Sex and the City: And Just Like That

Chapter 1: Lunch with the Ladies

Years had gone by since Samantha's 50th, but the four of us still got together as often as we could to dine, drink, and dish. At the start of this story, it had been a few months since we had all gotten together, but we still found time to meet up at a trendy place in Chelsea.

I arrived last to find my friends seated at the back in a corner brightly lit by a skylight. They all got up to greet me and we exchanged kisses and hugs before sitting down and ordering a round of cosmos, for old time's sake.

"So, how have you all been?" I asked, leaning in and taking an icy floral sip.

"Busy," Miranda sighed.

"Wonderful!" Charlotte said.

"Not too shabby," Samantha purred, taking a sip of her own drink. "Anyone got any gossip?"

We looked around at each other. "I don't think so," I shrugged.

"Sorry," Miranda said, raising her eyebrows. "Things have been pretty quiet lately. Busy, but quiet." She looked down at her drink. "Why did I order this? Jesus!" She waved her hand to flag down the waiter. "Could I get a glass of Chardonnay? Thank you."

Charlotte and I smiled at each other. This was the Miranda we knew and loved. "So Samantha," I said, turning to her. "What about you? Any gossip, my most interesting friend?"

"Hey!" said Charlotte, smiling.

"Not much here, actually," Samantha said. "I've been so busy flying between London and New York for work I haven't had much time to do my work in between, if you know what I mean."

"Are you still seeing that French guy?" I asked. "I don't remember his name... Pierre?"

"Paul!" Charlotte interjected.

"No, wasn't it Packard?" Miranda asked.

Samantha raised an eyebrow. "Oh, he was pack-arding alright. But no honey, he's long gone. Back to Paris and the real world, I guess."

"Oh, I wish Paris were my 'real world,'" Charlotte sighed.

The next hour was spent much like that. It turns out that, twenty years later, we somehow didn't have very much to talk about. Life was busy, there was no time for parties or club openings or weekday lunch dates. Instead we were spending our time at piano recitals, back-to-school nights, and, frankly, work. Writing has always been hard to make a living off of, and it's gotten harder since blogs went by the wayside and podcasts came into play. In fact, I was already running late for a meeting...

"I'm so sorry to do this, ladies," I said, interrupting some monologue of Charlotte's about the politics involved in the booster club, "I have to run." I waived at the waiter to bring the check.

"Me too, actually," Miranda said, looking at her watch.

"Oh, this is no fun," Charlotte pouted. "We've barely caught up! I haven't heard a single crazy sex-filled escapade story from any one of you all year!"

"That's just how it is, darling," said Samantha. "Life's gotten busy, we've all grown up." She patted Charlotte consolingly.

"No, I won't stand for it! I'm not leaving this table until someone tells me a totally inappropriate story about their lives!"

The waiter walked over with a check. "Could we do separate, actually?" Miranda asked. "I'm in a bit of a hurry." I smiled at her gratefully.

"Sorry hon," I said. "Not today."

"Brady won't stop masturbating," Miranda offered. "And it's loud. I bet the whole street heard it last night."

"Oh jeez," said Charlotte. "I'm not sure that's what I meant."

"Well, that's life," said Samantha, taking the bills from the waiter and passing them around.

We walked out of the restaurant into the crisp, September air. "I'm going this way," I said, pointing down the street.

"My Uber's 2 minutes away," said Charlotte, looking at her phone.

"I'll wait with you," said Miranda. "I'm just heading to the subway, anyway."

We looked around at each other. "Well," I said. "Great seeing you all."

"Let's do it again soon," Samantha said, smiling warmly.

"Definitely," said Charlotte, grabbing my hand and squeezing it tight.

At one point in our lives, we had been the only constants for each other: we had been our rocks, our great loves, our inspirations. And we still were, in a way, but other things had entered our lives now: husbands, kids, careers, you could name it and we could show you all the ways we didn't have the time for it. And just like that, I walked off down the street.