The glasses clinked, the sun shone bright, and the crisp rosé flowed on Kate Prescott's luxurious back terrace. Down the steps of the Spanish style mansion, the gigantic pool glimmered brightly in the mid-May afternoon. Summer was almost here. The weather would have been perfect for swimming but Kate and her old friend Jennifer Burnett were busy. They hadn't seen each other in a couple of months and desperately needed to catch up.
"How're you holding up?" Kate asked, filling Jennifer's glass nearly to the brim.
"You know, the worst is over. Slowly getting back to normal, whatever that means."
"Yeah? Is Brent finally out of the house? What'd he end up doing?"
"Ah, don't even start with him, Kate!" Jennifer said laughing, with a hint of frustration. "Yeah he moved out about 3 months ago to Florida with his little bimbo secretary. I don't really know or care too much anymore. All I know is that I got the house, our son, and most of his money."
"Well cheers to that girlfriend!" The two women clinked glasses and downed the wine like it was water.
"What about everything else," Kate continued, "How's your job? Been on any dates? You gotta get back out there you know. And looking as good as you do, I bet all the men are salivating at a chance to take you out."
Jennifer smiled tentatively, uncomfortable with her friend's frank praise of her looks. She had felt so unattractive the last year as the divorce had been underway, even though she knew deep down it wasn't true. The gym had been one of her saviors during the worst parts of the divorce, and unlike her ex-husband, she had not put on a single pound of stress-weight. Even though she was 48, almost 49, she had never looked better. 5'7, 125 pounds, her body was fit and taut. Indeed, a disproportionate amount of her weight came from her massive natural breasts that were 32dd's on a good day. She was undoubtedly hot for any woman, let alone a woman of her age, and she knew it. But she just hadn't felt like it recently.
"The job is fine. I've been putting in more hours than usual just because there hasn't been too much else to do. It's been good to get my mind off the divorce and everything, you know? Of course, the Foundation always needs more stuff done, so they've been happy to have me around a little more."
"Jen I really don't give a shit about the Family Foundation," Kate said laughing. "Tell me about the good stuff. I want to hear all about your dating life!"
Jennifer smiled uncomfortably again. She was glad Kate was her friend and she didn't know what she'd do without her. But, Kate could be awfully direct sometimes.
"It's weird. I just joined a dating site and it's pretty awkward. Lots of ugly older guys hitting on me, sending me lewd messages and stuff like that. I just want an actual connection with a good looking guy. Is that too much to ask for?"
"Oh sweetie, yeah it probably is!" Kate laughed.
"Anyways, I went on one date a couple weeks ago. A corporate lawyer. He was very sweet and he was in pretty good shape, but he was bald. It wasn't really going anywhere you know?"
"I'm sorry sweetie," Kate said, grabbing Jennifer's hand and simultaneously refilling her wine glass. "It takes a lot of dates to meet someone! You just have to keep trying."
"I know, but I'm just not really ever in the mood. I don't remember the last time I felt really sexy and confident, or even just really desired."
"Jen, did you look at yourself in the mirror today? I mean, come one. If anyone is not allowed to say that, it's you."
Once again, Jennifer knew her friend was right. She was in a strapless white tube top and her long, dark brown hair fell across her bare shoulders seductively. The tube top was tight and left no mystery as to the size of her breasts. Neither did her dark washed jeans, which put the entire shape of her perfectly formed ass on complete display. This was a compliment Jennifer could finally take some pleasure in.
"Since there are no men in my life, I at least wanted to impress you, Kate." The women roared with laughter and refilled their glasses again.
This time it was Jennifer's turn to change the subject.
"So how's Robby? Did he graduate?"
"Oh, so nice of you to ask. Well, first off, he goes by just 'Rob' now. And yes he did. Highest honors too, would you believe?"
"Of course I believe! He was always one of the smartest kids in school. That's why he got into Dartmouth in the first place. And Rob, huh? What prompted that?"
"I think he thought it sounded a little more grown up. I tend to agree with him."
"It's been years since I've seen him," Jennifer interjected. "I just remember him as Little Robby, who was always so sweet and nice. Will he be back home at all, or is he just jumping right into work? I suspect he'll be back in New York City for a job after all those Wall Street internships, right?"
"It has been a long time since I've seen you, if I haven't told you about this!" Kate exclaimed. "Actually, Rob didn't really want to go to New York. Said he wanted to come home and be closer to his family and friends and actually save up money. So he got a pretty good job locally as an investment analyst down at Western Trust Bank. He started last week but has just been living with us for the time being. He's actually out looking for apartments and condos right now, so I think it'll only be for the next couple of weeks until he can move in someplace."
"Wow, no way! That must be so nice for you and Bill to have him back in the house for a bit and close by. I just wish Andy had his act together as much as Robby, I mean, Rob," Jennifer said with a mock apologetic tone.
"Speaking of kids, has the divorce been hard for Andy?" Kate asked.
"Yes, that's what both he and my therapist claim. They both say that he needs more time and space and eventually he'll figure things out, but honestly, I think he's just lazy. He has been working the counter at Soft Scoop Ice Cream for almost 2 years now. Hasn't even finished his community college degree. Soft Scoop even had an opening for a manager position a few months ago. I bitched and bitched at Andy to apply and after he finally did, they went with an outside hire! He's so unimpressive he couldn't even get a job as the manager of an ice cream shop. More often than not he's just sitting in the basement playing video games. I really don't know what to do, Kate."
Kate felt bad. Their sons had been friends in high school. Both smart, relatively nerdy kids. But Rob had always had lots of ambition and applied to every Ivy League school and worked hard at putting together a good application full of extra-curriculars. Andy, meanwhile, had not, and languished in his mom's basement while Rob went off to Dartmouth and Wall Street. Kate hadn't realized how sore the subject was with her friend and poured her some more wine.
"Maybe it's time for some tough love, then. Give him a moratorium on getting out of the house and finding his own place. Perhaps he needs more of a push than a hug at this point?" Kate suggested as kindly as she could.
"I think you're right, but also, now that Brent has finally moved out, I'd be all alone in that house. It is still nice to have my baby boy around."
"Maybe that's part of the problem too," Kate added, "why don't you sell that house and move into a nice condo downtown. There's more excitement and nightlife and single guys downtown than out here in the suburbs. Maybe it'll force you to do more than come sit on my terrace once every few months!"
Jennifer smiled at the thought. It was actually a pretty compelling idea. She'd hate to live so far away from her friend, but really it was only a twenty minute drive from downtown to the suburbs. 30 minutes with traffic. Quickly the two women began making plans for what they would do if Jennifer invested in a bachelorette pad downtown.
"Think of all the live shows and bands they get down there that never come out here!" Jennifer said.
