Chapter 5
Grant didn’t call her. Alex wasn’t sure why she expected him to, but she was getting close to being desperate enough to sit around the house waiting. She was lucky she had the strength to avoid picking up the phone to check for a dial tone. To battle that need, she called her cousin, Carmela, and her friend, Hailey, to come over and hang out at the pool. Since they all worked at the high school, they had the summers off the same as Alex and often got together to while away the hours.
It looked like all the lounge chairs were full when they got down there, but they could be patient. They snagged a chair from a table to set their stuff on and sat on the pool deck with their feet dangling in the water.
“You always look like you have a tan,” Hailey complained to the other two.
“You always look like you’re suffering from an illness,” Carmela said. She had no filter. Whatever came into her brain was sure to come out of her mouth.
“Damn, Carmela.” Alex looked over at Hailey to see if she was offended. It didn’t appear that she was. Hailey had been Alex and Carmela’s friend for five years and it seemed that she’d grown used to Carmela’s biting wit.
“It’s been boring this summer,” Carmela said as though she hadn’t possibly insulted her friend.
“I’ve noticed that, too. I don’t know why.” Alex studied her fingernails to avoid meeting the gazes of her friends. She knew why she was restless but she wasn’t keen on admitting it.
“We need to plan some girl time or something. We need to go somewhere and have fun.” Hailey adjusted her bikini top over her modest breasts and smirked over at Alex. “Last year we went to the coast.”
Alex remembered the way the other two had hooked up with guys and left her as the odd woman out. “Let’s not do that again.”
“How ‘bout a spa?” Carmela suggested. She flicked her long brown hair over her shoulder. She and Alex had very similar features. When they were younger, they were often mistaken for sisters.
“That’s an excellent idea,” Hailey agreed.
Alex hummed as she thought it over. “Okay, but my budget isn’t huge. We can’t go to something five-star for a week.”
“Three-star for two days?” Hailey joked.
“Yeah, basically.”
“Even that would be a good time. It’s not really that we need to relax since,hello.” Carmela indicated the pool. “But getting out of Tuckahoe always lifts my spirits.”
“Surely, we can find what we want in Richmond?”
Neither of the other two answered Hailey because they noticed a few people leaving and jumped up to snag the empty chairs. They spent a few minutes spreading out their towels and getting situated. Carmela picked up her phone and started fiddling with it while Hailey picked up a paperback. Alex just closed her eyes and soaked up the feeling of the sun on her skin.
After lying around for an hour or so, the girls got in the pool, trying to avoid the handful of men that wanted to make advances. Alex lived in a big enough apartment complex that she rarely saw the same people twice. It didn’t take long for the women to grow aggravated enough to get out and call it a day. They went back to Alex’s apartment and cleaned up before making lunch.
“Can I use these leftovers for chicken salad?”
Alex looked over at Hailey as she stood in front of the fridge holding up a plastic storage container. “Sure. There might even be enough for all of us.”
Carmela held up a bag of chips. “And I brought these. They should go well together.”
They were mostly quiet as they worked together to get something on the table. When they were all seated with a plate, they picked up the subject of going away.
“So overnight at a spa-type resort?” Carmela said with her mouth full.
“Maybe not just overnight. It depends on how much it costs per night. I have some space on my credit card, but I don’t want to stretch it to the limit.” Alex crunched on a chip as she thought about it. She was reluctant to admit that Grant had saved her from spending her money foolishly, but that was exactly what he’d done. She couldn’t really spare the nearly three hundred dollars it would have cost her.
“Well,” Hailey began. She paused as she scrolled through her phone. “There are some stupidly expensive places, but there are some moderate ones, too.”
“What good are summers off if you can’t afford to do anything but stay at home? It’s like the perks of our job are overshadowed by the crappy pay.”
Hailey squinted at Alex. “Shut up. You love your job.”
“But I don’t love the income.”
“Yeah, okay, it would be nice to get a raise once in a while.” Hailey pointed a celery stick at Alex. “But you and I both knew what we were signing up for.”
