As I search for a top to wear, my favorite cozy sweatshirt catches my eye, tempting me to put it on. I consider it briefly but opt for my black sweater. Pulling it over my head leaves me with a wild bun and hair sticking out everywhere.
I head to the bathroom to fix it. When I open the drawer to my vanity, I rummage around for a hair clip and find one at the bottom. I’m always searching for those suckers. I pull out the scrunchie, dampen my brush, and then run it through my shoulder length, brown hair with blonde highlights, smoothing it down. The clip works perfectly as I twist my hair up and secure it. A swipe of clear lip gloss and a touch of mascara refreshes mymakeup. I feel a surge of energy, a complete turnaround from just ten minutes ago. Thinking about tonight’s dinner, I smile. I see the image of us ladies having dinner, replacing the one of me on my couch alone, and I finally feel ready to go out and in record time.
The boots I want to wear are by my door, so I scoop them up and put them on. They thud loudly, as I head downstairs. You could hear me coming from a mile away. I make my way through the house to the living room where my friends wait for me.
“You’re in a better mood. We won’t stay out too long, and then you can come back and cozy up in your favorite blanket for the rest of the night.” Lane taps me on the back to reassure me as we all hop into Kendall’s car. If I ever need to be comforted, Lane is my girl.
She’s like the mom of our friend group—very level-headed and hardly ever gets upset. Her patience is off the charts, and I guess you’d have to be when you’re a kindergarten teacher. Not sure how she does it, but those kids are her life.
She sits in the backseat with me and leans in to whisper, “You know you can say no to her, right?”
It’s rare I say no to Kendall. “It’s fine. I’ll continue to bust her anyway. Colin was a shit show and we all can have a good laugh on me.”
“Your hair looks amazing tonight. Kinda jealous,” I say, staring at Lane’s wavy blonde hair.
“I washed it,” she says, deadpan.
We break out into laughter. All she has to do is wash her hair, and it looks fabulous. I need to wash my hair, blow dry it, and use the straightener to get my hair to look halfway decent. Otherwise, my hair looks like a frizzy mess.
“Isn’t that convenient?” I roll my eyes playfully.
Addison connects her phone to the car, and our playlist lights up the screen. Next thing I know, we are singing along toMacklemore’s “Glorious.” Our hands are up in the air, and our hips are moving in our seats. The energy in the car is contagious as we drive the thirty minutes to the restaurant.
By the time we swerve into the line for valet at Buena Vista, a very popular Italian restaurant that opened a few months ago, all of us are ready for a great time. This frigid cold air in February is ridiculous, and the last thing we want to do is walk to the restaurant from the parking lot. After a few minutes, the valet opens the doors to let us out. We all get out and walk to the entrance. Once we step in, the rush of warm air hits our faces, along with a mixture of fresh bread and pasta. The hostess—a young girl dressed in all black—greets us.
“Do you have reservations?”
“Yes, we do. Under Kendall.”
“Right this way,” the hostess says as she guides us through the restaurant. Dark wood walls that showcase brightly colored oil paintings. The burnt orange and brown-tiled floors lead us to the back of the restaurant. The aroma of Italian meat sauce, pasta, and freshly baked bread makes my mouth water for my favorite dish, the lobster ravioli with white sauce. And I won’t complain about dipping the bread into Buena Vista's signature garlic infused oil because it’s amazing.
The hostess leads us to a semi-private high-back U-shaped booth. We all slide in, and it’s perfect for spilling the deets about Colin. Being on this side of the restaurant, I won’t feel like everyone will hear me.
Every girls’ dinner, we start off with a shot of tequila and end with dessert and decaf coffee. It’s our thing. We’ve been doing this for years now, very rarely missing the opportunity to get together. Surprisingly, Kendall hasn’t blown us off for Dane, now that they are engaged.
“The usual to start, girls?” Kendall asks and signals for the waiter to come over.
We all nod in agreement.
The waiter comes over immediately to pour water and take our order. The minute he leaves our table, Kendall is all about Colin.
“What happened?” She looks at me and raises an eyebrow. It’s like she has more to say but stops herself.
“Ok…It was one of the worst dates in a while. My previous dates, at least some, attempted conversation. Colin was more interested in his phone and complaining about work than actually having a conversation with me.”
Lane’s midnight-blue eyes are wide and unblinking. “Are you telling me he put in no effort to get to know you?”
“He was very self-absorbed. When he droned on about his job, I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms in hopes he’d get the hint. Nope. He just kept talking. He sometimes avoided eye contact when he was talking to me so he could watch TV.”
Addison blows air out of her mouth and says, “He sounds like a real winner.”
“Addison, you would have died. He was not only late, but when he finally arrived, he was still on the phone until after we were seated.” I roll my eyes when the thought comes tumbling into my head. “And it was just one of his buddies.”
She slams her fist against the table, which is surprising how much force comes out of that petite body. “I wouldn’t have put up with that. He would have been dead to me when he showed up late and on his phone.” Addison rolls her sapphire eyes, fluttering her thick lashes.
“I giggled thinking about your reaction to him. I wanted to give it a chance. People run late all the time.” I wink, knowing I run late a lot.
“I’m definitely lucky I met Dane, and every day I wish all my friends the same kind of happiness.” Kendall takes a sip of her wine.
