"Hey guys!" Sarah looked me up and down as if to see if my outfit was acceptable for today's activities and I apparently passed because she smiled angelically.
"Heyy Ali Cat! How early exactly did you get here..?" Her question didn't really need an answer because I have always arrived at least 5 minutes early to everything, but she just likes to make fun of me whenever possible. Perks of being best friends with the Sarah Robertson.
"Don't listen to her, we are just glad that we could hang out since you've been so busy. How's the officer job going?" Between my two friends, Cassie has always been the more respecting, mannered one. They both know about how much I've been struggling in the department but they try their best to get me to be less stressed, which was probably what this day is all about and I thank them for it but they really shouldn't be worrying so much about me. I try to tell them this as we sit down at the table that the waiter had given us but they wouldn't hear of it.
"Hun, we just want to have a fun girls night out! It has nothing to do with your over stressed daily ticket runs that you shouldn't even be doing at work. Stop being so self absorbed. Jeez!" Sarah was trying to make me feel better about it but all it did was remind me of what I had to return to on Monday.
"Oooh but guess what's on tonight at 9!"
"Oh yes! Did you see the last episode Cassie? Oh my gosh, Ali I just don't understand how you can live your life and not watch at least one episode with us." Tonight at 9 o'clock, their favorite show comes on. It's one of the things that I do not have in common with them for many of reasons. The show is about 2 brothers who hunt monsters and ghosts and now there is an angel in it, adding more to the stupidity of it. I honestly don't know how the show has lasted as long as it has.
"I've said this before and I will keep saying it. Supernatural is just not the kind of show I want to watch. The storyline got old years ago and they are running out of things to do and the character in it are the most selfish people I know, and they keep making mistakes and lying and they never learn. It's annoying to say the least." As I finish my mini rant that I've recited to them every time it comes up; which is a lot, the waiter comes by with our waters. I thank him and as I look at my friends, they both are staring at me like I just told them I killed their puppy. They mumble a thank you to the waiter as he walks away but kept their eyes on me, quiet until Sarah bravely speaks up.
"Okay Alison Barker. I get that you don't like or particularly enjoy the show Supernatural in which we both love, but that does not give you the right to hate on it either. You have never seen it before so you cannot hate it until you have seen it."
"Like I've told you both a million more times. I have seen it every time I go to one of your houses and it's on. I know enough from you guys babbling on about it like its real first world issues! So yes, I can hate on it because I do know. I have my opinion and you have yours." Cassie pulls out her phone and scrolls through it for a second and then looks up at me.
"Okay, we can try to accept your wrongly accused opinion but you have to at least know that these guys are like the most attractive beings of all creation." I roll my eyes as she faces the screen of her phone to me and on it is the three main characters of the show. I already know what they look like, even without her showing me and even though their characters aren't the best, I have to admit they are a little attractive.
"Yes okay.. they are kind of attractive. But that doesn't mean I should watch it just because there are hot guys on it."
"That gives you every reason to! It comes with the package deal of the show. Have you ever seen a real man cry? You get to see the hottest guys show the most emotion ever done by a man, it's so raw and deep and beautiful!"
"Okay well tonight while you guys are off in your dreamy la la land of a show, I'm going to be in the real world, asleep." The waiter comes back just then, ready to take our order which we haven't even looked at. Thankfully I know exactly what I'm getting and I order a Chicken salad, while my friends scrummage through the menu trying to see what looks appetizing. They order and as the waiter walks away, they both follow him with their eyes, clearly not caring how subtle they aren't being.
"Speaking of hot guys.." My best friends both turned back and locked eyes with me as if I were a target and Sarah continued. "How are you doing in the hot guy department? Or any guy at this point." I glare at her for her comment but replied anyway.
"Uhm.. it's been slow at the moment.. no guy has really caught my eye yet."
"You haven't even been looking have you?... Look, I know you 'don't need' a guy right now as you put it but you need to let loose a little bit! You can't always rely on our amazing presence for a fun time.. tell me.. how long has it been? Hmm?"
"How long has what been?" I knew exactly what she was referring to but I didn't want to admit it to myself just yet. The intense glare from Sarah and Cassie meant I was not getting out of this one easily. I sigh, defeated, leaning back in my booth. "a while.. like 10 months a while..." I grimace at my own response. I always knew how long its been since I was close to anyone, let alone intimate but admitting it out loud just sounds pathetic. Seeing my friends reactions made it even worse as Cassie just stared at me in disbelief and Sarah dramatically spit out her water that she happen to coincidentally be drinking at the time. I could feel my cheeks begin to flush as people looked in our direction and I did everything in my power to not just crawl under the table and hide from everyone.
"10 months! What have you been doing with the last year of your life that you couldn't stop and smell the roses for a second? Or a minute for crying out loud!?"
"I've been getting myself ready for my job here! I didn't have time to goof off..." I tried to convince them, but I think I was more convincing myself that I needed to use all my time for the job and nothing else.
"Well you have time now, and you're wasting it on us. Girl, we love you but c'mon, sometimes you got to live for yourself and not worry about how others think of you. Like our cute waiter, I'm sure he'd love to come back to your place tonight." Sarah grins at the thought and winks at me. I can't deny that I've missed the feeling of being touched or even noticed by the opposite sex but I just don't want to get distracted and lose my focus on what really matters to me. Cassie seemed to have read my mind when she chimed into the conversation.
"We aren't saying devote your life to a man right now, all we're saying is that you can have more than one focus at a time and still keep your end goal. Seriously, you deserve it."
"Okay.. I will try my best.. just let me start tomorrow."
"Oh Ali, if you're starting anywhere, it's in this restaurant with that cute waiter who is coming over to give you your food."
"But-I-Uh-"
"You don't need to do anything but flirt.. just get yourself back into the game a little. Just follow my lead.." Before I could protest, the waiter had reached our table and was sliding our plates in front of us.
"Excuse me sir... My friend here wanted to ask you a question." Sarah had wasted no time throwing me under the bus and I stuttered for a second for words. The waiter looked at me expectantly waiting, and it didn't make it easier that he had the charming smile that went with it.
"Uh... What's your name again?"
"it's Rob, what can I do for you?"
"Rob, uhm... I was wondering... can I have some more Ranch with my salad?" I could literally feel the utter disappointment from Sarah at my attempt to flirt with the handsome blue eyed waiter in front of me.
"yeah sure thing.. anything else for you pretty ladies?" As he asked the question, I couldn't help but notice he only aimed it at me, which only made me more red in the cheeks.
"uh, no that's all. Thank you though." Rob smiled, nodding his leave and as he turned away, I felt a sharp kick at my ankle.
"Ow!" Sarah was glaring at me while Cassie was dissecting her chicken tenders.
"I give you a full opening lead and you ask for Ranch?!"
"I'm sorry! I told you, it's been a while."
"you're telling me... Okay well good news is that he already has goo goo eyes for ya, so all you need to do is follow through.. when he comes back with the Ranch, look him in the eye, smile and ask him when he gets off work."
"Sarah, I told you! Not today..."
"Oh please, just do it. If you change your mind just reschedule..." It's not that I wouldn't love to do it with hot waiter Rob but I also don't want to be that girl who uses men for her own benefits. But then again.. it's not like I'm ever gonna see the man again. Rob comes back just then with an extra cup of ranch and as he sets it down, I gather up all my courage before it's too late and put on the best flirty smile I could. Go big or go home right?
"Hey handsome, when do you get off work?" I hoped that calling him handsome wasn't too much and I tried not to lose my nerve. To my relief, Rob smiled.
"Whenever you want me to." He replied with such a smooth confident voice, I wondered how many girls a day ask him this question. And how many times he's had the same reply. He winked my way before turning and heading back to wherever he disappears off to whenever he leaves our table. This turn of events had unsurprisingly won a squeak from Cassie and a small contained clap from Sarah.
"Not gonna lie.. I didn't think you were gonna pull it off. Good job! 'Whenever you want me to'!? Damn girl! Okay, if he gives you his number with the check you have to keep it. God knows that man is worth it. Hmm, did you see how good looking he is from behind? Oh, if I were single hun... Mm"
Sarah shook her head, stuck in her daze as she eats her burger. I mix my salad and try to calm my racing heartbeat. We get through the rest of lunch with small talk about their boyfriends and what Sarah wants to look at while at the mall. I brought extra money for the mall because I know they will not let me leave without at least one bag of new clothes. About an hour later, Rob came back with the check and my stomach filled with butterflies as he hands it to me. Sure enough, in the corner of the receipt was his neatly printed name and number. He didn't say anything of it, nor did I when me and my friends split the check and he went on his dandy way. Cassie smiled at me knowingly and I tried not to think anything of it when I slid the paper in my purse as we all got up, and headed out of Shari's.
"Well that was an eventful lunch if I say so myself. How about we go to the mall and see if we can't make it even more exciting."
Cassie and I followed Sarah out of the parking lot and onto the sidewalk. Los Angeles is a big city by itself and when you add millions of people to it, it makes it hard to want to drive everywhere. Walking has became a normal commute for me just as it is for my Los Angeles born friends. When I first got here, I felt like the most out of shape person in the world. I could barely make it across the block without breathing heavy, but thankfully I have had time to adapt and can now keep up with the other City living with quite ease. I grew up in a small town near Salem Oregon and though I could have walked places, I drove everywhere because I was a teenager that wanted a reason to drive the car. Because it was lunch break for a lot of people working today, there were swarms of people on the streets and cars honking trying to get to point B before they are called back into the work place. As we turn the street corner of Dream, I can see the mall building beckoning the consumers with billboards and advertisements even before we reach the entrance. I thank Sarah for holding the door as I walk passed and into the fast food, fragrance, and fabric filled air. The mall never really changes, even if you haven't been in one for a while. Sure the decorations and billboards may change but the selling points never do. There will always be a new big item everyone is raving about and the forgotten ones will hide in the back, praying that at least one person hasn't moved on too fast and that they still have a chance to be bought. There will always be all sorts of different people on their own mission for what they need to get and others who are just here for the friends and or the Wi-Fi. I was never the kind of teenager who was all over social media, stealing Wi-Fi, and creating drama wherever I went. Mostly because I was a child that didn't have a phone until I was 16 and I kept to myself most of the time anyway.
We walked around just looking aimlessly until we were about to pass Hot Topic and both my friends looked at me with big puppy eyes and I rolled my own before I followed them inside. The store was basically a big fandom shopping galore with merchandise you don't have to look up online if you don't want to. There were a whole bunch of different sections for all sorts of fandoms, from Marvel, Pokémon, Doctor Who and the one and only Supernatural which was exactly where Sarah and Cassie were drawn to, like magnets finding their missing piece. The only reason I know these things is because Cassie once tried to get me into one of the fandoms by bringing me here. She didn't really care what fandom I chose, just that I tried to see what they saw in Supernatural. I came across a section for a show called Sherlock which only intrigued me because it was about a detective. I bought the first season and I actually didn't hate it entirely, but I could just never keep up with it and stopped. It's easier with my shows because you don't have to worry about missing an episode and getting lost because they are different each time and the episodes aren't connected with some storyline you have to follow. I wander around a little until I rejoin my friends at the Supernatural section as they gawk at everything the store has to offer them, which I'm assuming they have already seen every time they come in here. By the time we get out of the small store, both of my friends each have another fandom shirt and more buttons for their never ending collection. They live together but they trade back and forth on who gets to stay there with their boyfriend or who gets to go and stay at the boyfriends house for the night. And because of their obsession with the show and how many things they have of it, I can only guess their boyfriends have at least half of their Supernatural stuff at their house which is kind of funny since Sarah's boyfriend Tim doesn't even like the show and just puts up with it for her sake, which I applaud.
"Okay, so where we headed to now? I definitely know you are going to need new clothes, and you are not going to protest." Sarah pointed at me and I shrug, not even trying to defend myself against her comment that I feel should be carried as an insult against my apparel.
"I wanted to get new clothes anyway... let's head to Kohl's first and we can go from there."
This time it was me leading the group to a store. I got us to the women's section and I started scurrying through the aisles and racks, hoping to find something that caught my eye. Sarah kept bringing me dresses that were either too showy or plain ugly and I just couldn't do any one of them. Though I did found some nice jeans that both my friends said complemented my curves very nicely and were half off which I'd say is a win. I also found some flannel shirts for casual wear but of course I couldn't get by without Cassie mentioning how the Winchester boys from Supernatural also wear Flannels and how they look amazing in them. I swear sometimes they can't let a day go by without saying something about the characters. Sarah finally came back with her crazy smile and yet another dress in her arms.
"Why are you even trying, you know I'm not getting a dress."
"Yet! You aren't getting a dress yet! This I know you will love, just look at it for me." She unhooks the dress from her arm and displayed it out in front of her. "See! Isn't it beautiful."
I had to admit, it wasn't as bad as the other dresses she brought out and it actually was an amazing looking dress. I sighed, grabbing the dress and heading to the dressing room. It was a blue dress that came to the thighs but not too high that made me seem like some sort of hooker. It was fitting as well and the sleeves came down loosely to the elbows with a lighter blue see through fabric. I honestly loved the dress and as we walked to the check out, I threw the dress on the counter before I changed my mind. By the end of the shopping day, I came out with a brand new outfit and a dress I never knew I was going to get. We were all dead tired as we got back to our cars at Shari's and were ready to go home. I said goodbye to Sarah and Cassie and watched them get in their little yellow Jeep and drive out and away before getting into my own car, setting my bags in the passenger seat and heading home.