Emily and Katie
I could feel my heart pounding as I looked in the mirror, running my hands through my hair as I changed the way I had it styled for what must have been the hundredth time.
"This is stupid. Emily. You're being dumb"
The thoughts ran through my head repeatedly. I knew I was overthinking this, that it didn't really matter, that it wasn't a big deal if I just rolled out of bed when Katie got here.
Katie had been my closest friend at university. We went to class together, went to sorority formals together, and lived together for our last two years before graduation. We did everything together and knew pretty much everything about each other.
Despite all of this, despite the familiarity and the fact that she had already seen me as who I truly was, I found myself drawn to getting myself more presentable for her, drawn to trying to look my best. For her.
My thoughts and actions were interrupted by a knock on my door, forcing me to finally stop rearranging the loose hairs on my head and go answer it.
"Katie?" I asked as I opened the door, my mouth widening into a smile as I saw her. No sooner had the words left my mouth than my friends arms wrapped around my waist, her shoulder resting against my chest, her head against my shoulder.
"Emily" she says, still holding me tight, not yet pulling away. "I've missed you so much"
It had been quite awhile, almost a year, since I had seen her last. We had been almost inseparable since her wedding, but that all changed after. Michael wasn't a bad man, but he did accept a job across the country which pulled my best friend away from me. I tried not to hold it against him, but I did find myself carrying a deal of resentment. When I heard that he wasn't going to be able to come alone with Katie, I was quite relieved
It took a few moments for me to gather myself and pull away from the hug long enough to step back inside my house and let her come inside.
"I didn't think you were going to be here for another hour" I said as I led her inside, unable to wipe the grin from my face that she was finally here. "I don't really have anything ready. The restaurant I had planned for dinner isn't even open yet"
Katie gave a soft smile before quickening her pace for a moment to catch up to me, letting her suitcase fall to the ground as she did.
"Hey Em" she says as she puts a hand on my shoulder as she catches up to me. "Just relax a bit. There's nothing to be nervous or feel anxious about. We don't need plans, just like the old days. All we need is each other and a bottle of wine"
She laughed as she moved along, her hips swaying slightly as she made her way to the kitchen without even needing to ask where the wine was or if I even had any.
"Oooh?" She says as she pulls out a brand new bottle of Merlot. "Someone has gotten fancy now that she has her big girl job"
I cracked a smile and laughed as I grabbed two glasses from the rack.
"Shut the fuck up and grab the corkscrew" I said, my tone and smile betraying the fact that I wasn't the slightest bit upset over any of this. It was relieving to be giving each other a bit of shit, as it cut the tension and brought me back to the days where we had been much closer.
There were not many more words until we both had our glasses in hand and were making our way back over to my couch.
The talking started out rather shallow, the usual questions of "How is work?" "How has your family been?" and the such. We already knew the answers from talking on the phone, but went through them anyways. The talk shifted eventually to more intimate topics.
"You seeing anyone, Em?" She asked, abruptly changing the topic. "Any guys have your eye?
My eyes clenched at the topic, my nose scrunching up. Katie had always been more popular. Although I stood taller, she was blonde and I brunette. She was curvy, with large breasts, I was much more slender with A cups. She had a steady string of men and the occasional woman in and out of her bedroom, I had an embarrassing revelation that I hadn't even shared with her to this point.
I blushed and kept quiet, my eyes dipping even once the opened, avoiding eye contact. This wasn't a topic I liked to talk about with anyone, even Katie.
"No. Nothing has changed since college Katie.." I admitted shyly.
Katie let out a bit of a sigh, reaching over and putting her hand on my thigh as she gave me a gentle smile.
"It's ok Em" she said. "You'll find someone special some day"
The conversation mercifully was able to be steered back to other topics, with plenty of tea being spilled about our sorority sisters. I was quite relieved for the shift, settling back into pleasant conversations.
We shared laughs. And wine. And then more wine. We killed the bottle of Merlot and then moves on to a bottle of Pinot Noir. As time for us to leave to make dinner came and passed, it soon became clear we weren't going anywhere.
