Cold Feet novel Chapter 21

CHRISTINE

I see Lara enter the coffee shop and I wave to get her attention. She smiles when she sees me and crosses the table. I stand and we kiss each others cheeks on both sides before sitting down.

The waiter arrives almost as soon as we’re seated and we place our orders without looking at the menus. We’ve been coming here so long we know what’s great and what’s not. The waiter leaves and we start to chat.

“You’re looking great,” I compliment Lara.

“Thank you. I started a diet and I’ve been sticking to it for once. I’ve also started jogging every day.”

“Wow, why the sudden change?”

“Well, you know, Brad started making remarks about how much he likes that there’s so much more of me to grab since I picked up some weight. It seems to drive him crazy in bed.”

“So enjoy it girl,” I say.

“Well, actually, I took it as a wake up call. You know, it’s kind of like buying bigger clothes because your old ones don’t fit anymore? So, you buy bigger clothes and you feel good about yourself again. Then they get too small too and you buy new, bigger clothes again. You keep deceiving yourself until you find you’ve gained so much weight it seems like you’ll never lose it.”

I nod. “I know where you’re coming from. It’s so true. Remind me when I forget what you just told me in the future.”

Lara laughs, “I don’t think that day will ever come. You just seem to burn off everything that you eat as soon as you eat it.”

“Thanks. I do exercise every day too though. And I try to watch what I eat,” I reply.

Our meals arrive and we thank the waiter. After he has poured the wine we continue talking. Lara is also a wedding planner and we have been friends since what seems forever. She is successful but not as successful as me. She’s happy though. She’s married, has two kids and balances her work with her family life well.

We talk about events we’ve done since we last saw each other which was over a month ago. We usually meet every two weeks but as things would have it we’ve just haven’t been able to meet until now.

Lara remembers something and her face lights up.

“Oh! Have you heard? Viola Horton is looking for a job back in LA.”

I put my knife and fork down and finish chewing. I swallow and take a sip of wine.

“The Wedding Whisperer girl?” I ask.

“The very one,” Lara says.

“How do you know?”

“Well, I’m looking for an assistant and I placed the job with a recruitment consultant. He called me and told me she’s looking for a job. She’d like to come back to the industry but is also considering other options, even secretarial jobs.”

I nod. “Poor girl. She really had a rough time of it didn’t she?”

“I’ll say,” Lara says. “I think we all thought what she did was a clever idea but the public obviously didn’t.”