Best Defense

The Girls Night Out

Me, Denise, and Mia stepped inside a bar in the middle of town. The three of us will spend some time to relax after a tired day of work. Lately Mia's coffee shop business showed rapid progress and it made me proud of her. My spoiled, lazy sister is now turning into a workaholic woman, leaving her old habit with something she loves more now. Work and make money then spend it again in a crazier way using his phone; shop online! I don't mind or feel the need to remind him, because he must know how to manage finances because Sean himself is watching him through Dave.

Entering the bar, we were greeted with loud music and did not know the rules considering the new clock showed the number nine nights. Usually they will play music aloud when the time shows near midnight.

We looked around to find an empty table and my eyes were fixed on a table in the corner of the room. "There." I cried to Mia and Denise while pointing at the table. They nodded and followed me from behind.

Mia and Denise chatted while I pulled the phone out of the bag to see if Sean called me or not. I sent her a message before I left the store, saying I was going home late with Mia. Actually I wanted to call him right away but I remember he said he was going to check out the mall construction project with Dave. So, I decided to preach it via message only.

After seeing no reply from Sean, I put the phone back in the bag and raised my eyes when Mia asked what she wanted to drink. "Margarita." I said. Mia nodded, I glanced at the standing waiter writing my order as well as the orders of Mia and Denise who were just ordering beer.

"You told me, Sean?" Mia asked while tying her hair up high. I nodded in response.

My eyes looked around and found the faces of people who were spending time on weekends like us. The tables on the inside look full but not crowded. "Yola." I muttered softly while narrowing my eyes. Sharpen my eyesight, I'm sure the girl sitting not far from our table is Yola. He sat down with some of his friends.

"I was there for a while" I told Mia and Denise. They turned their eyes to follow my index finger then nodded without asking any further.

My legs galloped towards Yola and her friends and when I was right beside her, my hands were raised to pat her on the shoulders. Yola turned her head, she looked surprised but immediately stood greeting me. "Sister, are you here?"

My lips curled high and then nodded. My hand rubbed his arm while my eyes looked into his eyes. "Yes. I just came with my sister and my assistant." I turned my shoulders to the side, looking at Mia and Denis who were waving from across. "That's them." I continued. Yola raised her hand and waved back.

Yola looked back at me, then her mouth opened to ask. "Sister Sean?" My eyebrows shot up next door and I laughed softly. Sean is not the kind of guy who would sit and spend hours at a bar. He certainly prefers to work, or if he wants to drink, he prefers to drink at home. The atmosphere of a crowded bar does not match Sean who likes tranquility.

"Come on, you know her, Yola. He can't possibly have time to have fun like us."

Yola gnashing. "Ah, yes. He has no time but to work. For God's sake, I'm glad you married her, brother. So I don't have to be stuck with a guy like him." Yola's shoulders lifted, shuddering in horror as if she had just survived death. But I knew he was joking and I replied.

"You're hurting my heart, Yola." I said lightly without really being serious about my words.

Yola laughed in response to my reply. Then he introduced me to his friends. I greet them one by one starting from a shoulder-haired girl named Theodora who looks fashionable in her casual suit, then turns to the girl next to her who is no less cool with a knee-length black dress. The girl's name is Sheril. Then my hand moved to the last girl who felt familiar to me, I don't really remember but I'm pretty sure that I've seen her somewhere.

I hugged her. Making the other three friends look at each other, astonished to see me who suddenly hugged him. For some reason I felt close to the girl from the first time I saw her, it felt like I had a bond with her other than of course her name was the same as my mother's.

After a while, I took off my embrace and looked at her confused face. He must not know me. Working in the hospital, he certainly met a lot of people every day and where perhaps he remembered our brief meeting. "I'm Franda, the patient who hugged you at the Batavia Medical Centre hospital when you remember. You work there, don't you?" He hesitates.

Bianka's eyes narrowed at me, trying to recall the incident I just said. Then his face suddenly turned bright. "Yes, I remember it. God, I didn't expect us to meet again like this. How are you, Ma'am?"

I smile. "good. It's amazingly good." I replied.

"You know each other?" Bianka and I turned to Yola who spoke and nodded at the same time.

"Not intentionally. He was one of my patients, and, hey? Yola, I didn't know you had any friends besides me, Sheril, and Theodora."

Yola clucked, her eyes looking at her three friends in turn. "Too embarrassing to tell." I laughed at the words that came out of his mouth while his friends looked at him in confusion, demanding an immediate answer.

I'm throats. With the mood still amused by Yola's reaction, I tried to help her. "She's my husband's distant family." I muttered, making the other three girls near us nod. But I knew they were not sure of my words, realizing that, I immediately added. "There was a misunderstanding in our family, but everything's fine now." I turned to Yola. "Isn't that right, Yola?"

Yola gasps. "Yes. That's how it is."

For a while I talked to them. Tells about various things that are light and trivial but full of jokes to the point of forgetting that I came with Mia and Denise. Feeling enough, I wanted to leave and go back to my desk. But Yola and her friends offered to join them remembering we all knew each other. I did not refuse, and immediately called Mia and Denise to come join us.

Our night was full of laughter. I felt like I was back on the pull in those days when I was their age. The time when I sneaked quietly out of the room to have fun with my old college friends who now know nowhere. I longed for that drama-filled life, and chatting with the little boys near me right now was a bit of a treat for my longing. They are friendly, cheerful, and passionate girls. I as the oldest among us started to get teased but I did not feel offended in the slightest.

We kept exchanging stories, saying to each other until without us realizing it was past midnight and we had spent bottles of beer. Then, I, with a remnant of consciousness, invited them all to go home before we were sprawled in that place.

They comply. We say goodbye to each other and make an appointment to meet again that we will either remember or not. We've been too drunk, and I'm sure none of us will be aware of that next appointment.