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“Really,” Carmen mimicked. “Oh, and a piece in the Lifestyle section of the Gazette. That would be awesome!”
“I’d love that, thanks!”
“Sure thing! I just saw you gals over here and wanted to stop by and say, what’s up … I’m actually on a date,” she said, pointing over her shoulder toward the bar.
We all leaned in to look around her and toward the bar. There was a younger man wearing jeans, a Batman T-shirt, and a hoodie, giving us nervous glances from his stool.
“First date?” Bea asked, her nose scrunched up.
Uh-oh, I thought. Even though Bea didn’t know Carmen, she was Bea and she’d had two glasses of wine, so it wouldn’t occur to her not to give her opinion.
“Yeah, Jonathon,” Carmen replied with a nod, her eyes on Bea. “Why?
Now she’d done it…
“Well,” Bea started. “First of all, who wears a hoodie on a first date? The batman shirt I’ll give him, but wear it under a nice jacket or blazer, with some jeans that aren’t ripped. And for crying out loud, do something with your hair.”
We all turned to look at Jonathon, who looked liked he’d just rolled out of bed and hadn’t bothered to comb his hair, which hadn’t been cut in a few months and looked poufy. And not in a good way.
“Second of all, how old is he? Twenty? He looks like a slacker, and again, not in a good way.”
“He’s, ah, twenty-two, I think. Lives in his parents’ basement and works for some online company.”
I winced, knowing Bea was not going to be happy with his status, then all of a sudden the situation hit me and I got the giggles.
“How old are you?” Bea asked,
ignoring my giggles.
“Thirty-two.”
“Go, girl,” Amy May said, at the same time I asked, “Really?”
I would have guessed her to be twenty-six at the oldest. The giggles fled me as I wondered how she looked so youthful and happy and she was only three years younger than me.
“I dig the younger man thing, but you can do better. A pretty woman like you, with a positive attitude and a disposition that lights up the room…” Bea trailed off as Carmen’s eyes widened and she looked at Bea like she was the sweetest person in the world.
“Really?” she whispered, and we all answered, “Really!”
Carmen graced each of us with a smile, and when our hot young waiter returned, not even bothering to hide his interest in her, she said, “Well, I guess I’d better get back and let you guys go. It was good to finally meet you all. Maybe we could get together for drinks one night,” she added shyly.
“That sounds great,” Amy May replied.
“You got it,” Bea said, then added, “And dump the loser.”
The waiter smiled and I could tell he wanted to agree and apply to be her replacement date, but kept it to himself.
“I’ll call you,” I said, causing Carmen’s light to shine on me before she turned and bounded back to the bar. I’d said it not just because the thought of all of us having drinks sounded like a blast, but because I thought maybe I should talk to Carmen about Carlos, Hector and the Coke Club, and have her write an expose on what the country club set had been planning to do in our town. I’d need to be kept anonymous, of course, but the town deserved to know what was going on right under it’s nose.
Bea and I said bye to Amy May, then Bea drove me home. Shannon had stayed with the kids while we went out, so Bea was picking her up and they were going home after dropping me off.
I had to pack the kids and my bags, and I wanted some snuggle time with my babies before I told them that they were going to their dad’s for a while and why. I figured it was also time to bring up Cade, since I was going to be staying at his house, and with the way things were progressing, they’d probably be meeting him soon.
“I think I packed everything they should need. If not, Elena has her key to the apartment, so you can come back and get what they forgot.”
We were loading up my ex’s Mercedes, and once they were gone I was going to lock up and head to Cade’s. Elena and Elin were currently walking out of the apartment building with their treasured possessions: tablets and portable gaming systems.
“Leave it open!” I shouted, not wanting to have to dig out my keys and reopen the front door after they left.
