A Woman in Search Of...

She called Cindy and told her the good news.

“Wow! That’s primo!”

“I’m heading to Hoffman’s, want to join me?”

“Love to. See you in a while.”

“Okay.” Wendy put the unfinished glass of wine in the fridge and spruced herself up. She decided she wanted a picture of Brad...if he’d let her. She grabbed her camera off the dresser. With a picture she could see him all the time, sitting tall with his great smile.

At Hoffman’s she went to Mike first.

“Hey, cool mama. How things goin’?”

“Everything is rad,” Wendy answered, delirious with excitement as she contemplated what’s to come.

“How’s that?”

She blurted out, “I just got an offer from a design studio, called House Retreats.”

“That’s far out. What will you be doing?”

“I’m going to be planning all the plants inside houses and on patios.”

“Super.”

“Thanks, I’m really diggin’ it.” She laughed at herself for all the trendy words now tripping out of her mouth. At the piano bar Brad started to set up.

“I’m really happy for you. If you want to stay after we could celebrate.”

Wendy wasn’t quite sure what celebrate meant, but she was willing to find out. “Sounds cool.”

“See ya later.”

She sat at a bar stool in front of Brad. Cindy still wasn’t there.

“Hey, Wendy,” Brad muttered as he got comfortable on his tall stool and set his music on the stand. He leaned toward her. “How you doin’?”

“Great, actually. I’m going to do some design work of indoor and patio plants for a company.”

“Sounds great, have fun with it.”

“I hope too. Would you mind if I took a picture of you while you play?” she asked hyped enough to ask the question.

“Sure. I’d like that…only if I get a copy, of course.” “Definitely and thanks.”

“What can I play for you?”

That was the first time he ever asked her for a song request. “How about “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face?” Wendy loved when he sang this great Roberta Flack song. She liked to think about the first time she saw his face when Cindy and she pushed their way through the crowd. She snapped the picture as he sang and tucked the camera back into her purse. A few minutes later Cindy came up next to Wendy. “Have I missed anything exciting?” “Nothing much. Oh, I told Brad about my new job and he’s happy for me.”

“Of course, he would be, always has kind words.”

Wendy decided to keep the picture taking a secret for now.

Cindy and Wendy ordered wine when the waitress came to them.

“A toast,” Cindy said when the drinks arrived. “To the new garden designer.”