But it’s Anna who’s calling my name now and I spot her across the road, lining up outside the bustling bar in a gold shimmery mini dress, sky-high heels and her phone pressed to her ear. The sky looms dark overhead, but the steady vibrations of music creeping through windows and the vibrancy of the crowded, bar-lined street create a euphoric atmosphere that sends a buzz of excitement across my skin.
I cross the street towards her, still thinking about how much my life has changed since then, even though it wasn’t all that long ago. Now, I can go out whenever I damn well please and I don’t have to answer to anyone. Except my mum, of course, whenever I rock up to family lunch hung over. I think the last six months have been an adjustment for my parents as well, who don’t quite know what to make of single Gianna.
“Hey, babe,” Anna mouths, air kissing my cheek as I join her near the front of the queue.Since my separation, I’ve been going out with Anna most Saturday nights, catching up on all the fun I missed out on in my early twenties, and Anna’s been wanting to try this new bar for weeks.
She finishes up her call then directs all of her attention to me.
“Sorry, I was just breaking up with Jonathan.” She waves a hand dismissively towards her phone and flicks her long, honey-brown hair over one shoulder. “How are you?”
I let out an affectionate snort as I eye my best friend. “Better than Jonathan, I’d say.”
“Oh, don’t worry about him. He’ll be fine! Dick bigger than a sopressata salami.” She waves me off, and I can’t help but burst out laughing.
“Then why are you breaking up with him?” I ask her, seriously. I know what Anna values in a “relationship”, and usually dick size ranks number one on the list of one.
“Not much going on between his ears, unfortunately.” She sighs. “There’s only so much pillow talk about his dog Bruno I can handle.”
Another giggle climbs my throat and I lean in to give Anna a hug for no reason other than I love that she can always make me laugh. We pull away and she leans back, eyeing me with furrowed brows. My best friend is so unassumingly beautiful. With big, brown eyes, a petite nose and pouty lips set within a heart-shaped face, her beauty is something that creeps up on you the more you look at her. However, her whole identity is like a juxtaposition. She looks like the girl-next-door, but as soon as she opens her mouth, you realise she’s probably not the girl you want to bring home to meet your mother. Which absolutely suits her just fine.
“What’s up with you?” she asks as she searches my face. “You seem… different.”
Did I also mention she’s sharp as a tack? Because she is. Not a single thing gets past her, which is why our friendship understandably became a bit rocky after I married Daniel.
“Why do you say that?” I ask innocently, pulling my coat tighter. I’ve been thinking all day about how I’m going to break the news to Anna about what I did last night, and I’m still undecided if I’ll go with thewholetruth. What if she reacts badly? Selfishly, I’m not sure I can handle her rejection right now. She frowns deeper.
“You’ve got a shit-eating grin on your face which meansyou’re hiding something,” she answers as we move up a spot in the line.
I check to make sure the girls in front of us are engrossed in their own conversation before I blurt out, “I slept with someone last night.”
“Youwhat?” Anna yelps, causing the girls to startle and turn towards us. “You gorgeous little hussy, you! I want all the dirty juicy detailsnow!”
I give the girls an apologetic smile and wait for them to turn back around while Anna holds up her hand in front of me, ticking off her fingers as she continues, “Who? What? When? Where?How? And most importantly, how BIG?”
Before I have a chance to answer, the bouncer gestures us and the girls ahead forward, lifting up his little red rope so we can pass him and head into the busy venue.
Inside,I barely appreciate the modern-industrial vibe of the trendy bar and my ass hasn’t even hit the stool before Anna starts her inquisition.
“Who did you sleep with?” she asks eagerly, round eyes gleaming. Even though we’ve been friends for fifteen years, she has never been able to direct this question my way. Anna knows the ins and outs of my entire modest sexual history.
I can see the excitement glistening through her flushed cheeks as she places her purse down between us and leans toward me on her forearms. “I didn’t think you were open to dating yet!”
“Can I at least grab a drink first?” I laugh, trying to buy time. I’m still not sure if I should tell her the circumstances around my meeting with the Hotel Hottie. Judging by howshe’s acting over me sleeping with someone, she may actually keel over and suffer from a heart attack if I tell her I was acting as an escort.
“No. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very, very long time. You talk, and I’ll flag down a waitress,” she demands. Her eyes scan the crowded bar before she barks out, “Gia, SPILL!”
“Okay, okay!” I fiddle around with the zip on my black purse as I cast my mind to last night. It’s starting to feel like a dream.
Tall. Dark.Black.Black hair, black eyes, black suit. The way my skin caught fire under his touch. The memory alone sends shivers down my spine.
“Uh, oh,” Anna murmurs, her eyes back on my face. “Why are you smiling like that?”
“Like what?” I didn’t even realise I was smiling.
“Like someone just walked in with a box of vanilla custard cannoli with your name on them,” she sighs.
Girl knows my weaknesses. Or if you’ve seen what I can do with a box of cannoli and five minutes, some would say my strengths.
“I am not!” I argue, even though I totally am.
