Page 8 of Enticed
“Well, shit. That sucks. Maybe I’ll grab a catalog for you so you can browse on your own time.”
“Sounds good,” I say. “Well, thanks for the ride, Penny. I’m gonna grab some of the greasiest food I can find and then head home and sleep this off. Thank goodness it’s Saturday.”
“Clara…” she starts and I know she’s about to flip that motherly switch on me.
“Don’t Penny. I’m fine, really. Now go be the Bad Penny I know you are.” I wink at her after I stand from the car and shut the door.
“Always,” she smirks back, screeching her tires before taking off.
I unlock my car and start the engine before firing off a text to Amy, Perry, and Olivia in our group message. Since it’s the weekend, there’s no use in wasting the opportunity to have breakfast with my three best girls. One by one I get a response that everyone can meet, so I head over to Mollie’s Country Kitchen, the local breakfast spot that is sure to help cure any hangover you might have.
I settle into our normal table that Mollie herself keeps open for us when she can and wait for my friends to arrive. Perry glides through the door first.
“Well, don’t you look like hell,” she greets me, wearing navy slacks, a red sweater, and a face full of make-up with her perfect hair cascading down her shoulders. Meanwhile, my face is make-up free and I’m in yoga pants and a loose shirt—but Perry always looks put together. That’s her M.O.
“Nice to see you too,” I fire back as I take a sip of my coffee.
“Rough night?” She slides into the chair across from me while we wait for Amy and Olivia.
“Yeah, something like that. How are things?”
Perry reaches for her napkin, unfolding it and placing it over her lap before stirring cream and sugar into her coffee that I ordered for everyone.
“Really well, actually. The blog is doing so well that I’ve been contacted by two new sponsors just this last week, including Johnson & Johnson.” Perry runs a parenting and lifestyle blog from home. Her husband, Nathan, also works, but in finance. He actually works with John, Amy’s husband.
I nearly choke on my coffee. “Holy shit, Perry! That’s huge! Johnson & Johnson are like, the royalty of children’s products.”
She smiles wide. “I know. Even though my kids are older, their products are still useful for everyday tasks, and they loved my post about using their detangling spray to brush out my daughter’s Barbie’s hair.”
I shake my head at her. “Who knew Barbie could benefit from a little motherly care courtesy of Johnson & Johnson?”
“Yup. So that was basically the highlight of my week. What about you?” She asks, sipping from her cup just as Olivia and Amy appear together before I can answer.
“I’m free!” Amy cheers as she plops down into her chair and Olivia sits across from her, removing her long sweater and revealing her baby bump.
“How long do you have?” I ask playfully, knowing that Amy being able to leave her three kids at home with her husband John for any length of time is a god damn miracle. She’s a stay-at-home mom and rarely gets to escape since her husband works so much.
“As long as I want. Screw, John. He worked late every night this week. He can handle the kids today. After this, I think I might even go get a pedicure,” she flicks her hair confidently, grabbing her menu and perusing, even though we all tend to order the same thing every time we come here.
“Oh my Gosh, Liv! Look at you! You’re so much bigger than you were just last week!” I shout a little too loudly, drawing attention from other people around us and earning a death glare from my friend.
“Gee, thanks, Clara for pointing out how huge I’m getting!” She practically seethes at me before picking up her menu and blocking her face from us. The only thing you can see of her behind the laminated paper is her deep red hair that she maintains religiously.
“Liv, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I’m sorry. I just can’t get over how fast you’re growing that baby.”
I hear Olivia sniffle from behind the menu and then Perry slowly lowers it from her face, revealing a distraught Olivia blubbering uncontrollably.
“Oh, Liv,” Perry soothes her by rubbing small circles on her back. “You’re beautiful, honey. And you’re supposed to be getting bigger. Don’t let Clara’s loud mouth make you feel bad,” she offers while widening her eyes at me in retribution.
It takes Olivia a minute to compose herself before finally speaking. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted like that. The truth is the baby is growing perfectly and I know I’m supposed to get bigger. But I feel SO huge already and I still have over three more months. I feel disgusting, even though Kane tries to assure me he still finds me sexy as hell. My pregnancy hormones are haywire and there are just so many things I feel I have no control over right now and it’s killing me.”
Olivia is the typical control freak of our group, Perry only edging her out by a fraction of an inch. Her life drastically changed when she moved back home, fell in love and got pregnant and engaged within three months, and let’s just say she’s not handling it as well as we’d hoped.
“You look gorgeous, Liv… prettier than I ever did while pregnant. You seriously just look like you have a basketball stuffed under your shirt. I was a freaking whale with all three of mine,” Amy assures her, making Olivia’s lips tip up in a small smile.
“And I can’t stop eating, especially now that the nausea has subsided,” Liv adds as the waitress comes by to take our order. We all rattle off our usual, except Liv, who orders enough food for two people and then settles back into our conversation.
“So Penny had invited us all to a sex toy party next month, but it’s the night of Kane’s birthday party. Are you sure you can’t reschedule that Olivia so we can all go?” I playfully ask, knowing I’m about to piss her off even more.