Page 56 of 7 Miles High
“I understand. We’re going to be busy too. She’s six years younger than I am, so I’m thinking she’s going to want to beach it every day. She surfs.”
“Cool.”
The doorbell interrupts our conversation.
“Oh, that’s her. I’ll call you later.”
“Better let me call you in case we’re filming. I’ll call on our dinner break.”
“Okay, baby. Talk then.”
“Open up! Natalie! Open up!” Her voice carries through the door. No surprise.
I swing it open and hold out my arms. “Gigi!”
We hug each other and exchange kisses. She’s a mini me in her looks. Blonde hair, blue eyes. The only difference is the purple streaks. She loses her luggage and flip flops in the foyer. Her oversized purse gets tossed on my delicate entry table and it knocks over the soapstone figurine of my Chinese birth year animal. The rabbit takes a header off the table and onto the tiled floor. Gigi’s eyes follow the fall.
“Oh good, it didn’t break!” She says it as she picks it up.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m so happy you’re here. I’ve finished my work for the day so we can go to the beach. Does that sound good?”
She lifts her summer dress, showing the barely there bikini underneath.
“I love how you think, sister! Let me grab my beach bag and a few necessities and I’ll be ready. Are you bringing sunblock? Do you have any beer we can bring? Let’s get blasted!”
Obviously Gigi is still in her twenties, a wild child always ready to party. I kind of love that about her. The baby of the family always gets away with a little more because she reminds everyone of their own youth and how cool it was to be focused on fun. That’s the goal at that age. You can’t do it forever, but for that one decade it seems right. Because of a sunny personality and ability to talk to anyone, being the party girl looks good on her.
“I’m so happy to be here!”
We come together for round two of our greeting. She grabs me and holds on for dear life. Reminds me of when we were children.
“Let me get my suit on and grab the cooler,” I say. “We’ll definitely Uber it. I’m not going to drink and drive.”
“Good thinking. I want to hear all about your man and you need to finish telling me about Cancun. You were suspiciously quiet about the sex I know you had. He must be a keeper because you’re keeping the details to yourself.”
My eyebrows wiggle and a wide smile is plastered on my face.
“Ohhhhh! You whore! I want to heareverything!
* * *
Three hours and three beers later, we’re laughing our asses off. Toes buried in the sand, we sit in beach chairs catching up with both our lives. Gigi has the gift of making her dating life sound like a sitcom.
“He made me laugh so much I actually peed my pants while I sat on his couch! Literally peed.”
“God! What did you do?”
“Ignored it of course. And when I got up I made sure he was looking somewhere else.”
“How did you accomplish that?”
“I flashed my boobs!”
We dissolve in a fit of laughter so big Gigi falls over in her chair.
“Watch it!”
“I think I peed!”
