Gina and Mike (24 page)

Authors: Buffy Andrews

Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Erotica, #Romantic, #Romance, #Contemporary

BOOK: Gina and Mike

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Sue, aka Tig for Tigger, is my best friend. She’s the only friend from high school that I've kept in touch with. And that’s mostly because she made the effort long before I started to carry some of the water.

After college, Sue went to paralegal school. I tried to talk her into going to law school with me, but she wasn’t up to putting in another three years. She got a job as a paralegal for an attorney. That’s how she met her husband. He was an attorney, too. Turned out he liked women. A lot. Sue caught him screwing their neighbor when she came home for lunch one day. The only thing good that came out of that marriage was Chloe.

When Sue asked me to be Chloe’s godmother, I was speechless. I love Chloe as if she were mine. I always thought I would have kids. I wanted kids. It just never happened. Just like finding the right guy to spend my life with never happened. I had been close a few times, but there was always something that stopped me from taking that final step. It wasn’t that I was scared, more like unsure that I loved him enough.

So as the years passed my work became my life. And, now that I'm pushing 40 and I know that time is running out, I'm thinking about having the baby I've always wanted -- even if it means doing it alone. I see how Sue and Chloe are and I want that, too. I know it won't be easy being a single mother, but I'm used to things not being easy.

Jeremy (Yearbook post)

Gina,

To a really nice girl that I always can hear over where I sit. You’re one of the good girls in this school. Take care of Mike and remember all the great times we had hanging out.

Good luck, Bean

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Thanks, Jeremy. You were just as loud. Maybe louder. Jeremy was the tallest guy I knew. He was 6-foot, 7-inches and the star of our basketball team. He was also thin. That’s how he got the nickname “Bean.” I think three of my steps equaled one of his. He also had perfect teeth. His dad was a dentist.

Jeremy was my boyfriend’s best friend. Mike and I played matchmaker and fixed Jeremy up with Ellen for the prom. They dated the rest of that senior year and summer, but when Jeremy went away to play basketball for a college in the Midwest and Ellen went to a private school in Vermont, that pretty much killed that.

In high school, Jeremy had the most amazing parties. His parents were away most weekends. They had a place at the beach and one in the mountains. We’d hang out at Jeremy’s and drink beer. I got my first carpet burn when Mike and I made out on the floor in Jeremy’s room.

Jeremy went to dental school and joined his dad’s practice. He married a girl he met in college. I’ve met Teresa once or twice over the years and she seems super nice. She’s not tall, though. There must be a foot difference between them. I don’t think she can kiss him even if she stands on her tip-toes. I think they have a couple of kids.

Alicia (Yearbook post/1982)

Gina,

To a really super friend and a great person to be with. Never forget all of the fun we had playing Barbies when we were kids. I’m not good at words like you are but I hope you realize how much I value our friendship. Take care of yourself and I wish you the best of luck in everything you do.

Love always, Alicia

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Alicia and I spent many afternoons playing Barbie’s. She lived down the street, and I’d cart my Barbie house and my Barbie car and my Barbie case over to her house. She had a big bedroom, and there was lots of space on her green shag carpet to spread everything out. We spent entire afternoons pretending.

Alicia and I vowed that when we grew up, we’d get an apartment together. Of course, we’d have fabulous jobs and fabulous boyfriends who would turn into fabulous husbands. And we’d live in fabulous homes and have fabulous kids. Everything would be fabulous.

Talk about a colossal fail because it wasn’t too fabulous for Alicia -- in fact, what happened to Alicia was devastating and changed her life forever.

She was running alone at dusk through a cemetery on the edge of town and was raped by a man that had apparently hidden behind the mausoleum. It was a weeknight, and the place was empty.

They never found the rapist, and Alicia never went running again. She became a hermit, afraid to leave her house.

Whenever I’m home, I visit her. She spends her days putting puzzles together and I always make sure I bring her a few new ones. I get so depressed when I visit Alicia and then I feel guilty for being so depressed. The Alicia I knew was in love with life. She wanted to do things and go places and, of course, have a fabulous life. I tried talking to her about the rape but the minute I mention it she screams for me to leave. So I stopped.

I hate the prison walls she has built up around her. I hate that the doctors have not been able to help her. I hate that she doesn’t have the fabulous life she always wanted and deserves. Mostly, I hate the guy who brutally raped her and left her for dead. She wasn’t found until the next day when a train of cars snaked through the narrow roads of the cemetery on the way to a burial site. The men driving the hearse saw her as they passed the mausoleum. She wasn’t moving. They thought she was dead. Turned out they were more right than wrong.

Eric (Yearbook post/1982)

Gina,

To a fun girl I met my junior year in high school. Keep that great personality and friendly smile and you’ll go far. Never forget all of Mrs. Hoffman’s crazy stories and how we got her to waste entire class periods talking about her childhood. Good luck in college and with Mike.

Best, Eric

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Eric loved history. He ended up becoming a history teacher for a school in Rhode Island. He was also a Civil War re-enactor. Mom sent me a newspaper clipping one time that had a photo of him dressed in a blue and gray uniform standing beside a woman in a massive hoop skirt. Despite his bushy sideburns, I could tell it was him.

Eric was great at getting our English teacher, Mrs. Hoffman, to tell us stories from her childhood. Whenever we didn’t want to work in class, we’d get Eric to get Mrs. Hoffman started. She was like a wind-up toy. Once you wound her up, she just kept going. Eric saved my ass more than once in her class.

I can’t picture Eric as a teacher. But I can totally see the whole re-enactor thing. He was always passionate about the Civil War and could describe every single battle in detail. Come to think of it, he was a lot like Hoffman in that regard. Get him on a topic he loved and he wouldn’t shut up.

About the Author

Buffy Andrews is an author, blogger, journalist and social media maven. Oh – and wife, mother, sister and friend.

By day she’s a journalist, leading an award-winning staff at the York Daily Record/Sunday News, where she is Assistant Managing Editor of Features and Niche Publications and social media coordinator.

You will find her on a plethora of social networking sites, from Twitter and Facebook to RebelMouse and NewHive. She loves social media and loves to connectwith her fans via the various platforms.

In addition to her writing blog, Buffy’s Write Zone, she maintains a social media blog, Buffy's World.

She is also a newspaper and magazine columnist and writes middle-grade, young adult and women's fiction.

Buffy says that some of her fiction ideas pop into her head at the most inopportune times. She has jumped out of the shower to write an idea down, scribbled all over church bulletins and meeting agendas. She said she has fallen in love with each one of her characters and she is thankful they came into her life and can’t wait to share them with you.

She lives in southcentral Pennsylvania with her husband, Tom; two sons, Zach and Micah; and wheaten cairn terrier Kakita. She is grateful for their love and support and for reminding her of what’s most important in life.

When she isn’t writing, she’s running or trying to play golf. She loves all things Disney and would love to spend a night (or week) in Cinderella’s Castle.

Once you get to know Buffy, you will quickly see that she is a big believer in giving back. She has designated that 5 percent of the proceeds from her books (ebook and print) will be given to charity. So when you buy her book, you will also be helping others.

Acknowledgements

I’ve dreamed of this moment forever, and now that it’s here, I’m not sure where to begin. There are so many people I’d like to thank, so many people who encouraged me as I pursued this dream. They include family and friends, colleagues and teachers. They pushed me when I needed to be pushed, encouraged me when I needed to be encouraged. And, when the mountain seemed too steep to climb, they reminded me that often the things we want most in life are the hardest to achieve.

I especially thank God for his love and understanding. He has be with me on this journey and I’m grateful for his guidance.

I thank Beth Vrabel, my awesome friend and fellow author, whose honesty and thoughtful editing challenged me to make my work better.

I thank my best friends Robin Bohanan and Kris Ort for their love and incredible friendship. We’ve been together a long time, girls, and I love you both very much.

I thank Sharon Kirchoff, my biggest cheerleader, who loves my work as much as I do -- maybe even more!

I thank the entire Limitless team, an incredible group of people that I’ve been blessed to have had the opportunity to work with.

I thank my sisters Dawn Beakler, Cindy Andrews and Tania Nade, for a lifetime of love and laughs.

And, lastly, I thank my husband Tom, and my sons, Zach and Micah, for the wonderful life we share. I love you guys bunches and bunches.

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