#amanda varner

[wannabecatwriter]

Antoine followed Amanda, only to be interrupted by a familiar face, who has grown tired of Josie’s company.

“Hi, babe. Missed me?”

Ugh! Why now, he thought.

“What is it, ‘Lupe’? I mean, that’s obviously not your real name, is it?” he groaned.

“It’s as real as your ‘single’ status, isn’t it?” she smirked. “Does your lovely wife know your habit of picking up women at bars? Or is she blissfully unaware?”

“You and I both know I was drunker than a skunk that night,” Antoine frowned.

“Oh, I don’t know about that. You spoke quite eloquently for a ‘drunk’ guy, if you ask me. And did a few other things quite well,” Maria grinned, giving him a once-over that made him feel like a piece of meat. “How do you think wifey would feel if she found out about our little rendezvous?”

“What do you want, Maria?” he asked growing wearier by the minute.

“Hmm, I don’t know, I haven’t decided yet.”

She enjoyed knowing she had this guy’s marital status in her hands.

“Well, decide what you will,” he glared, before storming off and heading to the bathroom before the urge to take another drink hit him.

[wannabecatwriter]

After the long evening of chatting and networking, Amanda also allowed herself to have a drink. And no sooner had she drank some, had she noticed her husband heading for the drinks himself.

Again.

“Darling, are you quite alright?” she asked. “You’ve had a few too many already, haven’t you? And you’re not looking like yourself.”

“I’m fine, Mandy. Just a little peopled out, I guess,” Antoine made an excuse.

“It’s not like you. You’re usually the life of the party. But I get it, I’m actually just waiting for the cake to be served, so we can head home,” she admitted.

“For reals?” he perked up.

“Yeah, but we can’t leave just yet. That would be so rude. But come on, join us by the window. They’re having an interesting business discussion.”

[wannabecatwriter]

While Chandra was busy schmoozing with the crowd, Josie finally made it to the lounge, where she almost collided with a young man coming in.

He gave her what he probably thought was a seductive once-over, but once Josie saw that hair, it was an absolute nope from her. A high maintenance man was the very last thing she wanted in her life.

Chandra quickly spotted her from across the room and quickly hurried to do damage control before Josie could interact with anyone.

[wannabecatwriter]

“You’re telling me I put something wrong in my body?” Kimberly huffed. “Girl, I go to the best dietician in town, pay more for a personal trainer than some make in a month, and make sure to get as much beauty sleep as anyone needs.”

“And that’s good. But sometimes, you just need a bit more to kick that routine up to the next level,” Chandra shrugged. “Trust me, I thought the same way as you, but when my friend made me start taking multivitamins for a month, for a trial, I instantly felt better.”

“You know, I didn’t believe you when you’ve talked about those vitamins of yours before, but they do seem like the real deal,” Amanda chimed in. “I’ve felt much more energetic since starting to take them. And they actually taste pretty nice, unlike many others.”

“So, you liked them?” Chandra smiled, trying not to look too gleeful. “Which ones did you prefer?”

“The multivitamin. I’m going to order more of them next month, so you can record this somewhere,” Amanda told her.

“Hmm, you know what? Put me down for an order as well,” Kimberly told her. “I’ll give that stuff a try.”

[wannabecatwriter]

“Antoine, dear,” Janis addressed the young man. “Did I ever tell you how much of a resemblance you have to my dear Brandon when he was young?”

“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Langford,” Antoine beamed at her. It was no secret her late husband was a major looker in his young days. “I’ll take it as a compliment.”

“Hmm. But young man, if you want your looks to last longer, you should go easy on those drinks. How many have you had just this evening?”

“I haven’t had that many, ma’am,” he answered somewhat brusquely.

“Are you trying to kid me or yourself?” Janis shook her head.

Oh well. One could give advice. One couldn’t take the advice for the other person.

“He has been drinking a bit much tonight,” Amanda agreed with her once Antoine walked off. “Don’t know what got into him. He’s not usually like that.”

“Of course, of course.”

Another one who was kidding herself, thought Janis. Oh well. Oh well.

[wannabecatwriter]

“Miss Villegas does have a point,” Chandra agreed. “As we age, we are less equipped to deal with the everyday stress we face. And if we don’t take care of ourselves, it’ll wear us out much quicker.”

“So true,” Amanda nodded along. “So very true. In any case, I hear you Maria. But Chandra, my order for the vitamins stays put. Even if I only feel better because of the placebo effect, or whatever it is, I’m not complaining.”

“Same here, I kind of want to find out for myself what all the fuss is about,” Kimberly agreed.

Maria couldn’t help but roll her eyes. They were such sheep.

She failed to understand one simple thing: sometimes, criticism was a good advertisement. Especially in a crowd such as this one.

[wannabecatwriter]

“You ladies actually believe all that bullshit about vitamins?” Maria joined the conversation. “You know, most of them are total duds, right?”

“What makes you say that?” Chandra asked, keeping her cool.

“The facts. We already get the nutrients we need from food. At least, we’re supposed to. Anything extra is just that. Extra. It doesn’t really do anything and isn’t even properly absorbed by the body. Sure, you can take all the vitamins you want, but they won’t really fix the underlying problems you have.”

“And what problems are those?” Amanda asked.

“Purely based on your own complaints, not having enough time to relax, stress, a hectic lifestyle, and if I may add, the obvious one - aging. As you get older, you simply become less able to withstand the everyday stresses of life.”

“That’s a little uncalled for,” Kimberly bristled while Amanda did her best to put on a game face.

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger,” Maria shrugged. “I’m just telling it like it is.”

[wannabecatwriter]

With the Josie matter out of the way, Chandra made her way over to Amanda and Kimberly, who were engrossed in a discussion about their busy lifestyles.

“I was able to take just a week off last year,” Amanda complained. “We fly out to this nice resort, just settle in, and the phone calls start and keep coming in. You’d think with all the talent I hire, they would know what to do while I’m gone for a week, but no... they needed my input on the dumbest crap.”

“I know what you mean,” Kimberly nodded in understanding. “I thought things would be easier when I hired a management company, but those idiots are professionals at constantly late invoices and delegating all the responsibilities right back at me. I thought the renters were paying late on the regular for a while, until I found out the company was mishandling their checks.”

“I trust they are no longer your management company?!” Amanda exclaimed.

“Absolutely,” Kimberly nodded. “I don’t need that kind of inefficiency in my life.”

Of course, she didn’t, thought Chandra. Kimberly preferred someone to handle all her daily responsibilities for her, leaving her free to participate in the city’s social scene. It helped that she could actually live that way, having been the sole inheritor of her late husband’s multiple properties.

“I understand you so well,” Chandra chimed in. “I was in the same boat three years ago. Stressed out, not feeling my best, needing a change. I guess I got lucky - my buddy made me sit down and really take a look at what my body was going through during the day and what I was putting in it.”