Little Moments (Second Chances 2)

Gia shakes her head. “I don’t even know why I bother watching. The news just pisses me off. All I hear are stories of rape, murder, child abuse, and stupidity.”

She tosses the remote to me and I change the channel to the morning talk show. “Sometimes the news has good stories too ya know. You just have to be patient.”

I nudge her shoulder and stick my tongue out at her. She fights the urge to laugh but cracks after a few seconds.

“So, any plans this weekend?”

I nod my head. “Yeah actually, I’m babysitting my goddaughter. Her parents are celebrating their three-year anniversary so I volunteered to watch her.”

“Babysitting? Melanie, you’re twenty-seven years old. You gotta get out there girl. Okay, next weekend, we are going dancing!”

“Gia, I have the weekend shift next weekend. Besides, I haven’t been dancing since my early college years and I’m pretty sure I’m rusty.”

She won’t take no for an answer. “No excuses Melanie. We are having fun. You need it. All you do is work. Don’t you have friends outside of work? Family?”

“I just have my best friend, Raya, and her husband, Duke. And they are my family.”

“Yeah, but what about dating? Meeting guys? You’re in your prime right now. Don’t miss out on life.”

“I’m not; I just haven’t focused on that aspect of my life right now. There are more important things than sex.”

She gets off the sofa and heads toward the counter. “Hmm, what world do you live in?” She grabs a pastry out of a white bakery box and licks her lips. “Yum.”

She takes a bite of the chocolate pastry and I immediately recognize it: an éclair.

I race toward the counter and grab one. “Where did you get those?”

“What these? I think Dr. Quinn brought these in earlier.”

I take a bite. “Easton bought these?”

She gives me a smirk. “Oh it’s Easton now huh?”

I shake my head. “Don’t start Gia. I am not going there with you.”

She pouts. “Oh come on, you know he’s gorgeous! Everything about him is fine! His body, his eyes, and I know for a fact you have checked out his tight ass.”

I slap her shoulder. “Gia! What is this, high school? I am not checking out the doctors here.”

She busts out laughing. “Just admit it Melanie. He is some serious man candy.”

I finish the éclair and go for a second one. The pastry yumminess brings a smile to my face.

“See! You’re smiling! You have noticed him.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s the éclair.”

She gives me a puzzling look.

“I absolutely love éclairs. It’s my favorite Italian pastry. I used to go to this bakery all the time in high school, and this éclair reminded me of that. This one is not as good as that bakery’s though. I can’t remember the name of the bakery but they had the best food. Their cheesecakes were to die for and the cookies were straight out of heaven. Everything from that place was so good. I went to that bakery at least once a week during my senior year. I’m pretty sure that if I hadn’t been on the dance team, I would have been a fat kid.”

“What’s the name of the bakery?”

I glance at the ceiling trying to remember. Gosh, I haven’t been there in years.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to think. “I can’t remember. The last time I was there I was with Duke and we were in the process of finding Raya. That was four years ago.”

I think about my upcoming fun-filled weekend with Layla, my goddaughter. “Maybe I’ll take Layla and get some cheesecake this weekend.”