This Is How You Remind Me

"Alright, let's go. There are no guys here, let's just kind of go…have a girl's night out," Adrienne smiled.

"Sure, I'm up for it," I smiled.
I needed to get out and see what's new around the area.

"Okay, we'll leave in ten minutes. I just need to go make sure everything's locked up and fix some things before we head out."

"Alright, sounds good," I smiled. I was really starting to feel very comfortable with this family, even after only being here for a few days.
Although, I wasn't going to say that I didn't miss Izzie, Beth, and Lorraine, but this was an easy place to feel at home.

I ran upstairs quickly and chucked my water bottle into my suitcase that was in the spare room and grabbed some cash out of it at the same time. I closed the door behind me as I left, jumping when I saw Adrienne almost right behind me. "Okay, I'm ready to go."

"Me too," she told me with a smile, the keys circling around her finger, jingling as they did so.
"So, where do you want to go?" she questioned once we were in her car. "I don't care where we go. I'll let you pick."

"Um…" I started. "I'm not really sure? I don't know what's around here…"

"Oh yeah, that's right!" she laughed. "Sorry, I forgot. Um, there's a movie theater, a nail salon, a Starbucks, a mall, an arcade, and a lot else that I'm pretty sure we could check out…"

"I'm okay if we just go to Starbucks," I told her. I knew that I didn't have too much cash on me, and I wasn't sure how expensive other things were. Plus, window shopping isn't exactly the most fun if you can't go back to buy it later.

"Oh honey, I'm paying," she paused, holding up a credit card, "or rather, Billie's paying. Please, pick somewhere more fun than just sitting in a coffee shop. I need to get away from all of those toys and messes at home, so we need to be gone for at least a good two hours."

"Okay, well in that case," I said, hesitating, hating to spend other's money. "Um, maybe we could go and get our nails done?"

"Sounds like a plan," she smiled. "See, this is why I'm glad I have a daughter now. I can't do this stuff with Joey, Jake, or Billie," she smiled over at me. "I'm glad you're part of our family, Carmella."

"Thanks," I smiled. "I'm happy to be part of your family."

"I hope you like it at home so far. I think it will probably be better once we finish your room and you can unpack and have your own little, for lack of a better word, safe haven to go to," she laughed slightly.

"I definitely like it here so far," I told her, shooting her a genuine smile.

"I'm glad to hear that. So, I don't know about you, but I'm thinking I'm going to be a manicure and a pedicure," and that's how I knew that we had officially arrived at the nail salon. Well, that and the big sign and the suffocating stench of nail polish.

"I'm thinking that sounds really good right now," I told her, thinking about how it would be nice to sit on my butt and relax, talking with Adrienne as some lady worked on my hands and feet.

After telling the lady at the counter what we were planning the treatment that we were planning on buying ourselves, she asked us to wait to be helped.

About fifteen minutes later, when someone came over and called the two of us, we were sitting in big, comfortable chairs, our feet soaking in some warm water while two women were working on our feet, scrubbing at them furiously while talking to each other.

"So, after this, where would you like to go?" Adrienne asked. "I, personally, was thinking about taking your idea and running to Starbucks for some coffee and then where to?"

"I think that sounds really good," I agreed, shooting her a warm smile. "I don't know. Um, maybe the mall?"

"That would definitely work," she concurred with a shake of her head. "I really need a new swimsuit. Our pool should be clean by tonight…"

"Pool?" I asked in disbelief.

"You haven't looked in the backyard?" At this, I shook my head in the negative. "Well, yeah, we have an underground pool. I never had one as a kid because my mom was always asking me who would cover it up during winter, take care of it and the costs during summer, etcetera. So, since I didn't have one, I wanted my kids to."

"But…it doesn’t get cold here in the winter. Why would you have to cover it up?" I asked, completely confused.

"Oh honey, I didn't grow up here," she smiled at me. "I was born and raised in Minnesota. And believe me, it gets cold up there."

By this point, they had moved us from the pedicure station to the manicure tables. Both of us had our toes completed and we currently had them sitting inside some kind of moveable heater or dryer as two women were working on our cuticles.

"Tell me what that was like!" I asked her. Well, rather told her. "I heard it snows a lot up there. I can honestly say that I've never seen snow, in person, a day in my life."

"Do you want to know about all year round? Or just winter?" Adrienne asked me as the woman started giving her nails a base coat of clear polish.

"All year round. Does it get as hot up there as it does here in Cali?" I asked her as the woman started painting my nails solid white.

"Sometimes. But mainly in the end of June until the end of August. That's pretty much it. Besides that, in fall. It's pretty cool, usually 30, 40, 50 degrees. Somethin like that. Maybe slightly cooler. By the time Halloween rolls around, we have a good chance of snow. I remember one Halloween, quite a few years ago, we had so much snow that there were only a few babies with their parents coming around at five o'clock for trick or treating so it wasn't so cold and they could get around the snow. In November, it starts getting pretty cold. Granted, it's still fall, but some people consider November a winter month because we get so much snow some years. December, January, February, and March, sometimes April, we get snow pretty regularly. April and May are our rainy months, and then we're back to sunshine, heat, and humidity. It's not as bad as people seem to think it is," Adrienne recalled, laughing slightly.

Her laugh was highly contagious. No matter how loud- or quiet- she laughed, everyone around her laughed as well. It was kind of calming.

"So, what do you say we head on down to Starbucks?" she asked as soon as our nails were done and she had- against my will- paid for both of our nails, claiming that Billie owed her.

Looking down at my flip-flop clad feet, I decided that I was really happy with the red that covered my nails. Then, looking up slightly at my fingernails, I was really happy with the French manicure look, except they were white with black tips.

"Sure, let's go," I responded with a smile, thinking about seeing Green Eyes once more.

As if she read my mind, once we were driving away from the salon, she asked me, "So, do you think you'll see that boy again?"

I laughed, blushing slightly, "I doubt it."

"Why is that?" she asked me sincerely.

"Because he was working yesterday, but it was way earlier," I spoke logically.

Once we got inside Starbucks, I felt Adrienne jab my side with her elbow. I looked up at her and saw her nod her head towards none other than Green Eyes himself.

The place was completely empty except for the couple that seemed to be in their twenties, sitting at a table together, completely enthralled with each other, and that college student in the corner, typing away on his computer.

"Will you get some coffee for me, as well?" Adrienne asked from behind me, making me turn around as she pulled her wallet from her purse to hand me a twenty. "Just a plain, large, coffee."

"Sure," I answered wearily, wondering where she was heading.

"I have to go and call Billie to ask him a few things, and then I was just going to run across the street to Toys R Us to pick up a few things for the boys. I should be back in about five minutes or so."

I was about to answer when I heard from behind me, "Can I help you?"

I spun back around to face the counter and noticed Green Eyes leaning on the counter slightly.

"Quite possibly. Your name would be a good starter," I wasn't sure where the burst of confidence had come from.

"Hey! Carmella, right?" he smiled at me when I nodded. "But, see, I can't give you my name unless you order something. It's sort of…company rules."
Even when I glanced down, I saw his name tag was blank. He must have had to take an extra one.

"You are a horrible liar," I laughed as I stepped up to the counter once Adrienne was outside, talking on her cell phone right outside the door.

"Ouch," Green Eyes spoke, a hand over his chest. "Why would you say such a thing?"

"Because that is such a blatant lie, it's not even funny," I laughed at him.

"Okay, fine," he sighed, "It may not be company rules, but they're my rules."

"Well in that case, I guess I'll just have to order, won't I?" I laughed as he nodded. "Alright, um, well, I'll have a venti black coffee, and a… venti white chocolate peppermint mocha."

"You like those, huh?" he smiled at me, his bright whites shining, even though the dim lighting of Starbucks.

"What if I do? I don't think you're supposed to make fun of the customers," I chided him in a jokingly condescending tone. "And, as I recall, you said you were going to give me your name right after I ordered something. Well, I ordered two things, so now, I believe you at least owe me your name."

With his back to me, as he got busy making our drinks, I heard him mutter, "asdijaliej."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I asked again, a smirk on my face.

"I said," he sighed, setting Adrienne's order on the counter in front of me as he looked up at me. His eyes were shining bright as ever, "My name is Derek."

"See, now was that so hard?" I smirked.

"Maybe it was, but a word to the wise: I don't think that you should ever mock the people that deal with your food," he paused as he was putting the finishing touches on my drink, "or in this case, your drinks."

"Maybe I'll take that advice in the future," I smiled at him. "But for now, I think I'll just take this from you. Thank you."

I stole the drink off of the round counter top and blew on it slightly.
Sitting down at a table, I started tapping a random beat, waiting for Adrienne to return.

"What're you doing?" Derek asked from behind scaring the shit out of me as I took a sip from my cup.

"I have to wait for someone," I smiled as I looked up into his green eyes, watching him swish his brown hair out of them.

"Mind if I take a seat?" he asked with a smile, his pearly whites shining from behind his full lips.

"Only if your boss will," I answered him.

"I'm on break for the next fifteen minutes. I told her that, as well," he informed me while pulling out the chair from across the table.

"So, besides the fact that you drink those like crazy, I know nothing about you," Derek prodded. "Care to share?"