Troublemaker

“So when is the date?” Meaghan asked as she handed a customer change.

“Tonight at eight. Do you know what you’re wearing?” Jo told her sister for the hundredth time. Meaghan looked down at her work attire and signaled that this was okay.

“Oh hell no.” Zoe said aloud, looking at her friend like she had committed a crime.

“Why? I’m comfortable and…what does matter? It’s Nick’s brother so I’m sure he’s like…drop dead gorgeous, so he’s not going to like me.” Meaghan complained. Jo and Zoe just rolled their eyes at their sister and friend.

“We’re coming over after work and helping you, no complaints, so says the older sister.” Jo pointed at her sister and gave her squinted eyes. Meaghan sighed and rolled her eyes.

Work went by quickly after the small rush at lunch time and they made it home with three hours to spare before the date was to begin. They all went to Meaghan’s apartment. It was close to Fort Gordon and since it was almost five, the gates were busy, making the streets busier. They eventually made it through, though, and found themselves in her home.

Zoe was shocked at the state of the apartment, the dirty clothes and dishes were piled higher than a New York trash heap. The dog and cat odor was more than Zoe could handle, but she took it in stride to help a friend.

“Oh no…I can’t deal with this.” Zoe said, looking at her surroundings.

“What’s wrong?” Meaghan asked her friend.

“Jo, you help her get ready, I’m going to clean.” Zoe went to the cupboard under the sink and found everything she would need.

It took almost the entire time she had to clean the place, but she did get it as spotless as hoped. The smell wasn’t as bad and she prayed Joe wouldn’t think less of her friend if they ended up back here.

When she turned around from putting up the last dish, Meaghan immerged from the bathroom. She was in a simple black dress with leopard print heels. The signature red hair that her and her sister dyed their hair had been curled and pinned back with a black flower.

She swatted at her dog to get off of her as she stood in the small kitchen, asking Zoe with her eyes if she looked ridiculous.

“You look absolutely stunning.” Zoe told her friend.

“Thanks.” Meaghan, being the shy one, blushed and fiddled with a strand of hair. Jo wasn’t so subtle.

“Hell yeah she looks good. That’s Jo work right there.” Jo just smiled and then giggled. “What are you guys going to be doing?”

“He wants to go to this really nice Caribbean place, it has dancing, so I don’t know how long these heels are going to last.” Meaghan looked at her feet and wanted to weep at the pain that would surely come from the stilettos.

“You’ll be fine.” Zoe hugged her friend, thinking she needed it in that moment.

“My apartment looks awesome, thank you.” Meaghan said to her friend during their embrace. As they all walked out, Jo mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Zoe and she knew she had done good.

Zoe’s next destination was to her own home, where her and Jo would have fun drinking, just the two of them. It had been so long since something like that happened, they were both excited for the prospect of getting stupid.

They chatted while mixing their fruit drinks and then took their spots on the deck. Zoe plugged in her iPod to a stereo and put on a smoother, slower mix for them to talk to.

“So how’s everything with Nick?” Jo asked in her fake southern voice. She loved doing this voice around Zoe because she knew it got to Zoe.

“It’s alright. His brothers saw me in just a blanket when they arrived the other day.” Zoe took a long sip from her drink.

“That must have been fun.” Jo smiled as she took a drink, then lighting a cigarette.

“How’s the boys?”

“No no, my life is boring, we’re going to talk about you and Nick. Here’s a summary, my boys are heathens, Josh is a lazy nub, and I’m done.”

Zoe giggled at her best friend, “Well, Joe did let me in on more about his past and why. Turns out he had a weird ass fiancé and he said that Nick’s entire family was shocked that he gave me a promise ring.”

“Really!” Jo made more of a statement and this made Zoe giggle somewhat.

“Yeah, supposedly they never thought Nick would be into another female enough to give them even the time of day. Joe told me the whole reason why he moved down here is because of his heartbreak.”

“Fuck some bitches.” Jo stated and took another sip of her drink and drag off of her cigarette. Zoe lighted a cigarette with Jo and the rest of their night went was pretty uneventful. Nick send text messages here and there, but Zoe was preoccupied with a friend she hadn’t spent any time with in a long time.

When she went to bed that night, in a drunken stupor, she actually thought more about the ring. She held her hand up in the sky and stared a the beautiful token of affection.

She thought about what her life might be like being married to someone like Nick. She pictured fun days around camp fires, big family get togethers, and happy times. When she thought about Nick’s mom, the bile that used to rise in her throat didn’t come as quickly this time and she wondered if maybe she’s getting over the first blow of meeting her future husband’s mother.

Then it really hit her. This ring means he wants to spend the rest of his life with her in the not so distant future. How much longer before an engagement ring is placed on her finger? A month? Two months?

She shuttered at the thought of moving so fast. She’s still so young.

What if he wants kids? Can she have kids? What if she has twins? All these thoughts raced through her mind, making sleep a more difficult task than should be after drinking all evening.

Her mind finally let her rest on the thought that everything comes in time and she just needs to take one day at a time.

Her next day was rough, but she was going to lunch with Jo and Meaghan after her shift ended and she was excited to hear more about Meaghan’s date with Joe.

As she was getting her things ready to finish her shift, she received a text message questioning Meaghan’s presence in his home. Zoe just giggled and sent back a smile with a tongue sticking out.

At the large Chinese restaurant she found her friends, already chewing on the buffet fare, so she got herself a plate before sitting down with them. A small, gorgeous Asian waitress got her drink order and was on her way.

“So, I have to know.” Zoe was smiling from ear to ear, knowing something Jo didn’t know about Meaghan being at Nick’s house this morning. She kept her secret well behind a cheesy grin.

“Well, he is quite the gentleman. He held the doors for me and everything. I have never been on a date that made me feel like I was on a bad episode of Happy Days, except the diner was a Caribbean dance hall with food.”

“That can put a twist on things.” Jo laughed and snorted at her joke.

“Well, we danced, and laughed, then danced some more. He’s just so nice.”

“How nice?” Zoe couldn’t help herself, the smile was making her cheeks hurt and she wanted to know the juicy details.

“What did Nick tell you? You’re terrible at hiding secrets.” Meaghan looked at her friend with a serious face.

“Oh, he was just wondering earlier why you were leaving his house in such a hurry.” Zoe pushed the finished plate to the side and tucked her fists under her chin.

“Okay, so maybe I spent the night with him, okay?” After Meaghan’s remark, Jo and Zoe shook hands.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” Jo said and Zoe nodded. Zoe knew this was the plan all along, to get both of them laid, now if only the feelings could stick because she would love to see her friend be happy.

“I hate you guys.” Meaghan’s face turned six shades of red and she delved into the Chinese fair deeper.

“How did it happen?” Jo asked her sister.

“Well, we were dancing, and things got pretty hot and heavy on the dance floor, so we left for Nick’s place. He said he knew all of them would be in bed so it would be easy to sneak in, unseen. We made it to his room with no eyes on us and we…did some things for a long time before finally falling asleep, that’s all.” Meaghan’s face turned an even darker crimson. She was not used to people always wanting to know these things, but she knew Zoe and Jo wouldn’t stop till she told it all.

“So was he good? He better be, he’s one scrumptious biscuit, let me tell you.” Jo said waving her fork around, the sesame chicken becoming a casualty in violence to poultry in motion.

“Oh my GOD was he good?! He was AMAZING!” The sister and friend to Meaghan had to quiet her down while everyone in the restaurant wondered what she was on. “We’re going out again tomorrow night, he’s wanting to get in as much time as possible before he has to go back home.” All the girls sighed at the thought of Meaghan being alone again. “He did tell me something interesting, though. He said Kevin has been moping around ever since they got here talking about how his wife can’t cook, his wife can’t do anything right, blah blah blah. Joe said he thinks it’s because of you.”

“Me?!” Zoe almost choked on the bite of rice she had just taken.

“Yeah, you’re about to have catty bitch troubles from Kevin’s wife if he doesn’t stop calling her and saying ‘Zoe can do it, why can’t you?’” All the girls laughed at this because Zoe knew how miserable Kevin was with his wife, but Jo and Meaghan laughed in the jovial thoughts of getting to watch Zoe beat someone up.

“I honestly don’t know what I’ve done to impress him so.” Zoe shrugged and looked into her plate like it had all the answers to life because she was embarrassed by all of this.

“Joe told me that she’s just a lazy cuss and wants everything done for her. Kevin spent almost 10,000 dollars last month on a chef to come to their home. Joe also told me that if something needs to be cleaned, she’ll call her mother to come clean it and her mother does it with no questions.” Meaghan said this all like it was no big deal, but Zoe was infuriated.

“Damn I hate bitches.” Jo interjected, speaking what Zoe was thinking.

“Me too, homie. Me too.” Zoe sighed heavily. Bitches she hated indeed.