It Was Easier Not Loving You

Niki pulled up in the Armstrong driveway, jumped out of the car, and jogged up to the door.

"Howdy, ho!" she hollered through the house. "Who is ready to go shopping?!"

"What the fuck? What are you doing screaming this early in the morning?" Billie asked rubbing his forehead. "Tre has rubbed off on you way too much."

"Adrienne and I are going to the mall and we wanted an early start. And it's 11:00, mister. It's not that early."

Billie narrowed his eyes and grumbled. "Yeah, well-"

Adrienne cut him off by cupping his mouth from behind. "He didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Jakob was sick with a nasty stomach bug and I was already asleep." She winked.

Billie pulled her hand away from his mouth and snapped, "I'll have you know that after 16 years of marriage I can tell when you're faking anything."

"Except-"

"Except PMS. That's man's worst enemy. I'm going back to bed."

Adrienne grinned and Niki giggled.

"He's so cute when he's upset," Niki joked. "So, you ready to hit the road, chick?"

"Yes, ma'am. Just let me grab my jacket."

Adie gathered up her belongings and they walked out the door to the car.

The ride there was filled with music blasting and constant conversation about their men.

"And when I looked up I see Brittney there! He didn't bother telling me he found someone else, he just decided to play with me pretty much."

"I feel bad for not telling you, now. I thought he told you when he went over there."

"He was going to but I guess he decided that it wasn't good enough to demand to tell me. But I have a better man in my life. He can have her."

"Atta' girl," Adie smiled.

Niki slowly halted at a stop light next to a little orange car full of teenage boys. She stared at the light as the driver started revving up his engine.

"He is Not revving his engine, Adie. I know he isn't."

He revved up again and Niki looked over and the guys in the back were laughing and cutting up while the driver was looking over the passenger to see her reaction. Niki turned back to the light and placed her elbow on the door panel, curled her fingers in and rested her jaw on all but her middle finger. She didn't look at them again to see their reaction, but the kid taking off immediately was all she needed to see. She pulled away from the light and sped up gradually. They began to turn into the turning lane to the left then she cut them off as they crossed the line.

Adrienne burst out laughing. "Nice one."

"Thanks, I learned that one from my uncle, only it was an even better situation because he drives a race car at a local speedway in Kentucky. I didn't witness it but he told me about it. It was pretty much the same situation."

Adie gasped, "Ooh, I love this song!"

She cranked up the stereo and began bouncing her shoulders in the passenger's seat. Niki started laughing at her almost stationary dancing.

They finally pulled into the mall parking lot and began searching for a spot to park.

"Shit, this place is packed! Stupid school shoppers," Niki cursed.

"Oh, I need to take the kids out when Jake gets better. They'll be starting school pretty soon too." She paused. "Oh! There's one! Next to the Mazda!" she pointed.

Niki claimed the parking spot and triumphantly climbed out of the car.

"Oh yeah, five spots away from the door. Thanks, Hawk Girl."

Adie giggled, "No problem."

They made their way in to the mall and immediately found themselves in JC Penny. They scavenged through the clothes and found a few clothes to try on. Niki picked through the shirts and found three button-downs. One blue with rolled up sleeves and pockets on the chest, the second was red short sleeved, and the third was an identical dark blue short sleeved.

She spotted a section of jeans and ran over to pick her way through them as well. She found a pair of stone washed pants and a dark pair of pants with faint stone wash on them. She picked up multiple other pairs and slung them over her forearm and carried them to the dressing room along with her three shirts.

"Adrienne, come and be my judge here!" Niki called through the racks.

"Alright, just a minute. I'm trying to decipher which pair of shorts I like better."

Niki walked through the clothes and found Adrienne holding up two pair of shorts, one bermuda and the other were capris. The bermudas were black and the capris were denim and rolled up at the bottom.

"Why not just get them both?" Niki asked.

"Well, I don't really want to buy more clothes that I don't need."

"When I'm in this situation I ask myself, 'Which ones do I like better?' or 'Which ones will I wear the shit out of?'"

Adrienne nodded. "Well, I'd have to go with these then," she said as she held up the black shorts.

"Alright, lets go try on these clothes."

They both tried on all the clothes they picked out and Niki ended up only getting two pairs of pants. The others didn't fit how she liked or weren't in her preferred price range. The shirts fit fine. Adrienne also came out with her black shorts and a little purple blouse.

They paid for their clothes and continued through the mall. They did mainly window shopping but also found a couple of other things to buy. In one store Niki found a little black halter top cocktail dress.

"I normally don't wear dresses but I just couldn't pass up this one. Not only was it on sale but it's so cute!" Niki smiled.

"No joke, I loved it on you."

They stopped in the food court and ate lunch before making their last stop.

"Niki, what about these? These black boots look pretty nice. You should try them on."

Niki poked her head over a rack of shoes and saw the pair Adrienne was holding up. They were combat boots with three buckles up the side. She nodded. "Sure, I'll take a look."

She found her size on the rack next to Adrienne and sat down in the nearest seat. She kicked off her tennis shoe and put on the boot.

"Hm, looks pretty nice. I think I might take them. But what would I wear them with?"

"They look fine with jeans. Maybe even some skirts or something if you want that look every so often."

"Yeah, I could wear them with the jeans I bought earlier."

She put her shoe back on, placed the boot back in the box, and pranced up to the counter while Adrienne finished up her shoe shopping.

"I've decided on these pumps and I was going to get those Nikes but they were kind of outrageous. I'm not paying 120 dollars for a pair of shoes I'm going to exercise in."

Niki chuckled. "No kidding. I usually don't pay more than 60. These boots are almost pushing the price."

They checked out their shoes and headed back out to the car.

"Well, I'd say this was a very nice day out. Thanks for coming along," Adrienne said.

"No problem, I had a lot of fun today."

They stuffed their bags into the back seat, climbed in the car, and cranked up the air conditioner. They pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to the house.