Page 49 of Instinct & New Identity

They both stared at me, waiting for me to continue.

“Annnnnd?”Ruthieasked, prompting me to carry on. “Wasit good?Wasit bad?Yourface implies it wasn’t bad, but maybe you’ve had better.”

I chuckled a little at her rapid-fire questions and assumptions. “Itwas really good, though.Idon’t really have anyone to compare him to, honestly.”

Hoping they’d take the hint without making me outright sayIhad been a virgin,Iwaited.

“He was your first?”Ellieasked, andInodded. “Washe gentle?Areyou sore?Howdo you feel?”

“Girl, let her talk,”Ruthieinterrupted then snorted.

“He was perfect,”Ianswered honestly. “Iwas nervous to tell himIhadn’t been with anyone else before, but he was amazing.Ididn’t even think it was possible to be that good for your first time.”

“It is if the guy knows what he’s actually doing,”Ruthiereplied.

Just then, the front door opened, and we all turned to see who it was.

“What’s going on?”Valinterrupted. “Whyare you all huddled together talking quietly?”

“Your sister andVincehad sex last night,”Elliestage whispered, and my sister gasped. “We’regetting all the details.”

“Crap.IknewIshouldn’t have gone to the bank first thing this morning.Startover from the beginning,” my sister demanded, grabbing a chair from the front wall and sliding it over to be right next to us.

I caught her up by repeating whatI’dalready told the other girls.Mysister either gasped, giggled, or just silently grinned ear to ear.

“He’s taking me out to dinner tonight,”Iinformed them. “Iknow it’s kind of backwards to have our first date after we had sex, butI’mexcited.”

“Wade andIdid things backward too,”Elliechimed in. “Itis what it is, so just enjoy it.”

“I’m running late for work, butI’mgonna askTammyif she’ll let me off a little early soIcan come home and help you do your hair and makeup,”Valadded.

“If she can’t cover you, just call me andI’llcome fill in for the rest of your shift,”Elliesaid.

It felt good having girlfriends to talk to about this stuff.Valhad been great as my sister, but asIlooked around at these girls,Irealized how luckyIwas to have them in my life.

* * *

Hours later,Valwalked in the door just asIwas packing up my things.Iwalked into the main reception space and saw her andRuthieplaying withDashand chatting about getting their nails done soon.Thatwasn’t really my thing, butValhad always been into the fancy designs that only the good salons could do.

“Have fun tonight,”Ruthiesaid, smiling at me. “Youdeserve it.”

“Chop-chop,”Valsaid, clapping her hands at me. “Wehave less than two hours and a lot of hair, makeup, and primping to do.Let’sgo.”

Val turned and was already headed to the door.Iwaved bye toRuthieand caught up with my sister, who was practically jogging back to our building.

“Is it me going on this date or you?”Ijoked with her.

“Cat, you haven’t had a date inyears,” she said, telling me somethingIalready knew and making me feel nervous. “AndI’venever really had one, soI’mgoing to live vicariously through you, which is why your hair and makeup need to be perfect.AndsinceI’mbetter at those things than you,I’mgoing to help you.Oh, and by help,ImeanI’mgoing to just do all of it for you.”

I laughed because this stuff made my sister happy.She’dalways wanted to work in a salon because she said it was a fulfilling job, making people happy when they left.Shewas always askingRuthieabout the hair salon she had worked at before she came here.AndifIwere being honest, my curly hair was unruly at best, but with enough product, it could look really nice, soIdidn’t mind havingValhelp me make it look the best it could be.

She spent the majority of the walk back toVince’splace telling me exactly how she wanted to do my hair and makeup.Knowingthis was her thing,Ilet her be in her element.

We walked into the front entrance ofVince’sbuilding, whereSandi, the front desk attendant, sat behind the desk.Shewas very friendly and in her late fifties or early sixties.Shehad quite a bit of gray hair showing through her short hair.Shedidn’t seem to be bothered by the gray but rather embraced it.She’dalready learned our names, even though we hadn’t been here long.Shesigned for packages and handled food and grocery deliveries and such and was always pleasant when we were coming and going.

“HeyCat.I’vegot a delivery for you,”Sandisaid, stopping us as we walked toward the side door to get to the elevator.Shebent down and grabbed a rectangle box, like the ones that had a variety of chocolates in them, and put it up on top of the ledge of the front desk she sat behind.

“Looks like you’ve either got a secret admirer or a big hankerin’ for chocolate,” she said, pushing the giant box closer to me.

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