Two weeks flew by, and the day when Angela would pick up her man arrived. I watched intently as her car pulled down the street, hoping to catch a glimpse of him from the passenger side window. I had no such luck.
A few minutes after, my phone rang. "Hello, Angela!"
"Hello, dear. I know it's last minute, but I'm going to be ordering out for dinner, and I'd like everyone to come over and meet Henry. Can you make it?"
I was somewhat surprised at her invitation. She'd only just met him herself. Despite the circumstances I hastily accepted, the curiosity driving my brain into a frenzy, "I'd love to."
"Wonderful! I will see you around five thirty. I still have to call Emery. Bye, now!"
Angela wasn't the only person in my circle to claim the offerings of Andromedon Technologies, LLC. Two girls from the social media team for our website had gotten an Andromedon. Naturally, they suggested I follow suit. That was not an internal struggle I wanted to repeat, so I congratulated them and moved on.
I stood in front of the mirror raking a comb through my copper-red hair. I slowly tapped on some BB cream from my favorite cushion. I dabbed at lip tint and filled in my brows. I stopped, setting powder coated brush in hand, wondering who I was doing this for. It wasn't the first time I got made up to go out, but why had the impulse taken me for this visit to Angela's?
I toned down my blush and added some balm over my lip tint. I perused my closet, passing over dress after dress that I had worn on dates with my serious ex-boyfriend. When I passed over them so much, why had I kept them? They were beautiful, and the memories were of a better time. But still, I had taken less than what I deserved in that relationship. I was everything he wanted me to be, and in the process I lost sight of who I wanted to be. I selected a pair of black skinny jeans and a white and black grid print shirt. I slid into some sneakers, and popped on some earrings.
I sat on my bed, an hour left before five thirty. I sighed heavily and stared absent-mindedly at the floor.
Em had gotten so lucky with her boyfriend, Finn. He was European, gorgeous, romantic, and kind. Not to mention, rich. He worked for an international finance company as an extremely influential financial manager. She was his world, and everything he did showed it.
I heard a knock at my door, so I quickly padded down the stairs to answer. Unexpectedly, it was Em.
"I got ready early, so I thought I would come hang out until time to go. We can walk together."
"I'm so glad to see you. You look so pretty!" She was wearing a light blue sundress and a white cardigan. Her glossy blond hair was braided over her right shoulder.
I poured some iced tea, and Em insisted we sit on the porch. I felt embarrassed as she sat on the porch swing, seeing all the chipped and cracking white paint on my wrap-around porch. The time had come to repaint it, but I hadn't gotten around to it yet.
"You seem distracted. Are you alright?" She asked. I was wearing my feelings on my face.
"Oh, I was just thinking about how I need to repaint my porch. I should get started on it this weekend," I picked a chipping piece off one of the rails.
"Would you like some help? Finn isn't back from Singapore until Monday, and this is a lot of work for one person."
"I couldn't ask you to do that."
"Sure you could! It has been such a long time since we spent time together like that," she sipped some tea, "not to mention you were such a big help when we had to pressure wash the siding on my house. I owe you one."
I laughed, "Alright, I will redeem my IOU then."
"Great! I will come over tomorrow morning. Do we need to go to the home improvement store?"
"I still have some paint from last time, in the garage. I will see if it's any good, and let you know."
"That was a few years ago... but, alright." She giggled.
"I'm really nervous about meeting the new 'man' Angela brought home." I admitted.
"I am too, and I'm so relieved I am not alone."
"Is Kirsten coming?"
"No, she's out of town. Her sister is in hospital, delivering her nephew today."
"Ah, that's right. I forgot she was going to be an aunt, again."
Em laughed her musical laugh, "I don't have any siblings. Unfortunately, because of that, my parents are pressing me for grand children already."
The smile faded from her face. She and Finn were mad for each other, but the proposal was at least a year overdue. In my opinion, anyway. Em wanted to adopt children, ever since we were little girls. Her heart broke to think of all the unwanted kids in foster care, all of the children in poor countries with no parents. She had such a sweet and gentle heart, and I could tell the pressure from her parents was slowly getting to her.
"Stick to your guns, Em. They will have grand children eventually. Adoption takes time, and when you're ready their wait is over."
She waved her hand, "I know, I know. I don't know why I let them get to me."
"They're your parents. You respect them, and want them to be proud of you. I know the feeling."
But I will never be able to hear the words 'we're proud of you' again. My parents were dead.
Em and I began our stroll down the street at twenty past five. Arm in arm, we chattered cheerfully until we walked up Angela's stoop. There was a tense pause before we rang the doorbell.
A tall, lean man answered the door. A smile spread across his milky face, revealing gleaming teeth. His piercing green eyes bunched up at the corners, "You must be Angela's friends. Come on in!"
"Girls! So glad you could come. Meet, Henry!" Angela gestured to the man who answered the door. He raked a hand through his light brown hair, laughing nervously before extending a hand for me to shake.
I nodded slowly, my eyebrows raised, "Good to meet you... Henry."
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