for you guys," Rowan said with a genuine smile, pushing down her internal panic. She got up to emphasise her words.
"Congratulations!" She pulled Megan into a bear hug.
Her friend looked utterly relieved. "Thank you! So you'll be there?"
Rowan returned to the invite. The party was next Friday. So soon.
"Of course, I'll be there. I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Great! We're moving in this week, actually. I was going to ask you for help but I didn't want you to take time off work, and Jordan has two bulky big brothers who are helping us. We don't have much stuff anyway. It will probably only be two car loads."
"I would have closed the garage for a day to help you. You're my best friend; no customer or motorbike can compete with that." Rowan winked. She meant it, but she was secretly quite glad she did not to have to miss out on the business.
"Are you going to bring Riley?" Megan asked with a curious smile.
Rowan tapped the invite on the breakfast bar pensively. "Yeah, I think I might..." That would at least give her someone to talk to while Megan and Jordan and their couple friends were smooching in the corners.
Megan was positively beaming.
"What?" Rowan asked, already knowing the answer.
"Just this... Seeing you like this. You're not even freaking out about asking her to come with you anymore!"
Rowan shrugged. She wasn't, but that didn't mean they would be next to move in together. Trust Megan to interpret this in her overly optimistic way.
"It's going really well, isn't it? You've been on a few dates, right?" Megan fished.
"Dates...," Rowan started. She couldn't really deny anymore that she had been on dates, much as she would like.
"Yeah, I guess. We went to the theatre where she played the piano on stage; I told you about that..."
"Oh yes, that was fantastic," Megan said with a dreamy smile that suggested she had a bit of a crush on Riley herself after that. "You were super impressed with that, weren't you?"
Rowan huffed. Of course she was, but that wasn't the point.
"Anyway," she continued, "we also went for a bike ride to that ice cream parlour. And we've been to Luigi's for a meal, and to the cinema to see the new Cate Blanchett movie. She says she has a bit of a thing for Cate. She sure is settling into this lesbian thing nicely. "
Rowan grinned casually. She'd been rattling this off factually, not wanting to encourage Megan's romantic ideas. She just enjoyed hanging out with Riley; no wedding bells or thoughts thereof required.
"Sounds amazing!"
"It's been nice, actually. Although she's giving me serious blue balls."
Rowan laughed. She'd meant it as a joke to lighten the serious tone of the conversation, but Megan gave her a reproachful look.
"Maybe that will teach you that not everything is about sex!"
"Not everything, no, but a little bit of it would be nice."
She was just playing with Megan now; the truth was, she was alright with waiting for Riley. She had two healthy hands and a huge collection of toys to take the edge off.
"And would you have stuck around for this long if she'd given you that?"
"Maybe...," Rowan lied, "but I know that that's exactly the reason you told her not to sleep with me."
"She told you then? Well, I don't regret a thing. It is clearly working."
Rowan smiled. Riley hadn't told her that with so many words but it had been easy to put two and two together; it was exactly as she'd suspected then. And if she was completely honest with herself, she was actually grateful. Megan was right: she probably wouldn't have stuck around if Riley had put out again already. So, yes, it was working; whatever 'it' was.
Megan continued: "Anyway, I'm glad you're going to ask her." She had a funny expression on her face and Rowan looked at her suspiciously.
"What now? What am I missing?"
"I sent her an invite too," Megan said, pleased as punch with herself.
Rowan should have seen that coming. "Are you guys friends now then?" She asked, pretending annoyance. "Or just ganging up on me again?"
She had her own ideas about why Megan had asked Riley, but she realised she wasn't as frustrated about her meddling as she'd once been. In fact, she was quite pleased; it would take the gravity off her asking Riley.
Megan was still smiling. "I just like her, that's all. I want her there, without or without you."
"Oi! Harsh dude!"
Megan laughed. "I didn't mean it like that. I want you there too, of course. I want you both there, attached to each other or not."
Nice save. If those were her options, Rowan would choose attached, preferably to Riley's lips in a dark corner somewhere.
"You could have told me that before grilling me about asking her, though."
"I just wanted to see if you'd invite her." 'How far you've come,' was what Megan actually meant. Rowan for once had not disappointed her.
"Anyway, now that you'll have a date to the party, you know what that means, right?"
Rowan had no clue. She looked at Megan quizzically.
"You'll have to coordinate your outfits."
"What are you talking about?" Was this some new part of dating that Rowan didn't know about, being so new to the whole thing?
Megan pointed at the invite. "It's a costume party!"
Rowan grabbed the card and stared at the smaller print across the bottom. She hadn't gotten this far, thrown by the shock of the moving in bit. There it was, brazen as brass: 'Come dressed as your favourite lesbian character from tv, movies, books, or music.'
"You've got to be kidding me," Rowan mumbled, more to herself than to Megan." She really wasn't feeling this theme. She was drawing a complete blank on what to do with it. Whatever happened to good old-fashioned 'hookers and vicars'?
"We thought that since it's already such a lesbian thing to do, U-hauling after three months, we may as well go all the way," Megan beamed.
"But lesbian characters just look like you and I anyway, don't they? Not much dressing up required then."
"Like you, for sure!" Megan laughed. "Find some accessories. Be creative!"
When Megan had left a while later, Rowan was still racking her brain for ideas on who to go as. And apparently it had to be a duo act too. Typical Megan to spring something like this on her a week before the project was due. Didn't these student types realise other people had real jobs that kept them busy?
She got out her phone, which she'd actually bothered to charge for a change. She'd saved Riley's number in there a while ago, thinking in a moment of weakness that it would make it easier to make plans in the long run, if she was going to keep seeing the girl.
