four perfectly aligned brown cushioned lounge chairs with three dividing umbrellas of perfect symmetry. Plush white towels and a view into the greenest foliage I have ever seen surround the perimeters. It is absolutely breathtaking.
“Do we get to go in the pool?” Jessica asks.
“We are getting almost every treatment you can at this Spa.” Stephanie says with a smile.
“You guys are the best friends ever!” Jessica says and claps her hands together.
Nadia opens another door and leads us inside to another section of the Spa, and it is just as beautiful as the outside. Rich warm colors, lavish and plush furniture, not to mention clean and tidy. Nadia invites us to remove our sandals then head over to the wall of nail polish to select our color of choice. Right away, Jessica makes a stink that we all have to have the same color nails, and of course, it must be a color of her approval. So as a joke, Michelle picks a metallic royal blue.
Jessica rips it out of her hands, “Do you guys think this is a joke? Because it so isn’t. This is a big deal.”
We chuckle and watch Jessica meticulously debate over two light pink shades that look exactly the same. Finally she makes a decision, handing each of us a bottle called “Princesses Rule”.
Nadia directs us into a new room with four manicure/pedicure chairs formed in a circle. Four young girls who work at the Spa appear behind her from a long brown curtain. I hand my nail polish to tall dark girl named Adriana, at least that’s what her nametag says. She smiles and asks me if I want my hands or feet done first. I opt for the manicure, saving the pedicure for last, because it’s definitely the better of the two.
Once we are getting pampered, we start chatting about the wedding tomorrow. Jessica says she can’t believe how long she has been with Michael, and that she is so happy they are finally getting married.
“How did you guys even meet?” Stephanie asks, “It was so long ago I can’t remember.”
“We went to high school together.” Michelle snorts, “That’s how.”
“Yeah I know that.” Stephanie snaps, “But how did it happen?”
“Oh, I have Megan to thank for that.” Jessica chuckles.
“Me?” I say with surprise. I didn’t know I had anything to do with this match made in heaven.
“Yes you.” Jessica says, “You were such a keener back then and took all the advanced science courses because you wanted to be a marine biologist.”
I laugh, “Yeah, so. What does that have to do with Michael?”
“Well, do you remember how I would meet you every day when your biology class was done?”
“Yeah, we would walk together to our horrible English class with Mr. Henderson the creep.”
We all share a laugh, because Mr. Henderson was so slimy and made really inappropriate comments to all the girls. Stephanie even adds that she heard he slept with a student a few years after we graduated.
“Anyway,” Jessica interjects, “Michael was in that biology class. Remember?”
I think back to those early days of grade nine, and try to envision the dirty old lab based classroom. Somewhere in my memories, I vaguely remember Michael sitting at the back, “Yeah, I remember.”
“Well, one day you went home sick and didn’t tell me. So I showed up to your class and waited for you, but you weren’t there.” Jessica smiles.
“Wow, how do you remember all of this?” I interrupt, but Jessica shushes me.
“Michael was the last one out of the doors and he said, ‘Are you looking for your friend?’ I said ‘yes’, and he said you weren’t in class today.” She points to me and continues, “Then he paused and asked me what my name was, and I told him Jessica Ellis. I pretended like I hadn’t noticed him before, but how could I not have noticed him?”
We all nod in agreement. Michael was and still is quite the stunner. Wavy honey brown hair and piercing blue eyes like his don’t go unnoticed.
“So, he asked me if he could walk me to class. I didn’t even tell him where I was headed, but he already knew, which meant he had followed us before.” Jessica gets all giddy and says, “Then later that day, I saw him in the cafeteria, and he asked me if I wanted to go on a date with him on the weekend. I of course said yes, and ta-da it’s been love ever since.”