Page 6 of Ashes

Kenna: Meet us at Fenice.

Me: It’s late and I just got back from the hospital… I’m tired.

Esra: It wasn’t a question, so, kindly, get your ass over here!

Kenna: Besides, you’re getting married tomorrow so we must celebrate your last night as a single lady.

Me: Ugh, fine.

Esra: YAY! See you in a bit.

I had no desire to go out and had a strong dislike for packed spaces, but I knew if I didn’t, they would both show up at my doorstep and haul my ass out whether I liked it or not.

Kenna and I had gone to medical school together. It had been a long and draining four years, but she’d made it bearable. She was currently in her final year of residency in Family Medicine at North Western, our competing hospital.

We’d met Esra during our third year of medical school after one of our intense study sessions. It had been late at night and we’d been walking out of the library when she’d bumped straight into me.

All of her stuff had fallen down, so both Kenna and I had bent down to help her pick up her things when she’d broken down in tears.

We’d barely heard a word she said, but all we’d needed to hear were the words ex and cheating. We’d gathered her things and had sat on the ground with her until her sobs had quieted down.

Then we’d all walked to the diner around the corner that was open 24/7 and ordered milkshakes and fries. We’d spent the rest of the night cursing her ex-boyfriend who’d cheated on her with her best friend and talked about anything and everything.

We’d been best friends ever since. They were family and my reprieve from home. Our relationship was one of the few aspects of my life that brought me any type of joy and peace.

Although I loved my family, being the eldest daughter came with a weighted anchor that was drowning me every day I spent in a place that I was supposed to call home.

I guess this union has a slight positive side to it.

I liked to believe my parents’ intention wasn’t to burden me, but the constant responsibility of taking care of everything they needed on top of raising kids I didn’t give birth to, might I add, because they didn’t care enough to do it themselves was becoming too much.

Every day, it was a different story to handle and that was a lot to ask for one person to deal with.

I scarfed my food down, hopped into the shower, and quickly got dressed before heading out to meet my girls.

Kenna and Esra were both waiting for me outside of Fenice, a new club that had opened a few weeks ago and had been the talk of the island.

My best friends looked like they could’ve stepped off a runaway. Kenna wore a burnt orange midi dress that complemented her dark skin, gold block heels strapped to her feet, and her box braids were in a half-up, half-down style.

Esra, on the other hand, wore a one-shoulder ruched maxi dress, the fabric molding to her curves, her brown hair falling over her shoulders in soft curls.

Esra threw her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly.

I chuckled and huffed out, “Easy, babe.” But that only made her squeeze me tighter.

I wasn’t much of a hugger, but you could never say no to an Esra hug, so I wrapped my arms around her and embraced her back.

“I haven’t seen you in forever, so let me get my Sienna recharge,” Esra said, smiling against me.

Kenna wasn’t a hugger either, but she joined in, wrapping her arms around both of us. “She’s right, you know. How long has it been since we last saw you? Like four weeks?” Kenna pointed out.

“We FaceTime almost every day.”

Esra sighed, letting me go. “Yeah, but that doesn’t count.”

“I’ve just been busy with work. You know how residency is.”

“Yes, but you’ve been working yourself to exhaustion, babe,” Kenna said gently.