Facing It Head On

Richie & Libby

by Atonia & Layne

Richie rested his head in his hands. He hadn’t meant to go down that road with Toni, accusing her of being with Travis before she left with him. He wasn’t sure he even believed that himself. He’d wanted to keep it civil, but he saw it in her eyes he’d pissed her off. He wasn’t over it. The scab hadn’t formed yet.

He looked up as Libby moved into the doorway, “Sorry Libby I’d forgotten you were coming by.”

Libby had seen his head in his hands, had heard a little of the last of the conversation between he and Toni, when she first came in the door. She hated to see him hurting. "That's okay, Richie. Doesn't matter."

She was a bit surprised at the sudden stab of anger she felt against Toni Roberts. She barely even knew the woman. "You gonna be okay?"

“Ah yeah, uh what,” he was still distracted, “did we have plans?”

"Nope. No plans." She sat down in front of his desk, putting a hand over one of his. "I was just on my way home. I'd heard Travis McGee and- and Mrs. Roberts were back. I thought I'd see how things were going for you. That's what friends do, you know." She smiled a little.

Richie looked at her a moment, “Do they, is that what they do? Yeah, they’re back,” he looked around for his jacket.

“If we don’t have any plans let’s make some, wanna go to Coffs and find something to eat?”

"I'm pretty sure that's what they do. That's what Abby and I do, anyway." She picked up her bag.

"Spur of the moment plans. The best kind." Libby grinned at him. "Eating sounds good. Want me to drive?"

“I’ll drive,” he picked up his keys from the desk and followed her to the sidewalk and locked his office. “My Rover’s in the alley, I’m probably not good company right now Libby,” he pushed the remote and unlocked his vehicle. “You’ll just have to put up with me.”

"Putting up with you will be a pleasure," Libby told him, as she got into the SUV.

Looking over at him, she said, "You don't need to be good company. I'm here to listen. Whatever you need to talk about."

“I’m not sure I need to talk about anything,” he backed his vehicle out and straightened up and headed off toward the highway.

“How’s life treating you today?”

"Not bad." Libby looked down at her hands. "The break-up still hurts, but I've actually been getting more done. At work and at home."

Looking up, she met his eyes, "I think you're good for me, Roberts."

Richie slid his eyes back to the road, “Don’t kid yourself Libby, I’m not good for anybody. Stayin’ busy is always good, makes the time pass, gives your mind something to do besides think.” He turned onto the highway.

“How’s your buddy, the one in the hospital, Abby?” Richie was reaching for things to talk about, anything but what was on his mind.

"She's doing okay. Probably be getting out of the hospital soon. It may take awhile for her to recover from all this, though."

Libby could tell from the look in Richie's eyes, the way he was sticking to lighter subjects, even his grip on the steering wheel, that he was avoiding what was really on his mind. Should she take a chance on pushing him to talk? They'd been so intimate with each other, yet they'd been around each other so little. How would he react?

With a deep breath, she took the plunge. "Quit putting yourself down, Richie Roberts," she told him forcefully. "You ARE good for me. YOU give my mind something to do besides worry about my problems." She was afraid to go on, afraid of his reaction, but she did...

"And you're not being straight with me. You do need to talk. I'm not a girlfriend or a wife. If we're gonna have a friendship, we've gotta be straight with each other." Libby waited for him to explode at her, hoped he didn't.

Richie looked over at her a little surprised, “I’m not being straight with you? What the hell have I said? I told you I wasn’t good company tonight.” He was quiet for a moment, “I’ve never been just friends with a woman before; not sure I know the rules of the game.”

"I'm not sure there are any rules. Just...guidelines." Libby grinned a little, remembering a movie she'd heard that in. "But I know you've been friends with guys. Do you worry about whether or not you're good company for them? It's the same with a woman friend. You can just say whatever you need to say to me, use whatever language you usually would. Just be Richie Roberts."

Her eyes going over to him, she said softly, "And you don't have to worry about impressing me or anything to get me into bed. You've already got that with me when you need it. Friends with benefits, remember?"

“I do remember the benefits, “ he smiled pulling into the parking lot near the marina. “I feel like fish and chips, Aussie junk food okay with you?” Benefits were beginning to sound good to him. “There’s a good shop up here on the corner.”

Richie still couldn’t get his mind around the friendship thing, women were for something else.

They ordered fish and chips, sitting out on the deck and enjoying the music that was playing. Richie seemed a little more relaxed, but Libby could tell that a big part of his mind was still occupied with something else. She'd never had this kind of friendship with a guy either, but spending time with Richie made her feel better. She wanted this to work.

When they'd finish eating, she leaned back in her chair with a beer and tried again. "So how's work going? Any interesting cases right now? And, in case you're worried about my being a reporter, this is off the record. Just between us!" She smiled.

Richie took a drink of his beer, “A couple of cases going to court. That’s the thing I miss about practicing here, I don’t get to argue in court, it goes to a barrister. I do all the leg work and somebody else makes the damn case.” He chuckled, “I can remember when I used to get stage fright when I had to get up before a jury but I got past that. That was all in Jersey. Sometimes I miss the States.”

He looked out toward the marina and stopped his beer halfway to his lips. There was McGee’s big yacht. He’d forgotten about that being out here. He took a breath and set the bottle back down.

Libby was smiling as he talked about his work. You could just tell how into it he was and how much it consumed him. She was just starting to think that they could enjoy talking to each other, when she saw Richie set down his beer without taking a drink of it. She followed his eyes out to the marina. "What's wrong?"

He didn’t really want to say but he looked up at her concerned face, “I can’t seem to get away from it. You see that yacht out there on the end of the dock, the big one in the last berth? That’s McGee’s. I don’t care that he owns that yacht more power to him.” Richie was trying to keep it in, he was close to losing it. “Let’s get out of here.”

Libby could tell how close he was to...something. Was it anger? Sadness? Both? It was hard to tell with Richie.

"Come on." She got up. "Wanna go for a walk on the beach? Somewhere away from the marina and the boats?"

They ended up walking on the beach carrying their shoes. He felt a little better now and wondered how long it was going to lie in his chest, welling up at inopportune moments. He hadn’t really faced it yet. He’d let anger drive him, but today, seeing Toni something else was there, a terrible sense of loss. A sense of failure on his part. He still cared about Toni, still loved her that didn’t stop when she got on that plane with McGee, but it was all gone now he’d lost her.

“Sorry about that Libby,” he reached over and took her hand. “Today hasn’t been good. Ah…maybe we should just go back to The Glen.”

She squeezed his hand. "Sure. Whatever you wanna do, Richie. And you don't have to be sorry." He'd let down his guard a little bit while they were walking. Libby could see the grief, the loss, on his face.

"I wish there was something I could do to help."

He stopped and turned and kissed her, “There is something you can do, be with me tonight.”

TBC...