Page 45 of Picking Pismo

Alexis scoffed. “You know, bowling alley, pier, yogurt shop, the caves I love.”

“Did you need me to drive you around? I don’t mind one bit,” said Claire.

Saturday, Claire needed something to make herself scarce. Kelly and Stephen were nice enough to let them stay at their house for free this weekend, but they certainly didn’t need her hanging around their house the entire time. Claire promised she’d be busy the entire weekend, and only needed a place to crash at night.

“No,” said Alexis firmly. “Juliet’s taken care of it. You only need to drop me off at her house in the morning. Her mom will bring me by late in the evening.” She glanced up from her phone, tilting her head toward her. “We can visit Mom’s grave on Sunday. The gas station too. I’ll make time for it.”

“Then it’s settled.” Claire reached out, cranking up the radio. The soothing sounds of Adele blasted back at them. Claire sang loudly along with the music, hoping to forget about whatever hard parts she might have to face during the weekend.

“I still don’t understand why you are so obsessed with Adele.” Alexis rolled her eyes. “She’s only okay.”

Claire laughed. “Oh honey, sit back while I educate you on how completely awesome Adele is.”

Shifting around in her seat, Alexis crossed her arms. “Fine,” she gave her a pointed look. “Go ahead, I’m ready.”

Then Claire and Alexis held a healthy debate on singers the entire rest of the way to Pismo. By the time she took the exit, Claire managed to push away her anxiety for the weekend. But as David’s office came into view, her heart picked up to a steady staccato. Palms clammy, sweat smattered across her forehead, pouring down her back.

Pulling into the parking lot, Claire forced herself to sound cheerful and upbeat when she said, “We’re here.” She parked the car, turning off the ignition. Glancing at the clock on the dashboard, she continued, “We even managed to get here right on time.”

Alexis unlocked her seatbelt. “I can’t wait to tell David about my new dance studio.”

“He might be busy with other patients.” Claire unbuckled her seatbelt too. Opening the visor mirror, she double checked her appearance in the small mirror. She hated how much she cared. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up if he can’t talk to you for a long time.”

“He’ll have time,” replied Alexis. “He told me he made sure we were his last appointment of the day.”

Perfect. Claire gritted her teeth. With a shaky hand, she dug out her lip gloss from her purse.

Alexis opened her car door. Shifting, she gazed over at Claire reapplying her lip gloss in the visor mirror. “Don’t worry, you look gorgeous as always. He’ll totally regret ending things with you.”

Claire stopped mid swipe, turning to eye Alexis. “I’m not worried about that.” But even she knew how ridiculous she sounded. Here she was reapplying her lip gloss and smoothing out her hair. “My lips were chapped so I figured lip gloss would do the trick.”

Alexis laughed, climbing out. “Liar.” Shaking her head, she closed the car door.

Wandering across the parking lot, Alexis entered the office. With a huff, Claire slammed the visor mirror shut and tossed her lip gloss back into her purse. What did her sister know? Nothing. Getting out of the car, Claire remembered to straighten her back and pull back her shoulders.

A chime on the door announced her arrival. Sarah glanced over from her seat at the reception desk. Brightly, Sarah smiled. “You’ve made it. Our last appointment of the day, and only one more appointment for Ms. Alexis.”

Sarah’s smile was contagious, making her anxiety slowly wither away. Claire crossed the room toward Sarah.

“Yes,” Claire stopped in front of the reception desk. “Alexis has been reminding me constantly.” Readjusting her purse strap, Claire asked, “Should I schedule her last appointment right now?”

Sarah moved herself closer to her desk, wiggling her mouse, the schedule popped up on the screen. “Yes, let’s see what we have available. Dr. Clark knows I need to leave as soon as I checked you two in.” Then Sarah paused, grinning she added, “I have a big date tonight.” Her eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Claire smiled. “Good luck. I hope you have a fantastic time.”

“Thanks, he’s something special,” replied Sarah. “I’m excited.” Then she waved it off.

The conversation went back to scheduling Alexis’s final appointment. Once on the calendar for four weeks from then, on another Friday afternoon, Sarah left, leaving Claire in the empty waiting room.

Awkwardly, Claire took a seat, grabbing a magazine off the stack on the coffee table. Legs bobbing back and forth, she forced herself to read an article on how to look ten years younger. If only, she scoffed. Halfway through reading the long explanation of skin care regimens, a shuffling of footsteps into the waiting room interrupted her attention. She snapped her head in the direction of the sound. Alexis appeared. And then there David was in all his rugged, perfectly handsome glory.

With wobbly knees, Claire stood, tossing the magazine down on the coffee table. “Are you done already?” asked Claire. The words came out shaky and overly high.

Alexis beamed. “Yep,” Alexis glanced over at David. “David says next time I come I get to have them taken off.” She did a little dancing jig.

Claire couldn’t help but chuckle, helping to release the pent-up tension in between her shoulder blades. “I’m glad you’re so thrilled. I’ve already made the follow up appointment to get your braces off, are you ready to go?” She skillfully avoided eye contact with David, knowing a look from him would make her stomach do all sorts of weird things.

“Yes.” Alexis stepped toward her. “Can you drop me off at Juliet’s?”

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