Orange Blossoms, Jennifer Cannon [the beginning after the end novel read .txt] 📗

Orange Blossoms

Chapter 1

"Are you deaf? I ordered the Fitness Smoothie - mango, blueberry, scoop of whey? Not that strawberry whipped cream fat infusion you‘ve got there."
 
Nat Weiss, barely 18, hoping to look 25, turned instantly scarlet.
 
"Sorry, Mrs.  Barnes. Let me take it back for you."
 
He scurried away as Nikki Barnes turned to her friend Susan Harper, asleep in the sun, her world obliterated by the iPod buds blasting Lady Gaga in her ears. Nikki jabbed one of her perfectly manicured feet into Susan's leg.
 
"Ouch! What?"
 
"Did you see that? He‘s a real genius that one. My God, how many days in a row does one place the exact same order before that light bulb of recognition goes off? You’d think after a week he’d get it! No brains, no headache, right?” Nikki was unusually exasperated this morning.

Nikki Barnes, stood five feet, ten inches tall with unusual eyes, one green, one blue and a mane of strawberry blonde hair that stopped just between her shoulder blades. She was tanned and toned with the physique of a beach volleyball player - the quintessential California girl born and raised. Her gaze often caught people, especially men, off guard. While she wasn’t sporting a warm fuzzy personality, she seemed unaware of her own beauty.

Susan, barely phased by her friend’s irritation, which seemed to be her state of mind these days, said a little too loud, “Oh give the kid a break. Besides, he’s sweet, and the eye candy factor cancels out his low brain cell count.”

A few moments later, Nat returned with the correct drink. “I’m very sorry about that Mrs. Barnes. Is there anything else I can get for you ladies?”

“I’d like a shot of wheat grass please, honey” said Susan, smiling and giving an apologetic wink. And maybe later I’ll let you rub some suntan oil on my back, she thought to herself. His eyes were the bluest blue, gold just around the iris, and ringed in thick dark lashes - are boys his age aware of their sex appeal? Susan never one to shy away from a little harmless flirting, suddenly felt warm.

“Sure, right away.” Nat flashed a smile back, making direct eye contact with Susan. This was his summer job and while many of the female clientele could be rude and demanding, they more than made up for it in his mind with their ultra toned bodies and generously enhanced assets. He noticed a lot of them looking flirtatiously back at him as well and, while he was just about to turn eighteen, at least ten years their junior, he couldn’t help but fantasize about the possibility of an encounter with one of these hot ladies. Many of them didn’t look a day over twenty-five, but he knew they had to be in their early thirties. His friends were jealous of the sweet job he landed there and were always trying to get a foot in the door, even if it meant collecting towels and cleaning the men’s locker room.

One of the perks of belonging to City Fitness was the sparkling outdoor Olympic sized pool surrounded by palm trees and private cabanas. There was a smoothie bar and post-workout, poolside massage service available and included in the club’s membership. Not only the place for the women in the OC to stay in shape, City Fitness was considered the place to be seen doing so. And in this town appearances are everything. One needed to belong in order to get along in certain circles… and the right plastic surgeon didn’t hurt either.

“Are we still on for lunch at The Grill later?” Nikki asked Susan as she dug for her keys.

Nikki and a few of her girlfriends met at The Grill, a local bistro which catered to the modern day “ladies who lunch” crowd, at least a couple of times a week to dish, discuss and dissect any and all of the latest drama in their respective worlds. You couldn’t ask for better weather in this Southern California beach town and so they typically dined al fresco at their favorite patio table, which remained reserved for them during the week. The hot lunch spot was gorgeous with its bougainvillea covered pergolas and surrounding walls of aromatic hedges of orange blossoms. Also to Nikki’s advantage was the fact that she knew the Executive Chef, Pasqual Dubois personally, and he made sure that his menu was full of the flavorful, but simple low-carb fare his clientele carefully sought out to sustain the meticulously toned bodies they worked so hard for. These were women who went to boot camp on the beach, and attended pilates reformer and spin classes like it was their job. Chef Dubois knew Nikki and her friends were, literally, what they ate.

“Yeah, I’m planning on it, but I haven’t heard from Marcie, have you?” “Not yet, hold on.” Susan grabbed her phone, “Just sent her a text.” She was the laid back, free spirit of the group. Nothing ever seemed to bother Susan much and Nikki found her to be a very calming influence in her life. If you needed an honest opinion or someone to confide your deepest, darkest secret to, Susan was your girl. “Have you talked to her much this week? I’m trying to decide if we should be worried about her.”

Marcie Silverman was like the third musketeer I their tight click and she had been acting odd lately. The girls suspected there might be trouble at home, but thought they’d keep their noses out of it and let Marcie decide if and when she wanted to tell them about it.

“I talked to her a couple of days ago and she sounded okay, but something’s definitely up.” said Nikki. “I think whatever she and Scott are going through could be one of those married couple phases. She’s such a Virgo and you know how they hate surprises or change of any kind - my hell, you could set your watch to that girl’s schedule! If I look at the clock at any given point during the day, I bet I could tell you what she’s doing. 5:30 a.m. run before the kids get up and Scott leaves for the office, 6:15 a.m. load of laundry in - each sock turned right side out and spritzed with stain remover. By 7:00 a.m. she’s showered, dressed and ready to make a perfectly balanced breakfast for Scott and the kids. I really don’t know how she does it with no help - I would have had a nervous breakdown by now. They did just celebrate their seven year anniversary…wonder if there’s any truth to that old itch theory.” Nikki was the over-analyzer of the group.

“Hmm, well, we’ll feel her out later” said Susan.
“I’ve got a couple of errands first and then I need to be sure that Julie can take Bri to the doctor for her 3 year old well visit this afternoon.” Nikki said, as if it were completely normal for someone other than Bri‘s own mother to be taking her to the doctor.

“Okay, so I’ll just see you there.” Susan didn’t have anywhere to be today and thought she may as well hang out and soak up a little more sun…and take in the increasingly nice views around the pool - specifically Nat. She wondered if he was still a virgin. Not possible this day and age. She thought she could definitely teach him a thing or two. Sighing a dreamy sigh “One o’clock, right?”
“Right, see you in a bit.” Nikki gathered herself together and made a breezy exit.

Chapter 2 (?)

Brianna, Nikki’s three year old daughter, was a bright eyed, curly haired little ball of fire. She was three going on thirty-three and was already showing signs of a potential future in the fashion world, with several wardrobe changes throughout the day and a penchant for lip-gloss that drove her mother to the brink. Thank goodness Nikki had help.
Julie, her more than full-time nanny (her Godsend), who did not live-in -- Nikki felt there was room for only one woman in her household - was employed from 7 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. during the week and available to travel with the Barnes’ if necessary. She was more than happy to take Bri to her doctors appointment and didn’t question it. Nikki had introduced Julie to their pediatrician soon after Bri was born and so it was never a problem. Nikki secretly feared these well-visits because she knew it meant that her daughter would be getting at least a couple of immunization shots. Whatever it was about having to physically restrain Bri and listen to her cries, upset something deeper than normal inside of Nikki that she couldn’t control, let alone explain and she often ended up in tears herself by the time it was all over. She wondered how her friends with young children handled it and why she couldn’t. She hid her discomfort with a certain amount of detachment, pretending and making herself busy with other, seemingly pressing appointments.
Incidentally, this didn’t strike Susan as odd at all, having known Nikki for the past twelve years, she knew that motherhood, for Nikki, was one of those boxes that needed to be checked. She had attended the right schools and achieved academic success. Check. She met and fell in love with Jack Barnes, a guy everybody loved to be around and he was gorgeous too. A cross between George Clooney and Tom Selleck and a few years her senior, well established and able to provide the kind of lifestyle most girls dreamt about. When he asked her to marry him, another box got checked. After five blissful years of marriage it was time to have a baby, something Nikki had been afraid of, but Jack assured her she could hire all the help she needed and that he would be there too. Nikki and Jack welcomed Brianna Lee the following summer. Another box checked.
While Susan was aware of the detachment between Nikki and her daughter, she also noticed that Nikki wouldn’t miss an opportunity to show her off at the right events. It was something Susan always wondered about, but even after all of these years of friendship Nikki’s closest friends did not know much about her past or childhood. She rarely spoke of her mother and they knew not to ask. They did know that Nikki had attended boarding schools before college, but the details were vague. Nikki’s own memories of her early childhood were sketchy at best. She did, however, have a dreamy, liquid crystal kind of memory she held tight to, of a place where she knew she had lived for a brief period of time with her beloved Grandmother. She could still here her sing song voice, “Woo hoo, Nikki? Where are you?”