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They all looked at me with genuine worry on their faces.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that, lately I’ve been feeling like my life has been passing me by. It’s all happened too fast and I can’t believe I’m actually fifty.” Well, that was no lie.
“But I thought you’d feel great after having your hair and make-up done,” Elaine questioned.
I glanced at myself in the mirror, my expertly coiffed hair exposing my painted face, with coral-coloured cheeks to match my outfit and coral-coloured eyeliner under… my eyebrows? Since when do make-up artists draw a bright coloured line under your eyebrows? Not only that, my lips were coral too – with a sharp gold outline. What the hell? I shook my head and almost laughed at the result.
The women around me still looked concerned and I had to reassure them. “When I turned around just now and saw my face, I cried because… well, because you did such a great job, Barb and… I wish I could look like this all the time.” Ouch. That was hard to say.
Barb visibly softened and a hand flew to her chest in apparent relief. Elaine stepped back and smiled. Diora rubbed my back.
“Oh, Mum. You always look great and today you’ll just look extra special.”
Extra special indeed. If Selena could see me now, she’d laugh till she ran out of air and as for Grant, he’d… well, hopefully he’d stand by me and say it didn’t matter what I looked like. Although, something inside told me it did matter to him.
“You’re going to knock everyone’s socks off at the party tonight, Mum. You don’t even look fifty! I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the guests bought fortieth birthday cards by mistake.”
I must have taught my daughter the art of lying well.
“It’s going to be a great night and just you wait till you see the birthday cake Dad’s organised for you. It’s gorgeous! You can look forward to that and to blowing out the candles, and making a wish,” she said.
A wish, birthday cake… that’s it! How silly was I to think that bungy jumping or a facial could turn back the clock. The idea seemed ludicrous now. But making a wish on one’s birthday cake? That’s what happens in the movies – they make a wish and something magical happens. And in my case, well, I knew exactly what I’d be wishing for.
All the helplessness spiralled back down into oblivion and I knew the cake had to be it. I just had to get through this day as best I could and await the inevitable singing of Happy Birthday, dancing flames from the candles holding the key to my dreams.
I stood. “You’re right. It’s going to be a great night. And a great day. And I cannot wait to see my birthday cake!”
“That’s the spirit!” Diora cried out. “Well, don’t waste this day of yours, Mum. When are you meeting Kasey for lunch?”
I’d forgotten about my sister! Selena may be far away and Grant nowhere in sight, but Kasey must be here somewhere… and she would be forty-seven years old!
“Um, I can’t remember.”
“That’s the damn menopause again,” Elaine said. “Not only do you get to experience four seasons in one day and the surprise of finding random hairs growing from odd places, it kills your memory too.”
Hmmm… this couldn’t be just a severe case of menopausal memory loss, could it? I shook my head. Of course it couldn’t and Dr Vischek would have said something if that was even remotely possible, wouldn’t he?
“Permanently,” Elaine continued. “The hot flushes may be gone from my life but the shoddy memory remains. The only thing I seem to remember these days is my credit card number.”
A knowing laugh emerged from Barb’s mouth. “Well, use it or lose it – so they say.”
Elaine laughed too. “And boy, do I use it!” She held up her e-pad. “Speaking of which, here you go.” She positioned the e-pad near Barb’s payment scanner and Diora approached with hers too. “Put half on my VISA. Diora and I are sharing the cost for today.”
“Thanks, girls,” I said.
“Our pleasure.” Elaine then gestured to my e-pad. “Look in your calendar, Kel, to remind you when to meet Kasey.”
Of course. It seemed one couldn’t live without these e-pads. They stored everything and did everything. I pinched the screen and pressed Calendar on the menu. “In twenty minutes, at City Junction Cafe.”
“Oh, I love that place,” Elaine said. “Peter and I used to go there quite a lot, until… until we didn’t anymore.” She looked sad and then shook herself out of it. “Anyway, enjoy! And order the most expensive meal, no doubt Kasey will be paying.”
I hoped she wasn’t still angry with me. I turned towards the door. And then I realised our fight would have been twenty-five years ago and with any luck we hadn’t had another one recently. As in, recently in the future. The past of the future. The – oh, I’m confused! Anyway, if she hated me she wouldn’t be meeting me for lunch. Ooh, I couldn’t wait to see her!
Beep! A new message from William:
Hope facial was nice. Hey do you know if the hardware store sells some sort of heavy duty rope that’s stretchy? ~ W
Heavy duty stretchy rope? Why would I know anything about that, or hardware stores? He was the man of the house, shouldn’t he know that kind of stuff? Oh wait… he’s not really the practical, outdoorsy, whip-up-a-masterpiece-with-a-hammer-and-nails-and-wood kind of guy.
