Childhood Friendships
Lifelong Connections
by Mistress Anna

Leaning against some lighting and stage boxes in the relative calm, listening to the deafening pyrotechnics, she smiled to herself as she thought about how her life had been turned upside down by a single phone call from her childhood friend a few years ago…

She was buried in work and wasn’t exactly sure what the date was, honestly she wasn’t too sure what day it was either. She was happy in her work, doing what she loved and trying to make a difference. That’s what drove her, since money hadn’t been a worry for years.

She had started to think about moving again, since it didn’t really matter where she lived, she could pursue her passion from anywhere that had electricity and phone, oh and don’t forget hot water and decent bathrooms. She shuddered at the memory of a trip to France. What she considered a decent facility for personal hygiene and what her host thought were very different.

She hated sharing a bathroom with strangers, it reminded her too much of junior high and gym class. Shit, that was always a trial. All the girls trying very hard not to notice who was wearing what and who had what. Then there were the girls that were still little girls and she always felt bad for them, because they never got to use the worn out excuse of “having my period” for not joining in the swim class or any other disliked activity. She got to use that excuse since before junior high. She didn’t feel fortunate then, no matter what Mom had said. It was just revolting and not something she wanted to contemplate that she’d have to cope with monthly! She never did understand why her mother cried the first time she asked her for some guidance. She was just disgusted with the whole thing at the time. Her mother had talked to her about it, to both Kris & her. Plus all the girls had to sit through a class on it in 5th grade. 10 years old seemed a bit early at the time, but obviously not for her.

By high school, it became less of a trial, more fun in gym and the locker room. No uncomfortable worries if someone saw you had a new bra or panties. Many girls were only too happy to show off their new frilly purchases, but for different reasons.

Through all of this pubescent anguish, Kris had been there. They were almost inseparable from that first meeting in 2nd grade. Both of them were new kids to the school. She had started a week late that year since they just moved and she had to get registered, but that was enough to label her a new kid. Kids can be ruthless at that age, being new was enough to attract unwanted attention from the class bully. Kris started in October and they became fast friends since the two of them were both new and nobody knew them or dared to even talk to them for fear of the class bully’s wrath. She smiled at the thought of that class bully, wondering what the little bastard was doing now. Prison? Likely. Responsible adult? Highly unlikely. Little did he know how he cemented a lifelong friendship. Maybe she should track down the little shit? Nah, too much like gloating.

Kris was the one she talked to about everything; boys, music, clothes, school, parents and any other thing that happened to occupy her attention at the time. Kris also spoke of similar things. They shared their hearts with each other frequently.

One would call the other before school to make sure they weren’t wearing exactly the same thing that day, it happened once and they never wanted it to happen again. It wasn’t surprising that they dressed alike; they liked the same things, shopped at the same stores, usually with each other.

The daily pattern continued for many years, with a morning phone call. Then everything changed in her life, turned upside down, inside out. But she didn’t want to think about that. Too much “stuff” right now.

She wasn’t really sure why she still lived in California. It was beautiful; gorgeous beaches, great mountains & deserts. It had nice weather most of the time. But it was also crowded, congested, and expensive. The general expense isn’t what bothered her; it was the wading through all the red tape expense that was driving her insane.

“We’re sorry Ms. Martin. You need to contact Represent What’s His Dick to get approval for your measure”, the extraordinarily polite voice on the phone said.

Yeah, then you contact him and he really is a dick and you’d rather swim with a bunch of eels. He’d talk like he was the most important person in the world and all of the rest of us were waiting with baited breath for every little utterance of his. Supercilious bastard Little dids he know she had seen his type too many times before. Same song, different dance, asshole!

So more time was wasted working around Representative What’s His Dick. Maybe she was just getting burned out? Nah, just need a change of scenery. It’s beautiful, but what good does it do if she never gets to enjoy it, thanks to dicks like him? The staff is well trained to do most of the work, so why was she still here? Actually, why was she sitting here when she should be at the gym, beating the hell out of something?

Okay, I’ll drag my lazy ass off to the gym, if they’re open today, she grumbles to herself. What day is it? Quickly checks her calendar on her desktop and realizes it’s a Tuesday. Phew, the gym will be open. Plus she really did need to grab something to eat. Well, that takes care of the domestic plans for the day, now to decide where to move to and when. Ah, she’d think about that at the gym. It was usually a good place to let her mind wander.

Maybe it was time to go back home? She didn’t have any ties here; he’d gone long ago, thankfully. She hadn’t thought about him in months. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? She still questioned herself about that choice. Why choose him? He wasn’t stunning to look at. If she were honest with herself, she’d have to say she was attracted to him because he talked to her like she had a brain, he had nice body and a great voice. He wasn’t that great as a lover, so why? Man, she was a sucker in many ways. She didn’t see the signs until it was almost too late. Thankfully she had put her head back on in time to call everything off.

Kris had been there for her, over the phone when she needed someone to cry with that day. She hadn’t reminded her of their previous conversations and misgivings. That’s what real friends are for. They both sat down to a bowl of ice cream, over the phone, and talked about him, life and whatever else was happening. She knew without asking that Kris was enjoying a heaping bowl of butter pecan, while she was enjoying her peanut butter chocolate chip. One day she’d grow up to adult flavored ice cream, but it hadn’t happened yet.

They had shared many long distance “ice cream talks”, as they called them, through the years. Sometimes it was about work, or recently Kris had been dealing with an asshole for a landlord, and sometimes it was to cry over their love lives, if you could call them that. Both of them had the habit of getting tangled up with the worst possible men for them, men that weren’t even qualified to breathe the same air.

Kris usually liked clean cut professionals, but they frequently turned out to be selfish pricks. There were a few phone calls that had her on the next flight back home to Kris, from wherever, because she needed her and she couldn’t go to her mom. Her mom would ask why and no mother wants to hear those things happened to her baby girl.

She always seemed to gravitate towards infants. No, that was too strong. Maybe just immature men? Cut through the crap, usually men that still had a lot of growing up to do. She didn’t want to analyze why that was, but it was definitely a pattern with her. Some have gone away to “find themselves”, some she shoved away to “get a life” and this latest one…Damn.

Okay, back to the task at hand. Where to move to now? She had enjoyed her time in Germany, even though her German was appalling. Lucky for her most Germans spoke flawless English. Did she want to go back? Or did she want to try a new country? Or did she just want to go home? It had been months since she’d seen Kris and the rest of the family. Last week; she was still working at the restaurant and saying she enjoyed it. It was too bad they didn’t have their daily calls like they used to. She missed that. Whenever they did get on the phone, usually once a week or so, it was like they had just spoken yesterday. It was always like that.

Damn it, how long had she been on this treadmill? Ah, over 45 minutes. No wonder she was sweating in an unladylike manor. Daydreamed all that time and still hadn’t decided where she was moving. Maybe she’ll decide in the car? Maybe going through the drive-thru will inspire her to decide? Yeah, like eating a disgusting veggie burger will make her think of Venice! NOT!

Okay, driving home and trying to think of some place that she’d want to stay for a while. She smiled to herself at that thought. She didn’t say settle, she never did. She always thought that she’d know when she got there, wherever ‘there’ was, that she’d want to settle there. The hell with logic, that how she felt about it.

Pulling into her garage and still hadn’t a clue. She’d toyed with Australia, maybe for a visit soon, thought about going back to Canada, Toronto was great, but still hadn’t thought of a place that felt right for her next home.

Shit, why does she eat this crap? Probably because you’re a crappy cook and can barely boil water. Throwing away the garbage from her “meal”, heading off to shower and relax. Maybe if I stop trying so hard, I’ll figure it out, she groused.

20 minutes later and much cleaner, but still no idea. Damn. Who knew this would be one of the drawbacks of being successful? Too many decisions to make? Would she trade it? No, but there are some things she missed. Shit, don’t get all worked about that again.

She woke up to the phone ringing. No idea how long she’d been asleep, but it was dark. It was Kris calling to chat. She didn’t have the “better grab a bowl of your favorite ice cream” voice, so it must be something different. She sounded nervous and excited. Kris asked her how she was. She honestly told her about dozing on the couch after her lovely meal that she was too lazy to cook. This brought the expected response.

“Carrie, why do you do that to yourself?” Kris chided gently. Her lack of cooking skills had always been a big worry to Kris. She has tried many times over the years to teach her reluctant student even the most basic of tasks in the kitchen. Aside from some very basic stuff, she was hopeless. It bothered Kris much more than it bothered her. Kris was worried about starvation if she didn’t learn how to cook some horrifically difficult 7 course meal. Carrie always reminded her there are some pretty good frozen things and also some great restaurants that serve “to go” stuff. She had a microwave and knew how to use it. She wouldn’t starve, nobody but her was convinced.

“I have a question to ask you”, Kris finally says.

“Oh boy, now what”, she say smiling into the phone. Kris knew she was teasing by her tone, but her response was serious.

“Can you come out for a visit soon?”

“Everything okay? Folks alright?”

“Of course. Everything’s fine; I just have a favor to ask…” she said with her voice trailing off. There’s something she isn’t telling just yet.

“Asshole landlord get fired yet?”

“No, but I’m working on it, you wouldn’t believe what I found out.”

For the next 15 minutes she gave Carrie all the sordid details of the bastard going into other people’s apartments and digging through their stuff, mostly personal stuff. Kris seemed to be a favorite target, but she wasn’t the only one. It was an interesting coincidence that he only targeted pretty young ladies’ apartments. Hmm, interesting coincidence my ass.

Carrie asked her how her folks are. She hadn’t seen them in a while and missed them and their gentle parental probing about growing up and getting a real job. They were special people to her.

Then just before they’re ready to say goodbye, Kris dropped the bomb, “I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

Shit, last time she said that, the asshole put her in the hospital. Carrie took a deep breath before answering. Kris interpreted the pause as being disapproving or angry or something.

“Don’t be like that. He’s different from any of the others.”

She really must like this guy. Carrie’s not convinced, but she desperately wants to see her happy.

“When do you want me to be there? I am at a lull right now (that’s an understatement thanks to What’s His Dick) and have been thinking of taking some time anyway, so this will work out just fine for me. I should stop by and see the folks, too. I haven’t seen them in a while, not since Mom’s heart attack. She sounded great last time I called. She still doing well and following doctor’s orders?”

“Yes, Dad has decided he needs to take care of her, even if she doesn’t need it, as much as she first did."

“Weasel still doing his thing and staying out of trouble?”

“You are so mean about your brother. You know what he’s up to, you two email back a forth a million times a day!”

“Yeah, but he could be lying. I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“He & Carla are doing great. They drop in to the restaurant to visit. They’re still together and possibly thinking about making it permanent.”

“Did he actually come out and say that,” she was shocked that her little brother would have.

“Of course not, he’s just has a certain look. Hard to say what it is; comfortable? No, more like contentment, sorta?”

“Uh, okay, if you say so. I’ll have to check him over for signs of some disease or something. I can’t imagine Wease being content with anyone.”

Laughing, Kris brings her back to the question, “Soooo, when can you make it? I want to be able to take some time off so we can get into some real trouble together!”

“Now that does sound fun! Sure you’re up to it? So tell me does this someone have a name?”

“What the hell? Asking me if I’m up to it? Ha! You’re on sister! And yes, he does. His name is David”

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