“Ooh! She’s here!” she told Amy. “She just parked.”
“Get a load of you, all excited all of a sudden,” Amy teased.
Rachel blushed.
“Shut up; I am not!”
But she was. By this point in the day, she was more than ready to see Ainsley again.
A moment later, the woman herself walked in, took a quick look around and located Rachel.
Rachel stood to give her a hug and a quick kiss hello.
“Oh thank goodness that’s over!” Ainsley said. “So many papers!” She turned to Amy, who was still sitting. “Hi, I’m Ainsley!” she greeted with that unbelievable smile, sticking out her hand.
“Um…hi. I’m…Amy.”
They shook hands.
“Oh, I know,” Ainsley said. “I’m actually a huge fan of your podcast!”
“Wow! Thanks. That…um…means so much to me!”
“It is such an honor to meet you!” Ainsley went on. “Oh, by the way, please say hi to Sally for me! Our mothers work together.”
Amy smiled and it would have taken someone who knew her as well as Rachel did to recognize how fake it was.
“I will,” she said. “I’m sure Sally will love that you thought of her.”
Turning back to Rachel, Ainsley then said, “This is such a cute place! Do they sell iced tea here? Because I’m dying for an iced tea.”
After Rachel assured her that she could get her iced tea fix taken care of, Ainsley, with another winning smile at Amy, excused herself to go to the ordering counter.
When Rachel sat back down, Amy leaned over the table.
“That’s Ainsley?” she hissed.
Rachel blinked.
“Yeah, why?”
“She’s, like…” Amy seemed to be struggling to find the right words, which Rachel knew was unusual for her. “For Christ’s sake, she’s the blonde Vanessa!”
Rachel couldn’t help herself.
“Yep. Just think, Sally actually went on a blind date with her…and yet she still chose you.”
Amy gasped.
“Oh my god, shut up!” she squeaked, reaching across the small table and smacking her bestie on the shoulder.
“Relax, I’m kidding, you know that.”
“Argh!” Amy groaned. “I’m going home now to give Sally the best sex of her life so she remembers why she’s with me.”
“You can’t leave now!” Rachel exclaimed. “Ainsley will be back in a second and she’s already said hello to you. It would be rude.”
“It would be ruder if I plunge a knife in her heart,” Amy grumbled, crossing her arms. “Oh, and if she thinks I’m telling Sally she said hi, she’s out of her mind. I’m telling Sally that Miss Perfect Ainsley moved to New Zealand.” She suddenly leaned forward. “Is she good in bed?”