All You Need Is Love (3 page)

Julia, after getting over her initial shock, recovered quickly and beamed, giving Angela’s hand an encouraging squeeze. “That’s awesome news, honey. I’m so happy for you.”

Lauren nodded, though her reaction seemed much calmer and far more matter-of-fact than Julia’s had been. “That is good news, Angie. It’s about damned time you admitted you needed help. I’ve been telling you for three years now that you ought to talk to someone about your issues. And I know it’s tough to admit you have a problem, but honestly, seeing a therapist is the only way for you to get past this whole fucked-up mess.”

Angela and Julia both stared at Lauren dumbstruck, until Julia finally shook her head in exasperation.

“No, you idiot. Angie isn’t trying to tell us she’s seeing a therapist. She means she’s seeing a man.”

Julia ducked just in time as Lauren spewed out a mouthful of tequila, then found herself patting her sister on the back as she nearly choked.

When Lauren was finally able to speak, she raised shocked, watery eyes to her best friend. “You’re not shitting us, are you? You’re actually, uh, dating someone?”

Angela glared. “I didn’t realize the news would be quite that shocking. Have I become that pathetic?”

“Of course not,” assured Julia gently. “Lauren’s just surprised, that’s all. And both of us have been so worried about you, Angie. We’ve missed spending time with the real you, not the depressed chick that’s taken up residence in your body.”

Now that the realization had finally sunk in, Lauren was grinning madly and quickly bolted her final tequila shot down. “And it’s about fucking time, too. At times you were so depressing you made
me
want to cry. And you know I never cry, no matter what. Ah, this calls for more shots.”

She signaled for their server, who approached the table somewhat warily. The young woman’s eyes widened in alarm when Lauren placed her order.

“Got all that? Three clean shot glasses, a bowl of lime wedges, a shaker of salt, and a bottle of Patron Platinum.” She gave the server a saucy little wink. “This will save you the trouble of having to keep bringing more shots by. And can you hurry it up, please? My girls and I have some celebrating to do.”

The now thoroughly intimidated server hurried off to fill the order while Julia shook her head in dismay.

“Mom’s right. Why do you have to give everyone shit all the time? You always have to be the badass” she said irritably.

Lauren blew her twin a mocking kiss. “Don’t forget, baby sis, I’ve got this reputation to live up to. You’re looking at the original Queen of Confrontation here. And yes, I know they called Elaine from
Seinfeld
that name but that chick ain’t got nothing on Queen Lauren.”

The server returned with their order in an astonishingly quick amount of time, and seemed very anxious to put as much distance between herself and Lauren as possible. She was, thought Julia darkly, a wise young woman.

Julia had only managed two shots to Angela’s four and Lauren’s six when she asked Angela, “So who’s your new man? Someone from the office?”

Angela gave a little shudder. “God, no. Last time I was stupid enough to date a co-worker I wound up having to change firms.
That
will never happen again. No, he’s, um, actually someone you two know as well. Someone we all went to school with, in fact.”

Lauren frowned, tapping a finger against her lips. “Hmm, the only guy I recall you ever dating back in high school was Rob Guardino. And I thought that was only because your sister kept pushing you two together.”

Angela nodded, grimacing at the recollection. “Well, she is married to Rob’s oldest brother, after all. I guess Marisa thought it would be cute if her baby sister and Joe’s baby brother were a couple, too. Ugh, no way was
that
ever going to happen!”

Julia tactfully didn’t push further on that matter, knowing full well what Angela had had to endure from her mother and two older sisters over the years. “So, spill then. Who’s the lucky guy who finally woke Snow White up from her enchanted slumber?”

Angela gave a short laugh. “God, trust you to make all of this into some sort of twisted fairy tale, Jules. But I guess it’s a good thing that at least one of us isn’t jaded and bitter, huh? And the guy I’ve been seeing – and it’s very casual so far, okay? – is Dwayne Conroy.”

At the mention of
that
name, both Julia and Lauren just stared at their friend, slack-jawed and shocked silent. They continued to stare silently for so long, in fact, that Angela finally had to snap her fingers in front of their faces impatiently.

“Hello? Earth to twinnies?” she asked irritably. “What the hell is wrong with both of you anyway?”

Lauren spoke first. “You don’t really mean who I’m thinking about, do you? The Dwayne Conroy I remember was about seven feet tall, skinny as a toothpick, wore thick glasses and high-waisted jeans – that were also floods, by the way – and kept walking into walls.”

“Dwayne the Dweeb,” clarified Julia. “Oh, honey, seriously? You should have let one of us know you were ready to start dating again. I’m sure we could have found you someone a little less, er, dweeby.”

Angela rolled her eyes at the sisters. “First of all, I never consciously made the decision to start dating again. When I was home for Thanksgiving I went out for a long run because – well, you know. Most any excuse not to stay in that house longer than I have to, not to mention I needed the training miles. And I happened to see Dwayne out for a run, too. We wound up doing almost ten miles together and talking the whole time. And, well, he’s – different now. Not quite so – dweeby. More importantly, he makes me happy.”

“Jesus.” Lauren poured herself another shot of tequila, licked salt off her palm, bolted down the liquor and sucked on a lime. “Define exactly how he’s – different now.”

Angela gave her friend an impatient look. “First, he’s six five, not seven feet. And, well, he’s still slim but definitely not skinny. Glasses are gone, he had Lasik done a few years ago. And he’s a professional athlete now.”

“What kind of athlete?” asked Lauren warily. “No way is that guy a basketball player. He’d be tripping over his own feet and dropping the ball constantly.”

“He’s a high jumper.” At the twins’ blank stares, Angela sighed in frustration. “You know, like in track and field? High jumpers do a run-up and then basically fling their bodies over a bar. Dwayne is really good at it apparently. He was third at the national championships last year, and he’s hoping to make the indoor team for the world championships coming up. In fact, I’m flying to Seattle next weekend to watch him compete in an indoor meet.”

Julia and Lauren kept staring at each other, then at Angela, both in complete disbelief.

“Why didn’t you tell us any of this until now?” asked Lauren. “Christ, I’m your best friend, Angie, have been for almost twenty years. And you know how worried I’ve been about you. “

Angela shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess mostly because it’s all so new and I’m sure as hell out of practice with the whole relationship thing. Especially not what you guys would think of as a normal relationship.”

Julia regarded her dark haired friend with concern. “Are you ever going to be able to talk about it?”

Angela shut her eyes and gave a small shudder. “I don’t know. For such a long time now I’ve buried it away, tried to forget it ever happened. But it’s obviously screwed me up big time.”

“Yeah, no shit,” agreed Lauren sarcastically. “But let’s forget about that douchebag for now. Tell us more about the dweeb – I mean, Dwayne – instead.”

As it turned out, things were still very casual between Angela and Dwayne, especially since he lived full time in Oregon so he could be near his coach and training partners. Evidently Dwayne had honed his high jumping skills while attending college in Texas, and had been good enough to get sponsored by Nike after graduation. Right now he and Angela were mostly keeping in touch via phone calls, emails and texts, and taking turns flying between Portland and San Francisco to spend weekends together whenever possible.

Lauren poured herself another shot, far too many now for Julia to have even thought of keeping track of. But, as usual, her twin didn’t seem even the tiniest bit tipsy. Julia, on the other hand, was starting to feel more than a little dizzy and only hoped she wouldn’t face plant when she got up to leave.

“So, you’re leaving out the most interesting part, Angie,” drawled Lauren. “How is Dweeby – uh, I mean Dwayne – in the sack? Hopefully he’s more coordinated there than he was walking through the halls at school.”

Angela’s long, tapered fingers picked up a discarded lime wedge, raking her nails over the rind. “Jeez, Lauren, you really have no filter whatsoever, do you?” she asked in exasperation. “Jules, does she quiz you about Nathan this way?”

Julia nodded wryly. “Of course she does. Insists on details, too. But I don’t tell her much. Some things are best left to the imagination.”

Lauren hooted. “And it’s not tough to imagine what’s going on in your bed, baby sis. I overheard you and lover boy one day, during one of your multiple times a day make-out sessions when you were home for Christmas. Betcha Mom and Dad wouldn’t think he was such a nice guy if they could hear some of the really filthy stuff he was telling you.”

Julia blushed profusely, grateful that the dim light of the bar masked her flushed cheeks. “You’re just jealous because for once in our lives I’m getting more action than you,” she bragged with a sense of satisfaction.

“And exactly how would you know that?” challenged Lauren. “Just because I’m not in the habit of bringing guys home to meet the parents doesn’t mean I don’t get as much action as I can handle. Besides, I prefer a man of actions not words.”

Julia gasped. “Ooh, that is sooo not true! I’ll have you know that Nathan never makes – ah, promises he doesn’t keep.”

Lauren grinned. “You dirty girl, letting your dirty talking man actually do that stuff to you. Tsk, tsk, Jules, and here I thought
I
was the bad twin. But, hey, enough about you and lover boy. We were trying to find out if Dweeby – damn, sorry, old habits die hard, you know – actually knows which is the right opening in a woman’s body for his, ah, equipment.”

Angela had a disgusted look on her face. “Knock it off, okay? Dwayne’s nothing like he was in high school – unlike some of us at the table he’s actually grown up and matured. Maybe Jules is right – what you really need is for some guy to fuck your brains out. Maybe that will put you in a good mood for once.”

There was silence at the table for long seconds after that, a look of mingled shock and furor on Lauren’s face. Then, abruptly, she fished a credit card out of her bag and motioned the server over with an impatient gesture.

“Let’s get the hell out of here, shall we?” sneered Lauren after settling the bill. “I need some sleep if I’m going to get dragged back to try on more frilly, pansy-asses dresses in the morning.”

But sleep evidently didn’t come easily to Lauren, for when Julia stumbled sleepily out of the bathroom around three a.m., it was to find her sister staring out the window of their hotel room. Lauren was sitting in one of the arm chairs, her feet tucked beneath her, and a tall glass of clear liquid sitting on the table to her right. Julia frowned as she approached.

“You’re still drinking?” she asked in concern. “Dad’s right, I think. You do have a hollow leg.”

Lauren lifted her shoulder slightly. “I do, admittedly. But relax. It’s just water.”

Julia took the other chair and stared out at the well-lit Manhattan skyline along with her twin.

“This is probably what I miss the most about living here,” she said quietly. “The view. Though of course this particular one is far better than what I had in my old apartment.”

Lauren nodded. “That place was the size of a rabbit hutch, Jules. I would have been so claustrophobic living there I wouldn’t have lasted a week.” She flicked a piece of lint off the hem of her pajama bottoms. “Sometimes I wonder how much longer I can handle coming back here every couple of months as it is. New York is definitely not my cup of tea.”

Julia smiled. “Aunt Maddy used to call us her city mouse and her country mouse. Guess that hasn’t changed so much over the years, huh?”

“You got that right. Even now I’d cut off a toe in order to be back home in Big Sur. Everything is just – simpler there.”

Julia was instantly concerned at the note of sadness in her sister’s voice, definitely not a tone she was used to hearing from Lauren. “I thought you loved your job. This is the job you dreamed of having since you were twelve years old.”

Lauren sighed. “I love the job – the travel, the excitement of seeing new places, capturing images to share with the rest of the world. It’s all –”she made an impatient gesture with her slim, graceful hands – “the other bullshit I hate. Like having to stop here en route to and from assignments, and having to sit through monotonous strategy and recap meetings. I hate that crap.”

“Is that because Ben happens to be at all of those meetings?”

Lauren’s head whipped around in reaction at her sister’s quietly spoken words. Her green eyes were giving off dangerous sparks. “Baby sister, I have had nowhere
near
enough to drink tonight to even think of discussing Ben with you. And frankly I’m not sure I ever will. So drop it, okay?”

Lauren stood and padded over to her sister in slim, bare feet. Julia was startled, both at the quick, fierce hug her twin gave her, and the softly spoken words she murmured next.

“It’s enough for me to see you and Angela happy, okay? Not everyone’s life turns out like a fairytale. Now, let’s get some sleep, hmm? It’s the bride’s turn this time to try on dresses, and if I know you that could take most of the day.”

Julia followed Lauren into the bedroom they were sharing and had just slipped back under the covers when Lauren mumbled sleepily, “If I really had to make a choice that mint green Matthew Williamson dress wasn’t too horrible. But I am
not
wearing green shoes to match, okay?”

A grin split Julia’s features as she heard Lauren start to snore, her twin having the uncanny and much envied knack of being able to fall asleep almost on command.