in her stride and gave Anne a beaming smile. "I’ll take that now since I’m not showing yet. God, Anne. It’s hard to believe that it has been two years. I still feel like a newlywed. But, we will get to me in a minute. I want to talk about you. So, how was the flight? Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Carla took a sip from her water glass while she waited for Anne's answer.
"The flight was fine but long. I forgot how long the flight actually was. I had a really annoying man sit next to me."
"Naturally."
"Am I nervous? You bet I am, but I think it will go well. I hope so." Anne gave a wry smile and raised her eyebrows. She did not want to get her hopes up too much. She had been through the final interview stages before only to lose out to other more experienced scientists or to find out that the company had made the decision to hold off on hiring. She told Carla about the two Skype interviews and what her impressions were of the company based on the facts she had managed to gather from the internet.
Although she had read several news articles about the company and the business profile of the current CEO, she had never seen a photo of him. There were several old photographs of the founder but none of the son in the company website. But, since it did not really matter what the current CEO looked like, Anne did not search for information on him specifically and concentrated on the company’s record in research, instead. At one point, she realized that she was boring Carla with facts about the company and the technical aspects of research and stopped talking.
"I hear it's a good company. Gary's brother really likes being there and is happy that he made the move to them last year. I think you'll get the job," Carla said positively. "My Spidey sense is tingling, and it’s telling me you'll get it. Oh, I can't wait to have you back here. I need you here to help me decorate the nursery. You know that I love Gary to the ends of the earth, but I swear that man will drive me crazy with his total lack of design sense. Do you know what he told me when I started talking about redecorating the third bedroom for the nursery? He told me that the current colors will look fine for a baby's room."
Remembering the peanut butter brown color with baby blue sponge paint that was on the walls when they bought the house two years ago, Anne wondered if Carla had repainted yet. Seeing the look on Anne's face, Carla exclaimed, "I know! Can you believe it? It's the same ugly color it was when we moved in. I never got around to repainting it with all the other changes we made to the house and me going out on my own."
"He's a dentist, Carla. Need I say more?"
"How in the world I ever fell in love with such a nerd, I'll never know. But he is crazy about me and over the moon about the baby coming."
That led into a conversation about Carla and the baby. Carla was feeling greet without any morning sickness, and she glowed with happiness. With babies on her mind, Carla even talked about experimenting with new baby food recipes. From there the afternoon was spent in companionable conversation catching up and laughing over memories from their college days when they worked on the waterfront. After they finished their lunch, they decided to walk to Edmonds Central Plaza, located a few blocks away, to begin their search for new maternity clothing for Carla. It would be months before Carla started showing, but stores always stocked new clothes a few months in advance of the season, and Carla wanted to get a jump on the new fashions.
While browsing through the clothing stores looking for Carla, Carla spotted several summer dresses and a pair of sandals for Anne to try on. They were sexy and lacy and not at all what Anne was used to wearing out east. But Carla kept insisting that Anne try them on because she said that Anne "seriously needed a summer makeover."
"So this was what 'the look' was about."
"What look?" Carla tried her best at appearing innocent but failed miserably.
"The one you gave me at lunch. It's the one you get every time you plan something for me