My name is Candy, I am a 42-year-old corporate attorney, happily married for 20 years and the mother of a bright young man in his second year of college. I lay hear dumbfounded, naked in the arms of my lifelong friend Tina. How this happened, I have no idea... There was no alcohol or drugs involved, but my world turned upside down last night.
Tina and I have been best friends forever, literally. We grew up neighbors in Del City (OKC). We were born in OKC during the oil boom in 1976. Our fathers worked as machinists making drilling equipment. At that time, they had all the work they could ever want. They provided a comfortable living for our families in a modest neighborhood.
I was the oldest of 4 kids, 3 younger brothers and Tina was the youngest of 3, two older brothers. Her brothers were 7 and 5 years older and my parents were like clockwork, having a child every 2 years, all within the same 4-month window. They seemed to enjoy the Oklahoma winters as we were all born in the August through November window.
By the time we were 10years old the bottom had fallen out of the oil economy and times got hard. Our fathers did anything they could to bring home a pay check, including spending nearly 2 years in Saudi Arabia as Drillers and tool pushers as the Saudi's were short experienced workers. They were good friends despite a 10-year age difference and made the decision that the pay was so lucrative they could not pass it up.
When they left, her father was working in a Safeway grocery store, before they became Homeland and my dad was driving a truck to make ends meet. They had the opportunity to make more in a year than they could in 5 years and took the trip together.
During that time Tina and I were inseparable and formed a bond that will never be broken. We were together constantly. Our moms were incredibly strong and worked together to keep all the kids' lives as normal as possible.
Tina and I played soccer whenever possible and still to this day play in an adult coed rec league. It keeps us in shape and thanks to only having brothers, we can mix it up with the men without hesitation. My husband Andy (We get lots of Candy and Andy remarks) and Tina's husband Don, do not like soccer so Tina and I have a little fun bumping up against the men during the game. It gives us an advantage as we can use our feminine, charms to distract them or get them to take it easy on us and blow by and score.
She met her husband in High School. He played football and came from a well to do family. That was a deadly combination and she fell early and hard for him. Unfortunately, he did not share his parents drive and ambition. So, he is a 42-year-old auto mechanic whose goal in life is to work as little as possible, watch sports, drink beer and go to the gym.
That last ambition has paid off. He is nice to look at, with great abs a firm ass and apparently, he has other physical attributes that she really enjoys!
He and my husband are opposites but tolerate one another for our sake. My husband is driven, ambitious, and like me, worked himself through college and has become V.P. of Operation for a large manufacturing company. My Andy, and Don get together a couple times a month and watch sports together, but beyond that, they are not very close.
Tina and I are very different, but it works for our friendship. Our financial struggles growing up affected us very differently. I was driven to get up and get out of the old neighborhood and make sure my family never had to worry. She wanted to stay involved and help those in the struggle.
It probably did not hurt that I loved learning and did exceptionally well in school. I graduated high school early and finished undergrad in 3 years, law school in 3 more. (Despite having a child my 3rd year of law school. Luckily, he was born in July!) Both Degrees from OU. I went on to make full partner in my law firm by the age of 33.
Tina did OK in high school and went on to OCCC to study sociology for and associate degree and works for The Department of Human Services. She makes little money but likes making a difference for those in need. About 10 years ago, she became licensed in massage therapy and put a little massage room in an empty bedroom of their house. She has a steady schedule evenings and Saturdays.
The funny thing is, though we have referred several friends and colleagues to her Andy and I have never had a massage from her. She would not accept money and we never wanted to take advantage of the limited, time she had to earn extra money outside her full-time job.
Because of our differences, we rarely do things together as couples. We tried a joint vacation 19 years ago when I graduated law school. It was a disaster and ever since Tina and I have a taken a "Lady's Week" vacation every year. It really has been a great help in our marriages. We have a week to shop, beach, or whatever we want. No husbands, no work and, in my case, no kid. We come back refreshed and destressed and to our husbands' pleasure, ready for a stiff cock.
Because of Tina's financial situation, I usually planned and paid for our excursions, giving her a great vacation experience and me the pleasure of giving back to such a dear friend. She was never comfortable planning for the vacation, because she felt like she would be taking advantage of me. With my planning it, she could be at ease, knowing I was aware and approved of the price tag associated with our activities. In the end, she truly understood, it was a gift to me to be able to help.
Her hubby on the other hand would never allow us to pay for anything. His pride would not permit it. Andy and I joked, if Don's drive was as big as his pride, he and Tina would be much better off.
This year seemed particularly stressful for me. The firm has been struggling a bit for billings and there was pressure to not take vacations. I told Tina I thought we would need to take a rain check this year due to my issues at work, and that I could not afford the time with all that was going on.
"I can pay for myself this year C!" she said emphatically.
"No, it's not that at all. It's the time away from work. They really want all of us to stay focused on increasing billings. We need all hands-on deck..."
"You know how we both return from this week, revitalized and refreshed. Sometimes you need to take a deep cleansing breath and relax before attacking a problem. The vacation will do more to increase your productivity than continuing to over stress yourself.
I will plan everything from start to finish. You just show up and let me take charge. I promise you, you will return a new person, ready to kick ass at the firm," she said more excited than I had seen her in some time.
She gave me the push I needed. "OK, I like what you're saying. I show up, no need to think or stress, just follow instructions and relax."
"Great!" She said, jumping up and down. "This will be the best vacation yet!"
"OK, but I pay!" I said reaching out to shake on it.
"Deal!" She said shaking my hand emphatically.
We still had a couple months until the vacation at that point. If things got worse, I could always back out. It did give me an energy boost, knowing I did not have to spend mental energy preparing, and still would get a break from the firm. I managed to land two new clients that gave the firm some financial relief. I'm not sure it really helped with the stress, since I felt like I should stay, and hand hold them. I remembered Tina's advice, that sometimes a deep breath and a refresh is the best way to be productive.
So, I really was flying blind for the vacation. All I had was a plane ticket to San Diego. I had no idea what the plan was.
Tina took care of everything. We arrived at our destination late Friday about 10 PM, San Diego time. In the airport we saw a shop with beach gear and decided to go a little crazy with matching yellow string bikinis. We both looked great from playing soccer and hitting the gym. We decided to flaunt it this week. The cab dropped us at the resort Hotel on the beach. We checked in, ordered Margaritas at the bar and took a walk on the beach, in the moonlight.
