The week had been eventful. We had this 7 days activity planned 5 years ago when we were in our finals and now, have brought it to reality, my girls; Abigail, Amy and Bridget, and I finally decide to have some quiet this morning and discuss how the heck we got to where we are.
Our friendship started like an inseparable bond. It was like that spark you feel when you meet your soulmate. All 4 of us connected in ways we couldn't begin to explain and the friendship was intense.
Planning the activities before Bridget's wedding got me thinking about how far we had come. Barely 3 years ago we couldn't imagine having boyfriends and now look at us. Bridget getting married tomorrow, my wedding planned to hold in August, Abby and Amy unsure of their dates yet but have their plans.
When a year ago Bridget moved to Lagos, and she told me about the new guy she met, a half Suisse called Harry, I didn't tell her but I kept aside $2 every weekend in preparation for this week. I was certain she had found the one. The way she spoke of him was different and I could tell she was ready to take this one seriously.
I'm the first at the Woodhouse Cafe this morning. We chose this place for its nostalgic feel. During our finals, we used to come here almost every weekend to get wasted, but this time around, we decided to come here for a morning tea and conversation. Between drinks last night at Clubhouse, we realized we hadn't really discussed how our minds had changed from what it was 5 years ago and how we had reduced our expectations.
I sit at our favourite spot by the window and watch the cars drive by slowly around the curb. Abby's the next person to arrive. I watch her quietly as she struts in her typical carefree gracefulness past the window, pretending she couldn't see me making a funny face at her.
"What's making you keep your face like that?" she asks the moment she walks into the cafe.
"So, I can't play with you anymore cuz you're now a rich bastard? Oh, life" I tease her as I get up for a hug and kiss on the cheek.
"What made you come here so early?"
"Unlike you idiots, I have a busy schedule for the day. We agreed to be here 30 minutes ago, I got here 20 minutes late and I'm still too early. Don't we ever change?" I ask with a smile, I know the answer to expect.
"No, we don't. Being rich bastards makes us entitled to our lateness". She waves at the waiter and orders her favourite ginger tea, while I ask for a lemon and lime tea.
Right after the waiter leaves with our order, Amy and Bridget walk in. I could say I'm not exactly surprised by how they look.
Amy has her hair in what's supposed to be a messy bun but is obviously so messy you know it wasn't intentional, while Bridget has her shades on and her wig worn slightly too close to her brows.
"If we didn't go to the same club last night I would've asked what truck ran you both over" I tease them while I get up for a hug and a proper laugh.
"I don't understand how both of you drink that much and still come out the next morning looking like models for fucking Vogue", Bridget says as she puts down her glasses to reveal her sleep-deprived eyes.
"It's all about the experience boo. Ben and I drink twice what we had last night almost every Friday when we plan on laying in bed the entire weekend" I say and laugh as they make faces at my sexual gestures.
"You know, I keep wondering how he hasn't worked his way around your control chip. You two act like rabbits on heat" Amy says right before the waiter comes with our tea and leaves with more orders.
"Okay, that's enough about my healthy sex life. We started a discussion yesterday before we got wasted and I think it's worth talking about." I begin.
"Queen Elizabeth never wastes any time getting to business," says Briget with a smirk, "but she's right. How the fuck did this happen???!! I'm getting married, tomorrow guys!!!".
"We know!!!", we all say in unison.
"I've been thinking about what Lizzy said yesterday about down tooling and somehow, I think she's right on a different level", Amy pauses as the waiter drops her plain herbal tea and she takes a sip. "I think we've all down tooled but to the extent to which we believe we can create our perfect picture".
"I think I understand what you mean," I say, "with Ben sometimes, I feel like I know we can be better. I mean, I'm not perfect, so who knows, he probably feels like he down tooled with me. But it's this confidence that I can grow with this person that makes me see the worth in this relationship. Plus, he's amazing in bed." They all groan at my last statement.
"Don't forget the fact that he's stinking rich", Bridget says.
"Money isn't everything", I say and laugh, "but yeah, what's a matrimony without Money".
"All these parables you people are speaking in are stupid." Abby says in her usual absent fashion, "you all, I mean we all, found love at the time we were meant to find it. Down tool, no down tool, we learnt to accept a man for what and who he is and we learnt to let ourselves believe that they accept us too. It's not rocket science".
"Well, yeah, that's there. I mean, I think I became a lot more lenient with men or maybe just this man. I mean the usual me would never have given him even 10 seconds of my time. I also think I was ready. I've grown in this past 1 year to an extent that I never imagined I would. I have faced the kind of hurt that I always felt would permanently break me. For this idiot that I'm happy I'll be loving for eternity. I have no regrets. Maybe cold feet coz, you know, it's marriage, but I'm not afraid of doing every day with Harry."
"This is the point where we all say 'awwwwwwnnnn', but we're grown-ass women," I say and we all laugh.
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The rest of our tea time goes in back and forth conversation about life, our future and the next time we would get to spend this much time together. It's hard being in a different country from your loved ones, but times like these always make me anticipate the future.
As I watched Bridget walk down the aisle the next day, the tears fell as I knew they would. I felt like I was transported into a universe where everything I have ever dreamed of was finally coming to reality and it felt so good. I guess now all that's left to do is keep working on our amazing future.
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Your characters are very real. We can imagine them sitting to tea, reminiscing. The true mark or friendship is that they accept each other with faults and all. They are still young, and yet in a way, wise with experience. You give us the advantage of looking back and reflecting on our the girls have grown.
This was an interesting interpretation of the prompt: A reunion of old friends at a turning point in their lives. Thank you for posting the story in the Ink Well community. Thank you for engaging with your fellow authors!
My characters, to an extent, are always real. Thank you for reading.
The relationships of women can be so complex and interesting. You really captured that in your story, @young-boss-karin. All of these women are on the cusp of change — forging their way ahead from behind young girls to becoming married women, which is an enormous life change and great fodder for a story. Great work with the character development and dialog!
Thank you.