Page 8 of Skipping Stones
Miss you guys too. Home in the spring, I think.
Kirsten: Not for Christmas ??? ?
Not this year. But depending when the wedding is, maybe I’ll be home in summer TOO.
Anna: Boo to no Christmas. The girls miss you. But yay for two visits.
Kirsten: We’ll miss you over the holidays.
Me too. Will let you both know as soon as things firm up. Kiss the girls for me!
They’d made an unlikely trio back in grade school. Pretty, but shy and bookish Kirsten, gregarious dance-obsessed Anna, and little orphan Linney, bespectacled, bucktoothed and always getting into scrapes. But they were a tight group and stayed that way, even though as teens, their physical differences became obvious.
The summer before high school, Anna suddenly shot up. She was tall, slim, and graceful—the ideal dancer’s body. That same year, Kirsten started wearing oversized sweaters and shapeless dresses trying desperately to hide a rapidly developing figure that she didn’t understand and didn’t welcome. She was mortified by her new voluptuous hourglass shape with full hips, ample chest and an impossibly tiny waist. Most grown women would be envious, but it made the boys—and a few grown men, much to her horror—lose their minds. Through gritted teeth, she endured stares, bra snaps, lewd comments, and more than the occasional hand where it shouldn’t be.
Linney was jealous of both of them as they transitioned into beautiful young women, while she still had a little girl’s body. She had waited another frustratingly flat-chested year, but finally, the day came when Gran took her to buy a bra. Her braces came off, revealing a lovely smile and some gentle curves emerged. They came with a few extra pounds, but not too many. When she looked at herself critically in the mirror, she saw no great beauty and decided she would have to be satisfied with being just the average girl next door type.
4
Derek shook his head, frustrated by the never-ending lists of wedding decisions to make, and the acute hunger that was making his stomach growl. He’d skipped breakfast to meet a client who couldn’t be late to his minimum wage dayshift, and was now with Olivia at an upscale stationery store in Yorkville instead of eating lunch. Derek glanced at his watch. He only had a few minutes before he had to be back at the office. This wedding was beginning to be more trouble than it was worth.. He just wanted to be married.
“Olivia, my love,” he said, irritably, looking at the identical sheets of expensive paper in front of them. “I honestly can’t tell the difference. They all look white to me. You choose.” He glanced impatiently at his watch again.
“The cream one,” she said decisively, her manicured finger pointing to the sample in the middle. “Go on, I know you have a deposition this afternoon. I’ll finish up here. But I’ll be home late tonight.”
With a quick kiss, Derek was on his way, relieved to have another decision made. The sooner this wedding was over, the sooner they could get back to their regular lives. He rushed back to the office apologizing profusely to his nervous client, a quiet woman who was trying to escape an abusive relationship, and who had been waiting for five minutes. His stomach growled again, but he pushed it to the back of his mind, as he sat down in the tired beige conference room and gently explained what was going to happen that afternoon.
It was a far cry from what Olivia would return to. He knew that when she left the stationer there would be lunch waiting for her at the office—sushi maybe—and her usual bottle of sparkling water. He could imagine her crunching numbers and scribbling notes on her legal pad as she ate.
It was another two hours before Derek finally had time to grab something from the vending machine. He pounded on the glass three times and the temperamental machine finally dispensed the bag of chips he’d selected. It wasn’t lunch exactly, but with a cup of stale coffee, it would have to do. It was just another one of those days. Derek headed back to his office, loosened his tie, rolled up his shirt sleeves and lost himself in his work.
“Earth to Derek.”
Derek looked up with a start. It was dark outside and Aiden was standing at his office door, coat on and briefcase in hand. He looked at his watch.
“Want to grab something to eat? It’s getting late.”
Derek shook his head. “Lots to do still.”
“There’ll always be lots to do. You need a break. Let’s go get a burger.”
Derek ran scenarios in his head. He could take work home. He could come in early in the morning. He could…he could just take a break.
“Good idea.” He closed his laptop. “Olivia’s going to be late tonight and work will always be here.” He stood and as he stretched, his stomach growled. “A burger sounds good.”
The two lawyers walked down the street to a diner they’d been to many times before. They slid into a booth with red vinyl benches that didn’t look like it had changed since the place opened decades before. They’d been coming here since their law school days. The food was cheap, plentiful, and Aiden swore they served the best milkshakes in the city. The owners had never bothered with a liquor licence, which suited Derek just fine.
“You wouldn’t believe it,” he said to Aiden after they ordered their usual meal. “The entire dining room table is covered in bridal magazines, fabric, wedding favour ideas, and lists upon lists. There are so many decisions to make.” He slumped in his seat. “Olivia’s obsessed with perfection and she’s going to drive me insane.”
“Well, you were the one who wanted to get married!” Aiden teased, always the joker. Seeing the pained expression on his friend’s face, he changed the subject. “How’s your abuse case going?”
“We’ll win. She’ll be good on the witness stand,” Derek said confidently. Their milkshakes arrived, and he thanked the waitress before continuing. “We just need to get to court quickly, before the ex-husband does something stupid.”
Aiden nodded. He’d had a case last year where his client ended up in hospital with a concussion and a broken jaw because the system moved too slowly. “There’s a kid involved, right?”
Sipping the milkshake through a straw, Derek’s face darkened. “Two. I don’t want anything happening to them.”
The two men lapsed into silence until their food arrived. With bacon cheeseburgers, fries, and coleslaw in front of them, the conversation turned to sports and stayed lighthearted until they were done.