A/N: This is not going to be a long story, but I was getting sentimental over my favorite place in the world and wishing for the millionth time I could move there. So here we are. There is a brief mention of cancer. Very brief. Just a warning for anyone who might need it.
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This vacation was long overdue.
Carol hadn't been on a vacation with her girlfriends since they were in college. Today, she and her sorority sisters hopped on flights to New Orleans from their prospective states, and were taking the vacation of a lifetime.
The smell of New Orleans was making her feel young and free. It was springtime and the flowering trees were just starting to bloom.
They had graduated almost ten years ago and had not seen much of each other since.
It was a kind of a reunion, they had all drifted apart for a time after college. There were four of them all scattered across the country, living their lives now.
Tara was in New York working for a small newspaper, and writing a book. Living with her girlfriend Alisha in Greenwich Village. Andrea was a lawyer in Ohio, a famous prosecutor in her state, single and happy to be that way.
Michonne was in California, happily married to her husband Rick for nine years and they had two kids, twins Carl and Judith. She taught at Berkley, anthropology and woman's studies.
Carol was living in a small beach town in New Jersey, where she grew up. She ran the local library and taught out of towners how to surf in the summer. She had a boyfriend she wasn't sure she loved, and a desire to see all she could see while she was still young enough to do it.
They had a week together. A week to catch up and to have some fun. In memory of a lost friend.
Their fifth sorority sister Lori had passed away from breast cancer six months ago, a cruel reminder that life was short. Her husband Shane was never going to get over it, but the girls were going to honor Lori, by seeing more of each other and remembering her.
The four friends had missed each other so much, Facebook was good but this was going to be so much better.
Carol had done all the research for this trip and Tara had made all the arrangements. Everyone else just had to show up.
It wasn't Mardi Gras time, but Carol knew it would still be filled with all the boisterousness and laughter no matter when they went. That's how New Orleans was, she had been there once before and knew a little bit about the area. That was how her girlfriends were too, Tara was already talking about what they could do to get beads.
Andrea wanted no part of that endeavor, but Michonne might if she had enough drinks in her. Carol had already done it the last time she was in New Orleans, but she didn't tell her friends that.
Tara had booked them into The Hotel De Le Monteleone in the Marigny District on Esplanade Ave., a few blocks from Bourbon St. The hotel was supposed to be quaint and have old world charm.
Carol didn't care where they stayed, she was just glad to be away from Ed, his drinking was getting out of hand again.
He spent too much time at Jenkinson's and Martell's, the local bars on the boardwalk, where they lived. He acted like such a kid sometimes. She was tired of it, tired of him.
She needed to just break up with him, they had been dating for seven years and lived apart.
There was a time when she wanted so badly for him to propose, now she was afraid he would.
A week away was just what she needed. She was going to use this trip to think all of that through. It was probably over and she wasn't sad about it at all.
The girls were going to meet at the hotel and Carol got there first of course, it was a beautiful day in May. Her cellphone was charged so she dropped her luggage off at the hotel and decided to take a walk. Maybe check out an art gallery or go to Café du Monde, maybe the Oyster Bar. She was happy just to be there.
She was walking down the street, listening to Zachary Richard 'Colinda' on her IPod, trying to get into that New Orleans state of mind. Looking around and taking in the sights, she wasn't really paying attention to where she was.
Maybe she needed to switch to Michael Doucet and BeauSoleil, now that was some authentic Cajun music. She stopped on the side walk to scroll her IPod and find the song she wanted.
Daryl didn't see the woman on side walk because he was distracted and late for work. He also had an IPod in his ears so if she had called to him, he wouldn't have heard her. She didn't see him anyway, she was looking down at the iPod.
He had never run into someone with his bike before, luckily he wasn't going that fast. Still, they both ended up on their asses. His back pack flew off dumping his books all over the place.
Carol had not been in New Orleans for two hours and already she got run over by some nut on a bike. She had to laugh, this was just the kind of thing that happened to her. She attracted this kind of thing.
In fact it had happened in Amsterdam too, just after college. She had been coming out of one of the huka joints over there with her friend Sasha and got plowed over by some guy in a big hurry. But that guy flipped her off and kept going.
This guy almost killed himself apologizing and helping her up. He was strong, he pulled her up like she was light as a feather. He must have had a lot of upper body strength, he was all arms and shoulders.
She just laughed, she hadn't been hurt, and it just seemed like a funny way to start a vacation.
He must have apologized ten times and looked her over to make sure she was ok before he even paid attention to his banged up elbow and forearm. She assured her she was fine as she wiped dirt off her jeans.
The first words he said to her let her know she was for sure in New Orleans.
"I'm so sorry cher."
Oh Jesus, he was a local, he had the Cajun/creole accent that made women drool, herself included.
He was probably still in his twenties, she guessed, with dark blonde hair, not too long not too short.
"It's ok, it was an accident, and I'm fine really. Are you ok, your arm?"
"I'm fine sugar, don't you worry about me." He smiled at her showing the most adorable dimples Carol had ever seen. He had a mole on his upper lip too, it was a shame he was so young.
Daryl looked at the pretty red head, she was cute but this was no way to meet women. She was being a really good sport about it but he still felt like shit. He had been in a hurry because it was Friday night and the bar he worked at did a lot of business, even before the sun went down.
But he should have been looking where he was going, next semester he wasn't taking any classes in Fridays. It was always a problem in one way or another.
Carol bent down and picked up one of the books that flew out of his back pack, it was an art book with a picture of a work by Wassily Kandinsky on it.
"Oh, you like Kandinsky, hmmm." She said handing it to him.
"Actually, I hate Kandinsky, this is a book for a class, not my taste. You?" He put the book back in his backpack.
"I like him, very abstract."
"He sucks." He said giving her a smile that lazily creeped over his face and went right to his twinkling blue eyes. There were those dimples again. "I'm Daryl."
He held out his hand and she took it to shake, he had a working man's hands.
"Carol."
"It's a pleasure." He held her hand a little longer than she expected. "Terribly sorry for the way we met. Can I make it up to you sometime?"
He was way too young to be hitting on her, she thought to herself. She was thirty five if he was twenty seven that would be a miracle, he certainly wasn't anywhere near thirty. But he was very easy on the eyes and it was ok to look. But only look and she would let him down easy.
He still held her hand and he made a sweep over her knuckles with his thumb. Then he looked up at her through his bangs, and she thought 'He's just a boy'. But his eyes, the way he looked at her, made her feel something she hadn't felt in a long time.
"It's ok Daryl, really." She said shaking her head, while her mind was telling her to say yes.
He shrugged, "Ok if you change your mind, I'll be riding past here every day, come on out. I'll be looking where I'm going from now on, hoping to see you."
And he winked at her as he got back on his bike.
"Hoping you change your mind cher."
And he was gone riding his bike up the street. She turned and started back for the hotel, her friends would be there soon.
/
"So you got rear ended by a cute guy already." Tara said as they were checking into the hotel. "I'm impressed."
"A very young cute guy." Carol replied as Andrea and Michonne came up with their suitcases as well. "Too young to be hitting on me."
"What's this?" Andrea said, lifting her suitcases.
"Carol met a guy, he asked her out, kind of and she said no, like a dummy." Tara replied.
They all had their suitcases and were walking down the hall to their rooms. Andrea and Michonne in one Tara and Carol in another across the hall.
"Are you forgetting we are only here for a week, and there's Ed." She said unlocking the door and all four of them walked into her and Tara's room.
"Oh this is nice." Michonne said, leaving her suitcase with Andrea's at the door.
"All, I'm saying is, put a tie on the door knob if I need to go to their room." Tara said as Carol fell back on the bed. "I'm ok with it."
"He's in college for crying out loud, so what is he twenty four at best?" She said. "No thank you, I have a grown up baby at home."
"Oh please, you need to get rid of him already. Maybe a little fling might ease you into it." Andrea said. "Get your feet wet again, you know?"
They all laid on their backs on one of the big fluffy beds. This room was beautiful, Tara had done well.
Carol shook her head and Tara's head was right next to Carol's, then Michonne and Andrea.
"It isn't going anywhere, and you don't want it to anyway." Michonne said.
"Hey." Tara sat up. "Didn't you say he rides his bike past here every day?"
"That's what he told me, and forget it." Carol said. "I won't be here that time, on any day we are here."
"You are no fun. What ever happened to Laissez les bon temps rouler?"
"Look who's talking." Andrea said.
"Hey, Alicia said not to shake my tits for beads, that's all. I'm down for anything else."
Andrea sat up and ran her hand through her hair. It was late in the afternoon and they had all been traveling all day.
"I'm hungry, where are we going to eat?" Andrea said.
/
They went out to a local restaurant and binged on crawfish etouffee and shrimp creole. They had decided to walk where ever they went so they could look around and get a feel for the area. Tomorrow they would go to Bourbon St.
Tonight they were staying in Faubourg Marigny, exploring their neighborhood for the next week. They walked and talked about their lives. This was such a good idea, and they decided that it was not going to be ten years again. They would do a trip every couple of years to keep in touch with each other better than they had. They talked about going on a cruise next time.
Loosing Lori had changed them all, how they thought about life and work and free time. You had to make time for things that were good in life. This was very good.
They wandered into a bar called The Spotted Cat on Frenchman St., not too far from their hotel and sat down at a table together. There was live music and there were people all around them, this was just what they had imagined New Orleans to be. It was a loud and rowdy place and the music was excellent.
The atmosphere was just what you would think of a jazz club. They hadn't even gone to Bourbon St. yet either.
While the girls had their heads together talking a drink was placed on the table in front of Carol. It looked like a Hurricane. It was pink and in the traditional glass they were served in.
Carol was about to say to whoever it was that she didn't order it, then she took notice of the scraped up forearm.
"This one's on me Cher, it's the least I can do."
She looked up at him, he was a bartender, which was clear by his apron. As her friends watched, she smiled at him.
"I don't know if I can accept a drink from someone who doesn't like Kandinsky." She said, not wanting to flirt with him, but not able to help herself.
He smiled that smile again. "Where do you stand on Van Gough?"
A/N: The Spotted Cat is a real place, it is in walking distance of the hotel I have them at, but it's about a mile away. I walked it a few times, but maybe I'm a little crazy.
It's music club favored by local talent and they have cash bar. An employee probably wouldn't deliver a drink to someone at a table, so I took some liberties with this. I also took some liberties with The Spotted Cat, because it's been a long time since I have been there. So shoot me, I wanted it my way, as always.
A Hurricaine is a famous New Orleans drink, made famous by another bar the girl's might go to Pat O' Brien's on St. Peter St. in The French Quarter.
Café du Monde makes the best coffee in New Orleans and you can order it online.
'Laissez les bon temps rouler', is a common New Orleans phrase and is associated with New Orleans and it means 'Let the good times roll.'
Cher is a term of endearment used often in New Orleans and it is used by men and women, imagine it with a creole French accent. Yumm.
Faubourg means neighborhood or suburb.
I have a love hate relationship with Kandinsky's art, some of it I love and some not so much.
All in all I prefer Van Gough. Who do you like?
You know I want to know what you think. So let me know.