Okay, so this has nothing to do with the song, not really, but I thought of it whilst I was listening to the song, and I suppose it kind of fits… anyway, just read it and see what you think… oh, and it’s a song by Shania, of course!

*~*~*

Get a life - get a grip
Get away somewhere, take a trip
Take a break - take control
Take advice from someone you know

A dark rainy night… not the sort of night that you wanted to be outside, Diane thought. She herself was fine, curled up on the sofa, a CD playing in the background, whilst she flicked through a magazine. Nearly eleven o’clock, she noticed, looking at the clock above her VCR. She’d better go to bed soon. Not just yet though – she was too lazy. She poured herself another glass of wine, and continued browsing through the magazine. It was all rather boring, really… She glanced up as she heard a car door slam. She looked out of the window, wondering who on earth would be coming at this time. She peered through the glass of the door before she opened it, and saw Ric standing there. She opened the door quickly to let him in.

“Ric?” she asked. “What are you doing here?”

He shrugged. “Not sure… trying to get away from Jess, I suppose.”

Diane opened the door a bit wider to let him in. “I thought Jess lived with Lisa.”

Ric groaned. “So did I, Diane. So did I.” He was halfway down the hall when he stopped. “Ah… can I come in?”

“Ric, if I hadn’t wanted you to come in, I’d have left you out there in the rain.” She pushed open the door to the living room. “Want a drink?”

“No thanks.” He sat down on the sofa, squashing her magazine. “Sorry,” he added, picking it up.

“Thanks,” she commented, seeing the rip down the middle of the article that she had been reading.

“Sorry… were you reading that?”

She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter.” She folded the magazine up and placed it in the bin. “So… how are you?”

Come on over - come on in
Pull up a seat - take a load off your feet
Come on over - come on in

“And all that was wrong was a hernia!” Ric finished, laughing.

Diane giggled along with him, although she didn’t find it funny. She glanced at the clock. Midnight. Oh, well, that was just fantastic. She wished that Ric would just go home.

“You’ve got a nice place here,” Ric remarked.

“Thanks… haven’t you seen it before, then?” She thought back over the time that she’d lived there. Danny had been round, of course, and Lisa, Sandy, Ben, Chrissie… Even Alex, she thought. But, thinking it over, she couldn’t remember Ric ever coming round.

“No, I don’t think so,” he replied.

“Amazing. I’ve been to yours.” Mind you, that was when Jess lived there, and threw parties every other night. And she had never invaded Ric’s house at eleven o’clock at night and stayed for an hour. She stifled a yawn, and poured herself another glass of wine. While she was at it, she topped up Ric’s drink. Maybe if he were drunk, he’d be a bit more entertaining.

You can unwind - take a load off your mind

Make a wish - make a move
Make up your mind - you can choose
When you're up - when you're down

When you need a laugh come around

“It’s not as awkward as I thought it might be.”

Diane struggled to make sense of that comment, but had to give up. “What?”

“You know… this.” Ric waved his hands around in a way that was obviously meant to illustrate some point, but for once, Diane couldn’t understand it.

“Ric, it’s one o’clock in the morning, I’m tired, I’m not understanding very much.” Diane was very strongly tempted to add ‘So go home’, but didn’t. It would have been rude. Mind you, just now, she didn’t particularly care about politeness.

“You know… being here. At your house, you and me…”

Oh God. He wanted to talk about their relationship. Now. The early hours of the morning, and he wanted to do a post-mortem on their relationship. Fabulous. “Of course it’s not awkward,” Diane replied. “Why would it be any more awkward than when we see each other every day?”

“Well, it’s your house,” he replied, as though it was obvious.

Duh, she wanted to say. She knew that it was her house. “Ric, are you drunk?”

He turned injured eyes on her. “No. I just wanted to talk.”

Be a winner - be a star
Be happy to be who you are
Gotta be yourself - gotta make a plan
Gotta go for it while you can

“I suppose we did have a lot of fun,” Diane agreed.

“You suppose?” Ric repeated. Diane almost laughed. If he had set up a slide show entitled ‘20 Reasons We Should Get Back Together’, it wouldn’t have been any more obvious. She didn’t know why he was doing it – he was probably just lonely. He hadn’t had a date since he and Sam split up, and that was a year ago. Whatever the reasons, though, she couldn’t deny that she was tempted. The alcohol might have helped slightly, but even without it, she had been thinking about him a lot lately – but she’d let him make the first move. He always wanted to be such a gentleman… so let him.

“Fine, fine, we had a lot of fun,” she conceded.

“Remember the receptionist? What was her name?”

“Delia,” Diane reminded him. “And she hated me. She had a crush on you, though.” And, thinking it over, she could understand why. Delia, whatever her faults, had had good taste in men. But, just to tease Ric, she added, “Can’t see why. Batty old cow.”

Ric laughed. “You realise that you’re insulting yourself there?”

“How?”

“Well, if I remember correctly,” Ric began, “At one point, you had a crush on me.”

Diane blushed. “Yeah, well…” Unwillingly, she glanced up and caught Ric’s eye. The look he was giving her was almost embarrassing. “Oh, just come out and say it,” she told him.

“What?” he asked, looking uncomfortable.

If she hadn’t have drunk half a bottle of cheap wine, she wouldn’t have said anything. But she had, and she did. “You want to get back together.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I’ve known you too long,” she retorted. “So?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Me too.” She leaned over and kissed him.

Come on over - come on in
Pull up a seat - take a load off your feet
Come on over - come on in

It was about midday when she woke up, to find Ric slumbering peacefully next to her. Ric? What decade was she in? Oh… The events of the previous night came flooding back to her, and she cringed as she remembered what she had done… and said. Oh God, how could she have acted like that? She sat up, running her hands through her hair, trying to think about what to do. “Ah!” she cried suddenly, as a fingernail caught in her hair. She cursed under her breath as Ric opened his eyes. From the looks he was giving her, he was going through much the same process as she was.

“Hi.” Diane pulled the bedclothes tightly around herself. “Sleep well?”

“Fine, thanks.” He looked at Diane. “Second thoughts?”

“I’m past second thoughts. Third, fourth, fifth, somewhere near there.” She looked away as she saw the hurt in Ric’s eyes.

“Last night…” he began, sitting up.

“We were drunk.” That came out a bit harsher than she had intended. “No, no… I don’t mean that. Okay.” She took a deep breath to clear her head. “I… well.”

“You don’t think it’s a good idea,” Ric stated, beginning to get up. Diane grabbed his arm.

“Don’t put words in my mouth.” She leant back against the bed. “If we’d have been sober, last night wouldn’t have happened. I’d have seen to that. But,” she added, as he looked hurt again, “Things happen for a reason, right? When I get drunk, I don’t just jump into bed with the first man I see.” She held up a warning hand. “No comments that are meant to be funny, please.”

“I wouldn’t,” he protested. “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m trying to say that… well…” She hesitated. This was, without a doubt, the most uncomfortable situation that she had ever been in. “Look, I’ve been thinking for a while that… I made a mistake a few years ago. I shouldn’t have given up on us so quickly. And… I’m willing to try again. If you are.”

Get a life - get a grip
Get away somewhere, take a trip
Take a break - take control
Take advice from someone you know

“What happened to you the other night?” Jess demanded of Ric. He glanced at Diane, who giggled.

“There was alcohol involved.”

Jess made a face. “You mean… you two?”

Diane nodded, smirking. “Yep.”

“Oh wow… this is great! How?” Jess leaned over the desk eagerly. She caught sight of Alex wandering past, and her eyes followed him.

“Little tip, Jess,” Diane advised her. “If you want to get Alex, go round to his house at eleven o’clock one night, and start talking about your relationship… if you’re really lucky, he’ll get so bored he’ll end up drinking, you’ll end up in bed together, and in the morning, he’ll realise just how much he missed you.” She smiled at Ric, who took her in his arms.

“Worked pretty well for me,” he commented.

Come on over - come on in
Pull up a seat - take a load off your feet
Come on over - come on in

*~*~*

Wow… erm, I am of the opinion that I have never written anything worse. Eeshk…