***All characters depicted herein are of age, 18 years old at least, and all sexual activities portrayed are consensual. Enjoy!***
Towering above the city, Frankie, 21, stands at the windows of the open-plan apartment of the White-Cummings' Penthouse, casting her gaze over much of the city and all the way out to the horizon, with the glittering of lights from buildings, streetlamps, and vehicles twinkling white and red like stars resting having fallen from the night sky.
This penthouse belongs to Pleasant's sister, Gloria White-Cummings, 37, and is the venue for Frankie's bachelorette party. Also, in attendance for the party this evening, are: Pleasant's mother, Gracie, 55, Pleasant's niece, Gabby, 19, Frankie's mother, Lucy, 43, and, last but not least, Frankie's maid of honour for the wedding, and best friend, Tiffany, 21.
Frankie comments on the view from the window with awe, "Everything seems so small from up here. Anything must feel possible from a place like this."
Gloria stands next to Frankie, visible in the reflection through the glass, and she puts her arm around her shoulders, telling her, "It is an incredible feeling. I find a clarity of thought up here, and all of my problems seem small looking down on them like this. This is very different from how my sister has chosen to live. For all the wonder that comes from a place such as this, she has chosen something that feels more like a home, where you can imagine raising a family, in a nice neighbourhood, with everything you need just a short drive away. It is telling of the life she wants.
"For many years now, I have questioned why my sister would choose to live in such a place as she does, when she could have chosen to live like this herself, and, why she would choose a career that pays so modestly compared to what the rest of us earn, but, I see it now, standing here with you. Do you see it?"
Frankie looks at her future sister-in-law, and answers, "No, Gloria. I don't."
Gloria smiles, and explains, "She wants a family life, like the one she always dreamed of but never had, and, she wants it with you."
Frankie's eyes brighten, and her smile widens, and with a giggle, she says, "Of course," and she looks back over the city, seeing how busy it looks, but not seeing any individual people, and her smile fades, realising what Pleasant must have felt when she was younger, and Frankie says, "I think I understand her more now. I think I know why she didn't want this."
Gloria pulls Frankie in for a hug, and softly whispers in her ear, "I know now too," holding her sister's fiancee in a tight embrace.
Frankie thinks aloud, "That's what Elise was saying..."
Gloria enquires, "Hmm? Grandmother?"
Frankie elaborates, "Pleasant took me to the cottage to meet her, and she was saying about what it means to have, and to have not. She spoke to me with such authority and wisdom, and, I realise Pleasant is actually a lot like her in many ways. I look forward to seeing Elise again, because it is clear to me now that it doesn't matter where you are and what you do, but who you are with. That is everything."
Gloria reminisces, "I recall when Pleasant was just a toddler, barely walking and talking, and the way father used to play with her, but grandmother was someone she would always rush to, and be accepted in her arms every time, whereas, the rest of the family would barely acknowledge her. I feel guilt now because I was being groomed into the business and it's workings, and it took a lot of my time and attention. Poor excuse to not show a child love.
"Look at this place," asks Gloria of Frankie, as they cast their eyes around the open-plan arrangement of the apartment, with most of it in plain view, bar some structural support beams boxed in with plasterboard, and decorated to celebrate the impending wedding, with the other women in attendance crowded around the central lounge space sipping sparkling wine from glass flutes, and Gloria tells Frankie, "If we weren't here, it would be a cold, and lonely place. A home is not what you make it; it is who lives there."
Frankie says, "That sounded like something Elise would say."
Gloria laughs a little, and responds, reflecting on her life, "I am much more like mother. We both are obsessed with the things we can have, rather than being with each other. I think we are like this because it comes easier to be like that, and makes us feel like we have importance when we are focused on our work. I'm regretting that now. All I want is to be closer to my sister, and you."
Frankie rubs Gloria's back, feeling the velvety softness of her dress, and says to her, "I would love that, and so would Pleasant."
Gloria smiles broadly, and offers to Frankie, "Shall we?," indicating an intent to join the others in the lounge space.
Frankie nods, and accepts the proposal, "Yes, let's do this," and the two of them walk over to the others, picking up a flute of sparkling wine each.
The lounge area is arranged with four long sofas facing each other in an oblong formation, with a long glass-topped coffee table in the centre with ice buckets and bottles of sparkling wine from various producers piled up in it's middle. Plenty of space for entertaining guests in nightly pursuits, as has been arranged for tonight by the girls in collaboration.
Lucy jokes, as Frankie and Gloria join the gathering, "You two were looking close up there. Thinking you are marrying the wrong sister?"
Gloria wittily remarks to Lucy, "I would leave Ray in a heartbeat to marry Frankie," with a playful chuckle.
Frankie giggles, having fun with the girls, sipping from her flute, and friendly snuggling up to Tiffany's arm where she is sat, asking her friend, "How are you feeling?"
Tiffany replies, "It is so good to be hear with you, having fun together like we always used to; I missed that feeling since starting at work. I just want to get through tonight without incident, so it can be perfect for you. Whatever this thing in me is, I don't think I could forgive myself if I ruined this for you tonight. I love you."
Frankie smiles with a giggle, recapturing the spirit of how they were as teens, and says, "If we take our minds off everything going on right now, and just enjoy each other like we always used to, then what could possibly go wrong, hmm? I love you too."
Tiffany stares point blank into the eyes of Frankie with her cheeky smile, and feels as if submerged beneath the surface of water, possibly from the effect of the wine she is drinking, and she smiles for her friend, hoping that what she says comes true. She can take her mind off everything and enjoy the company of her friend with whom she has enjoyed in many deep and meaningful ways over the years. Frankie has always been there, and they have always been close, so why does she feel like she is losing her?