Monday, December 13, 2004

Ch.5a: A Fast Friendship

The Fourth of July dawned warm and muggy. Cassie whiled away the morning alternating between the ocean and the condo’s swimming pool, while Maggie fit in a workout. Brad emerged from his laptop in mid-afternoon, and all three took a cab to South Beach, where festivities were underway. Cassie felt like Ashley Olsen on her way to meet Mary-Kate for a tropical adventure. They would dance on the beach, and maybe solve a mystery if one presented itself.

Brad insisted that Cassie stay with him and Maggie until they found Brittany, and he carefully selected a central location for the three of them to meet if they accidentally got separated. Cassie sighed wistfully. Ashley’s parents would have said, “We trust you,” and sent her on her way with a credit card. Sometimes real life could be so unfair.

Luckily, they barely had time to drink their iced herbal teas, and Brad was still standing in line for beer, when Brittany appeared. “Cassie! It’s so lovely to see you! You look amazing! Hi Maggie! I want to show Cassie something. Can we go? Mom’s around here someplace; she said she’d come find you later.”

“Okay, you girls go off and have a good time, but remember, Cassie has to be under that awning at 10:00 sharp.”

“Okay, Maggie,” said Cassie, and she allowed Brittany to tow her away by the wrist. “Where are we going, Brittany? It’s good to see you too!” Cassie basked in Brittany’s warm affection; Brittany had so much self confidence and elegance.

“I’m going, like, as far away from parents as I can get! This place is full of hotties, and you and I are a couple of gorgeous babes who, like, need to be seen!”

They were headed straight for the beach. Cassie noticed heads turn, but she did not fool herself into believing those guys were looking at her. Brittany gave her a little hug. “Oh, Cassie, it’s so much fun to be here with a girlfriend! What would I do without you? I’d be so bored! So what did you do all day?”

“Me? I went swimming. It really wasn’t that exciting, but I had a good time. The beach is so beautiful!”

“Yeah, like, we had our photo shoot on the beach this morning. The men were so... wet... not the photographers, the models.” Brittany giggled.

Soon a few men started filtering over to talk with Brittany, and she engaged them in lively conversation. The group of them strolled along the beach until Brittany abruptly shrieked, “Oh my god! We have to be somewhere! Thanks, guys, but we’ve gotta go!” She grabbed Cassie’s wrist and jogged back up the beach. “Cassie, there’s somebody you just have to meet! You’re going to be so surprised!”

Cassie, who had been ever so slightly disgruntled over being completely ignored for the past hour, was instantly mollified. “But what about the people you just met?”

“Who? Oh, you mean those guys just now? No, we’re going to meet some much better ones. Besides, most of those guys were just not my temperature. Or yours!” Cassie felt a warm glow at being included. She wondered what her temperature was.

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