“April! How does it feel to know you’ll be home for longer than three days?” Dani asked with a laugh.
“Honestly, I can’t believe he didn’t go behind my back and register me for the tournaments anyway, so I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know?” April lay back on her bed and let the memory foam relieve the pressure on her spine after the long flight.
“You and I both. So, listen, I reached out to your dad, and I’ve been working on him to let you have a night off this weekend. The last time we truly had some fun together was at my bachelorette weekendlast year!” Dani practically wailed in April’s ear, making her laugh.
“Well, about that, it’s why I’m calling...” April paused, knowing her best friend hated waiting more than anything else in the world.
“April! I swear if you don’t complete that sentence I’m hanging up and blocking your number, don’t think I won’t!” Dani threatened for the third time that month.
“Saturday night. You and me. Going out. No alcohol though, that’s the only catch.” The grin on April’s face grew wider with each word she spoke. The silence on the other end of the phone spoke volumes. As did the ring in her ear requesting the call switch to video. She accepted.
“You better not be messing with me, Walker!” Dani said, April could now see the sparkle in her friend’s blue-grey eyes and the grin threatening to spread across her face.
“Not this time, thankfully for both of us. So? Are you up for it?” April took in Dani’s appearance as she waited for her friend’s response. Dani was the kind of person who knew she was so good at her job, that she felt her appearance didn’t have to be‘corporate’. Today’s look included a fitted black collared shirt with several top buttons open, a chunky gold necklace, black stud earrings, and this week’s hair was ice grey pulled back into a fierce bun. Knowing Dani, next week it could be forest green in box braids. She’d already had that look three years ago though.
“Is it even a question? OfcourseI’m up for it. The biggest question is,” she paused and raised an eyebrow to match the smirk already playing on her lips, “where are we going?”
April smiled, “I honestly don’t care as long as I can dress in clothes that aren’t branded by a sports company and can wear heels instead of sneakers. Oh, and make-up! Damn, it’s been so long since I wore a full face of make-up. I might need to buy new mascara because I can’t remember the last time I did, and the last thing I need is to get some funky eye infection and not be able to see the balls coming at me in training the next day.”
“Wait, you’ve still got to train after a night out? You’re not getting the next day off? EvenIgive my clients a day off after their rare nights out.” Dani had made this argument numerous times about Roland’s management methods, never mind that his client was his own daughter.
“I have a light day on Saturday anyway, then I’m not needed until noon on Sunday. In my mind, 24 hours is the most generous he’s been in recent years outside of your bachelorette weekend, so I’m not complaining. Anyway, given I haven’t been out in so long, can I come over to yours to get ready?” April gave her best smile towards her phone screen, knowing her best friend wouldn’t decline the chance of spending some extra quality time together.
“Fine. I’ll kick Matt out of the house after lunch, then we’ll have the place to ourselves. He’ll go running to the golf course, delighted to avoid any wedding talk. But don’t worry, I’m sure there’ll be lots for us to catch up on that’s not just my wedding planning.” Dani chuckled, and April joined in knowing that itwas a bare-faced lie. The only topic of conversation to arise for the night would almost certainly be Dani’s upcoming wedding to Matt.
Chapter 3
Jade
Jade would never get used to the effect her best friend, Emily, had on a room whenever they went out together. They walked into the bar together, and there was no doubt in Jade’s mind that the large number of eyes that were suddenly drawn in their direction, were not looking at her.
While Jade was drawn to an androgynous style, knowing exactly how to dress for her muscular body type, and depending on whether she wanted to hide or show her tattoos, Emily was all curves and elegant style with flawless hair and make-up. Being a make-up artist came in handy, because no matter how many times her friend tried to explain blending and contouring, Jade remained clueless. So, they’d gotten ready at Emily’s apartmentahead of their night out so that Jade could be made to look her absolute best. Just in case a girl or two caught her now very smoky-looking eyes.
The bar they chose that night was one they had frequented over the past few years. Its large wooden double doors opened into a large space that successfully captured the feel of an old 1920s speakeasy, but with modern lit glass shelves behind the bar and numerous high-top chrome tables scattered throughout the space. Few were accompanied by stools, to allow larger groups to gather around the limited surface space. Yet the room never felt overly crowded because of them, even on busy nights like this one.
“Oh look, quick, grab that table near the bar!” Emily squealed as she noticed the current occupants getting up and putting on their jackets to leave. She grabbed Jade’s arm to pull her over in the direction of the now vacant space.
“Great! What do you want? First round’s on me.” Jade said as they claimed the table just before a couple of men got there.
“I’d love a Manhattan; it’s been a week,” Emily said with a sigh as she sat down on the stool farthest from the bar so that Jade could hover between the table and bar while placing their order. Then nobody would think Emily was there on her own.
“Coming right up,” Jade looked around the bar area before adding with a chuckle, “in about ten minutes judging by the size of the crowd.”
15 minutes later, the pair sat with their drinks as they took in their surroundings. Emily had spent an hour doing her hair; her rich brown hair was braided and bound together in an intricate up-do that Jade would never have any hope of replicating. Not that she’d want to. She was still undecided about chopping off most of her hair and really leaning into her androgynous style. Her Mom would cry if she cut her hair as short as she was considering. That’s the only real reason that was holding herback. That, and the fact that she already had almost an entire body of tattoos which she’d managed to hide from her parents–the haircut might just tip them over the edge if they found out about both.
“I feel like it’s been forever since we last had a night out,” Emily started, “between my work keeping me on night shoots for the past few weeks, and you busy working on patients through the day, I’ve barely had time to text, never mind go on a night out.” Jade could hear the frustration in her oldest friend’s voice.
“Yeah. It must be, what, three weeks now? How does it feel having turned nocturnal?” Jade laughed.
“You may laugh, but it’s true. I didn’t know I’d be working nightshifts for as long, or I’d have taken the other job instead. I hate working nights. The actors get cranky, the production team gets even more stressed than they do through the day because they’re more tired than usual, and between me and the rest of the hair and make-up team we’re always expected to be ‘on’ and take whatever attitude is thrown our way without complaint.” She let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m just glad the next jobs I have lined up are all during the day, even if they’re not all local.” Emily took another sip of her cocktail.
“When do you next head off for work?” Jade asked her friend before taking a sip of her bourbon. The spice of the drink warmed her throat on its way down.
“Oh, I have a couple of weeks doing a few local jobs, then I fly to New York on the 27thfor a few days with Claire Dunlop? Remember, I did some work for her back in March?” Jade noticed Emily looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to respond before continuing. Jade nodded once in acknowledgement. “Well, she’s doing some promo work over there for her new book and asked me to go with her for the short part of the tour. If that goes well,” she took a sip of her drinkbefore continuing, “then I’ll fly with her to LA for the round of interviews she has lined up out there.”
“That’s great Em, I can’t believe you’re such a jetsetter now!” Jade laughed. It was a running joke between them because Emily hated flying even more than she hated seeing people who had let their make-up stop in a clear line along their jaw.
“Urgh, stop it! As much as I hope this pans out the way I want and I can get further high-profile work from it, surely there’s a better way to travel than flying. I mean, trains can’t be all that bad, can they?” With that, Emily dipped her head down into her hands, and Jade spotted a striking blonde over Emily’s dropped shoulders.
