The Very Best of Friends

Concerned about how Matt would react to it she called him on the hands-free in her car and nervously asked if he liked redheads at all.

"Nan made plans tonight, so I'm catching up with Steve, why don't you come and meet us?" he suggested, "So I can give you my honest opinion rather than a guess. "Steve will call bullshit if I try to lie, he has the tact of a sled sledgehammer."

She prevaricated, she wasn't sure she was ready to meet his friends, but she guessed he knew hers, and she couldn't put it off indefinitely. She gave in, and he gave her the address of the pub where they were having a drink. Aside from the occasional light beer or glass of wine with dinner, she'd never really thought of Matt as someone who drank. Certainly not someone who went to the pub with his mates and on some level she was intrigued at this facet of his life.

She walked into the crowded bar feeling somewhat overdressed in the knee-length pencil skirt and silk blouse she had worn to work that day. She tossed her head feeling the waves of her hair bounce around her face and looked around for Matt. Seeing him sitting at a large table with a bunch of tradies she walked over slowly wanting to make a good impression.

"Well hello sexy," an older man she assumed to be Steve greeted her as she approached the table. "Can I offer you a seat?" Matt had his back to the door and hadn't seen her come in and as he looked up he did a double take.

"Joanna," he breathed and stood to kiss her. "You look great."

"This sexy young thing is your Joanna?" Steve whistled. "You've got better taste than I gave you credit for boy." He eyed Joanna from head to toe. "If you ever consider trading up give me a call, I'm single. I know it's hard to believe but true for the moment."

"Absolutely hard to believe," Joanna laughed and took the seat he had offered her. Matt offered to get her a drink, "I'll just stay for one I have to drive." She agreed and watched him get up and walk to the bar leaving her to talk with Steve and the other men at the table.

"Pretty obvious why we haven't seen Matt lately," one of the guys said with a throaty laugh.

"Yeah I'd trade you lot in for her any day," another said making her blush lightly.

"You'd trade us in if a dog sniffed ya crotch willingly," Steve laughed loudly. "No offence," he patted her hand that rested on the table.

"None taken," she laughed. She felt like an intruder in the all-male environment. This wasn't her type of place or even the type of people she usually associated with, and she felt uncomfortable. She was obviously a lot older than all of them except maybe Steve, so finished her drink quickly to leave as soon as she could. She kissed Matt telling him not to hurry and feeling like a mother rather than a partner as she said it.

"Fuck if you don't go home with her I will," Steve laughed raucously, and Matt downed his beer.

"I didn't want to interrupt your boy's night," Joanna said quickly. "I'd just heard so much about you that I wanted to meet you," she laughed with Steve. "We're not joined at the hip or anything."

"I bet that's not because he doesn't want to be," Steve smirked at Matt.

"I'll catch up with you next week," Matt said and raised a hand in farewell at his friends walking her out to her car. "Race you home he kissed her and jogged off toward his car.

The sex that night was aggressive and hard as he showed her how desirable he thought she was with the new hairstyle. She floated on a cloud of endorphins as she fell asleep exhausted and sweaty from the full workout he'd given her. She couldn't believe how good he made her feel and what she had been missing out on all those years she had been married to a virtual stranger. She understood now, why Michael had sought out happiness with someone else and her thoughts softened toward her ex-husband.

Life settled into a routine of sorts where they did the boot camps, and Joanna went to work, while Matt continued to see his other clients and check in with his Nan while trying to build up his business. By the end of the first month, word of mouth had started to travel, and the reviews she and her friends had written for his website began to pay off. Most of the newer clients worked, so he began working every morning and every evening, even holding three to four sessions on a Saturday and again on Sunday morning.

Rather than wearing him out, the additional exercise seemed to energise him even more, at first and they continued to enjoy their overactive sex life. When they reached the six-week mark, Matt refused to take any more excuses and redid her baseline data. She was more than impressed with the improvements she had made.

"I guess all those extra workouts you have been giving me have paid off," she said smiling seductively. "My diet hasn't changed enough to make those sort of improvements. I'm going to need a new wardrobe at this rate, even the new things I bought don't fit as well as they did."

"It's great and now that you have that battle under control we get to work on the fun stuff," he grinned and began removing her top.

"The fun stuff?" she asked.

"Mmhmm," he nuzzled into her neck. "Turning you into a naturalist who is as confident being nude as she is wearing all these clothes." He pulled her top off and left her in her bra. "Just one thing at a time. This week try to walk around in your bra when we're at home, maybe have full topless Tuesday? I'll do it with you," he offered with a smirk and took his shirt off.

"Oh yeah that's the same thing," she laughed. "I have been thinking about the wedding," she admitted. "Melanie said she'd come with me, but you could come as my plus one if you'd like. Melanie has her invitation, and while most people just assume we will go together for support, you could come if you can afford to take a few days off from the business." She wasn't one hundred percent sure she wanted him to go with her, but he had mentioned so often, and they had practically been living together for the last month.

"I thought you'd never ask," he smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "I wasn't happy about sending you off to your ex-husband with this smoking hot body on display and no one to guard your virtue."

"My virtue huh?" she laughed.

"Trust me, I know guys and I don't want him thinking that he can take a stroll down memory lane with my woman," he murmured.

"How very cave man of you," he teased, but she liked that he was quite open about how he felt about her. Everywhere that was except with her friends.

"So at the threat of sounding all cave woman, I think that it can't hurt to drop a few hints to my friends. Melanie is bursting to tell them, and she might explode soon," she laughed lightly trying to make it sound less of a big deal to her than it was.

"It can't hurt to drop a few small hints," he mused reluctantly. "We'd still have to take two cars, so you could get to work on time" he seemed to consider it. "The only reason they don't already know is that Melanie's the only one who visits you regularly, I guess. It's just that boot camp is work for me and I'd like to keep it separate from all this."

"I was talking to Kylie about going over to talk about my eating plan, maybe you could come with me?" she asked. "Sort of break the ice and see the reaction."

"Sounds like a better idea," he said. "I just don't want either area of my life to become messy.

"I understand, it's fine," he leaned up and kissed him. "I'd just rather is Carla wasn't so friendly all the time," she laughed. "You could maybe tell her you're involved with someone."

"Is that what we are? Involved?" he asked with the sexy smile that always got to her. "You know you could drop down to three times a week like your friends now," he said. "You're in great shape, and I was thinking about dropping one of the mornings from the schedule now that I have a larger clientele and need the space in my week. I'll send out an email to everyone suggesting some alternative schedules," he said.

"It's been great to have a lot of choices, but I can see that we're taking up a lot of your time. We've done a pretty full on six weeks, and everyone has made the goals you set them, haven't they?"

"Maybe I could just cut out Joanna's place and use the park so that one or two other clients can join the session if they want on a sign-up basis, so the group never goes over six," he mused. He went to pick up his tablet and fiddle with the new timetabling app he had downloaded. With the moment, gone Joanna picked up her shirt and walked into the bedroom.

She liked what they had together. The sex was incredible, and he was kind, considerate and made her feel good about herself. He was so easily distracted, though, and she found herself finding fault in little things, like his choice of music in the mornings. He might be able to blow off the advances that women like Carla made on him, but they made her feel odd about their hidden relationship. She was sure Carla would never do that if she knew the truth.

*****

With the wedding on her mind, Joanna considered that the biggest hurdle she had now aside from the nudity itself was seeing her ex Michael again. She was feeling like a new woman. She had completed Britney's six-week change challenge and had new hair, new clothes, new shoes. She had a beautician that massaged, waxed and tweezed her whom she had committed to seeing once a month for a freshen up. She also had Matt to bolster her self-esteem and make her feel feminine and beautiful.

She felt like a far cry from the sad little housewife that let her son and husband leave with no idea of how to contact either of them. She couldn't believe she had let them treat her that badly and not put up more of a fight instead of shouldering the blame for the breakdown of her marriage. She loved Justin above all else and had believed they had a wonderful relationship, but she realised now it was all on his terms. If anything happened to her, it could be weeks before he found out about it at the rate they communicated at the moment. Justin didn't even know about Matt because they had barely exchanged emails let alone talked recently.

Matt was working more and more, and she could see the tell-tale signs of the business taking over his life. She had lived through that once already and wound up the loser, and she didn't want to be there again. Melanie was the main touchstone in her life. If she needed to talk or vent, Melanie was there without judgement and her usual way of laying out a problem, so it didn't seem as big of a deal as it had before she had talked to her friend. Likewise, when Melanie needed her Joanna was there to listen to her relationship woes with the new man in her life who she didn't want to identify just yet because she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

After a long Friday evening together sharing several bottles of wine as Matt worked late Joanna prevaricated bring up the subject of Michael. When Matt came home, he was exhausted after a big week, which was unusual and after an hour or so of socialising he went to bed leaving them to talk. It was then that Joanna broached the subject of her fears about the wedding which was only weeks away now.

"I think I am more worried about being seen by Michael and Barbie and being judged than I am about the nude part now," Joanna confided. "I invited Matt, but I'm not sure if that was because I want him there as my partner or as a barrier against Michael." She spoke quietly not wanting Matt to hear her even though they sat out on the back patio with the door shut.

"Who cares what Michael thinks," Melanie said waving her arm around but watching her friend carefully. Noting the range of expressions on Joanna's face she added. "He won't be worried about what you think of him with Malibu Barbie standing beside him."

"I know but after twenty years of marriage you'd think we could at least be friends and wish each other well with no animosity or bad feeling," Joanna said. "I think I need to see him before the wedding and clear the air between us."

"You want to be his friend?" Melanie asked with a frown. "After the awful things, he said about you?"

"He needed to put some blame on me, so he attacked me rather than admit he was an asshole for leaving the way he did," she sighed. Try as she might she didn't hate him.

"Why would you make excuses for his bad behaviour?" Melanie sounded hurt as if Michael had attacked her as well.

"I have to if I ever want to go to this wedding and enjoy it. I mean I've done all this work, and I feel really good but what is it for if I can't get past the fact that he will be there, judging me."

"He won't be judging you," Melanie said not even believing the words herself as they left her mouth.

"You know he will, and I want him to regret so many of those mean things he said to me but I don't want to attend Justin's wedding with things the way are now where we don't communicate at all," Joanna tried to explain.

"Then call him, talk to him that way if he bothers to accept your call," Melanie said. "There is no need to put yourself through a confrontation with him and have him talk you down the way he did."

"It's been years since we divorced, I'm sure he's as over it as I am," she said with a sigh.

"I'm on your side.," Melanie said softening her tone and reaching out to take her hand. "I've always been on your side. If this is something you need to do, then do it. Just promise you won't let him walk all over you and make you feel like shit again," Melanie said with feeling making sure Joanna knew she thought this was a bad idea, especially so close to the wedding. "You look fabulous, you're confident, and you have a sexy young guy in your life, I just don't get why you would want to see the man who treated you so badly."

"He's Justin's father. I can't just ignore his existence like an old lover. We are bound together by Justin and what if he and Tom adopt and give us grandchildren. It's just easier if we try and build some bridges," Joanna said as if she had already made up her mind. "The problem is aside from going to the company I have no idea how to contact him."

"Call the company then. You don't have to go in there you know," Melanie still wasn't convinced this was a good idea.

Two days later Joanna walked into the building that housed the finance company she had helped her husband to build. In the early days, she had answered phones and made cold calls for him. He'd worked out of an office in their home at the time before moving into a small office block. She stood in front of the elevator thinking about how far Michael had come since those days. He'd worked hard, and he deserved it she gave him his dues, but she felt that he had sacrificed his life with her to get to this plush building.

"Cant go backwards only forwards," she mumbled to herself and stepped into the small mirrored box that would propel her up to his offices. He knew she was coming. He'd chosen to meet here, his place of power knowing that she wouldn't make a scene with so many former friends as witnesses. She took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face. They'd managed to avoid each other for three years. It was time to move on. She didn't want to be one of those couples who spoke badly of their ex's after the divorce. They'd had a good life together once, but they'd both moved on now. He had Barbie, and she had Matt. She frowned and tried to remember if Barbie was her real name or just the name she and her friends had given the woman who had been the final nail in the coffin of their dying marriage.

Stepping off the Elevator, she spoke to the receptionist using her maiden name. Quite a few things had changed in the last few years including the receptionist; she thought as she took a seat.

"Joanna?" a male voice asked, and she looked up to see her ex-brother-in-law walking toward her.

"Hello Dave, it's been a long time," she said with a smile standing up to greet him.

"I barely recognised you. You're looking lovely," he said embracing her. "Not that you didn't always look lovely," he corrected himself quickly.

"It's okay I understood what you meant," she gave a small soft laugh.

"Michael told me you were coming in today. I'm glad I got to see you. It's been far too long. You divorced him not the rest of us. We should have a drink sometime," he suggested.

"That'd be nice. I'm pretty busy lately but if you give me a call after the wedding I'm sure we can work out a date," she smiled having no intention of following through on the date.

"Ms. McCarthy you can go in now," the reception said interrupting their reunion.

"Thank you," Joanna said and picked up her handbag. "It was good to see you, Dave." She walked toward the office the receptionist had indicated. Michael opened the door and did a double-take before composing his features.

"Hi Joanna, you're looking well," he said formally.

"Michael," she said in return, surprised that he looked older somehow. "How have you been?" she asked unable to return the compliment.

"I'm good," he said with a smile. "Have a seat," he offered taking a seat behind his desk. "You wanted to talk about Justin's wedding?"

"I did, can you believe he's doing it up there and expecting all the guests to become naturalists for the day?" she asked with a small laugh feeling awkward suddenly.

"You know he would understand if you decided not to go. I'm not exactly in favour of the whole idea but what can you do?" he spread hands asking the rhetorical question.

"Oh I have already sent my RSVP accepting the invitation and chiding him for depriving me of a Mother of the bride dress," she joked.

"You are?" Michael couldn't hide his surprise.

"Of course, I am hardly going to miss my son's wedding," she said with confidence. "I wanted to talk to you about the flights and accommodation. The invitation said that the father's of the grooms were handling that."

"Ah yes. Are you bringing Melanie? I have already booked a twin room in case you decided to at least come up to Cairns for the weekend of the wedding," he said easily making the assumption that she would be alone.

"Melanie has a new man in her life and is going with him. Justin did invite her personally when she was up there a couple of months ago. I'm bringing someone else, and I just thought I would let you know that I will need two tickets and a double room as will Melanie I assume but I am sure Justin knows that from our acceptance cards. This is more of a heads up for you," she said softly.

"For me?" he considered her and was pleased if a little surprised that she had moved on. He had thought this meeting was going to be an attempt to revisit old feelings before the wedding. He had to admit even he had become nostalgic recently.

"Well we didn't exactly leave on amicable terms when we last saw each other, and I don't want us to be bitter or uncomfortable, the wedding is going to be uncomfortable enough for textile lovers like like me," she laughed. "We were married for almost twenty years, Michael, surely enough time has passed that we can become friends and wish each other well in our lives."

"That'd be nice," he said, "I think about you now and then and wonder how you're doing."

"You could have picked up the phone you know," she said wondering how they had gotten to this point. "I guess I could've too. Melanie thinks this is a bad idea, but I'd like for us to be friends and be able to talk about Justin from time to time. I would have liked to be involved in this wedding but he chose who he wanted to help, and I can accept that. He shouldn't have to choose, though."

"I think he chose my wallet," Michael laughed. "The two of you were always much closer, and he hated me for leaving you. I'm thinking this is his way of making me pay to get back in his good books," he admitted.