AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Here’s to Emma,” Jade says, holding her almost empty glass up. “And to her many orgasms tonight.”
10
Sara
We havea few more glasses of wine. I make sure Emma and her man—Santo—get to his place. Jade wanders off to chat with a guy at the bar, and Tessa and I talk about Luc’s work. When we met him, he was balancing three jobs and stressed about trying to care for his grandmother, the woman who raised him. Now, though, he’s whittled most of his time into two jobs: bartending and ride-share driving.
“I think I’m about ready to head back to the hotel,” Tessa says after an immense yawn. “Where’s Jade?”
“I’m sure your desire to leave has nothing to do with getting your boyfriend on the phone to say goodnight,” I tease. “You said he gets off work in about thirty minutes, so . . .”
“Hush, you. I’ll let Jade know we’re leaving and pay the bill.”
I stack some of our empty plates and gather my things. To my surprise, Jade joins me.
“You’re coming back to the hotel with us?” I ask.
“Yup,” Jade says, flipping her long, dark hair over her shoulder. “I’d rather hang with y’all in the hotel room.”
When Tessa returns, we step out into the cooler night air. My feet are tired from walking so much the past few days, and I’m slightly tipsy. The combination of our heels and the cobblestone streets of Rome make our trip back to the hotel difficult.
“I don’t know how Italian women do it,” Tessa gasps, laughing and leaning against me after nearly turning her ankle. We probably look like drunk American tourists to all the people sitting out on the sidewalk cafés enjoying the evening.
We make it back to our hotel without too much damage. Tessa peels off in the lobby, waving her phone and saying she’s going to call Luc.
Jade and I split up inside our room. She closes the bathroom door behind her, and the shower starts.
I sit on the bed, the linens made since the cleaning service came. Pulling out my phone, I ignore notifications for anything work-related—comments on social media and my evening reminders to meditate and go to bed.
There are two messages I don’t ignore.
Zoe
I hope you are having a great time in Rome. Tell my aunts I say hi.
Sara
They say hi and they miss you.
Zoe
I can’t wait to visit Jade in Madrid.
The thought of Jade and Zoe getting together makes me nervous. Jade’s a fantastic friend to me, supportive and fun. But when Zoe got old enough that I wasn’t a “fun mom” anymore, Jade became the cool aunt. While Jade wasn’t great with our kids when they were growing up, she’s Zoe and Emma’s kids’ favorite now. They love going bar hopping with her, and I cringe to think about the sex advice—no matter how accurate and sex-positive Jade is—that my daughter is getting. I gave her the basics, of course, made sure she was safe and healthy and knew that her body and her pleasure are beautiful.
If I know Jade, the conversations with my daughter go a bit further than that.
But I trust Jade. And of course, I trust Zoe, too.
Sara
Y’all are going to have a great time.
It’s the best reply I can muster up. The check boxes turn green, but Zoe doesn’t respond.
The second message is from Chris.
Chris
