The Best of Everything (2 page)

“Honey, you know I understand, and there’s no need to explain. You have a husband now that you need to spend time with, and even though we’re only ninety miles away from you, that’s still a pretty good ways to drive on a regular basis.”

“I know, Mom, but I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, but your husband comes first, and you should never forget that.”

“I know.”

“So, what have you been doing this morning?”

“Oh my goodness, Mom, I bought this amazing yellow jacket. It’s dark like mustard.”

“This early? Did one of the stores have a thirteen-hour sale or something?”

“No, I ordered it from HSN.”

“The Home Shopping Network?”

“Yep.”

“Alicia,” her mother said, sounding disappointed.

“What, Mom?”

“I know you’re grown and that we’ve talked about this before, but honey, you really need to cut back on some of your spending.”

“Why?”

“Because you know Phillip isn’t happy about it.”

Alicia loved her mother with all her soul, but she didn’t like any of what she was saying. It was true that they had had this conversation before, but Alicia was getting a little sick of everyone, specifically her mother and Phillip, making such a big deal about nothing. She was sick of people telling her what she should and shouldn’t do, and she wasn’t sure how much more of it she could take.

“Mom, everything is fine. Things are not as bad as you think. Believe me.”

“Maybe it’s time you considered finding a job. Even if it’s only part-time.”

“But if I do that, I won’t have time to work on my novel.”

“Of course you will. You can write before you go to work or after you get home. I’m sure other writers do that all the time.”

“Maybe.”

“You really should, and just a few weeks ago, your dad was telling me that he wants you to come work at the church. He said something about a public relations position, so has he talked to you about it yet?”

It still amazed Alicia that even though she was twenty-two, her parents still discussed her life like she was a child. They were divorced, but they always seemed to stay in contact so they could talk about her and what she was doing.

“Yes, he mentioned it but I told him I’d think about it.”

“Well, I think you should take him up on it. You’d be good at promoting the church to the public, and it will be a good way for you to start building your résumé.”

“I’ll talk to him again,” Alicia agreed and thought about how maybe this was a good idea after all. Partly because once she’d spent the money in her bank account, she’d still have an income and even more so because she knew her father would pay her much more than the job was probably worth.

“You can work part-time and still get a lot of writing done because Phillip makes more than enough to support both of you. Especially if you stop buying things you don’t need.”

Alicia rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and decided it was best she ended this stressful dialogue with her mother.

“Well, Mom, I’d better get back to my outline, but I’ll talk to you later or tomorrow, though, okay?”

“Sounds good. Tell my son-in-law I said hello.”

“I will.”

“Love you.”

“I love you, too, Mom,” Alicia said and hung up the phone.

Then, she turned off her computer and called her best friend, Melanie, to see if she wanted to meet her at the mall. If so, her outline would just have to wait.

Y
ou are such a cheapskate,” Alicia said to Melanie after locking her silver-blue ragtop BMW, the one her father had bought her for graduation. Then she hugged her best friend.

“Call me whatever you like, but if I shopped the way you did, I’d be broker than two mules. Plus, we just went to the mall two weekends ago, anyway.”

“And?”

“It means there’s no reason for me to go back until a long time from now.”

Alicia pulled open one of two elegantly carved wooden and beveled-glass doors, and she and Melanie walked inside the restaurant. She loved The Tuxson, a gorgeous restaurant that sat on the river, but she was still a little disappointed about not being able to head to the mall the way she’d wanted to. Of course, she had tried her best to talk Melanie into it, but Melanie had quickly resisted the whole idea of it and had told her she would gladly meet her for lunch instead.

“You kill me,” Alicia said, smiling.

“No, you kill me.”

Next, the maître d’ escorted them to a linen-covered table,
right at a window overlooking the water, and they took their seats. Alicia was glad that for the first time in a while, they hadn’t gotten much snow all winter and that even today, the river wasn’t frozen. It was a bit chilly outside, but still above freezing range.

“Gina will be your waitress and will be with you shortly.”

Alicia smiled at him. “Thank you very much.” Then she turned her attention back to Melanie, who was one of the few people she knew who still looked great even without makeup. She didn’t even wear lip color most of the time, and her skin was so unblemished, she didn’t even need powder. Her only fault was that she was just so doggone cheap. “I just don’t understand how you can spend so much time worrying about money when you work all those hours and earn such a great salary.”

“I worry because from the time I was a child, my mother and my grandmother were telling me I should always save for rainy days.”

“That’s all fine and well, but you and I both know that tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us.”

“It might not be promised to us, but based on life expectancy for most Americans, there’s a good chance we’re going to be around for a lot of years. And if that ends up being the case, I want to be prepared. I want to be okay and living as comfortably as I can. Not extravagantly, but living in a way that will allow me to pay for food, clothing, and shelter.”

Alicia snickered. “Girl, you sound like some eighty-year-old woman who’s struggling to make ends meet on a fixed income from Social Security.”

“Laugh if you want to, but if you don’t change your thinking, I’ll be eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week, and you’ll be homeless and trying to find some soup line to stand in.”

“That’ll never happen.”

“Well, you know what they say. Never say never.”

“That might be true, but in this case that saying doesn’t apply.”

“One day you’ll eventually get what I’m talking about.”

Alicia doubted it and looked at her menu. She just didn’t understand Melanie. Here she’d gotten a bachelor’s degree in nursing, graduated near the top of their class, and worked in the heart center at the area’s largest hospital, yet she was acting as though she had no formal education and barely made minimum wage. Worse, she worked no less than four twelve-hour days and even picked up a few additional hours through the home health-care agency she worked for on the side. To be honest, Alicia had been pleasantly surprised to learn Melanie wasn’t working today, because over the last couple of months, she had been working six-day weeks and there were a couple of weeks when she’d worked seven.

The short-haired, middle-aged waitress walked over and greeted them and then took their orders. Alicia ordered a shrimp appetizer, Melanie ordered a cup of butternut squash soup, and they both ordered field green salads dressed with raspberry vinaigrette and then broiled tilapia as their entrées.

“Oh, and just so you don’t have to worry about who’s paying for this, I’ve got it covered,” Alicia teased.

“No, actually, I’m paying for both of us. You paid last time, and you know I’m definitely no freeloader.”

“You’re right, lunch or dinner is one thing you don’t mind taking care of.”

“I really don’t. It’s only unnecessary stuff that I don’t like wasting money on. Things I don’t have to have or need. Plus, my goal is to save as much as I can before I settle down to get married and have children.”

“Well, if you end up marrying Brad, you won’t have to worry about paying bills at all. The man is only thirty-two and here he’s already made partner at his law firm. He’s beyond successful.”

Brad was Phillip’s handsome and highly intelligent best friend, and as soon as Alicia and Phillip had begun dating, they had introduced Brad and Melanie.

“Yes, he’s doing very well, but when it comes to taking care of myself, I always remember three things.”

“Oh, no.” Alicia feigned disgust. “Not the three ‘always’ rules again.”

But Melanie repeated them anyway. “Always be able to stand on your own two feet, meaning be able to take care of yourself with or without a man. Always save at least ten to fifteen percent of whatever you earn with no exceptions. And always pay your bills on time, preferably well before the due date and even if it means you don’t have a lot of money left to blow away.”

“I think you’re working in the wrong career field.”

“Please.”

“You are. With the way you talk, you should be working for Suze Orman or somebody like that. Because you’re really caught up, woman.”

“You know what?” Melanie said when the waitress set down their appetizers. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe there’s no way you’ll ever get what I’m talking about.”

Probably not, was all Alicia could think and she wondered how she and Melanie could be best friends for life, love each other like sisters, yet be as different as Milan, Italy, and Barnesville, Georgia. They viewed life as a whole so dissimilarly, but thankfully it never affected the caring way they felt about each other. And actually, Alicia didn’t totally disagree with Melanie’s financial philosophy because she did believe in saving, when she
was a lot older, and she did believe in paying bills on time as long as Phillip was the one who did it. To her, it was the man’s responsibility to do whatever he had to in order to make sure his wife was happy and comfortable, the same as her father had done for his first two wives and was now doing for Charlotte.

But Alicia decided it was best to keep her current thoughts to herself because in the end, she knew their discussion on this subject could go on and on without any possible resolution and there was no way they’d come to any real agreement.

After Alicia and Melanie had finished their appetizers, the waitress brought their salads to them. “Is there anything else I can get for either of you?”

Melanie looked up at her. “No, I think we’re fine.”

“Then please enjoy.”

Alicia took a couple of bites. “I love this dressing.”

“So do I. It’s probably the best in the city.”

“I think it is.”

“Brad would come here once every week if he had time.”

“So, how is everything with you guys? Is he starting to talk more about marriage yet?”

“We talk about it, but neither of us wants to rush into anything.”

“Well, he’s always telling Phillip how in love he is with you, and I know you love him, so I don’t see what you guys are waiting for.”

“We just want it to be right and make sure we’re definitely ready. Marriage is a serious commitment and when we take our vows we want it to be forever and without question.”

Alicia would never admit it openly to Melanie, at least not today, but she didn’t blame them for taking their time. She didn’t blame them because while she did love Phillip, she didn’t like all the arguing or the restrictions he was constantly trying
to impose on her. She didn’t like the idea that to a certain extent, he was trying to control her. He might not have been doing it intentionally, but that was what his complaints and demands were starting to feel like, and she wasn’t happy about them.

Alicia sipped some of her water and then set the glass back down on the table. “Did you ever think either one of us would end up falling in love with men who were ten years older than us?”

“No, not really,” Melanie said, chuckling. “Although I guess we shouldn’t be all that surprised because we’re both so much more mature than the average twenty-two-year-old.”

“Isn’t that the truth. But with a father like mine, I had no choice but to grow up, fast and in a hurry,” Alicia said and they both laughed. “From the time I was seven, I saw and heard just about every adult situation there was, whether I wanted to or not. And when that happens, you sort of bypass a lot of your childhood years. I even think my father’s history with women and the way he slept around all the time had a lot to do with why I ended up surfing around on the Internet and meeting that guy who ended up raping me. I was way too young to be meeting any boy I didn’t even know but at the time, I was searching for love wherever I could find it because my father was always busy with the church or sneaking around with his mistress.”

“I’m so sorry that that happened to you.” Melanie spoke with saddened eyes.

“It was bad, Mel. It was the worst. And sometimes it seems like only yesterday when it happened, even though it was nearly nine years ago.”

“I can’t even imagine, and I wish I’d known you back then so I could have been there for you.”

Alicia’s voice trembled but then she smiled. “I know. But the
good news is that you’re here for me now, and I’m so glad we met when we did.”

“I am, too. It was a good thing you decided to spend part of the summer here with your dad and Charlotte before we left for college.”

“You’re right,” Alicia said, remembering how she and Melanie had connected at church and had clicked immediately. Alicia had seen Melanie from time to time whenever she visited her father on weekends, but she and Melanie hadn’t truly gotten to know each other until the summer before their freshman year in college and, as it had turned out, they’d enrolled at the same university without even knowing it.

During the first semester, though, Melanie had lived in a dorm room with a roommate, and Alicia had lived in a four-bedroom apartment with three other roommates herself. But by the time their second semester had rolled around, Alicia had explained to her father that she didn’t like sharing space with three other girls and that she wanted a much nicer apartment, off-campus, for her and Melanie. Melanie’s parents had said an apartment like the one Alicia had chosen wasn’t in their budget, however, Alicia had talked her father into paying the total amount.

Then, during the last semester of their senior year, Melanie had wanted to live closer to the hospital where she was doing her clinical work, and once she moved out, Alicia had let another friend of theirs, Sonya, move in. Alicia had been fine with the idea of living alone for those last few months, but when she’d learned that Sonya was having financial aid problems, she’d offered to let her stay with her free of charge. She’d liked Sonya a lot, but it hadn’t been the same without Melanie.

Melanie took a bite of her tilapia and then patted her lips with a napkin. “You know, you’re not the only one who was
exposed to adult drama when you were growing up, because my parents had just as many problems. They bickered like enemies all the time and it wasn’t until my father had that car accident and almost died that things changed between them. His illness really woke them up and by the time I entered high school, they’d started going to marital counseling and also to church every Sunday. Then, when your father founded Deliverance Outreach, they joined as charter members and they’ve been happy with each other ever since.”

“That always trips me out when you talk about the way they used to be because the Mom and Dad Johnson I know are so much different from that. They’re the ideal couple and the kind of people you can’t help but look up to and want to be like.”

“I’m proud to call them my parents but because they said whatever they wanted in front of me whenever they got into it, it was only natural for me to act a lot older than most of my friends. I can even remember one time when my mother told my father he should worry less about those porn movies he liked watching so much and spend more time trying to figure out how to satisfy his own wife. She told him that what he needed to do was take a class or something because his sexual skills were just plain pathetic. Then, she went on to say that what she needed was a man who was packing something a lot bigger than what he was carrying and someone who knew how to make her scream.”

Alicia almost choked on her food and then giggled under her breath. “She said that right in front of you?”

“Well, not directly in front of me, but it wasn’t like we lived in some huge mansion, so my bedroom was right next door to theirs. I heard everything they said, all the time, even when our doors were shut.”

“How old were you then?”

“Seven at the most!”

“Wow.”

“But like I said, they’ve definitely changed, and I’m really happy they did.”

“I am, too, and actually my father has changed a great deal as well. I really believe him now when he says he’s done committing adultery and doing all the other terrible things he used to do. At first, I was a little leery, especially after Curtina was born and his ex-mistress starting causing so many problems, but he’s definitely different and trying his best to prove to Charlotte that all he wants is her. He’s also doing everything he can to build up Deliverance Outreach and create as many ministries as he can to help as many people as possible. It took years for him to get to this point, but I’m very proud of him, the same as you are of your parents.”

Melanie pulled out her wallet and removed one of her credit cards, and Alicia couldn’t resist messing with her. “I’ll bet this is the first time you’ve used it in months, isn’t it?”

“Whatever,” Melanie said, smiling, and then she slipped her card inside the leather folder on top of the check.

Soon after, the waitress processed the payment and brought back the receipts. “Thank you so much, and please enjoy the rest of your day.”