The Reunion: Emma's Vacation (The Starting Over Series)

Reunion: Emma's Vacation

By: Angelina Rose

Connect With Angelina!

http://AngelinaRoseRomance.com/

Emma Donovan was nervous. She hadn
’
t seen her graduating class at nursing school in fifteen years, and this reunion would be the first time that she compared notes with her three best friends from college.

The women were all at different stages of their lives when they graduated, but they kept in touch in those first few years as nurses. Each had their own unique personality, but somehow they got along. They even shared an apartment for a few years, and they spent a lot of time together going on girls
’
weekends to the mountains or shopping trips to the local mall. Of course, those fun times were few and far between when as they were working odd hours and putting in a lot of time at the hospital during training.

Emma remembered those times fondly, although they all spent most of their time exhausted from studying and working. Emma had become a neonatal nurse, and her work meant long hours, sometimes overnight.

A tall blond with striking blue eyes, Emma had little trouble landing the hospital
’
s most handsome surgeon. Married for twelve, often troubled years, she had recently gotten divorced and became a single mom to her eight year old son, Samuel.

As she slid into her black cocktail dress and strappy heels, she wondered what had become of her three best college buddies. She sat down at her dressing table and applied her lipstick while thinking about the women who had been there through thick and thin during those nursing school years.

There was Ashley Tate, who would probably be about forty years old now. She was the firecracker of the group with her long auburn hair and aqua blue eyes. She had the figure that every woman dreamed of, and if she could buy scrubs that would form fit her voluptuous body, she did it. She made them all laugh, and the men adored her. Of course, she stomped on their egos any chance she got.

At the opposite end of that spectrum was Claire Miller. She would be around forty three years old now. Claire was infatuated with Hollywood. She had dreamed of becoming a movie star one day, but it just never happened. She had been raised in a rough environment as a kid, so she never spoke up for herself much. She let men run over her at times, but Ashley was always there to lecture her about it. With her jet black hair, porcelain skin and dark copper colored eyes, men flocked to her like moths to a flame.

Finally, there was Shelby Ashwood. She had those
“
girl next door
”
good looks with her shoulder length dirty blond hair, green eyes and perfect smile. She could go days without wearing makeup, and no one would notice because she was still so beautiful. Shelby had been dating the same guy since early high school, and he was her main focus aside from nursing school. She would often miss the girl trips they took because her boyfriend, Chad, would want her to stay home and hang out with him. It infuriated Ashley, who was the group
’
s self-imposed leader most of the time.

Emma looked at the clock and realized that her cab would be there soon. The babysitter, Angie Hastings, had just arrived to take care of Samuel for the evening.

“
Thanks for coming on such short notice, Angie,
”
Emma said as she ran into the kitchen to grab her evening bag.

“
Oh, no problem, Emma. I always love watching Samuel. But, I thought you had decided not to go to this reunion,
”
she said.

“
Well, I changed my mind when I got an email from an old friend of mine. I really didn
’
t want to go and talk about my recent failure in life, but I can
’
t hide from it any longer.
”

Emma knew that her close friends would want a full update on her life since those fun-loving college days, and she didn
’
t want to explain it all. She didn
’
t want to tell them that she married the top doctor at her hospital, and then he cheated on her with a woman he met in a bar. She didn
’
t want to tell them that Samuel hadn
’
t seen his Dad in months because he was too busy with his new twenty-two year old girlfriend. And, she didn
’
t want to tell them that she was thinking of leaving the nursing field altogether.

She imagined that they all had perfect marriages with perfect husbands and perfect kids. White picket fences danced in her head as she thought about what they probably had at this stage of life, and how she no longer had it.

She didn
’
t want to think about how her ex-husband had a grandiose house and a perfectly tanned and toned girlfriend to share his bed with now. Here she was struggling to keep up with Samuel
’
s activities and her job. There was no time or inclination to date again.

Facing her fears of looking like a fool, Emma kissed Samuel goodbye and headed downstairs. Her cab was waiting, and it was time to face the music.

The reunion was being held at a ritzy hotel in Atlanta; she had remained in Atlanta after college. The other women had remained for awhile too, but she had lost contact with them so she really didn
’
t know where they ended up.

When Ashley made contact on Facebook a few months back, Emma was glad to hear from her. She kept her personal life at arm
’
s length and just played along like things were fine. Emma was busy as a neonatal nurse at the children
’
s hospital anyway, and she worked long hours. This allowed her to push people away from her because she was tired and overworked.

As she walked into the hotel lobby, she started to recognize some faces. There was Abby Davenhoe, the prettiest girl in their class, with her thick, long blond hair and tiny little waist. She hadn
’
t changed at all, and Emma wondered if she had been having Botox or plastic surgery.

Then there was Debra Oliver, a funny African American woman who was a lot older than they were when she started nursing school. She was standing in the middle of a group of her classmates, and they were cackling about one of her funny stories. Some things never changed.

Emma made her way into the ballroom, which was dimly lit. She could see round tables everywhere with thick white tablecloths and beautiful flowers. Some of her professors were standing around talking, and she waved at a few of them.

“
Emma!
”
She heard a familiar voice. It was Claire. As she turned around, Claire hugged her tight.

“
Hi, Claire. It is so nice to see you!
”
Emma said with a smile.
“
Are Ashley and Shelby here yet?
”

“
I haven
’
t seen them yet, but I know they are coming. I
’
ve grabbed a table for us over here
…”
Claire said as she tugged on Emma
’
s arm and led her to the back corner of the room.
“
I figured it would be quiet back here so we can all catch up,
”
Claire said over the loud jazz music coming from the band.

Catch up. Emma didn
’
t want to catch up. She almost considered running out of the reunion to avoid
“
catching up
”
. Why couldn
’
t they just talk about the present and what was happening now. Why did they have to dig through the ugliness of her recent past?

“
So, where are you living now, Emma?
”
Claire asked.

“
Only about fifteen minutes from here. I work at the children
’
s hospital downtown.
”

“
Wow, that
’
s great. I know that was always your big dream. Working as a neonatal nurse?
”
she asked

“
Yes. I
’
ve been doing that for about thirteen years now,
”
Emma said. She was happy that Claire was only asking her surface questions so far. Maybe it would stay that way.

“
Girls!
”
Ashley
’
s voice boomed from behind. Emma knew she was no longer safe from questioning with Ashley there. She would dig her sordid past out like an experienced archaeologist.

“
Hi, Ash!
”
Claire said shooting up out of her chair and hugging her. Right behind Ashley was Shelby who had just arrived too.

The women sat down at the table and looked at each other. For just a moment, it felt like each of them was studying the other.

“
Wow. I cannot believe the four of us are back together. Fifteen years later. Who would have thought?
”
Shelby said with a laugh. Her girl-next-door good looks were still in tact.

“
It is so nice to see all of you,
”
Emma said raising her coffee cup as if she were toasting them. Seeing their faces, their smiles, she started to feel more at ease. After all, these were the same women she studied with, did rounds at the hospital with and confided in for four years.

“
Well, let
’
s get to it already!
”
Ashley said.

“
Get to what?
”
Emma asked taking a sip of her coffee.

“
We each need to fill in the details of what has happened in the last fifteen years,
”
Ashley said. As she looked around the table, she noticed that the other three women had a
“
deer in the headlights
”
look on their face.
“
Do you guys want me to go first?
”
she asked. They all nodded.

      Ashley leaned forward so that the other women could hear, and she began to unravel the last fifteen years of her life.

      "Okay, I will start then. After college, I got a job as a labor and delivery nurse in Houston, Texas. I met a man named Dave who was a corporate law attorney. He actually came into the hospital to visit his sister who had just had a baby. Anyway, Dave and I got married only six months after meeting. It was a nice life with lots of luxuries, but also lots of problems..."