“I….am….SO….satisfied,” states AJ putting down his huge mug of coffee and gazing proudly at all the bags that adorn our feet.
“I’m whacked,” I say. “But damn, we SHOPPED!”
“Exactly Jady,” AJ nods proudly. “I have taught you girls well. And you did pretty well Nicky.”
“Oh yup!” Nick pulls out five baseball hats and tries them on in rapid succession before sticking with a red one.
“Ya look like Fred Durst now,” I tell him.
“I’m rollin’, rollin’, rollin’…” he replies doing the hand actions as we laugh. He carries on singing as my cell phone rings. I grab it out of my bag and answer.
“AJ’s shopping academy, how may we help?”
“Hey Jady, I guess you shopped,” Brian laughs.
“And some. How was the golf?”
“Pretty good. We won!”
“You beat Kev? Wow, I bet he’s pissed.”
“He says it was a fluke.”
“Yeah, yeah…” I laugh.
“You and AJ still in the mall?”
“Yup, we’re gettin’ a caffeine boost. Ali and Nick are here too.”
“They are? Cool. You’re at the out of town mall right?”
“Yup.”
“Ok, me and Kev are on our way.”
“Cool. We’re in Pepe’s Coffee Shop.”
“Ok, see ya in a bit,” he hangs up and I put my phone away.
“Bri and Kev are on their way over,” I tell the others.
“Cool!” Nick gets excited. “I gotta show Bri that b-ball place!”
“Enough already!” Ali groans. “We already spent an hour in there waiting for you to decide between a red b-ball and a black one.”
“And I couldn’t decide!” Nick says. “So, Bri’ll help me.”
“God help us,” Ali tells me and I laugh.
“Hey while they’re in the b-ball pit, we can go pick out some women’s pants for the Howster,” says AJ with a wicked grin.
“Don’t be cruel!” I chastise him but spoil it by laughing. “Where IS Howie anyways?”
“Y’know, I have no clue. I left him in the gym this morning. Lemme call him,” AJ gets out his phone and dials Howie.
Howie stretches out on the pool lounger and closes his eyes. After spending half the day Backstreet hunting he has given up, he’s now trying to decide between an OJ and a Slushy. These are the kind of decisions he likes. Just as he decides on the OJ, his cell rings and he answers.
“Yo, dis is D.”
“Yo D,” AJ chuckles. “Goin’ all ghetto on me?”
“Ya know it,” Howie drawls, sitting up. “And where the hell ARE ya?! I been wandering around this hotel all day lookin’ for signs of life.”
“Sorry D. Got roped into a game of golf with Jade, Bri and Kev. And then me and Jade went shopping and we bumped into Nick and Ali. Kev and Bri are on their way over now.”
“You’re STILL at the mall?!”
“Yup, you know me bro. So, you wanna come join?”
“Uh…I dunno. I’m kinda by the pool, man.”
“I found ya some purple trainers,” AJ starts wheedling.
“Yeah?”
“Nike Air… And they’re only $50.”
“Wow, deal!”
“Yeah… And there’s this place which sells shades and nothin’ else!”
“Hey, you could try and get a job there Aje!”
AJ laughs. “So, come join.”
“Ah man, I’m tempted but I’m kinda by the POOL, ya know?”
“Fit asses?”
“Oh yeah!” Howie laughs and checks out a woman who’s just walked past him. “Oooh, yeah.” The ‘woman’ turns round and he realises it’s a guy in very skimpy briefs, he blushes and jumps up. “Ok, Aje, ya got me. I’ll be right over.”
“Ya sure? Ok, we’re in Pepe’s Coffee Shop and it’s the out of town mall.”
“Howie’s comin’,” AJ puts his phone away as Brian and Kevin join us. “Wow, that was fast.”
“We smelt the coffee a mile off,” Kevin says. “I’m gonna go get. Bri?”
“Uh, regular’ll do me.”
“Anybody else want a top-up?”
“ME!” Nick yells, thrusting his mug in front of Kevin.
“No way!” Kevin and Ali yell together, then they look at each other and laugh as Nick pouts.
“No fair! Double-ganging.”
“Another one of those and we’ll be scraping ya off the ceiling,” says Ali dryly.
Kevin chuckles and heads off to the counter as Brian pulls up a chair next to me. He wraps his arms around my waist and rests his head against my shoulder.
“Tired?”
“Big time,” he yawns slightly.
“Oh, I told Ali ‘bout us bein’… Engaged.”
“Yeah?”
“She’s real pleased. Nick doesn’t know though. I figured you might want to tell him.”
“Yup, good thinkin’. I better grab him now before Kev lets slip,” he kisses my neck and stands up. “Hey, Nick could I have a word?”
“Sure,” Nick follows him into a nearby shop.
“Where’d caffeine boy go?” asks Kevin as he sits down with his coffee.
“Some place with Bri,” AJ says.
“Bri’s telling him, about us,” I tell them.
“Oh!” Ali giggles. “That’s SO cool!”
“So, we all know now?” asks Kevin.
“Except Howie.”
“He’s on his way over,” says AJ.
“So, what?” Nick asks his best buddy as they walk into a book shop.
“Uh, I’ve kinda got somethin’ to tell ya,” Brian turns to face Nick. “Last night, me and Jade… We uh… I asked her to marry me.”
“You did?!” Nick’s eyes widen. “And?”
“And she said no and we’re not talkin’ anymore… She said yes, you doofus!”
“I’m gonna forget that doofus comment because I’m SO happy for ya bro!” Nick throws his arms around Brian and the two guys hug each other tightly.
“Thanks Frack.”
Nick stands back from Brian and ruffles his hair, “She REALLY makes you happy doesn’t she?”
Brian shrugs simply, “She’s everything.”
“Man…” Nick shakes his head searching for the right words but when they fail him, he pulls Brian close for another big hug. “Wow.” He grins at Brian. “Ok, now I gotta go hug your girl!” He runs out of the shop and over to where the others are sitting. He pulls Jade’s chair back and sweeps her up into his arms.
“Wha-?!”
“Congratulations Jady!”
“Oh hey, thanks!” Jade grins and submits to Nick’s monster hug. After a few seconds, she wriggles her feet which are just off the ground. “Hey Nick, ya can put me down now.”
“Sure!” he puts her down and kisses her head. “This is the BEST!” He races round to where Ali is sitting and wraps his arms around her. “Isn’t it baby?”
“Yeah, big time!”
“Well, I guess he’s happy,” Brian tells Jade wryly as she sits on his lap.
“What made you think that?” she responds with a giggle.
“The general yelling and jumping maybe?”
“Oh THAT. Yeah, it’s kinda a give-away,” Jade wraps her arms around Brian’s neck and grins across the table at Nick.