Immediately, I remember the countless times Daniel showed up at the house first thing in the morning for coffee and I was wearing one of my cartoon T-shirts.
I break into a smile as I picture his face when he sees me in a black sweater like that.
I tried all the pieces and bought things that, if it wasn't for prosecco, I would never have agreed to try. I'm not much of a drinker because, with my size, anything knocks me down. However, the drink makes my head lighter and, apparently, my hand much more open as my credit card can tell!
"George?”
"What is it, little girl?”
“I'm drunk. I need to eat something.”
George laughs and takes me to a restaurant in the food court. As we sit down, he calls Jo.
“Where did this girl end up? We spent two hours buying lingerie, long enough for you to get drunk, and she's still picking out a briefcase?”
"She's been weird...”, I say it with a little smile on my face.
"She’s not picking up. I'm going to text her.”
I stretch my neck to see George type:
George: Beloved, where are you? We're at that restaurant you love. Julie's drunk on prosecco and needs to eat something before she devours the hot waiter attending us. <3 ;)
Damn it! Did he notice I'm drooling over the waiter who came to serve us water? I look again at the cellphone screen and smile at the many happy faces in the message. I love getting messages from George. They're always full of fun stickers and emojis.
A shadow draws close to me. I look up and I see the hot waiter. Yummy yummy.
"Friend, where were you? You missed all the fun!”
"I went to the bank," she looks away as she speaks, as if she were... embarrassed. George doesn't let go.
"Jo, my angel, three and a half hours to go to the bank? You walked out the door of the lingerie store saying you were going to buy a briefcase and you come back saying you were at the bank. You went to dance the Macarena on the manager's desk?”
I spit some of the soda on George. It's really funny to imagine Jo, a very serious lawyer, dancing like Psy on a table.
"Argh, Julie. Not again!
"I'm sorry," I say, wiping it with the napkin. "But it's your fault, you say these things while I'm drinking.
Jo's still quiet, looking at the menu. George and I exchange glances.
"Aren't you going to tell us what's going on, Jo?” George sniffs. "I thought we were best friends. I really feel so devastated by your attitude. Julie and I tell you everything, and what do you give back in return?” He looks at me and takes his hand to his chest before looking back at her. "You ignore us and push us away from your life. It's too much for a poor heart, you know?”
I support his words, holding George's hand and patting it lightly. Jo looks at us, raises an eyebrow holding a look on her face like she can’t believe what she’s seeing, and becomes the lawyer in the courtroom.
"You're taking it way over the top, George. I went to three stores to look for a new briefcase because mine looks terrible, but I didn't like any. Then I went to the bank to make some payments. I ran into a lawyer on the way and we chatted for half an hour. If you still want to measure my time, I stopped about ten minutes to pee and came to meet you.”
"I don't know why, but you didn't convince me," George says, looking at me. "But it's okay, I'm going to let it go. I'm going to respect your moment.”
***
We left the restaurant and made a stop at Starbucks. A cup of coffee is gonna go down really well to remove the rest of my hangover. Reminder: never drink more than two glasses! While we wait for the barista to call our names, Jo takes her Kindle out of the bag and starts reading.
"Which one are you reading now?”, I ask, stretching to see.
“A reason to dream, from Jennifer Van Wyk”, she smiles at me.
"Ohhh... Captain James...” George and I sighed at the same time.
"Have you read? It can’t be! You didn't even wait for me”, she looks at both of us, pouting.
"Jo, my dear, I'm sorry, but I could never leave Captain James waiting for me," George replies, and we both laughed.
The three of us love reading, and we're always exchanging reading tips.
At this time, our names are called.
We stand up to get our cappuccinos when I hear behind me:
"Well, well. What a delicious surprise. Juliette, the hottest singer of the moment.”
I turn around and meet Alan.
"Alan! Hey, what a surprise.” I approach to kiss him on the face. Wow, how nice he smells and... Ops! How cheeky! He turned his face and almost kissed my mouth! I push away a little, but he pulls me hard and whispers in my ear.
"Babe, this time was on the edge of the mouth, but next time, you won't escape me.”
Oh my God! I'm sure I'm red as a chili.
"Did you know that our duet has become a hit on YouTube? There’s already been a staggering number of views. I talked to Rafe today, and he told me that a critic is going to After Dark on Friday to meet us. Cool, huh?”
"Wow, Alan! That's great news!” I answer as he passes his arm by my waist and pulls me against him. He squeezes me hard and I feel protected in his arms. All right, he's not as strong as Danny. He has a thin structure, yet he’s still muscular. I try to get away, but he squeezes me a little more.
"I love your spontaneity. And perfume”, he says and licks my neck. I hop off him stepping away slightly.
"Well, Alan... It's really great news. We need to go, don't we, George?” I look at George, who is standing still with our cappuccinos in hand and open-mouthed. I look at Alan again. “It was good to see you. E-mail me the songs you guys want to play on Friday!”
He looks at me with a mischievous smile and nods.
"Sure, pretty girl. I'll send it over. And Friday, you're going to be mine.”
I grab my glass from George's hand, give a wry smile and go out dragging my two friends behind me. After climbing the escalators to the fourth floor of the parking lot as if being chased by the ten plagues of Egypt, George stop me, laughing in my face.
"Well, well, well. What was that?”
"What?” I ask, trying to talk my way out of it, but my tone comes out a little louder than I intended.
"He licked you! Jo, did you see that? A lick on the neck!”
“Of course I did.”
"Me, if I were her, I would have licked him in full, every inch. And I'm sure that in some places, he has several centimeters!”
“George!”
"Whoa, I'm just telling you the truth. You're red.”
"What? No, I'm not!”
"Yes, you are. Jo, how does she look?”
"On fire!” my friend replies, looking at me. They burst out laughing.
I turn around and go to the parking