- This is just a fictional story based on fictional characters that I am not the creator of.-
The For Sale sign with the horrendously large, red SOLD sticker plastered across the front was propped against the big picture windows. The white porch swing swayed gently in the breeze as Melanie approached it. She sat down and slowly looked around at the porch they had all frequented. As she smiled softly, Victoria and Joy came out of the front door to join her on the extra-wide swing.
They sat there in silence knowing this would be the last time they were here together. It didn't take long for the quiet sobs to start.
"Dammit, Melanie, we said we weren't going to cry anymore." Victoria couldn't stand to hear her best friend crying. They had all had a good long snot-fest weeks ago when they determined it was time for them to move on.
Victoria had been offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to host "The Chatter" in New York City. This would get her back on tv screens across the country and back into a city with professional hair and makeup people. The Miss Clairol from the Big & Easy wasn't cutting it anymore. And Dottie, the Amy Winehouse wannabe, down at the Spicy Nails was not treating her cuticles the way they were accustomed. So after not so much deliberation, Victoria decided the right door was opened and she was going to walk thru it. But a lump formed in her throat as she thought about leaving the 2, no 3, best friends she had ever known. Not many people in her life ever took her seriously and even less were let behind the wall and into the heart of the real Victoria Chase. She looked over at the leggy, brunette sitting beside her.
Rejoyla Scroggs landed in Los Angeles as a broken young lady with no clue as to what she wanted out of life. She only knew she had to get away from England, away from Kyle, the man who left her humiliated at the alter and of course, away from her mother. But she wanted, needed, a new life, a new existence. After all these years she wasn't complete, even with her money and celebrity contacts brought about by her famous eyebrow business, until she moved to Cleveland with Victoria and Melanie. If she had only known how carefree life would be in this homely little town she would have convinced her friends to move years ago. But now, just as she'd settled in and was having the time of her life, she had to leave. Even though technically she was married to Victoria via their dog medicine induced, Canadian wedding, Joy had to go back to England before the INS caught up with her and she would be forever barred. So, grudgingly, back to merry old England she went. Joy wasn't sure how she would fair without her friends and even Elka, who despite their constant bickering was the person she admired and respected most. And Melanie. Dear, dear Mel.
Melanie Moretti thought Cleveland would be a new beginning. And it was. But the things she wanted out of life more than anything was to be a mother and a grandmother. But Cleveland was so far away from her family that little by little her heart continued to crack. Victoria, Elka and Joy were her family too but it wasn't the same. She missed her kids and being a part of their lives and watching them grow into wonderful young adults. When Joy and Victoria announced they were leaving Cleveland, she knew this was her chance to make up for lost time and move back to L.A. Oh but how she'd miss this quaint, beautiful old house and the contrary, old caretaker that came with it.
Who would have thought that the cantankerous, yet agile, old lady would be the ribbon that held their bond so tight? She'd never admit it but Elka was going to miss these 3 stooges. They were the daughters she never had. They were the family she had dreamed of her whole life. And as much as she wanted to tell Melanie, Victoria and Joy how much they meant to her she couldn't bring herself to let the emotions out.