How the Chips May Fall

Chapter 1 -- Full House

Rachel went to answer the door after the second of her guests had knocked. Standing on the other side was her good friend Julia, whom she hadn't seen since the summer after high school graduation. "Julia!" exclaimed Rachel.

"It's been too long, Rache." Julia bent down and hugged her friend. At five-foot-eleven, Julia towered over most of her friends from high school. "Who else is here?"

Rachel backed out of the embrace. "Why don't you come in and see for yourself? Here, I'll take your bag."

As Rachel walked away with Julia's suitcase, the statuesque blonde found her way into the living room. Sitting on the sofa with her legs folded was Gwen, flipping through a magazine. Gwen's fashion sense hadn't changed much since high school: she wore an old pair of sandals, faded blue jeans, and a paisley vest over a white tee shirt. The only noticeable change was her brown hair, now cropped very short. "Gwen?" said Julia.

Gwen looked up, and upon seeing Julia, her face brightened. In her lavender business suit, Julia was stunning. A pair of matching pumps gave her a few unneeded extra inches and served to make her smooth legs look even longer.

"Jules?" Gwen rose. "You look wonderful!"

The two women approached each other, and Gwen gave Julia a forceful squeeze. "I didn't think you'd be coming."

It had been ten years since they had seen each other, so Julia didn't expect so much affection from Gwen. Resting her chin on Gwen's head, Julia sighed. "I missed the five-year and regretted it, so I made a pact with myself not to miss the ten-year."

Gwen released Julia and said, "This is wonderful! What have you been doing with yourself? You're still in advertising, right?"

"Yep." Julia sat down and crossed her legs, allowing the hem of her skirt to creep up her thigh an inch. Gwen sat close beside her as Julia continued, "Just landed an account with a major soft drink company. I really should be working all weekend, but now that I'm a project manager, I've got a team of people under me. They're the ones who'll be busy all weekend."

"Congratulations! I got a promotion myself at the music store. I'm finally an assistant manager."

"That's great, Gwen."

"Retail sucks, but hey, it pays the rent while I write stuff and play the occasional gig."

"I'm sure you've got ten years worth of songs now. I'd love to hear some. Any chance you brought your guitar along?"

Gwen's smile widened. "Of course I brought it!" She threw her arms around Julia. "Jules, you're the best!"

"My my. What a reunion," said a voice from the far end of the room.

Gwen knew to whom the voice belonged, so she didn't look, but Julia did. Standing there was a tall redhead in a short, tight, spaghetti-strap little black dress. There was no way anyone could not see this woman's curves or ample bust, cleavage clearly displayed.

"Hello, Cassandra." Julia stood to remind the approaching woman who was taller.

"Didn't think you'd come. Thought you'd be too busy for your friends."

This was a reunion, thought Julia. It was supposed to be a happy occasion. She wasn't going to let Cassandra's contempt for her ruin the weekend. She didn't even know what her problem was. Before they departed for different colleges, they had been inseparable best friends. Sure, the two of them had drifted apart and into new cliques at college, but was that a reason for Cassandra to be bitter?

"Cassandra, what have you been up to?"

"Same ol' shit." Cassandra sat back in a chair. "Between jobs right now. And between men."