Recently, Tinley has been sucked into all the cheesy romance movies filling up her feed on Netflix. She was never a romantic movie kind of girl, but lately, she just feels in the mood for romance. Being with Marek has definitely brought out a different side of her. Plus, they keep popping up for her to watch. They might also keep showing up because she’s watching all of them, but she’s not one to question it. This latest one has her completely sucked in. A happily ever after seems pretty much impossible at this point, which means the ending is going to be over the top and epic. She gets giddy just thinking about it.

The two main characters are about to finally give in to their true feelings and share that first kiss when the front door to her apartment flies open. Tinley quickly pauses the movie and looks up as her roommate comes storming into the room. Her face is covered in tears, and her makeup is completely ruined. “Dakota are you okay? What’s wrong?”

She just solemnly shakes her head and continues toward her bedroom. What the hell could have happened at work to have her this upset? She never gets upset about anything work-related. “I don’t want to talk about it. Just drop it.”

“But—”

“No, Tinley. I said drop it.” Then she walks out of the room and slams her door.

The familiar sound of the lock clicking into place echoes down the hallway, and Tinley suddenly feels uncomfortable in her own home, almost like she’s intruding on whatever is going on with her roommate. Rather than stick around any longer, she picks up her phone and sends off a quick text to Marek. Maybe they can get together.

As soon as Tinley sends off the text, she contemplates what she just said. She and Marek haven’t been together for all that long, but it’s still kind of weird that she’s never been to his place before. He’s always coming to her instead. A few seconds later, her phone lights up with a notification, and she instantly feels let down.

She gets up from the couch and considers going into the kitchen to whip up a batch of cupcakes, but then she pauses. The old Tinley would make cupcakes every time she was bored, sad, or even hungry, but the new Tinley does not need someone else to keep her company to be happy. Instead, she decides she needs to go out and do something for herself for a change. Her hair and makeup are still fixed up from when she was at work earlier, but the yoga pants she currently has on won’t cut it.

When she comes back out into the living room, she’s pleasantly surprised to find Dakota standing there digging around in her purse. Her makeup is completely freshened up, and she’s swapped out her flats for heeled boots and her T-shirt for a ruffled blouse.

“Dakota, where are you going?”

“Out. I need to get completely shitfaced. Are you coming or staying?”

She doesn’t need someone to keep her company, but going to the bar with Dakota will definitely be a lot more fun than going by herself. Besides, it definitely seems like she could use a good cheering up, and hopefully, she’ll tell her what the heck happened in the hour between Tinley leaving work and Dakota getting off for the day. And maybe she can finally figure out what she’s been hiding. Even after the mysterious trip she took, Dakota has been completely quiet about what she’s been doing on her laptop every night. Wordlessly, Tinley grabs her purse and keys and leads the way downstairs. As they head down, she pulls up the Uber app on her phone. It’s sounding like it’s going to be a long night, and she has a feeling neither one of them are going to be okay to drive after it’s all over with.

* * *

Tinley lucked out that the password was exactly the same as last time. She figured she had a fifty-fifty chance that they constantly change it or keep it the same. Lucky for her, they don’t change it, so it’s not so secret after all—which reminds her, she never did get a chance to ask Marek why he didn’t tell her the password to get in in the first place. It’s possible that it didn’t cross his mind because he doesn’t have to use it when he comes here.

They step foot into the darkened room, and Dakota’s eyebrows go up as she takes everything in. Tinley isn’t nervous this time like she was before, so she’s able to appreciate the atmosphere alongside her roommate, including the giant clawfoot tub in the middle of the room. How did she miss that last time?

“So, how did you find out about this place anyway?”

It seemed like a good idea to bring Dakota here, but now Tinley is seriously questioning her own judgment. Of course, her friend would want to know how she found out about the place. It’s not like Tinley goes barhopping or trolls the internet looking for hip new places to go to. No, instead she spends most nights at home with a glass of wine, a cupcake, and Netflix. She’s more yoga pants than high heels, that’s for sure. She pretends like she doesn’t hear her roommate’s question and instead drags her off toward the bar so they can start drinking immediately; hopefully, Dakota will start spilling her secrets rather than the other way around.

“What do you feel like drinking? Should I get a menu from the bartender or do you know what you’re in the mood for?”

“Alcohol. I don’t care what’s in it, I just need alcohol and a lot of it.”

Okay, so it’s going to be one of those nights. Tinley motions for the bartender to come over so she can place an order.

“What can I get started for you ladies?”

She can only remember the name of one drink from last time. She didn’t get a chance to try it, but it sounded delicious. So, she orders those to start off with. “We’ll each start with a Giggle Water, and if you could bring us a menu as well, that would be great.” She motions to her roommate and says, “This one has no idea what she wants to drink but plans to drink a lot of it. She’s upset about something but won’t tell me what it is. I’m hoping some liquid courage will help loosen up those lips.”

Dakota starts laughing as she takes a seat at the bar and looks up at all the liquor bottles lining the wall behind the bartender. “What the hell is a Giggle Water?”

“Just trust me, you’ll like it.”

Famous last words right there.