beyoncepadthai | i'll have what she's having

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i'll have what she's having

So, Mindy's last birthday went uncharacteristically uncelebrated. Of course, she shopped and drank and all of that, but this year she's more than in a partying mood and has more than enough invitees to put something on without seeming like a total loser.

Deciding to mix things up, Mindy's rented out a cool seat-reclining, wine and dine theater at High Street mall, splurged on snacks and booze and arranged for a viewing of her favorite film. Of course there are a bunch of cool new releases she could let her guests enjoy, but it's her birthday, and this is one way she can force everyone she knows to watch the wonder that is literally anything Nora Ephron.

She can hear Danny's whining already, and she couldn't care less.

What she can't help but care about is what Danny once said to her back in New York, his cruel reminder to her that she wasn't getting any younger, the promise of a hot husband and adorable children ticking away. She's all the more conscious of it this week, especially after freaking out momentarily thinking that Luke might have already moved on.

The right decision or not, a real relationship or not, it's one more shot at a future that she's managed to screw up.

Hence, the alcohol. Dressed to impress, Mindy arrives early to get her start on a super strong and super fruity cocktail while she waits for her first guests to turn up.

[Set to the night of the 20th of June at one of the fancier theaters at High Street Mall. From 8-ish cocktails (+ beer and wine) and finger food will be served in the bar area, and then the movie (viewable on YT, if you are so inclined) will be starting at 8:30. Tag Mindy, tag around, before or after the film. ENJOY.]

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"Ooh, are we getting birthday drunk?" Kate asks when she comes up to Mindy at the bar after the movie. It's one she's seen a bunch of times, but mostly only in bits and pieces whenever it was shown on TV, and T had once very enthusiastically reenacted that whole diner orgasm scene when Kate was fourteen, which had been hilarious, but she's never actually sat through the whole thing until tonight.

It was cute. And Mindy likes it, which is really the only thing Kate thinks matters on her birthday.

"I am super into getting birthday drunk," she says. She also sort of wants to see when Mindy might be interested in having dinner with Derek, but she knows birthdays are weird sometimes. First thing she wants to do is feel out the atmosphere.

"Are you kidding me?" Mindy starts, taking a sip of her drink (is it just her, or are they getting less and less strong as the night goes on?) before she turns to greet Kate with a smile. Yeah, she's minorly sad after seeing a movie she's seen a thousand times, but Kate's good company. The best company. "This is basically pre-gaming. The birthday drinking will be on Wednesday when I have aged up and given up. You should get one of these," she says, lifting the glass pointedly. "They're like candy."

"Okay," Kate agrees, gesturing at Mindy's drink when the bartender comes to see what she wants. Newt's around here somewhere and he'll be able to carry her home if she gets totally wasted on pink candy drinks, because that's what birthday parties are for. Not her own, because she actually hasn't had a birthday party since coming to Darrow, but that's not because she's sad and pathetic, it's because Olive throws a way better party than Kate ever could. So she enjoys that one and doesn't have to clean up after or anything.

"And what the hell, given up on what?" she asks as her drink arrives. She's noticed the hot bookstore owner is here, which maybe means that's not as over as Mindy has said, but he's also here with some gangly dude, so she doesn't know. "You can't give up on being awesome, it's just like, a way of life."

"Being awesome is actually kind of a lot of effort," Mindy muses, though she brightens up at Kate's compliment. Not that she's sad. At least, not exactly. It's her party and she's surrounded by the best people ever, it's just that birthdays breed a special mix of nostalgia for what was and desperation for what might never be.

Which is why people drink themselves stupid. "The clothes, the cool demeanour, having to be caught up on pop culture when some days you just want to watch old Seinfeld reruns..."

"Uh, not when you're just naturally amazing like we are," Kate answers. "Because that's what's so great about us. We wear whatever the hell we want and make it look incredible. The whole pop culture thing is just whatever. Especially in Darrow. I mean, zombie Todd Chad or whatever the fuck his name is? That's what we have to be all knowledgable about? Gross."

Because that's the thing, as far as Kate's concerned. Being amazing comes naturally to her -- and Mindy -- and they don't need to try to impress anyone. If someone isn't impressed, that's their own damn problem and she doesn't want to be around someone like that anyway. It's not like Kate's all that judgmental, she just wants to be around people who are as great as she is, which is maybe sort of arrogant, but she doesn't really care.

"And it's your birthday," she adds. "So happy birthday and remember that your rules are the only rules that matter for like, at least a week."

Mindy actually gives a damn about the whole pop culture thing, kind of a lot, although Todd Chadd tends to fly below her radar. There are other, far superior boy bands and solo artists to listen to back in New York. She misses One Direction all the time.

But she doesn't say that, because sometimes she wonders if it makes her sound foolish. Not always, but she thinks of what Kate had said about Meg Ryan and how it had been true, maybe, but at least she had a happy ending in most of her films, even if they might have been predictable as hell.

In any case, she's not stupid enough to not realise that saying those things aloud can make her seem incredibly dumb.

"For, like, everyone?" Mindy asks, steering right on by. "The whole city has to abide by me? You know, Kate, I have always thought I would make a killer mayor."

"Oh my god, I would vote for you," Kate says after she pauses to take a sip of her drink. It is good, just like candy, just as promised, and she can imagine Newt getting pretty drunk on them within just a few minutes of arriving at the bar, so she thinks she should probably by grateful he's been distracted with talking to someone and hasn't actually noticed it yet.

"I mean, I'll be honest with you, I don't really know much about politics, but I think it would make sense to have someone in office who's not some old white dude," she says. "You're way more likely to be looking out for the needs of the city instead of just a select group of people."

That's pretty much the extent of her political knowledge. But she trusts Mindy and she knows how smart she is.

Mindy's not so sure that's true. It's possible Kate has a glorified impression of her because, for all of her baby saving and other badassery, Mindy can also be super self-involved. She's pretty sure that the city wouldn't want someone who doesn't even recycle. Or know how to vote.

Not-so-deep down, she is the oldest, whitest male.

"I will run as soon as the opportunity arises," Mindy grins, though. It would be pretty cool to have her face plastered everywhere. For everyone else, of course, not just for her. And she could totally hook up with her hot, new grad assistant, too. "I'll get the diversity tick, at the very least."

"I'd offer to be your campaign manager, but stuff like that is probably better left to people who actually know what they're doing. Like that hot blonde who works at City Hall." Kate only knows who she is because her face had been plastered all over the news when that creeper had killed Tiffany Charlotte, but she had seen her arrive earlier. She can't remember her name and she knows better than to be a dick about why she knows her, but if she and Mindy are friends then she's probably a better bet for something like a campaign manager.

"Unless being a campaign manager just involves dressing up in really amazing clothes and being seen places," she decides. "You know I could do that with you. Any day of the week."

"I think maybe we could do that without the whole running for office aspect," Mindy muses, figuring she has more than enough on her plate. And Kate, too. Politics is a lifestyle choice and typically not a very likeable one. It's kind of amazing how cool Molly is. "Like we are right now. You look crazy hot. Where's Newt at, by the way? He knows he doesn't have to wear a stupid disguise tonight, right?"

"Do you think knowing he doesn't have to wear a disguise would ever really stop him?" Kate asks with a grin, but she glances around and finds Newt talking very animatedly to someone near the front of the theatre. Her smile softens a little, turns fond, and she can't quite believe she's here. With him. They've been married for almost a year now and she knows it's not that long a time in the grand scheme of things, but given how crappy she'd been at maintaining relationships before Harry, it's a huge deal to her.

"Trust me, he'll make his way over here with probably a dozen presents," she says. "But it's not my fault if they're all Godzilla themed."

"Godzilla?" Mindy repeats, making a face. "Like, the dragon?"

Newt likes some really weird shit. Sea bugs chief among them. But, somehow, his weird taste in pop culture is balanced out with his excellent taste in women, and Mindy's super grateful that he and Kate have each other. Their relationship might not be the most conventional, but they're perfect for each other.

She'd be bitter if they weren't two of her favorite people, and pretty excellent neighbors.

"Oh my god, don't ever say it like that in front of him," Kate warns, because she's pretty sure that someone calling Godzilla a dragon in front of Newt might actually cause him to have a heart attack. The real kind that result in hospitalization and she's seriously had just about enough of the hospital and Newt being in it as she can handle. In fact, if they never have to go to the hospital again for the rest of their lives, she's going to be perfectly happy with that.

"Like the kaiju. Monster. Not a dragon," she says and she can't believe she knows that much about it. That's just how it goes being married to Newt and she pretty much wouldn't have it any other way. The little figurines are cute anyway, she kind of likes having them around the apartment.

"Because a dragon isn't a monster?" Mindy asks, side-eyeing the hell out of Kate. Like it's her job to know all of the weird things that Newt is into. A monster's a monster, she's so not taking responsibility if she kills him.

But, okay, she might be a little more careful in discussing Godzilla in front of him. Or maybe just avoid it all together. She likes him better alive, for sure. He's come too close before. "Okay..."

"Just trust me on this. You've seen Newt get all..." She makes a face and waves her hands, trying to indicate what she means. "Unless you're being totally respectful and know what you're talking about, don't go down the Godzilla, kaiju, dragon route."

Then she reconsiders, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Unless you want to see his head explode. Which is maybe a thing that might be kind of interesting, so just be prepared for that."

"You know, I wouldn't put it past this place making heads literally explode," Mindy muses, thinking of all of the bees and the week the city was deserted and magical mistletoe with a look of disgust on her face. "So I'm going to avoid the temptation. I'd feel crazy bad if it was my fault, so."

And anyway, she's just as head explode-y if anyone questions the legitimacy of something she loves. Meg Ryan, any of the Kardashians, vitamins shaped like cartoon characters... "How is married life treating you guys, anyway? I'm used to having called the police multiple times when it comes to my neighbors marriages by now."

"Those sound like some pretty atrocious marriages," Kate says, wrinkling her nose. Not like the cops have never been called on her parents, but in their defense it usually wasn't Tara causing the problems and was almost always one of the alters. Which makes it better, she thinks, though not by much.

"We're good, though," she continues, giving a shrug. "I mean, we're the same, which is pretty much obnoxiously adorable and totally full of ourselves. Which is better than teetering on the edge of divorce, right?" She's joking and she doesn't really imagine ever having such a big issue with Newt that she can't talk to him about it, but the thought scares her now and then. I's not something they need to worry about, she's sure of that, but her own parents had been kind of a disaster.

"Marginally better," Mindy says, lifting her hands to gesture with her two index fingers just how small the margin is. But she's kidding. At least, mostly. If any couple deserves to be deliriously happy, it's Kate and Newt, two people that Mindy's never doubted the love between.

It doesn't mean she's not allowed to be bitter about other people's happiness from time to time, although lately it's more sadness than anger she feels, and it's never directed at her closest friends. An improvement, if anyone's keeping count, on how she'd handled the first years of Gwen's marriage. It was much harder to be bitter, at least in person, once her goddaughter came along.

"I feel like we need to hang out more, the three of us, considering we're literally neighbours, though. I don't want to be a weird third wheel, so I'm just putting it out there."

"I don't know if you can be a weird third wheel when you're invited," Kate points out with a grin. "Even when you're not invited. Even if you just want to come on over like, any time you want, that's totally fine with us. It would never make you a weird third wheel."

If they're doing something that requires there only be two wheels, they just won't answer the door. Kate's never been too concerned with being polite and she thinks Mindy knows that already, but she also never wants her friends to feel like they can't call her or hang out with her just because she's married now. It's basically the same as just having a boyfriend and she hadn't gotten totally caught up in that.

Okay, so maybe she had. Just a little. But it's fine now. She's chilled out a lot.

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i'll have what she's having

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