3
The weather was nice and warm and the pizza we had just finished was perfect.
"Oh my god, it's been forever since we had this!" April said with a smile as we looked at our empty plates. I nodded.
"And it still tastes amazing! The memories are just flooding back in now." I replied. She nodded, her eyes big and sparkling as she smiled.
"I miss our college years. It was really fun and just over all a great experience." she replied. I nodded in agreement.
"I do too, but we can't stay young adults forever. But look at you, a big shot reporter in New York. You're living your dreams!" I replied happily and she gave a soft chuckle and nodded.
"Yeah, it's been a crazy adventure getting to this point." she said placing her hands together beneath the table. I nodded in agreement.
"Yes, I saw many pictures and posts of that thing that came out of the sky years ago and was building something." I replied. She nodded slowly, eyes growing serious for a moment.
"It was a ship that was meant to annihilate us all had it had been able to fully come into our world. The Foot Clan was helping the alien creature to do so." she replied. My eyes widened and I looked down in thought of her words.
"Woah. I guess now that just opens my mind up to the possibilities of all kinds of things existing in this world." I said softly, my mind still in a daze. She nodded in agreement and I now looked at her confused. "How were they stopped? I mean who stopped them?"
I was very curious now of this conversation. Who is strong enough to stop a would-be alien invasion! April smirked and leaned in.
"I actually know the four responsible for bringing them all down." she said. My eyes popped.
"No way!" I gushed and she nodded.
"They're like my family." I replied and I gawked. I couldn't help but be jealous. I know her dad passed long ago, so I was happy she was able to find people worth that title.
"Well who are they?" I asked. She now lowered her voice.
"They are actually a secret band of brothers, but they don't really fit into society and so they keep to themselves and remain hidden unless needed." she explained and I leaned back in my booth.
"Woah. They'd have to be pretty powerful to take on that alien ship and the Foot Clan." I replied. She nodded.
"They are very strong." she agreed.
"Wow. I would love to shake the hands of the people responsible for saving all of us one day." I replied. She smiled and leaned in closer to me.
"What if I make that happen?" she asked. My eyes widened more as I leaned closer.
"What, for real?" I asked and she nodded. "How, when?" She now began to scoot out of her booth, a sign she was ready to go, and so I mimicked her actions.
"All in good time. For now, today is about us. Maybe tonight you can meet them if you aren't busy?" she offered. I shook my head.
"It's been years since I have seen you so the day is for us." I replied and she smiled happily and nodded. We left and caught a taxi and took it to the park. It was already full of people and set ups of different paintings and sculptures and other works of art. We immediately immersed ourselves into the crowd walking and talking and catching up about what the other has been up to. I told her about my travels and how I had been a bit tired of the everyday boring routine I had. The associates I had were stuck and rude and didn't appreciate what they were given and it bothered me.
"It seems like you could use a group of good genuine people." April said and I nodded.
"My circle is filled with fake people and I try to distance myself from it, but they're in my job, the places I go for errands, and in that kind of world it can be suffocating." I said. She nodded in understanding.
"Well if you ever need a break from it all, you're always free to hang out with me and my world." she said with a happy shrug. I smiled at her words.
"April!" I heard a happy voice yell. We turned to see a dark tan woman approaching. She had beautiful hazel eyes and long brown hair with big hoop earrings. She wore a purple tank top and green capris pants, that showed off her curvy figure.
"Hey just who I was looking for. Teleya, this is Evangeline 'Eva' Lopez. She's quite the artist. Eva, Teleya Carmichael." she introduced. I've seen that big grin on one's face before. She knew me.
"I love your clothing line and it's so nice to meet you!" she said holding out her hand and I smiled and took it.
"Nice to meet you too! You're an artist, any of your work up?" I asked. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and chuckled bashfully.
"Yeah, but it's hardly anything." she said. I looked at her with interest now.
"I'd love to see it." I replied and she looked at April with excitement.
"Okay, yeah sure!" she said before nodding and motioning for her to follow. I smiled and followed. I was happy people didn't seem to know me here and I was okay with that. We moved over to an area of different paintings mostly of nature and other landscapes. The paint was vibrant in the skies but darkened in the areas that involved the ocean or grass. There were even paintings of animals too.
"Woah. These are beautiful. What are the locations?" I asked looking at Eva who shrugged some.
"Nowhere in particular. A lot of it is just random things. Whatever I thought, I just put it to canvas." she said. A few other civilians were standing around looking too. One of them, an older woman recognized me and asked for a selfie of which I did before she smiled and thanked me before walking away. I looked at Eva with interest.
"I love paintings of nature, I would love to pay for one of paintings." I said. April was just watching in the back ground as Eva's eyes widened.
"Really! Oh my gosh I would love to paint something for you!" she said, her voice filled with excitement.
"Well we will have to talk business some time. Swap numbers?" I asked and she nodded.
"Yes please!" she said and we pulled out our phones and swapped them. She had a beautiful ocean back ground on her phone. Once we were done, we handed each other our phones back. April raised her head and looked over us.
"And here is friend number two!" she said. We turned and now is aw another woman approaching. She was shorter than Eva with freckles and brown hair in pig tails. She had on an orange crop top with blue overalls.
"Lil!" April said happily approaching the woman. "I got Teleya Carmichael's number!" I chuckled and April stood beside me now.
"Teleya Carmichael, Lillian Egan." she introduced and we both shook hands.
"Howdy. Nice to meet a celebrity." she said. I smiled back politely.
"Nice to meet you too. Egan, I have only met one other Egan in this entire town. You'd be the second." I replied. She chuckled.
"If you're referring to Mason Egan, he's my big brother who owns numerous car shops in the city." she said. I nodded.
"That's the one. I only go to him to get my car serviced." I replied. She grinned.
"Oh I'm sure you've brought him a lot of customers." she said. I merely smiled.
"He's a nice man." I replied. She scoffed playfully.
"Now that must be another Egan." she teased. I giggled as April placed her hand on my shoulder to get my attention and she pointed to a few officers who were walking on the outside of the park, monitoring everyone it seemed.
"See the woman with dark red hair in a bun there, that's Annaliese Porter. If there's one cop you want to always have your back, it's her." she introduced. The cop seemed to catch our attention on her and gave a light wave and a big smile before moving on about her walk. I didn't have to know these women to already get a positive vibe off them all. I could imagine they were better friends to each other than the people in my little circle.
"There's a sack race about to start and it's calling my name!" Lillian said before hurrying off with a few other adults to one side of the park. Some people in nice suits approached Eva about her art work and it was just April and I again walking about the park.
"You have really nice friends. How long have you known them for?" I asked.
April shrugged.
"A few years now." she replied before leaning in to me. "Those three women are actually dating the heroes you are going to meet tonight." I blinked rapidly looking back in the direction we came from.
"Them? Wow that's so cool. I can only imagine the adventures you all had to go on that comes with the territory of dating heroes… speaking of, are you seeing anyone?" I asked and we both grinned at each other.
"I am. He's also a cop. What about you? You seeing anyone, I can imagine many would kill to date you." she said. I grinned and shook my head.
"I only try and keep a private life. I do make public appearance here and there, go to brunch and tea and sometimes trips, but most of the time I keep to myself." I explained and she nodded but looked at me mischievously.
"You never answered my question." she noted and I laughed out loud.
"I am not officially in a relationship, but I keep my options open and talk around." I explained. She nodded.
"I get that. I remember when we'd be up late studying and we'd talk about our dreams and goals." she said and I smiled and nodded.
"You just wanted to be a big-time reporter." I replied and she looked at me.
"And you wanted to just travel and see the world." she said. I nodded.
"Yep, and now I am ready to settle down and enjoy my life of luxury. I am ready to disappear out of the lime light." I replied. She looked at me stunned.
"Really?" she asked. I nodded.
"Very. I'm blessed for my success and achievements that go further than my father, and so now I just want to relax and laugh with a good group I can call my friends or more family." I admitted. She gazed at me softly and nodded. She then took my hand and smiled.
"Well you have me. Always." she replied and I smiled thankfully.
"And I appreciate you for that." I replied genuinely before looking out at the park. "So what should I wear to this meeting with these heroes?"
She smiled a bit awkwardly.
"Something that you don't mind getting dirty. I would suggest the muddiest, old boots you have." she said. Now I looked taken aback as I paused in my walk and looked at her.
"Muddy… old? You're kidding right? Where are we going the sewers?" I asked. She just gave a mild shrug and walked forward. Well that did not answer my question at all!