boo!

babette gave her a squeeze in their hug "mary gibbs, you really are the best of us. your optimism, kindness and grace are astounding. most people would've had the crash out of the century, myself included, and turned cruel." it was a credit to how much of a good human mary was. for her to still want adam to have a life full of happiness and love after their relationship broke down could've brought babette to tears. "i'm sure he wants that for you too. he really did love you mary, i hope you know that"

her heart burst at how kind babette's words. mary returned the squeeze "you're too kind. the silver lining of all of this is that i've made close friends for life through meeting you and the others through adam." adam had introduced her to his friends and his colleagues, and over time, mary gained the luxury of calling them her own friends "i know, but sometimes love isn't enough. there's so many factors in relationships and it could be the right person but wrong time. or it's a wonderful person but in the end they're not your person"

victor grinned at mary and stella the stairmasters current truce. "and how long will the blossoming friendship last? until the second or third set?"

"oh for at least for like the first set, maybe the second. from there we will be the greatest of enemies until the next truce. how are you doing since everything?"

"mary, i can categorically tell you that no car is going to be giving you cute hellos, especially when they sound like that" he chuckled "if it's what i think it is, it won't take too long to fix"

"well why not? that seems like a fun thing they could be doing" she offered "thanks guido, i need the car for work. it's wild how much craft supplies a kindergarten class uses"

"well, you never know what might be coming your way," he winked. gabe's expression soften at her words though, kind as ever. they weren't without their merit, of course. it wouldn't be the first time gabe had lost months of his life to a case. "i promise to do my best, miss mary. you won't have to worry about digging me out from a pile of red string any day soon." he nodded to the nurse too, satisfied mary was okay. at least, plaster-wise. "i would love to grab some food."

it was one of the first genuine laughs mary had since everything has happened between adam and herself. her friends were piecing her back together. "you say that but one day i'll check on you and you'll be tangled up in red string" red string to gabe was like green glitter to tina. "are you in the mood for anything specific?"

Nani very nearly took Mary up on the offer to let it absolutely rip. She had some extremely strong, perhaps unfounded, opinions, stemming mostly at her frustrations for her friend (and clouded, ever so slightly, by her own situation). But looking at Mary made her pause. Would spouting a dictionary's worth of profanities and a little bit of slander really make Mary feel any better? No. So Nani bit her tongue.

she appreciated the restraint that was currently being displayed. nani was holding back and while mary told her to say how she felt, she also felt a little relieved that she didn't have to hear adam getting dragged through the mud.

"i get that...just...don't be a stranger, alright? we all worry about you and we don't want to lose you as a friend" honestly, she could understand why mary didn't want to be anywhere near the café, but a selfish part of her missed her friend stopping by the café, spending hours chatting with her while she worked.

"i won't be, i promise." she could burst into tears at how lucky she was to have the friends she did in her life. they had been so supportive and kind throughout the hardship she was going through.

"no, engines shouldn't screech like banshees and unfortunately it's not a cute car way to say hello. i really hate to break it to you on that one. i'll fix up whatever is causing it and i'll give you a call when it's ready"

"ohhh what? are you sure? i mean can we double check or something? well if it's not a cute car saying hi, then i guess you can fix whatever is going on with it"

he smiled at the sight of mary, she was always so sweet "i'm alright, thanks. how are you? still having your one on one war with the stairmaster these days?"

"i'm glad to hear it. i'm doing alright thanks" she smiled, filling up her water bottle "i'll have you know that stella the stairmaster and i are trying to work out our differences, thank you very much"

"we'll always be here for you mary. adam being the cafe owner and him being gone right now doesn't change that, and he wouldn't want that to change either" she really felt for the woman in front of her. babette was so certain that mary and adam were going to be the couple that made it. the one that proved love was real to all around them.

"i know...it's all still just a little too fresh right now. stepping in there would reopen haling wounds, everything in there reminds me of him" babette and victor might be in charge at the moment but it's his café. she'd first met him right outside the door and now she couldn't bear to look at it.

"yeah, yeah, so i'll take a look under the hood and change out the tyres for you. anything else you want looked at while you've got your car in the shop?" he asked when he caught the car keys tossed to him.

"perfect, do whatever you think needs done, guido. i really appreciate you taking it in on such short notice but i figured an engine screeching at me wasn't a good sign. unless that's a cute car way to say hello?"

since the break up with babette, victor had doubled down on his gym time to keep himself preoccupied. even with sultan running around, the house was too quiet. with his second gym trip of the day in full swing, victor finished up his run on the treadmill and headed over towards the water station to rehydrate.

mary was in the gym to get her exercise quota in for the day. she was loitering around the water station trying to hype herself up to go over and deal with the stairmaster that was looming over her, and smiled when she saw victor approaching.