It Was Always You...

2

I turned around and it was Renee, a longtime friend from Paris. I've been coming in and out of here for a few years, so I picked up many friends. She almost tackled me to the ground, knocking my headphones off me. But Renee was by far the best person I met out here.

"Hey April!" I noticed she was with a man, as she picked up my headphones for me, inspecting them, making sure they weren't broken.

"Hey!" I yelled.

"Oh yeah, this is my friend Dean," she said very relaxed.

"Oh my god you look great! I love those shoes!" She squealed.

"Well my job keeps me in good shape with fashion," I replied. Whoever that guy was, he looked annoyed by our reuniting.

"Come on! Let's go have lunch, you and me. Our favorite place? Sorry Dean! I'll catch up with you backstage tonight, I feel so bad!" Renee gave him a small hug.

"Whatever, I'm going to go find..." I think he said Seth, and maybe someone named Roman? Oh well, it didn't matter, and I guess those pictures didn't matter right now anyway, they weren't needed for my boss until Tuesday.

So we split off, and made our way to 'Ms. B's,' our favorite restaurant, a few streets away. We began to talk about our friends and family. It's been a few months since we've done anything together.

We were seated and ordered a few minutes later. She asked about Scarlet, one of my best friends back home. Renee and Scar (Short for Scarlet, what everyone called her half the time anyway) have met before, and it didn't end well.

It basically ended in a fight outside a club one night. Scar had apparently slept with the guy Renee was dating, and the funny thing is, this was now the guy Renee was planning to marry. Renee has always been a little weird to me personally, but other than that night, I've known her as a very sweet girl.

"She's great," I replied. Even though I knew Scar wasn't. Last time we spoke, Scarlet had a really bad fight with her mother, and there was no one Scar loved more on this planet than her mother. She was also trying to get a new house now, and when we talked, it seemed like her efforts were failing. But I lied, to change the subject.

"And Jenna?" Renee asked.

"She's good too." Which wasn't a complete lie because she had met the "guy of her dreams" a man named Kyle. The problem for her right now was she had another guy on her case. A guy named Peter. He was a little obsessed with her. He was angry with Jenna for being with Kyle. Jenna cheated on him, which wasn't something she'd normally do. I don't know everything at this point, and I can't wait for my business trip home this week to catch up with everyone. Jenna was another friend from home. I've known Jenna and Scar since we were in high school.

"April?" Renee had snapped me out of my thinking leading to another topic.

"And your parents?" Renee asked.

"Same shit. I haven't spoken to them since the last time I've seen you."

"Sorry to hear that. You should try to talk to them, and have you talked to your brother?"

"Talk to them? Why? They haven't tried to talk to me. After everything my mother has put me through? I don't even know if they're even alive or not. My brother wouldn't know, he hasn't talked to them. My brother is doing great at college, or at least that's what he's been telling me, but most likely is lying, to keep me from worrying," I replied. At least I can tell Renee this stuff, she knows about my background, everything I've done up to the point hat we met. I've known her for about three years now, and always feel comfortable with her.

When our food arrived, there was a lot of tension at the table. But I chose to ignore it.

"And how's Mr. And Mrs. Young?" I asked.

"Fine, and so is Leah." Renee said. Leah was Renee's sister. Who became one of my friends too.

"My mom has been asking about you, because she wanted to know how you were doing without Tyler."

"Why did you have to tell her!?" I complained.

"Because I needed advice on how to help you. I didn't know what to do. You were gone for a long time, April." She reached out across the table and took my hand. What she was talking about was when I was in a crazy, some-what abusive relationship with this guy named Tyler. I was pretty much unstable during that time, and Renee did everything she could to help me. I could never repay her for helping me out.

"I never told you, but she wanted to come over and stay with us to help you. My family loves you so much April."

And that was why I loved Renee. She was one of the greatest people I've ever known.