trampgiordano:
tramp watches as lady’s expression completely changes at the mere mention of peg’s name. like something was about to start that would make him seriously regret ever uttering that one single syllable. maybe he had only felt the need to bring her up in the first place in order to push the narrative that he wasn’t lonely companionship-wise, since lady had found herself a fiancé— but as far as she would know, all he was doing was remarking how someone who had always been in his life would be excited to see him. what was so wrong about that?
lady’s soured expression extends out onto her words as well, as it all comes spilling out of her— a clear anger that he doesn’t really understand.
“ well, seems like she’s been doing fine while— ” tramp abruptly stops talking again as quickly as he had started, interrupted by lady – who hasn’t even given him time to answer the first question before directing more at him.
their conversation suddenly feels like a police interrogation.
“ lady … what the fuck? ” he scoffs, glaring at her in utter shock and disbelief. where on earth had this come from?
“ wait are you … serious right now? i just told you why i went silent on you… you know, like, two fuckin’ seconds ago? did you forget that already? ” he responds, already exhausted by this.
it was a mere half hour ago, give or take, that lady had walked into the restaurant and they had reunited for the first time in years. how has said reunion gone from a heated confrontation, to apologies and explanations and light-hearted catching up, to awkward revelations and ended up with lady striking a full blown argument over seemingly nothing?
“ and what exactly do you mean by that last part, huh? ” tramp bites back, starting to see red as he leans forward to shorten the gap between them lest his dad’s customers overhear the conversation. “ proved them right about what, hm? ” he presses, intrigued to see how she’ll expand on that. there were a lot of things tramp was infamous for around town— some true, mostly bullshit.
“ you know what— you don’t need to answer that. god, lucinda, you’re infuriating. i don’t even get where that all just came from. you just … exploded. why? because i have a friend who isn’t you? get a hold of yourself, ” he continues, finally rising to his feet, having heard enough. he doesn’t have the energy to deal with this right now, and decides to leave. he’d come back later and finish the unpacking he left half-complete upstairs, but he can’t stand another second in here while the air is as tense as lady decided to make it. he’s out of here, but not before muttering something under his breath—
“ still an entitled brat after all this time. ”
resort to name-calling was probably a step too far, but he doesn’t care. it’s immature to call her that, but it’s more immature in his eyes to get into such a tantrum over him mentioning a girl that she had a minor personality clash with over five years ago.
maybe tramp and lady have outgrown each other.
he slings on his jacket and heads out the door, storming down the street towards where his car sits parked on the curb.
as soon as the words passed her lips, she wanted to suck them back in like a thick milkshake. her anger and bits of vitriol, repressed memories, and stifled feelings whirled together in her brain blender to make something so viscous it was impossible to take back up a straw. regret swirled in her stomach as she digested exactly what she’d said to her best friend, the man she could possibly...
“tramp, i--” she thought about reaching out to him but kept her perfectly manicured hands tucked in the folds of her arms tight across her chest like armor. her brain felt like it was on fire, rattling around in a head too big for something that could generate something so stupidly incorrect. it was like a vicious little dog infected with rabies had taken over her body for fifteen seconds too long, foaming at the mouth and chomping to get a hold of a delicate hand.
lady shrunk into herself, ashamed. “proved them right about us being a bad match. about us never working as friends. i know why you left. i know why you said you left. but to be here with me and peg be the person on your mind to the point where you can’t wait to run and tell her you’re back and have some big...reunion fuck...don’t you see how that would hurt me? after so many years of not knowing what--or who, i guess--you were doing? fucking forgive me if my bratty little feelings were hurt.”
stomping to a stop by his familiar car, she blew a piece of stray hair away from her face and tried to swallow her anger before she threw it up all over herself for the second time in the same hour. “i’m not...i’m not an entitled brat. i’m your best fucking friend and wanted to feel like it again, for the first time in years. i didn’t want to think about peg, or dodge, or...or....any of your other friends who are clearly better suited to you and your cool lifestyle, which apparently everyone else came to terms with a long time ago except for the two of us. i just wanted it to be like it used to be, but clearly i was stupid to think that. and i’m sorry for taking out my frustration on you, and i’ll send a...cosmic fucking sorry to peg, wherever the fuck she is. i’m just...i’m sorry, okay?”
her misguided hope and anger faded to a dull throb sitting in the middle of her chest. she didn’t want to be like this. she didn’t want to be ruled strictly by emotion, never thinking before she spoke. but how could she change that? it’s who she was, who she’d always been, and who she’d always be. was there even a way to change that golden thread that tied your entire person together? to take a sharp pair of scissors and snip it, making room for something else?
sorries weren’t particularly lady’s thing, but clearly there was a first time for everything.










