Aftermath

Libby & Frank

Libby was highly upset and she turned that agitation on Frank. As he followed her into the house after Richie's departure, she fixed him with a steely glare. "Just what did you think you were doing there, Frank?"

Surprised at what seemed to be the level of her anger, Frank merely looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Why did you stick your nose in like that? It's hard enough for Richie and I to have a friendship! I don't need you trying to look out for me and making him angry at you and at me in the process!"

Observing her closely, Frank now knew where her anger was coming from. It was right there in her eyes. It was sadness and it was fear. There were tears in there that she was holding back. Libby didn't like to cry, he'd noticed. Always wanting to be strong and to act tough. And always afraid to show Richie Roberts the wrong thing.

Frank had none of his usual smiles and charms tonight. Just sympathy for her. And protectiveness, just like he would have had for his own daughter.

"Libby, honey-" He took her hand and pulled her over to press her face into his shoulder, his only idea to comfort her.

"Frank-" Libby had held back tears for a long time, because she thought she'd cried enough over men. Thought that she didn't want to cry over Richie as long as they were still friends, and that if she just remained strong-

"Frank, what did I do wrong?" she was asking him, as she sobbed. "I've done the very best I could to be friends with him. Ever since he told me he'd found someone, I haven't- I haven't tried to come on to him. I haven't even mentioned us sleeping together. I've respected his feelings."

"The other night at dinner-" she went on. "I didn't mean to upset anybody. I talked to Nonnie. Not as much as I did to Richie, but I don't know her as well! I didn't know what to talk about! And I was very careful about what I said! I never once said anything about sleeping with him or even hinted at anything like that! I just talked about things that friends talk about! And she still got upset!"

Libby was crying harder. "And tonight! I was so happy he stopped by, but I didn't do anything wrong! I showed him the house. We exchanged presents. I only kissed him on the cheek. It was him who kissed me on the lips. And then I gave him the tickets-"

Libby stopped, still sobbing, and looked down at the envelope in her hand. The tickets that she'd been so happy about giving him. "He took them and then he just-just- Threw them down! Told me not to go making plans for him! Told me I should have asked him first! I swear all I wanted was to do something nice for him and Michael! I wasn't trying to make plans for him! If he couldn't go, he could've given them to someone else! I would've understood!"

Libby couldn't remember crying like this since she was a child. She laid her head on Frank's shoulder again. "I've tried so hard, Frank! So hard! What did I do wrong? What should I have done differently?"

Patting her back soothingly, Frank said, "Nothin', Libby. You didn't do anythin' wrong, and I can't think of a thing you should've done different."

Holding her and still patting her, Frank was thinking to himself that he knew exactly what was wrong. He'd known Richie Roberts for years. As a cop, Richie had been the one who'd caught Frank during his drug dealing days. As a prosecutor, he'd been the one to send Frank to jail and, as a defense attorney, Richie'd been the one to get him out of jail, to become his friend and to help him turn things around.

Frank knew Richie all right. Libby hadn't done anything wrong. The problem, Frank knew, was that Richie couldn't trust himself around Libby. He'd seen that in Richie's eyes more than once, the last time being the other night at dinner. He knew neither Libby or Nonnie had seen it, but they hadn't known Richie as long as he had and they weren't men.

Richie truly did like Libby, Frank knew. Liked joking around with her, enjoyed talking with her about sports and other things. If Libby had been a guy, it all would have been just perfect. Problem was, she wasn't a guy.

Richie had had sex with her and it would be too easy for him to do it again. He wanted things to work with this Nonnie, but Richie was a man who loved women. Women--plural. Frank knew that Richie was trying like hell to make this work and he had to admire his friend for trying. Nonnie seemed to be a good woman and to love Richie.

One of the ways Richie was trying was by removing himself from temptation and Libby was temptation. She was there, ready and willing, and Richie knew it, even if she wasn't saying it. Oh, he might not be aware of the fact that Libby was in love with him, but he knew he could get her to go to bed with him if he wanted.

Still patting Libby, Frank sighed. This was one of those damned cruel tricks this fucking world played on people. There was Richie, loving a woman who didn't want to share him, and here was Libby, in love with him, but willing to settle for friendship if that was all she could have. Willing to accept Richie Roberts just the way he was and not expecting him to change. And, from what little Frank knew, there was Dan Evans eating his heart out over Libby and, in the end, Frank had a feeling things weren't gonna end up right for any of the four of them.

Yep, this was all a cruel joke. Just like his wife and daughter dying years ago in LA had been some cruel joke. Just like the personality of the man who'd killed them had ended up being a part of Sid. All one long, cruel joke.

Right now, Frank would have liked to go over to Richie's house. He'd like to kick his ass and ask him why the hell he couldn't control his fuckin' hormones enough to be friends with Libby. The girl wasn't asking too much of him, in Frank's opinion.

At the same time, Frank knew that it wasn't Richie's fault either. He was who he was. Libby was temptation to him and, for the time being anyway, he was trying to stay away from it. It remained to be seen if he could actually do it. Frank knew Richie all too well and what was the guy gonna do? Stay away from every female from the age of eighteen on up for the rest of his life? Richie Roberts found temptation every way he turned.

Sighing, Frank sat Libby down on her sofa and went to get her a drink. From a cop, to a drug dealer, to a private security man. And now, here he was being fatherly again, when he should have been on his way to Coffs for the first hot date he'd had in quite a while. Yep, life was all one long, cruel joke.