This is my first effort.
Be gentle.
Constructive feedback is always welcome.
If you enjoy, I have many more threads to tease out with these characters.
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Sitting in the car, waiting for the ferry to arrive, Alex realized how excited she was. She'd been looking forward to this weekend for a long time. Brian's kids were finally back with their mother after a long summer vacation, and Alex was very much in need of some adult time.
She and Brian had only been married for a few years, and while she loved her step kids, she had never wanted to be a mom herself. So after many months of sand castles, Italian ices, and funnel cakes, she couldn't be more ready to have one of her best friends join them for a long weekend of wining, dining, and relaxation. Brian was working hard to show his gratitude to her for being such a good sport all summer. He promised her that she and Stephanie wouldn't have to lift a finger all weekend, and that he would make sure that their glasses were never more than half empty. She knew that when Brian promised to be the butler, chauffer, and chef, that she could just relax and enjoy her best friend.
As she saw the ferry pulling around the Vineyard Haven pier, she felt a wave of emotion wash over her. She loved Stephanie and was quietly overcome by how much she had missed her best friend through the whole lockdown. There was a time when the two had been inseparable. They met when they were both babes in the woods in Manhattan in the late 2000s startup scene. They bonded while struggling to keep their heads above water as the bottom fell out of the economy. They shared small apartments with people they barely knew, they bought each other drinks when the other was maxed on their credit cards, they feasted like queens at Gramercy Tavern when their bonuses hit, and they cut a swath through the overgrown frat boys of Murray Hill like a hot knife through butter—learning a ton about sex, love, and broken hearts along the way.
Through triumphs and tribulations, neither of them once thought of going back home to their parents' quiet lives in leafy suburbs where the degree of a woman's success could be measured by the size of the ring her husband gave her. No, they had officially become New Yorkers, and they promised each other that they would always be so. As the years slowly ticked by, they both kept climbing, but never lost touch. While the responsibilities piled on, they'd still meet every other week like clockwork, clearing their calendars for brunch or drinks to catch up. More often than not, they'd end up over-served and half under the table; laughing like the barely-out-of-school girls they'd been when they first became friends. Once Brian was in the picture, it often became his job to come fetch them, piling them into a cab before they got too rowdy. It was up to him to get them back to he and Alex's place downtown and keep their wine glasses full until they were finally ready to call it a night—or a very early morning. The next day he was always there, spatula in one hand and champagne in the other, ready to make omelets and mimosas to chase the cobwebs away.
What a gorgeous nerd, Alex thought as Stephanie made her way down the gangplank to the ferry terminal.
Steph was pulling a Tumi bag behind her like an errant puppy, its little wheels hissing across the grooved surface, while simultaneously trying to keep the Chanel crossbody purse from sawing her boobs in half as it swung around her lithe torso in the late afternoon breeze. Stephanie was generally oblivious to the men who found her absolutely delicious in her super feminine skirts and silky tops. Today was no exception, as a wedge of weekending man-boys in their popped collar polos trailed behind her, eyes glued to her pert bottom as she wrestled her bags down the ramp.
Alex rarely had any extra fucks to give, much less to a group of finance bros ogling her friend's ass without so much as offering a hand to help her with her luggage. She bullied her way into the loading zone and double-parked her obsidian G63 in front of the terminal, quickly hopping out to great her old friend. Alex pulled Stephanie in for a close hug, laughing her throaty laugh as Steph's heels caught a seam in the sidewalk, making her stumble a little.
"Don't worry, I've got you." Smiling as she gave Steph a shoulder squeeze with her left hand while reaching around to grab the handle of the Tumi bag with her right.
Meanwhile, the forward progress of the Vineyard Vines crew stopped entirely, as the blonde bombshell intercepted the little brunette vixen they had so ardently been tracking off the boat. Blocking the entire pathway from the ferry terminal to the parking lot, Alex gave Steph a full up and down inspection, concluding that her friend had pulled herself together for this weekend getaway—makeup, hair, and nails perfectly done. Nothing at all to indicate that she'd just endured a messy breakup with Drew in the MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC.
"You know, it's his fucking loss." Alex said speaking just a little too loudly and peering over the rims of her YSL sunglasses. "Just look at these boys moping behind you. Anyone of them would trade their left testicle for a single night with you."
"What? Who?" Stephanie asked, spinning in a half circle to see the pileup of half-a-dozen twenty-something men who suddenly, desperately tried to look anywhere but at the two beauties impeding foot traffic.
Laughing again, Alex grabbed Steph's hand, hauled her over to the SUV, and bundled her into the passenger seat. Walking around to the Mercedes' liftgate, standing with her hand casually resting on the handle of the suitcase, Alex languidly gazed at nothing in particular while simultaneously inviting-yet-daring one of the men to come forward and lift it into the back for her. After a beat, a tall man shouldered his way through the gaggle of Wall Street's goofiest and stepped forward.
"Can I help you with that?" he asked, already reaching for the handle, his long mocha fingers brushing against her hand.
"Finally. A gentleman who knows what a woman needs," said Alex, half to him and half to the dispersing group of men who were, again, looking furtively away, cursing themselves for what they perceived to be a missed opportunity.
Alex stepped back to let this tall dark stranger hoist the bag into the back of her SUV, admiring the width of his shoulders and the taper of his waist as he did so. When he turned, she quickly stepped forward and offered her right hand.
"I'm Alex Davies," she said. "Thanks for your help."
"No problem at all, Alex Davies. I'm Laurence Douglas and it is a pleasure to meet you."
"Well, Laurence. I need to get my friend back to the house. Maybe we will see you around the island," said Alex, slowly letting go of Laurence's strong, warm hand.
"Maybe you will," he responded, pulling a card out of his breast pocket and handing it to her. "Come by my restaurant sometime—it's down island in Oak Bluffs. We opened right before the season started and pandemic sort of spoiled our big reveal. We made up for it, though, as the summer got going. We are planning a local's summer theme over the next several weekends while the weather is still good, but the main crowds are gone. I assume you're a local?"
"I can't really call myself a local," Alex demurred, "but we do have a place in Edgartown that we spend as much time at as we can."
