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“It would be fun! Imagine how many guys would trip over themselves if they saw you in this. It’s fun to dress up and get your sexy on from time to time.”
“You can have it if you want.”
Rachel turned back to face me. “Why did you even buy it if you don’t plan to wear it? I know you well enough to know this wasn’t some kind of little black dress, impulse buy.” She crossed the room and sat on the bed next to me, the dress discarded beside her.
I looked down at the multi-colored mess and stalled, finally freeing my bubble gum pink bikini from the others. I set it aside and went to work on the navy blue one next, ignoring the heat from Rachel’s stare.
“Hey lady, what’s wrong?”
With a sigh, I abandoned the bikinis and looked up. “I bought it when I was still married, okay? I—I wanted to do something fun and wild, and surprise Kenny.” I cringed as his name rolled off my lips. I did my best not to speak it out loud. “I bought the dress, but never got up the guts to wear it for him.”
Rachel took my hands. “Well good! That bastard didn’t deserve the effort! I think now you have to wear it! Knock the socks off some new guy. Someone who deserves it.” She picked up the dress and handed it to me, but I didn’t take it. “Well, you can think about it, at least,” she said, setting it inside the suitcase with the handful of other items that were already packed.
I didn’t argue with her, but I also knew that there was no way in hell I was wearing that dress.
“I’ll go get us some refills, and check to make sure Hunter hasn’t eaten the whole house,” Rachel said, reaching to the bedside table for our empty wine glasses.
My gaze followed her as she exited the room, and then fell back to the black dress, wondering why I’d bothered to keep it after all this time.
Rachel came back minutes later, carrying what was left of the second bottle of wine in one hand, and Hunter tucked in her other arm. “He got himself trapped in the bathroom, that’s why it was so quiet.”
She deposited the puppy into my lap and he immediately jumped up and started licking my face.
For the rest of the evening, we tag-teamed to keep tabs on Hunter as we plowed through the rest of the packing list. When the second suitcase was zipped up and ready to go, Hunter and I walked Rachel down to the street where she’d parked and exchanged hugs at the curb, knowing we wouldn’t see each other again until the following week when she’d make the trip to the beach house.
Regardless of the fact that it was my first day of vacation, my alarm clock went off at five AM just like any other morning. After one round with the snooze button, I rolled out of bed, and went about my normal morning routine. It was the same thing every morning. Weekday, weekend, holiday. To me, structure and routine was comfortable and effective, so I stuck to it. Hunter was still snoozing when I padded across the wood floors into the bathroom, but when I stepped out a few minutes later, the bed was empty and the little brown ball of fur was nowhere to be seen.
“Hunter?” I called, unsure if he fully recognized his own name yet. He had selective hearing, at best.
I stooped down to check under the bed, and had barely peeled the bed skirt up, when a loud metal clang echoed through the house. I jumped up and ran toward the source of the sound and growled in frustration when I found Hunter had pushed his water bowl off the shelf it sat on and had managed to splash water all over the kitchen floor.
He ran up and licked my cheek as I knelt down to mop up the mess. “Get a puppy, she said. It’ll be fun!” I cast a sidelong glare at Hunter. “Right.”
When the mess was cleared, I put him out on the patio to do his business on the artificial grass puppy pad and went back to my bedroom to get dressed for the gym. I reluctantly let Hunter back inside before going down three flights to the condo maintained gym. I put myself through my usual routine, treadmill, free weights, and polished off with a few yoga poses. I was by no means a fitness model but did what I could to keep myself in shape.
“Hey, Holly.” I craned my neck at the sound of my name, and saw Greg, the guy who lived in the condo next to mine, smiling at me.
I popped my earbuds out and returned his easy smile. “Morning, Greg.”
