We meet again

𝐻𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑑𝑎𝑦

May 22

Today is Flo's mom's birthday; we all woke up early to go to breakfast at Deborah's favorite restaurant, it is now 2:30 pm and we're all getting ready because at 3:30 pm it'll be the party with the Pugh's family and friends.

"Do you want our clothes to match?" I asked Flo looking through my clothes. "Sure!" she turned to look at me with a smile "I was planning on wearing this green dress," she showed me the dress. "That dress looks really cute!, I have this green shirt, I can wear it with my white pants that match your heels," I suggested showing her the clothes. "I love that outfit," she nodded "I'll finish my makeup and then change," she gave me a kiss and headed to the bathroom.

As you know, I don't really dress up much when it comes to attending events, so all I did was put on some mascara and fix my hair, so I finished getting ready about 20 minutes before Flo.

"I'm ready love," she let me know in front of the mirror. "Finally!" I got up from the bed where I was lying "Holy shit!" I stared at Flo in disbelief. "What happened?" she turned to look at me worriedly. "You look marvelous" I grabbed her by the waist and gave her a peck on the lips. "Well hello there, look who's talking" she wiggled her eyebrows playfully and kissed me once more.

"Raffie is going with us?" I asked taking our coats and my bag. "RAFFIE!" shouted Flo coming down the stairs. "WHAT?" her sister replied from the kitchen. "Are you going with us or what?". "Yeah, I was waiting for you, you took your time," she teased us looking at me with a mocking face. "Don't look at me! Your sister took like a hundred years to put on a dress," I went along with Raffie. "Shut up you two" Flo rolled her eyes playfully walking past us to leave the house, Raffie and I giggled.

We got in the car and Raffie set the GPS to tell me where I needed to go. The party place was a ranch type place, about 25 minutes from the Pugh's house. When we arrived Flo's parents were already there, as well as Toby, his girlfriend and some of the family.

"Happy birthday Mum," Raffie and Flo hugged Deborah at the same time. "Happy birthday Mrs. Pugh," I hugged her too. "Thank you so much my girls, ready to party?" she shook her shoulders and made a funny face, making us laugh. "How many glasses of wine have you had?" joked Raffie walking over to where the others were.

I greeted everyone, there were people I didn't know since they were Deborah's friends and I hadn't gotten to see them at other celebrations, everyone looked very happy and comfortable, plus the weather was perfect for where the party was.

The rest of the afternoon I was chatting here and there with family and friends, many didn't know I was a writer so I told them a little about my books and about the publishing house, the truth is everyone seemed very entertained by my stories so the anxiety I had went away and I felt more comfortable, I was also drinking some wine and eating some snacks.

"Hey, there you are" Flo hugged me from behind. "Here I am" I turned to her without leaving the physical contact "having a good time?" I rolled her waist with my arm. "Yeah, I missed my family," she leaned her head on my shoulder "my granny Pat asked about you, she says she hasn't spent enough time with you" she turned to look at me wiggling her eyebrows, it made me laugh. "I finish this drink and go sit with her," I assured.

"Flossie?" said a female voice. "Oh for God's sake, Ava?". Flo let go of me and walked with open arms to the girl coming toward us. "Ugh! Long time no see," they hugged like there was no tomorrow, that kind of hug where the two bodies are almost glued together, where you sway back and forth.

"What are you doing here?" Flo pulled away from the embrace, running her hands up and down Ava's arms until they were holding hands. "Well your mom invited me," she shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't know! but I'm glad you came" she said in a high-pitched, happy tone of voice.

I cleared my throat. "Oh! Ava, this is Harper!" Flo introduced me to her. "Nice to meet you," I shook her hand firmly. "Oh, how strong!" she pursed her lips and made a flirtatious look. I just laughed.

"I'm off to smoke a cigarette, Flossie?" she turned her gaze to Florence who also turned her attention to her. "I'm coming with you," Flo turned to look at me with a half smile and without further ado left with her, not even a "I'll be right back" or a kiss. I'm her girlfriend, aren't I?... not just Harper, what the hell.

I turned my body to the bar to order another drink feeling a strange sensation running through my whole body, having this burning feeling in my chest.

"Hey H, where's Florence?" Raffie leaned on the bar to the side of me. "Oh, you mean Flossie?, she went with some Ava to smoke a cigarette" I let her know with a serious tone, taking a swig of my drink. "Ava? Oh," Raffie spoke differently, as if she was hiding something from me. "What's wrong?," I turned to look at her. "Nothing, I didn't know Ave was coming," she commented avoiding eye contact with me. "Raffie... who's Ava?" I tilted my head. "Well, since you ask" she gulped "Ava is Flo's ex, or something like that" she turned to look at me with an uncomfortable smile. "Oh, great," I gulped down the last of my drink "I'll go talk to Granny Pat, she wanted to chat with me" I informed Raffie leaving her at the bar.