"Hey Claudia! It's great to see you!" said Pete warmly as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. "First round of drinks are on the house. After all, what would a Baby-sitter's Club reunion be without you girls getting sloshed and falling all over the place?"
Pete laughed good-naturedly as Claudia and Stacey swung their purses at him in mock anger. Claudia was glad she had remained on good terms with Pete Black. He was owner of The Thirsty Camel, which was one of the most popular bars in Stoneybrook. The Thirsty Camel was a large sports bar that featured karaoke contests, nightly specials, great food and even a dance floor for the weekend. As they followed Pete back to one of the back rooms Stacey whispered to Claudia,
"Why don't you go out with Pete? He's hot, fun, well off and you've known him forever!"
Claudia laughed as she though of how she and Pete had decided to try a no strings attached relationship after Mark. It had worked out well for about 3 weeks before Claudia realized that many other girls had the same arrangement with him.
"Pete is too busy banging his wait staff and besides shush or he'll hear you!" As much as she wanted to hate him, she realized they never were in a relationship, and Pete had actually become a pretty good friend over the years. She had helped him with designing an Egyptian mural on one of the walls while he advertised her business on his coasters.
Claudia looked around the room and was pleased to discover it was set up exactly how she imagined. Jason was already helping himself to chicken wings and nachos while trying to place drink orders for the three of them. As soon as Claudia placed her order, she turned to see a tall girl with short reddish brown hair and bright blue eyes clutching the hand of a man in his late 40s-early 50s.
"Mallory!" exclaimed Stacey with a smile. "It's so good to see you! I can't believe how much you've changed since I've seen you last!"
Mallory smiled shyly as she let herself be hug by Stacey then again by Claudia.
"Claudia, Stacey, this is my boyfriend Roger." She said as she looked up adoringly into Rogers's eyes.
Stacey recovered from her shock first as she reached out to shake Roger's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Roger. I'd like to introduce you to my boyfriend Jason. He's say hello but he's been cramming his mouth full of nachos since we got here!" Claudia smiled as she listened to Stacey laugh. She tried to inconspicuously steal glances at Roger and was dismayed to see he had a receding hairline, a pot belly, and was wearing a cardigan.
"I didn't know you were hiring chaperones.." Claudia jumped at the voice whispering in her ear.
"Shannon!" she screamed throwing her arms around the petite blonde. "When did you guys get in?" She reached over to hug Andy as well.
Soon after Logan & Julie came in, followed by Jessi and Terrance. Claudia was instantly annoyed as she watched Jessi greet everyone warmly but merely nod in her direction. Before she could get too upset Abby, Anna, Daniel & Elliot walked in together. As everyone began greeting one another and new introductions were made, a tall, very athletic, blonde swept into the room followed by a man with long blonde hair, goatee and deep green eyes.
"I don't suppose you have anything healthy to eat do you? I guess Scott and I will have to run next door for a salad?"
"Dawn!" screamed Stacey as she ran over to hug her.
Soon the sound of laughter and conversation and introductions was so loud that they almost didn't hear the sounds of a woman crying.
Everyone turned to see a petite brunette with shoulder length brown hair sobbing holding onto the hand of a good looking man whose face was red in embarrassment.
"She's kind of emotional at seeing everyone…" he admitted sheepishly.
"Awwwww, Mary Anne!" chorused the room. They went over to give her a group hug as an ear piercing whistle nearly shattered their eardrums.
"I thought this was a celebration, not a sob fest!" yelled out a pint size woman with long brown hair. She had her hands on her hips and was looking around the room sternly. A very tall, nice looking man with long, brown hair tied neatly in a low ponytail came in behind her. "Well love, I guess you've announced our presence! Hullo all, I'm Nigel, the fantastic fiancé of this brilliant beauty,"
"My God…" whispered Claudia to Shannon. "They are clones. I don't believe it!"
"Wow." Muttered Stacey. "I could listen to that accent all day long!"
"OOF!" groaned Claudia as she received a fierce bear hug from Kristy followed by a rib cracking hug that lifted her off the ground from Nigel.
"What's to eat? I need to order a beer. By the way my brother Sam is here too. He had to take a leak though." Said Kristy her brown eyes darting back and forth at the group of people.
"There he is!" boomed Nigel. "Did you drain the ol' pipe Sammy-boy?"
Claudia looked up and saw Sam Thomas grin sheepishly and try to fight the blush creeping up his neck. Before she could stop herself she ran over and gave him a quick hug.
"Sam! It's great to see you! It's been years but….welcome home!" Claudia groaned as she realized the reason for Sam's homecoming was not a pleasant one.
"Thanks Claud, it's good to be back. Even if my sister has managed to find the one person more obnoxious than her to marry and bring home to live with us all." He grinned and Claudia couldn't help grinning in response. As she pointed to the waitress who was taking drink orders she hurried over to where Stacey and Jason were.
"Has Sam always been that cute? Or am I so in need of sex that anything looks good? I mean, he has those amazing eyes, and that curly hair and those little freckles on his nose. Not to mention hello nice body!" gabbed Claudia as she quickly finished her vodka tonic and held up her glass signaling to the waitress to order another.
"Well He's always been cute, I mean 20 years ago when he and I dated for 5 weeks I thought he was adorable. At 13, I really saw a future for us." Stacey said with a wry smile, laughing as Claudia stuck her tongue out at her.
"Who'd you date? I'll kick his ass!" muttered Jason turning away from the conversation he was having with Andy and Elliot.
"Oh shut up Mr. Macho. It was a million years ago. Go back to your discussion about sports." Retorted Stacey.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Several hours later, Claudia came out of her stall in the bathroom only to come face to face with Jessi.
"Jessi! Ca! Jessica! Hi! I haven't had a chance to really talk to you yet tonight. I talked to Terrance, he is a wonderful man. I'm glad you two are so happy and that your kids get along." Claudia knew she was babbling but the drinks she had were taking their effect on her.
Jessica stared at Claudia and raised one eyebrow. Her face relaxed into a smile as she leaned forward to give Claudia a hug.
"Thanks for organizing this Claud, it's great to see everyone. I have pictures of the kids do you want to see?" said Jessi as she dragged Claudia over to the sinks.
"This is Destiny, she's 12, and this is Terrance's daughter Shelby, she's 8. This handsome man is Terrance Jr, he's 4" She said proudly as Claudia exclaimed over the pictures.
"Look, Jessica, I'm sorry about everything. I know I owe you, Mallory, Dawn, Abby, hell everyone an apology for becoming so wrapped up in myself and well…Mark. But what he put me through was-"
Jessica held up her hand to stop Claudia.
"Look, I know the story. I'm sorry I was hard on you. It's just hard for me to understand why someone as strong as you could get caught up in that. Let's just put it behind us. Ok?"
"Thank you Jessica!" whispered Claudia as she let herself be hugged.
"Claudia? Call me Jessi."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Okay everyone are you ready?" yelled Nigel as he stood on his chair with a shot held high in the air.
The group giggled as they tried to follow Nigel in singing a famous English drinking song. At the end of the song they all downed a shot of whiskey much to the delight of Nigel and Kristy, but to the disgust of many others.
"I can't do that again!" groaned Mary Anne as she settled down on Jeremy lap. Just then a popular song began playing as Jessi & Mallory sang the lyrics on the karaoke screen.
"Let's dance!" she squealed dragging random people to the dance floor. Claudia laughed as she danced and sang along relishing the moment of being with her friends.
"Who wants to sing an old school U4ME song with me?" yelled Dawn as she flipped through a Karaoke book looking for a song.
"I hate that gay ass group!" groaned Sam. "C'mon Claud, let's you and me go do a shot. If I hear one of those songs I may puke."
Claudia grinned as she led herself be led up to the bar by Sam. She couldn't believe how much in common they had. She had never really gotten a chance to talk to Sam and now the more she drank the more she found she had to say. Pete grinned at them as he poured them a shot and then one for himself.
"To rekindling old friendships!" called Sam as he toasted his shot glass to theirs.
"Old friendsips!" Claudia echoed as she downed her shot grinning at Pete with a lemon slice between her teeth.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Oooooh, ouch…Why is my phone ringing so damn early?" Claudia groaned as she reached for her phone on the nightstand. "Hello?" She croaked.
"You sound like I'm feeling." Groaned Stacey. "Just wanted to tell you that we will not be over at 11 to help you get ready for tomorrow. More like 1 ok? I think I'm going to puke now so I'll see you later."
"Mrphsnetjh" muttered Claudia in reply as she closed her phone then buried her face in her pillow.
Why did I not put on my pajamas last night? She wondered as she felt her naked body press up against the sheets.
"Who was on the phone?"
Claudia gasped and jumped at sound of the voice. She quickly sat up wincing at the pain in her head as she looked to her right. She closed her eyes weakly after viewing the man laying there with his arm over his eyes. What the hell happened last night? How drunk was I? How drunk was he?
"Hi there Sam…."
