Page 27
Story: Before & After You
There’s at least a dozen more messages at this point, but I slide my phone into my pocket after sending out a quick,OMW,and do a last check in the mirror before heading out the door. Black, fitted jeans; wedges; and some white, frilly, off the shoulder thing the girls bought me for my birthday. Just a touch of makeup and my hair hanging dark and wavy down my back. I mentally high-five myself.Not bad, Chica.
Twenty minutes later, I’m sliding into my seat with the girls atToca Madera,feeling the immediate calm that just being in their presence brings me.
“And she’s finally here!” Sita shouts, placing a shot of Patrón in front of me. “You’ve finished! It’s time to let loose!”
I laugh and toss back the shot, sucking on the lime as Maggie turns to me, shielding her face from Sam with one hand as if it’ll keep him from hearing her. “He’s trying to kill me tonight, I swear it, Jess.”
I laugh again. “Then put the both of you out of your misery and tell him you’re ready to take him up on his date offer already,” I say.
She simply shakes her head, taking a deep pull of her beer. I nod, because I already know why she refuses to. She’s already said the words before:Bartenders can’t be trusted.
Never mind the fact thatshe’sa bartender. But she says there’s too much temptation at work. Too many thirsty guys and girls, too many liquored up bodies with their inhibitions thrown out the window.It’s too easy to cheat,she’d said.
Butyouwould never cheat,I’d replied.
I know, but I could never trust that they wouldn’t, you know?
I left it alone after that. I got it. She’d been burned bad before; I was the last person to fault her for not moving on.
“Maybe just one night of fun,” I suggest to her now, nudging her shoulder with mine.
“Hell no,” she says. “That motherfucker looks like a professional heartbreaker.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Kat chimes in. “But we’re only talking vagina action here. You can leave your heart out of it.”
We all laugh, downing our random drinks.God, I love my girls.
We couldn’t be more different, but apparently that’s my thing. The whole opposites attract logic. And I love the three of them more than life itself. They’re my people, my tribe. Just whole-heartedly awesome, non-judgmental, non-asshole,goodfucking people.
And we’ve been there for each other through so much.
After Greyson left, all those years ago, I graduated a semester early and moved back home with the help of my family, immediately starting at a local community college—where I met Maggie—before transferring to WSU—where I met Sita. Kat, we all met through a Sita ex-boyfriend-new-girlfriend overlap drama, and long story short, Kat dumped Sita’s ex for us girls, because let’s be honest, we’re awesome.
And we’ve been inseparable since. There for each other through graduations and heartbreaks, and marriages and divorce, and children and promotions, and successes and failures. It doesn’t matter how different we are, or where our lives take us, we always find our way back to each other.
Maggie is a single mom. A homebody who loves reading a good book and spending time with her babe more than anything else. She’s super healthy, super vegan—much to Kat’s dismay—and just a pure-hearted person and an amazing friend.
Sita is definitely the wild one of our group, adventurous to her core. A work at day, party at night kind of soul. A science professor at our own WSU who still manages to get out of bed at the crack of dawn and go hiking at six-a.m. when she fell into bed drunk at one—two, three—in the morning.
And then there’s Kat. Our newly married police officer who does so much good for our community through charities and fundraisers it’s ridiculous. She’s incredible, and she inspires all of us to do better.
And there you have it. The artist, the bartender, the scientist, and the police officer. It’s like the beginning of a terrible bar joke. But in reality, we’re kind of the best ever.
We kick back a few more drinks and quickly fall into our usual rounds: something new, something positive, and something to expel. In no particular order.
Maggie tells us about her daughter, Charlee, losing her first tooth this week and the adorable toothless smile she’s got going on now, and something about the insane price inflation of tooth fairy costs. We all gush over Charlee for a long while before Sita starts in.
“Something new, I met a deliciously handsome and incredibly intelligent man the other day. Something positive, I’mpositiveI can get him under me. But something to expel?” she half-groans, half-whines. “He’s my student!”
I nearly spit out my drink in a burst of laughter. “Sita!”
Kat and Maggie echo much of the same.
Sita holds her hands out in defense. “I know! I know. I would never. ButChrist,he’s only six years younger than me. Anywhere else and I’d be all over it, but because I’m his professor and he’s mystudent,” she spits the word, “it makes me a total fucking creeper.”
We all crack up at her expense.
“I’m sorry,” I say, trying to tamp down my amusement.
Twenty minutes later, I’m sliding into my seat with the girls atToca Madera,feeling the immediate calm that just being in their presence brings me.
“And she’s finally here!” Sita shouts, placing a shot of Patrón in front of me. “You’ve finished! It’s time to let loose!”
I laugh and toss back the shot, sucking on the lime as Maggie turns to me, shielding her face from Sam with one hand as if it’ll keep him from hearing her. “He’s trying to kill me tonight, I swear it, Jess.”
I laugh again. “Then put the both of you out of your misery and tell him you’re ready to take him up on his date offer already,” I say.
She simply shakes her head, taking a deep pull of her beer. I nod, because I already know why she refuses to. She’s already said the words before:Bartenders can’t be trusted.
Never mind the fact thatshe’sa bartender. But she says there’s too much temptation at work. Too many thirsty guys and girls, too many liquored up bodies with their inhibitions thrown out the window.It’s too easy to cheat,she’d said.
Butyouwould never cheat,I’d replied.
I know, but I could never trust that they wouldn’t, you know?
I left it alone after that. I got it. She’d been burned bad before; I was the last person to fault her for not moving on.
“Maybe just one night of fun,” I suggest to her now, nudging her shoulder with mine.
“Hell no,” she says. “That motherfucker looks like a professional heartbreaker.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Kat chimes in. “But we’re only talking vagina action here. You can leave your heart out of it.”
We all laugh, downing our random drinks.God, I love my girls.
We couldn’t be more different, but apparently that’s my thing. The whole opposites attract logic. And I love the three of them more than life itself. They’re my people, my tribe. Just whole-heartedly awesome, non-judgmental, non-asshole,goodfucking people.
And we’ve been there for each other through so much.
After Greyson left, all those years ago, I graduated a semester early and moved back home with the help of my family, immediately starting at a local community college—where I met Maggie—before transferring to WSU—where I met Sita. Kat, we all met through a Sita ex-boyfriend-new-girlfriend overlap drama, and long story short, Kat dumped Sita’s ex for us girls, because let’s be honest, we’re awesome.
And we’ve been inseparable since. There for each other through graduations and heartbreaks, and marriages and divorce, and children and promotions, and successes and failures. It doesn’t matter how different we are, or where our lives take us, we always find our way back to each other.
Maggie is a single mom. A homebody who loves reading a good book and spending time with her babe more than anything else. She’s super healthy, super vegan—much to Kat’s dismay—and just a pure-hearted person and an amazing friend.
Sita is definitely the wild one of our group, adventurous to her core. A work at day, party at night kind of soul. A science professor at our own WSU who still manages to get out of bed at the crack of dawn and go hiking at six-a.m. when she fell into bed drunk at one—two, three—in the morning.
And then there’s Kat. Our newly married police officer who does so much good for our community through charities and fundraisers it’s ridiculous. She’s incredible, and she inspires all of us to do better.
And there you have it. The artist, the bartender, the scientist, and the police officer. It’s like the beginning of a terrible bar joke. But in reality, we’re kind of the best ever.
We kick back a few more drinks and quickly fall into our usual rounds: something new, something positive, and something to expel. In no particular order.
Maggie tells us about her daughter, Charlee, losing her first tooth this week and the adorable toothless smile she’s got going on now, and something about the insane price inflation of tooth fairy costs. We all gush over Charlee for a long while before Sita starts in.
“Something new, I met a deliciously handsome and incredibly intelligent man the other day. Something positive, I’mpositiveI can get him under me. But something to expel?” she half-groans, half-whines. “He’s my student!”
I nearly spit out my drink in a burst of laughter. “Sita!”
Kat and Maggie echo much of the same.
Sita holds her hands out in defense. “I know! I know. I would never. ButChrist,he’s only six years younger than me. Anywhere else and I’d be all over it, but because I’m his professor and he’s mystudent,” she spits the word, “it makes me a total fucking creeper.”
We all crack up at her expense.
“I’m sorry,” I say, trying to tamp down my amusement.
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