The friendship promise

My goodness, how many more Women’s Health magazines are there here?

Vanessa thought as she placed the June issue back on the brown table in front of her. In all fairness, she shouldn’t have been surprised. The only other magazine she saw was a People’s magazine and she wasn’t the type of person to keep up with celebrity gossip. However, she still needed a distraction from the various conditions surrounding her.

For starters, the waiting room was freezing. It felt like she was sitting in Antarctica instead of the waiting room of a gynecologist's office. In general, it was normal for a doctor’s office to be at a cooler temperature due to all the unseen germs in the atmosphere. However, Vanessa had goosebumps slowly forming on her arms while the rest of her body felt numb. Vanessa got one of the seats in front of the wide window in the waiting room. She could feel the sun’s hot rays on her body but even that wasn’t enough to make her feel completely warm. Her outfit didn’t do her any justice either. She managed to convince her best friend, Imani, to accompany her to the beach after her appointment. This meant that she was wearing a pair of jean shorts that stopped in the middle of her thighs as well as a black sleeveless shirt to partially show off the middle of her yellow one-piece bathing suit.

Bad thinking on all accounts. 

As if that didn’t suck enough, a two-year-old girl was running around and making a bunch of noise while her mother was lost in her phone. The two-year-old had banged her little hands on the table in front of Vanessa, pulled on the cable cords for the television, and even climbed and jumped up and down on various chairs in the waiting room. It was like her mother was physically sitting in the waiting but was mentally trapped in her phone. Like how did she not hear or see her child causing so much commotion? 

“Some kind of mother she’s supposed to be,” Vanessa said with disgust in her tone. A normal person would’ve kept such a rude thought in their mind or maybe even whispered it. Vanessa on the other hand spoke in her normal talking voice as she always did. Sure enough, Mama Dear didn’t budge from her electronic trance. Vanessa stared at the door that led to the back of the office to see if it was about to be opened by Imani. Unfortunately, it didn't, which left Vanessa feeling even colder and more frustrated with her surroundings. 

The two-year-old decided to bang her little hands against the glass door that led into the waiting room. Vanessa decided to pretend she was in a much happier place than this to retain her sanity somehow. The banging noise stopped and the little one ran to hide on the side of the table as if this was a game to her. The door opened and in walked a woman who looked to be in her early 30’s. She had a welcoming smile on her face but she could also feel the cold room. She made her way over to the seat that was to the right of Vanessa and sighed as she sat down. Just as the woman was about to greet Vanessa, she saw the little one peaking up at her and giggling. The woman giggled right along with her and dug in her purse for a pink starburst. To be on the safe side, she took off the wrapper and held it out towards the little girl. 

“Here you go cutie pie,” she said as she continued to smile. 

Vanessa jerked up in shock when she heard the woman’s sweet voice. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice that someone else was in the room and sitting next to her. There were seven other chairs in the room to be fair. The little one ran to get her candy and managed to climb up in her chair next to her mother and started to swing her chubby little legs as she chewed on the candy. 

“She wanted candy this whole time, eh? Ugh, I don’t get why she had to be so difficult and annoying about it,” Vanessa shook her head the whole time she spoke her disapproval. If it was candy that the little one wanted, she had peppermint in her pocket. She would’ve gladly given it to her to keep her quiet. 

The woman next to Vanessa chuckled and shook her head from side to side. Vanessa reminded the woman of herself when she was younger. The woman didn’t want to be around young children either but that changed when she became a mother when she was twenty.

“Well sweetheart, you have to learn a child. You see, all she wanted was some attention. The candy was a bonus.”

“No wonder she was acting like she had no sense.” 

Vanessa folded her arms and attempted to keep her focus away from the woman next to her. With the little one finally quiet, Vanessa could focus on Imani opening that door so they could go already. Imani went back at 10:00 and it was now a quarter til. The more she thought about it, Vanessa hoped that her worst fears hadn’t come true. 

“I’m assuming you don’t have any children of your own? Baby girl, you be sure to take as much time-”

“I’m nowhere near a mother!” Vanessa loudly interrupted her. She shook her head back and forth furiously to emphasize her loud statement. The woman’s smile had dropped completely. She would never fault another woman for not wanting a baby but there had to be some deeper issues with this young girl. 

“Please forgive me then,” the woman said sincerely, “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Vanessa knew she was only trying to be nice but her consciousness was slowly starting to affect her. She turned towards the woman and looked her in the eyes. She took a much-needed sigh and said,

“You didn’t offend me. It’s just.... well...my best friend might be pregnant.”

The woman raised her eyebrows and parted her lips to speak but turned her attention to the backroom door as it opened. A woman came out with a huge smile on her face and walked to the little one in the chair. The little girl smiled and raised her arms and was picked up by the woman, who was her mother. The other woman on her phone came back to Earth and followed the happy mother and daughter out the door. 

“I got to stop being so judgmental,” Vanessa said as she turned in the front of her chair and sighed as she ran her fingers through her braids. 

“It happens to the best of us baby girl,” the woman said and rubbed Vanessa’s shoulder. 

“Not when you’re judging your own best friend. That ain’t the best thing at all.”

“Well, you did say something about how she might be pregnant. You made her feel bad about that.” The last part should have been a question but it sounded more like a statement. Vanessa sadly nodded her head and sighed once more.

“I’m scared of losing her.” She whispered as her voice indicated she was close to tears. She hung her head down and felt a tear fall on her thigh. The last thing she wanted to do was break down in front of a stranger but it was long overdue that she let her feelings out. The woman continued to rub Vanessa’s shoulder and used her free hand to turn her face to look at her. 

“I won’t make you go into specifics but listen,” she paused as she gathered her words wisely, “I’m positive that your friend is as scared as you are. Probably more scared since she may have a tiny human growing inside of her. Not to mention everything else she may have to deal with. However, you can’t think about yourself so much. I know how you feel but you have to be there and support her. She’s going to need you the most out of everyone else in her life.”

Vanessa sighed for the third time and weighed the words the woman just spoke. Ever since Imani told her about her scare, the only thing Vanessa was concerned about was not having Imani in her life every day or not at all anymore due to her baby. She ignored Imani’s phone calls at midnight because she didn’t want to hear her cry about how badly her parents were treating her since her scare. Vanessa had told her not to tell them anyways but Imani felt like her parents would find out somehow. She made Imani feel bad about who the father of her potential unborn child was and would only hang out with her when she felt like it. The only reason why she accompanied Imani to the doctor was that she didn’t want to go to the beach by herself after they left. Just thinking of those things made her drop her head and begin to sob uncontrollably. The woman pulled out a napkin from her purse and dried Vanessa’s tears as she gave her a one-armed hug for comfort. 

“It’s okay baby girl,” she said with her warm smile, “apologize to your friend and be there for her. Everything will be just fine.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the backroom door opened again and her favorite medical assistant came out to get her. 

“Sage it’s so good to see you again! Come on back you already know how everything works.”

Before Sage walked to the door, she gave Vanessa a tight hug and kissed her on the forehead. The medical assistant held the door open for Sage as well as Imani. She rubbed Imani’s shoulder as she slowly walked into the cool room. Imani gave her a sad smile as she stood in front of an upset Vanessa. She sat on the table and grabbed Vanessa’s hand and gave it a tight squeeze. Imani’s eyes were as puffy as a warm bathrobe.  

“Good news, I’m not pregnant. Auntie Flo decided to visit me instead. Not without some bumps in the road first.”

Imani attempted to sound relieved but she was too shaken up still. Her emotions were all over the place. After she found out she wasn’t pregnant, she bawled her eyes out and had a heart to heart with the medical assistant and her doctor about everything she had been dealing with. Anything she ate came right back up, she had lost interest in things she enjoyed, and she would spend her any alone time crying. She felt like she had no one to turn to in her difficulties. Not even the one person who pledged that nothing or no one would ever separate them. 

“Imani I’m so sorry,” she looked at her, "I’ve been making you feel bad about everything because I was scared to lose you. You’re the only person in my life that cares about me and if I lost you, I’d have no one. I’m sorry for being so selfish and rude. You didn’t deserve that.”

Vanessa wiped away more tears and looked at Imani for a response. She noticed Imani’s eyes and placed her hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She wasn’t intentionally making her wait and that made Vanessa want to cry all over again. Imani looked off to the side and then back at Vanessa.

“No matter how happy I was, it changed in the blink of an eye before I walked into my house. My father and mother would be waiting to put me down about choosing to have sex when I did. It felt like I was the black sheep to them. When I told Josh that I might be pregnant, he pretended like he was happy but then he stopped talking to me. Then there was you. It sucked to deal with them treating me bad but my heart broke when you did. I felt like a failure and like I was the gum on the bottom of someone’s shoe. I wasn’t expecting anyone to mistreat me but it hurt me the most when you did. I’m happy that I’m not pregnant but I kinda wish I was. At least I know the baby would’ve loved me despite the circumstances.”

Imani looked at her friend and wanted to cry but her eyes couldn’t produce any more tears. Vanessa also looked at her friend and stood up from her chair. She pulled Imani up with her and sighed. 

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop apologizing. I promise that I’m going to do my best to hold up my end of the promise we made back in 6th grade. You’re not just my best friend. You’re my sister. Nothing or no one will ever be able to change that. I love you, Mani.”

She pulled Imani into a tight hug and squeezed her so she could know how sorry she was and how much she meant what she said. If Imani weren’t in her life for the past seven years, Vanessa wasn’t sure what kind of person she would be. One thing was for certain, as long as they had each other, they would be fine. As soon as Vanessa embraced her Imani, the room warmed up. Perhaps all it needed was love. Imani hugged Vanessa back tightly and smiled and closed her eyes. Everything that Vanessa had done and said was water under the bridge. Having her sister back in her life made everything better. Both of those girls pulled away and chuckled at each other. It felt good for both of them to truly share a happy moment again. 

“I love you too, Nessa,” she chuckled for a split second, “I’m glad we were able to talk this out. Nothing or no one will ever be able to change our friendship. Besides you know you were going to be my baby’s godmother.”

Vanessa chuckled as that much was true. She would’ve done the best she could to spoil her godson or goddaughter rotten. That day would come at the right time. She was as willing to wait as Imani was.

“Oh of course,” she paused and continued, “I’m sorry about Josh though. You deserve way better than a jerk like him. 

Imani shrugged her shoulders and giggled. 

“He wasn’t worth it anyway. I’m just glad that I don’t have to exchange those 25 seconds for 18 years.”

“25 seconds?!” Vanessa exclaimed. Then both of them laughed hard. The room felt like the heater had been turned on as they continued to laugh. Before Imani left from the back, her doctor told her that laughter was the best medicine. She felt a whole lot better than she had in the past two weeks. After a few more laughs, the girls composed themselves and just smiled. 

“Did you still want to go to the beach, Nessa?” Imani didn’t want to go to the beach parse but she didn’t mind. Perhaps some fun in the sun would make things even better. Due to Sage’s words, Vanessa had a change of heart about the beach. 

“Let’s do something you’d like instead. We can do anything.”

“Well then,” Imani grabbed Vanessa’s keys and placed them in her hand, “I didn’t wear this bathing suit to just wear it.”

Vanessa chuckled and nodded her head as Imani led the way out the door of the waiting room. It was a beautiful day outside so why not enjoy it? As they got on the elevator, they grabbed each other’s hands and made their friendship promise in unison once again. 

“Best friends forever and infinity. Nothing and no one will ever be able to change that!”