Sweet Reunion (25 page)

Project Win Amanda Back was going ahead full steam.
Damn it, tonight he had become convinced. She still loved him. Just like
before.

Chapter
24

The next morning, Amanda sat at the breakfast table,
sipping coffee and and trading gossip with the Fabulous Four. As she had
predicted, they were more than supportive of her plan to break up with
Geoffrey. In fact, she had even tried to call his cell phone twice while
sitting there at the table with the girls, so that she could effect the breakup
with the benefit of the moral support of her friends, but she had just gotten
his voice mail both times. She left a message simply asking him to call her the
first time, and the second time, hung up when she heard his outgoing message
kick in.

She shrugged, “It's not like him to let my calls go to
voice mail,” she said, sounding slightly concerned, “and he's always up by this
hour. He's an early riser.”

Karina shrugged, “Maybe he can psychically sense that
he's about to get the boot,” she posited.

Amanda shook her head, “He's been acting so strangely
since my father died. Honestly, I'd put it down to jealousy over Justin, but he
was definitely behaving that way since before Justin came into the picture. I
don't get it. You guys don't know what he was like before. He was a very controlled
man. His manners were impeccable. He was almost like an actor, reading lines
from a very formal play in most instances.

“But, since my father's death, he's been
short-tempered, high-strung – it takes almost nothing to set him off. This
obsession with me selling my father's property,” she shook her head, “I hate to
say this, but it honestly has me wondering if he might not be somewhat
unbalanced.”

Karina snorted, “Wouldn't surprise me.”

“It does make me wonder what would have set it off,
though,” she mused, “He and my father were not close. I wouldn't have thought
Daddy's death would affect him that much, if at all. I really don't understand
it.”

“Sometimes things effect us in different ways,” Sam
input reasonably, “If he and your father were not close, perhaps it's merely
the fact of a death which has him so spooked.” 

“Or maybe this is bringing up buried emotions in him
about a time when someone he was, in fact, close to died, and he just doesn't
know how to talk about them,” Lauren added helpfully.

“Or maybe,” Karina interjected in a comically
exaggerated helpful tone, “He's just so unused to having to put someone else's
needs and feelings first that it actually short-circuited his brain!”

All four of them laughed, although Amanda a bit
reluctantly. She did admit to feeling some guilt about laughing at Geoffrey's
expense when, as far as he knew, they were still a couple, and she still had
his back. Still, it did feel good to release some of her tension through
merriment.

All of a sudden, Karina sat up straighter. “Girls!”
she exclaimed, “I know exactly what we need!”

The other three looked at her expectantly.

“Girls day!” she declared triumphantly.

The expectancy on the three faces tuned to puzzlement.

 “Come on you guys,” wheedled Karina, “This will be a
perfect way to do some wonderful self-loving, self-supporting, stress-relieving
activities. Also, more bonding time for us.”

“Well, what would we be doing?” Samantha inquired.

“I'm glad you asked,” Karina continued with a
flourish, “We can head down to Sacramento. Everything we need for a brilliant
girls day is right there. I know a fabulous health spa where we can take a
Zumba class and then get our hair done and get mani-pedis. We can get massages.
We can stop for a sandwich so we officially become ladies who lunch. We can go
shopping and get this one,” she pointed squarely at Amanda, “a brand-new,
grown-up friendly wardrobe.”

Lauren looked Amanda up and down. “I'm in,” she
agreed.

“Hey!” Amanda protested, “what's wrong with my
clothes?”

Karina smiled, “Oh, honey, nothing for when you're
working the resort. When you're climbing things, or fixing things, or, you
know...whatever goes into working there that apparently requires that you wear
jeans and Chucks every day.

“But this is officially a new era. You are not just
spending your days taking tourists around on horseback anymore.”

“Point of fact, I never did that.” Amanda interjected.

“Not important,” Karina waved her off, “My point is,
we are not simply working at a mountain adventure resort now, babe. We are now
trying to catch a man. And man catching requires wardrobe.”

“I hate to admit it, but she's right,” Lauren agreed.

“Why do you hate to admit that?” Karina pulled a face.

Lauren ignored her, “It's not only about Justin, Mand.
There's also the fact that you own a successful business now. Other people,
like businesses that you may want to partner with, or your own employees, will
only take you as seriously as you take yourself. When you dress every day in
jeans and vintage tees, no makeup, and your hair in a ponytail, what that says
to the world is – I still think of myself as a teenager, and you should treat
me as such. The image that you want to portray is – yes, I'm casual, because I
work in an outdoorsy business, but I still have my shit together and project an
air of authority.”

“Whoa,” said Amanda, shaking her head to clear it, “If
a new pair of slacks can say all that, then I say, Sacramento here I come.”

“Yes!” Karina celebrated, grabbing the car keys, “You
will not be disappointed. My styling skills are second only to my musical
stylings.”

--- ~ ---

As Karina stepped up to the counter at the Capital Day
Spa and Fitness Center in Sacramento, Amanda noticed a whole new presence come
over her. It wasn't merely in the way that she walked more confidently, with
her shoulders thrown back and her stride strong and purposeful. It was an aura
that came over her, a command of the room, that was unlike anything Amanda had
seen her project in the past.

Suddenly, she was no longer Karina Blackstone, Amanda's
friend from high school. Right before Amanda's eyes, she transformed into pop
sensation Karina Black, Super Star.

As Amanda watched her walk across the crowded lobby,
she saw heads turn in response to Karina's energy, before anyone even
recognized who she was. Amanda was blown away. Was this what they meant by the
phrase “star power?”  Amanda wouldn't be surprised. As soon as Karina turned it
on, Amanda felt an electric charge bolt through the room.

Karina stepped up to the counter and pushed her sunglasses
back on her head, smiling. “I called earlier,” she said, in a tone that was
both gracious and commanding, “I have a reservation for four – the group X
class in the morning and then a half day of spa and treatments.”

The young woman looked up from her computer, smiling a
nondescript customer service smile, which froze on her face when she saw
Karina. Then, as if she couldn't trust her eyes, she said almost tremulously,
“May I ask what name it's under, Ma'am?”

As Karina slid her American Express Black Card across
the counter, she replied in a smooth tone which showed that she was clearly
used to this type of shocked behavior, “Karina Black.”

Suddenly it seemed as if the woman had lost control of
her faculties. Her fingers shook on the keyboard, she couldn't seem to find the
right screen, and when she spoke, she was bumbling and nervous.

Amanda was completely taken aback. She had never seen
anyone react in such a way to Karina, and it was so odd to see someone so
flustered by meeting a person that she only knew as her good friend from high
school.

Yes, of course, intellectually she had always known
that Karina was a big star. But it had never emotionally sunk in until she saw
this young woman, so competent and coolly efficient just moments before, come
completely undone, transform into someone who could barely function for all her
fumbling nervousness as soon as she laid eyes on Karina.

Suddenly Amanda began to understand the toll that it
must take on her friend on a daily basis, only ever being surrounded by people
who didn't treat her as much as a human being as they did a curiosity, never
being able to truly relax around people that she knew cared about her for only
herself. Amanda realized that this reunion of the Fabulous Four must have been
such a gigantic relief for her, to be able to let down her guard around people
who really knew her, and loved her no matter what.

To be able to say anything, to do anything, to be
completely and utterly and only herself. For the first time, it occurred to
Amanda that this might be a luxury which Karina was seldom afforded.

--- ~ ---

As the four women walked into the wood floored and
mirror lined group exercise studio after having changed into workout garb in
the locker room, Amanda nervously asked, “Let's just stand in the back, OK? I
don't want to look like an idiot. Karina, you're the only one of us that's done
this before, what's it like?”

“What, Zumba?” Karina asked, “I've never done it
before. My friend Melissa teaches it at the Crunch on Sunset, and everyone just
raves about how fun it is, and how it's a huge stress reliever. And I'd seen
the sign for it here last time I was touring through and came to get a massage,
so I thought it would be fun for us to do together.”

Sam smiled smugly, “I'm just happy, after all that
talk the other night about my romantic experience or lack thereof, that we're
now doing an activity that is solidly in my wheelhouse, and you guys will have
to catch up!”

Lauren looked over at her, “So then you've done this
before?”

Sam shook her head, “Well, no, not this exact thing.
But I'm an athlete, and this is something physical. I've got you all beat
without even trying.”

Karina laughed, “Not everything's a competition,
little miss Olympian.”

Sam shrugged, “Most things worth doing are.”

“I think we may be narrowing in on the attitude which
has made your romantic life difficult,” Karina retorted, to which she got only
a sassily stuck out tongue in response.

Just then, a tall Latin beauty bounced into the room,
and an air of excitement entered the space along with her. She was dressed in
chic black pants that almost looked like cargo pants, but they were shinier,
and had bright pink tassels hanging off of them at various intervals. In a
matching shade of bright pink, her T-shirt was solid around the bodice, but had
been shredded at the bottom to hang in long pink ropes around her taut
mid-section. Completing the ensemble was a coordinating pair of shocking pink
sneakers. Amanda suddenly felt like she was in junior high, and the coolest
girl in school had just walked in.

The women in the room, who had previously been milling
around casually, standing in small groups talking or off to the side
stretching, scurried to the places they had saved with towels or water bottles,
and discernible rows took shape from the front to the back of the room.

There were a couple of small arguments about whose
space was really who’s, that were quickly settled, but they did cause Sam to
lean over and whisper to the other three, “You see? I told you it was a
competition!”

The instructor, after plugging her iPod into the sound
system, putting on a headset microphone, and tying a bandana around the top of
her long, flowing black curls, jogged to the front of the room.

“Hi, everybody, I'm Lilly and I'm going to be your
instructor this morning. Is this anyone's first time?”  Amanda was relieved to
see hands shooting up around the room, not just her's and her friends. There
were at least ten others in the room full of 60 women (and even a few men) who
were going to be stumbling through the routines for the first time.

“Awesome!” Lilly enthused, “The main thing to remember
is that nobody gets everything the first time – or even the tenth time! So
don't feel bad that you can't hit every step. Just do your best, keep moving,
and most of all – HAVE FUN! Also, try to remember that even though it's human
nature to feel like all eyes are on you, the truth is, everyone else in the
room is so focused on their own workout, that no one's paying attention to you.
That's the great thing about coming to class – it's the one time in your week
that's all about you – no kids, no boss, no spouse...nobody wants anything from
you right now. This is YOUR hour to lose your inhibitions, feel the music, and
just DANCE! So, are we ready?”

The room answered in the affirmative, but Lilly was
not satisfied. Jumping up and down, and waving her hands in the air, she called
excitedly, “Are. We. Ready?!”

The room exploded in whoops and hollers, and even
Amanda, who wasn't normally one for big public displays or joining groups, felt
herself getting swept up in the enthusiasm.

The music started in a burst of syncopated beats, with
guitars, drums, and horns blending to form a raucous melody that made Amanda
start to unconsciously bounce on the balls of her feet before the choreography
even started. Lilly placed herself at the front of the room and began to
authoritatively swing her hips in rhythm with the music. As the hour progressed
and the songs changed in both tempo and style, Amanda was amazed at the way
that Lilly almost magically transformed her movements to match the feeling of
the song, and seemingly so effortlessly.

Amanda watched Lilly's graceful hips and feet swaying
and swinging, watched her tossing her head around in wide, graceful arcs which
caused her silken black curls to fly through the air like an extension of her
body, watched her arms swing and float as if they weighed nothing, watched her
fingers as they painted beautiful pictures in the air as if to illustrate the
music – and she was honestly amazed that she herself was able to command her
own body to do anything even closely approaching the poetry in motion that was
Lilly's movements.