She spied Melanie’s big fancy white hat from yards away. As always she was wearing something outrageous in the new trends of fashion these days. Some of the things were amazingly gorgeous, while others she would scratch her head about. Who could design such abnormally looking outfits and dare to charge so much? After all, money was no object in the world of Melanie when it came to buying clothes. That was the basic truth.
All the girls squealed at once upon seeing Amber. Melanie was the quickest, obviously not dragging a baby buggy along with her. She was wearing some kind of odd baggy pants, pump stilettos, and a loose peach colored blouse. Of course she looked like a bag all around, but leave it to Melanie to pull it off with style. And as the sun beat down on her, she rocked the Hollywood shades rather nicely.
“D’ahhh!!!!!!” Those were the exact words that came out of the red head’s mouth. Her long curls were bouncing as she skidded to a stop. “Oh my gosh, hi! It’s been forever.”
“Oh my gosh, I know,” Amber felt the energy from her friend almost rub onto her, jumping up and down involuntarily. This was how it always was being with her best friends. How she missed them.
Both girls jumped and hugged, taking care not to smudge each other’s makeup.
“You look great girl,” Melanie complimented just as Sasha joined in on the fun.
“Thank you,” Amber replied, scanning herself a once over and purposefully flipping her hair.
Turning to greet her other friend, they too both squealed and hugged. Sasha had her happy glow back. The days of darkness were finally behind her and she looked happy again. She was thin and eating properly.
Sasha beamed and then gestured to her baby boy. “Isn’t he precious?”
Leaning over the carriage to see, Amber sighed at the tiny little bundle. He was probably the most adorable thing she had seen in a while. His tiny little fist was balled up next to his head as he stared wide-eyed at the world.
Agreeing enthusiastically, Amber said, “Yes, he’s so cute.” Then getting serious she turned to her friend. “Are you doing okay girl?”
Sasha nodded, and then pointed at Melanie. “As okay as I can be with this one living in my home now.” She poked fun at Melanie who pretended to be hurt and walk away.
“Hey,” she teased, “I have to see your sorry ass too and listen to Abel cry every night. That’s no walk in the park either,” she growled softly, while back tracking to rejoin the tiny little group. No matter how hard she tried to seem menacing, it just never seemed to work.
Amber crossed her arms impatiently, wanting some attention to herself. “Okay we get it. You two are annoying. How about I rub in that I’ve been on vacation the last couple weeks?” She stuck her tongue out playfully. Whenever she was with her girlfriends, the child in her would always come out. It was perhaps one of the best feelings in the world.
“Oh hush, why the hell do we care?” Melanie insisted, brushing off the announcement with a flip of her hand. “I’m just kidding. I was pretty jealous when you sent me those pictures. It’s beautiful over there,” She exclaimed. “I wish you would’ve invited us…loser.” Then she giggled at herself.
Only Melanie found herself funny. She was the kind of girl to laugh at her own jokes until she fell to the floor.
Silence fell on the little group for a second. They all looked at one another in turn. Never had they seemed so alive.
After a second, Melanie announced the plans for the next few hours. And in turn, they all began to file towards the nearest nail salon. Today was beauty day and full makeovers were in order.
“Come on girl,” Melanie had insisted. “I know you have that fancy credit card in your purse just oozing money. Please tell me your man gives you a good chunk of dough to spend. He has to be loaded. I saw his fancy ass car.”
Amber smiled a bit but it faded quickly. Charles was another subject she wasn’t quite sure how to handle. She loved him dearly, but lately it was getting harder to feel anything towards him when she felt abandoned all the time. He always had to leave her for some business meeting, not returning until nightfall. Perhaps he had planned it out that way for her to spend time with his parents, but just approaching them made her feel unwelcome and awkward.
She nodded and patted her small little purse. “Oh trust me, I got the dough today,” she assured her greedy friend. “But none for you.”
“Bitch,” Melanie frowned, apparently hoping to have access to that beautiful platinum card. She motioned them to follow her, having a plan as always for the day.
First stop was the nail salon, then the clothing stores. Melanie had her heart set on a brand new outfit. Unfortunately, her shopping style took hours upon hours to decide what she wanted. In the meantime, the girls talked about little things. Their conversations didn’t get interesting until they stopped at the little outdoor café for a bite to eat. The streets were bustling with people, but this little corner was perhaps on a quieter end of the street. They didn’t have to shout amongst throngs of people in business suits to communicate.