***
As it turned out, she didn’t have to. Lexie’s Prince Charming pulled a move that made Lexie see him for what he really was – a selfish jerk – and so the two of them rented a place via the internet, packed their things, and headed off to the city in a haze of laughter and elation.
It was late evening when they crested the last big hill that led down a long stretch of highway to the city which dropped into a bowl-like valley. Lights flashed and gleamed. The vastness of those lights and the city that they outlined took Laura’s breath away. Pure joy filled her veins.
“Oh, my God!” Her tone carried her happiness. “Check it out, Lexie! We made it!”
“Yeah, I see.” Lexie’s tone held fear. Laura immediately sent Lexie a reassuring smile. They’d been friends – best friends – for a very long time. Lexie was the only person who knew just how badly Laura’s parents really treated her, and she’d always been grateful that Laura, who’d always been popular, had stopped the bullying Lexie had endured for so long, but she had never learned to stand up for herself, which often frustrated Laura.
Laura said, “It’s party time now!” and gunned the gas.
The city was a whirl of partying and work. Time flew by. A new neighbor moved in one day – a sharp and inquisitive young woman named Hope. Hope was a medical researcher, but most of her work in the early days of their friendship seemed to center on finding a cure for her and Laura’s massive hangovers.
As Lexie met and got into a relationship with Dawson – a billionaire internet tycoon – Laura and Hope started spending more and more time together.
They met one day for lunch, and Hope came flying up to the table, her stunning face alight with a smile. “Hey, Laura! Sorry I’m late!”
“Don’t worry about it.” Laura gestured to the menu she held in one hand. “I was torn between ordering a full-on feast and a salad anyway, and I’m still in doubt.”
Hope sat down. She said, “God, you’re so lucky. It wouldn’t matter what you ate; you’d stay thin.” Hope’s hand patted at her flat tummy. “I’m always in the gym, hoping to work off something.”
“You look great.” Laura meant it. “Hey, did you see that new bar opening downtown? That looks like a great place, and tonight’s their soft opening. Ladies get in free, and they have half-priced drink specials.”
Hope unfolded the menu. “I saw it. I have to work extra late tonight though, so I don’t think I can make it.”
“Damn.” Laura peered down at the menu, vaguely disappointed but also a little relieved. Lately, she’d felt a little ambivalent toward her lifestyle. Maybe it was Lexie falling so deeply in love with Dawson and having a real boyfriend. Maybe it was because all the guys she had dated here seemed to be the same guy.
Handsome, charming, and good to party with, but not at all interested in anything else. It seemed like every guy she met was too busy with a career or trying to get a career, or too busy holding out because there were just too many gorgeous women in the city who might be their next fast lay.
Hope asked, “Are you okay?”
Laura fiddled with the menu before setting it aside. “I don’t know. Mike broke up with me.”
Holly’s brow creased. “Were you guys dating or just hanging out?”
“I don’t know that either. I think that’s what has me so confused though. I mean, we kept going out, not just to bars and not just for hookups. It felt like we were actually dating, you know? Then, he stopped calling or texting. He went like, ghost or something.”
Hope set her menu aside and sipped at the soda that Laura had ordered for her. “Have you talked to him at all?”
“Yeah. This morning, I finally got a hold of him, and he gave me the whole ‘it’s-not-you’ spiel.”
Hope sat back in the chair. “Wow.”
Laura grimaced. “I know, right?” Her mouth snapped closed over what else she had been about to say as the server approached and took their orders. Once the server left, Laura leaned forward and added, “I don’t get it. I mean, I don’t even know if what we were doing was dating, and then I don’t know if I just got broken up with by a boyfriend or if I just got disconnected from a hookup. It’s sort of…I don’t know…weird.”
Hope said, “Yeah, I get it. I often think that I really need a real relationship, you know? But I’m so busy, and I like my life. I don’t know if I even want to put in all the time and effort something like that would take, and even if I did the guys in the city are so –”
“Terrible,” Laura finished. “The ones who want more than a hookup usually end up being sort of creepy. The ones who don’t want anything more than a hookup are cocky assholes. I mean, how do you find a good guy – one worth spending all that time on anyway?”
Hope shrugged, “Beats me. If I could answer that question, neither of us would be single or discussing how you may or may not have been broken up with by a guy you may or may not have been dating.”
Laura chuckled and reached for her soda. She took a long pull on the straw. “So true. And I had boyfriends back home. The kind that wanted to marry me, get me pregnant, and come home to a full dinner on the table and all that. No, thanks. That’s not what I want at all. I don’t want that, but I don’t think I just want to keep hooking up either. There has to be some kind of happy medium.”
Hope said, “Let me know when you find it.”
They toasted each other with their drinks, and Holly added, “So are you going to that new place tonight?”
“Probably.” Why not? It beats sitting at home, watching the same old movies and shows on Netflix anyway. Lexie had a big date with Dawson, so it also beat sitting at home alone.
Their food came. Hope had ordered a salad while Laura had gone all out and ordered a bacon cheeseburger and fries. Hope said, “It’s a good thing I like you. If I didn’t, I would totally hate you right now.”
Laura surveyed their plates and grinned. “I have an idea. Let’s split it. You take half my food, and I will take half your salad.”
“Not going to argue,” Hope said.
She didn’t. They finished the meal and then headed in opposite directions. Laura knew Hope had just gotten a huge grant from some large research group and was going to have to work a lot in the next few months to fulfill the obligations that went along with that grant, and she worried that now she’d have nobody to hang out with.
Maybe I should stay home more, she thought as she got into her car.
“No way,” she muttered to herself as she cranked up her car and headed out of the parking lot. “I hung out around the house enough to last me a lifetime. I came to the city to live, and I’m damn well going to!”