Chapter One
Julie Evans sighed as she stood in front of the mirror, turning this way and that. She pursed her lips as she perused herself, satisfied at what she saw. She knew that this was probably as good as it was going to get for her.
She wasn’t ever going to be supermodel pretty. That was fine. She planned on enjoying her life anyway. She was twenty-seven years old, 5 ft 2 inches, and a little on the chubby side. She had grey eyes and chestnut brown hair, and she still had her whole life ahead of her, so she wasn’t going to let something as trivial as weight get in the way of living life to the fullest.
She unzipped the dress and left it in a heap on the floor. She bent over, picked it up and checked the price tag. She shook her head at the exorbitant amount of money they were asking for what was essentially to her, nothing more than a piece of fabric. She touched the fabric absorbedly as if she could somehow imprint the way it felt into her brain, but she knew that it wasn’t possible.
She just had to tell herself that it wasn’t worth it, even though it actually made her feel good.
“You okay in there?”
The sound of her best friend’s voice came filtering through the door. Her best friend of 6 years, Melissa, was a little fireball of energy. Julie often wondered how they came to be such good friends with their polar personalities. While Julie was a quiet introvert, Melissa was a loud extrovert. They were like the sun and the moon, but they went together like peanut butter and jelly, or at least that’s what Melissa liked to say. Melissa was taller than Julie, but she was a bit on the heavy side too, and that’s what made them bond initially.
“Mel, how badly do I want to eat this month?”
“What?” Melissa’s voice sounded confused as her laughter came in through the thin walls of the dressing room.
“I mean, I could probably let myself starve a little for the sake of this dress, right?”
Julie wriggled into her jeans and slipped on her shirt before she picked up the dress and draped it over her arm.
She swung the door open to reveal her best friend dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, standing there with her hands on her hips, and an amused look etched across her face.
“You’re considering starving yourself for a-what do you call it? A consumerist product?” Melissa used air quotes around the last word.
Julie rolled her eyes. “Well, I didn’t mean it quite so literally. Besides, I didn’t think you were actually listening to my little rant.”
Melissa smiled as she tucked Julie’s arms into the crook of her elbow. “You know, I would like to say it’s because what you have to say is so interesting, but it’s mostly because you can be louder than the TV when you’re on one of those rants, so it’s more out of being forced to listen than an actual interest.”
“How nice of you to let loose such an interesting titbit,” Julie commented very dryly.
“It’s what best friends do,” Melissa commented cheekily as she dug around her purse for something. She produced a stick of gum a while later, and offered Julie a piece which Julie proceeded to turn down.
“Why are beautiful things expensive?” Julie bemoaned as she untucked her arm from Melissa’s and headed towards the rack to put the dress back.
“Is that a philosophical question like the meaning of life, or is this more along the lines of why is Channing Tatum blessed with such good genes?”
Julie snorted as she turned around to face Melissa. “This is definitely a Channing Tatum kind of question. Incidentally though, why is he so good looking? It’s hardly fair.”
“Well, I can’t attest to the big man upstairs, but I can probably say that it’s why he was a stripper for a good while, because that bod wasn’t meant to be kept hidden and, we got Magic Mike out of it, so yeah, not a total loss.”
“You’re so wise, Mel.” Julie replied.
“It’s both a curse and a blessing,” Melissa responded sagely.
“So Gandhi, what about the other part of my question?”
Melissa laughed. “It’s to get us to spend all of our moolah in one place, and that way we can come back and pay more, so that they increase profit. I mean, I suppose it makes us feel good, but realistically, they benefit way more than we do.”
Julie raised an eyebrow.
“What?” Melissa responded, defensively. “I do listen to you. Sometimes.”
Julie chuckled. “You are just full of surprises today, Mel. I almost don’t know what to do with myself. How long was I in that dressing room?”
Melissa sighed. “Ha ha, mock me all you want, but you’re the one who always said I had it in me to change, so boom!”
“Well done Mel. Next stop, Hollywood, and those abs.”
“Definitely the abs. A woman’s got to have priorities.”
Julie cocked her head to the side. “Well, of course it isn’t all about the abs.”
Melissa shook her head empathetically. “Of course not. I mean, how shallow do you think we are, Jules? Biceps are important too.”
“Let’s not forget the shoulders too.”
They began to laugh as the exited the store, the sound of their laughter echoing behind them as they looped their arms around each other, and made their way towards their next destination.
***
“So, do we really have to go this wedding?” Julie queried as they stood in line to pay for their parking ticket.
“You know that Melanie will be upset if we don’t, and I know we’re not close, but it’s a good opportunity to go out, maybe meet a few guys.”
Julie snorted. “What guys? Come on, Mel.”
Melissa pretended to gasp. “Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten what guys are.” She began to check Julie’s forehead, and frowned after a while. “Hmm. I can see I’m going to have to jog your memory because it has been too long my poor sex depraved friend.”
Julie raised an eyebrow. “Oh ha ha, you’re so funny Mel.”
“No, no wait. I’m not finished,” she continued very seriously. “Remember what guys are, Jules? They’re tall, kind of hairy; sometimes they’re cute, a little dorky, but complete pains in the ass?”
Julie pretended to think. “I don’t know Mel. That sounds vaguely familiar. Are you sure we’ve come across this species before?”
“I certainly think so. I’m pretty sure I’m dating one of them. He kind of stumbles about and makes inappropriate jokes.”
“Is that why you keep him around?” Julie teased.
“Yeah, I guess he’s kind of cute. He also fixes stuff around the house, and sometimes he remembers to say nice things.”
“He’s house broken then.”
Melissa smirked. “Oh, you bet he is. So, is any of this ringing a bell?”
Julie pretended to scratch her head. “Do they fart a lot?”
Melissa snapped her fingers. “Exactly! See? You’re getting it now.”
“Yeah, now that you mention it, I do remember what guys are.”
Melissa chuckled as she ruffled Julie’s hair playfully. Julie scowled and swatted her hand away. “You know I hate it when you do that.”
Melissa gave her a wicked grin. “So? I already knew that. What’s your point? It’s entirely too much fun to do it just because it bugs you, so why should I stop?”
“Because it bugs me, and you’re my best friend, so you should be doing nice things and not mean things?” Julie offered as they weaved in and out of the garage searching for the car.
“Ha! I mean I know I’m your best friend and all, but really Jules, you expect way too much. You want me to be your best friend and be nice to you? That’s just too much to ask of a woman.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Julie said very dryly.
“It’s okay, honey.” Melissa turned around to face her and patted her hand sympathetically. “It’s what I’m here for. Don’t you worry about that pretty little head of yours.”
Julie scowled. “If you were anyone other than my best friend right now, I’d so kick your ass because of that sexist, archaic comment.”
“As it is, you can’t kick my ass because you love me too much, right?”
“No, it’s mostly because you’re my ride home, and I’m too cheap to go take the bus.”
Melissa shot her a look, and Julie burst out laughing as they continued searching for the car in an otherwise empty parking spot. There were 3 floors in total, and they were sure they had parked the car on the 2nd floor. The problem was, they had been wandering around for so long, they could no longer remember if they were parked on the right, or the left. Melissa insisted it was on the left, Julie, of course, insisted that it was on the right. They kept going around in circles till finally they found the car in the middle of the damp, odd smelling parking lot. It turned out that neither of them were right. The car was actually in the middle.
“See? I told you it wasn’t on the right,” Melissa said as she slid into the car and switched on the ignition.
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t on the left either.” Julie slid the seatbelt into place, and she heard the click that let her know she placed it correctly.
“I knew it was in the middle, but it was more on the left than the right anyway. It was the middle left.”
“There’s no such thing, Mel.” Julie sounded half exasperated, half amused as she fiddled with the knob for the radio. She kept switching stations till she finally settled on a jazz station, and she hummed along to Miles Davis.
“Why do you listen to that kind of music?” Melissa asked without taking her eyes off the road as she honked at an incoming car.
“Why not? Don’t you ever get tired of listening to the same genre over and over? No matter how good the artists are, it’s so dilapidating.”
Melissa switched on her turning signal and swerved to the left side of the line. “Well excuse me, Mozart. We can’t all have the same tolerance and open mindedness that you do towards different things.”
“I know that,” Julie stretched her legs in front of her and sighed. “But people should. There’s too much out there to simply stick to one genre. Listening to different genres, reading different genres, literally doing anything that will expand your horizons makes you a more well-rounded person, capable of more mature thought processes, and capable of being very emotionally intelligent and accepting of the foreign other.”
Melissa shrugged. “Maybe. It’s not that I don’t agree with that statement, but think about it. Isn’t it better to know quite extensively, everything there is to know about a certain topic rather than learn sparsely about other topics?”
Julie took her bottom lip between her teeth and chewed thoughtfully. “I suppose it depends on who you ask. In theory, it seems like a great idea, but realistically, isn’t it better to have one toe in every lake out there? Even if you never truly excel at one thing, I’ll bet it’s still cool to be really good at several things.”
“Isn’t it better to dive right into something rather than stand on the edge, and let yourself be content with a simple graze?” Melissa retorted.
Julie made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat. “Of course, it’s great to immerse yourself in something completely, but I still think there’s simply too much in the world to just stick to one.”
“Okay, okay, chill. This is way too heavy before lunch. I need some food in me before I can further debate my point.”
“Or, you’re going to lose.” Julie interrupted cheekily.
Melissa reached over and pinched Julie. Julie yelped in surprise and pushed her hand away. “You’re supposed to be driving. Besides, I didn’t say anything wrong.”
“You do know that I’m driving, right?”
“Yes?” Julie’s voice was laced with confusion. “I have indeed noticed that, Nancy Drew.”
“Which means I can easily pull the car over to the side of the road and kick you out,” she continued in a saccharine sweet voice as if Julie hadn’t said anything.
“Ah, but you’re not going to do that,” Julie pointed as she smugly crossed her arms over her chest.
“That’s very confident for someone who’s two seconds away from having to hitchhike back home.”
“You forget, lunch is on me today because your ass is broke,” Julie pointed out as she watched Melissa’s facial expressions.
Melissa’s lips turned into a thin line, and she looked like she had to call on every inch of will power inside of her not to shove Julie out of the moving car right that second. She gave her an annoyed smile. “I hate it when you’re right.”
“Even more because it happens more often than you’d like to admit?” Julie quipped.
Melissa waggled a finger at her. “Hey now missy. Just because you’re my best friend and I love you to bits, it doesn’t mean I won’t snatch your purse and shove you out of this moving car anyway. Just remember that.”
“Aww, but you love me,” Julie said in a sing song voice. “I love you. You love me.”
Melissa’s eyes widened as she tried to cover her ears. “Dear God, no. Please stop.”
“We’re a happy family,” Julie continued to sing, loudly and very off key. “With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you.” She leaned over and placed a wet kiss on the side of Melissa’s face. Melissa pretended to be disgusted as she wiped it off. A smirk was tugging on the corner of her lips though as she tried not to nod along. “Won’t you say you love me, too?” Julie wailed as she flung her arms out dramatically.
“Never, and if you ever sing that song again, I’ll pretend we never even met,” Melissa said mildly.
“I know plenty more. Don’t forget, I have a little niece who’s teaching me all the ins and outs of kids’ songs. I’m very in with the kids right now.”
“I don’t think that’s even a thing,” Melissa commented.
“It so is, and you’re totally jealous.”
“Yeah, because it is my lifelong dream to have little kids hanging off my legs and arms, all while screaming into my ear drums, and eagerly pushing their snot and bacteria into my face. That’s living the dream alright.”
“It’s not all like that, you know. Kids can actually have very interesting insight, and they can make me laugh no matter what. Plus—”
“Blah, blah, blah,” Melissa said as she fiddled with the knob and turned the radio way up. She began to jump up and down in her seat all while teasing Julie who laughed from her seat at Melissa’s antics.
They both fell silent for a while until the car came to a complete standstill. Melissa rolled the window down, and stuck her head out to see how far the jam was. She sighed as she pulled her head back in. “I think we’re going to be here a while. Not too long though.”
She leaned back in her seat and titled her neck to the left then to the right till it cracked.
Julie cringed and made a face. “Do you have to do that? That noise is so annoying. Plus, it just makes me feel like your head is breaking or something.”
“It’s important to crack your muscles, Jules.” She stretched her hands out in front of her, and began popping her elbows. When she was done with that, she began massaging her legs and cracking her knuckles.
“Yeah, whatever. Anyways, how is it going with Ned? I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“He’s been really busy with work.”
“I’ve noticed he doesn’t come around as much. Are you guys doing okay?”
“Yeah yeah,” Melissa mumbled distractedly as she took out her phone and checked it. “He’s just really worried about the merger, so we spend a lot of time at his house. I usually go over projects for the clients, you know how picky clients can be, and he sits there typing furiously away at his laptop.”
“Don’t I know it,” Julie commented. “But other than that, you’re fine?”
“Peachy Dorey.” Melissa turned around to face her. “What about you? How did it go with that guy?”
“Oh, Bob? Yeah, it was okay, I guess. I don’t know Mel. I think I should just give up dating.”
Melissa raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to turn into a spinster with 50 cats, are you?”
“No, of course not. I’m going to be a spinster with 50 dogs.”
Melissa chocked back a laugh. “While I do love dogs, and find this scenario highly amusing, there’s certain things a dog can’t do. Aren’t you lonely? It’s been a while since Chace.”
Julie visibly winced at the mention of his name. “I know.”
Melissa laid her hand on top of Julie’s. “Jules, I know it hurts. I haven’t pushed you to move on even though it’s time to try doing that because I know you need time, and only you can decide when you’re ready, but getting comfortable in your little bubble of protection isn’t going to help you in the long term. It’s just going to let your fear fester.”
Julie stared at Melissa’s hand. “I know, but I’m just afraid. I really screwed up Mel. You know that.”
“I know that hon, but we’re humans. We all make mistakes. You have to forgive yourself eventually for what happened. You had a moment of weakness, you made a huge mistake, and it cost you, but I’m sure that looking back at it now, in retrospect, you know now why it happened, and you know what you were supposed to learn from it.”
“I think that I kept too many things bottled. I should’ve learned to speak out more, but I know that I only have myself to blame for that,” Julie said after careful consideration.
The cars in front of them began moving, so Melissa removed her hand, and put the car back in drive. She stayed silent for a bit, but Julie knew her well enough to know that the gears in her head were spinning at a million miles a minute. “It’s good you’ve learned that at least. There’s always the good things, and the bad things to learn from any kind of experience Jules. I told you before that you needed to learn to speak up when things were upset, so I’m glad you learned how to do that. I’m sorry it had to cost you so much though.”
Julie shrugged and gave her a small smile. “It’s okay. I’m the one who made a mistake, but still….”
Melissa reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay, Jules. You never know what’s going to happen.”
They pulled up into their parking lot a while later, and chatted amicably about nothing in particular as they walked up the sidewalk and into the house.