I step out of the shower, wrapping my hair up first before toweling off, and then wrapping my fluffy towel around my body. My cell starts to buzz against the counter. I grab it, seeing that Carly is calling.
“Hello,” I greet, putting her on speaker right away.
“Hey! What are you up to today?” she asks.
“I don’t have any plans yet, went to yoga this morning and just getting dressed for the day now. What are you up to?”
“Do you want to meet up down at the farmers’ market?” she asks.
“I’d love to,” I tell her, knowing that it is going to be a beautiful day and I need to restock my fridge with some fresh fruits and veggies. “Does in an hour work for you?” I ask, seeing as how I’m in a towel.
“That will be perfect. John and I will meet you there,” she says before disconnecting.
With a place to be, I get moving. I turn on a random play list and connect my phone to my Bluetooth speaker. I pull out a red sun dress to put on, then get to working on my hair. I pull it up and off my neck, braiding it into a twist that will help keep me cool in the hot, late-summer sun. With just a few swipes of mascara and some Chapstick, I’m ready to take on the day. I love it when I have a down day and don’t feel like I have to put on a full face of makeup. I’m not like most girly girls who can’t even go to the gym without a full face of makeup. If I had things my way, I wouldn’t wear it every day to work, but people frown upon looking washed out and tired all the time.
It doesn’t take me the full hour to get ready, but the farmers’ market is not within walking distance, I’ve got a good ten-to-fifteen-minute drive across town to get there, depending on the traffic, and with Indianapolis traffic, you never know what you’re going to get.
I circle around, finally finding a parking spot on the street a few blocks away. With free parking on the weekends, street spots are a rarity to come across and it is basically luck to find one. I happen to see the people who just left walking to their car while I was stopped at the light a block away, so I was able to snag it as soon as the light changed, and they pulled away.
I grab my reusable shopping bags, clipping them onto my cross-body bag I brought with me today. I head the few blocks down to the market, finding a bench to sit on while I wait for Carly and her boyfriend, John, to make it here. I shoot off a text letting her know where she can find me once they find a place to park.
“Thanks for the invite,” I tell her once we’ve walked down the first row of booths.
“Of course! I figured if I didn’t get you out of the house, you’d probably get lost in something boring like cleaning the bathroom. Couldn’t pass up this beautiful day and fresh food.” She chuckles, and it is scary how well she knows me.
“My walk this morning to and from yoga had me ready for some more outdoor time, so this is perfect. Plus, it takes care of restocking my fruits and veggies for the week.”
“I’m so excited for all the things that are finally available now that we’re nearing the end of summer,” Carly muses as we stop at a few of the booths. A lot of the stands offer the same basic items, all your basic veggies and some fruits. Some offer additional baked goods or local honey, along with hand crafted items at other booths. I quickly fill my bags with fixings for salads and a stir-fry I plan to make later this week, as well as some in-season fruits to have with my breakfasts or to take with me to work for a healthy snack mid-afternoon. If I take healthy options, it usually keeps me from hitting up the breakroom vending machines for a chocolate bar, which my hips definitely don’t need on a daily basis.
“What are you guys up to tonight?” I ask Carly and John as I sit across from them at a picnic table. The market also features a row of food trucks. Once we were done perusing the booths, it was lunchtime, so we grabbed something.
“A friend of mine from high school is a comedian and on tour. He’s got a show tonight and we’re going to go see him perform,” John says.
“Oh, that sounds like fun!”
“He’s pretty great! Was on one of those comedy shows on TV last year. Made it to the final three contestants before he was sent home,” Carly tells me.
“Wow, that’s pretty cool. I hope you guys have fun.”
“What are you doing tonight?” she asks.
“Not sure yet, I don’t have any plans. I’ll probably prep some meals for the week, then maybe curl up with a book and glass of wine.”
“You should get a ticket and come with us,” Carly suggests.
“Oh, I’d never want to crash your date night,” I push back at the idea. I hate feeling like the third wheel when I do things with my friends who are in a relationship.
“It isn’t crashing if we invite you,” she states.
“I can text my buddy and see if he knows if any ticket is still available, if you want,” John offers.
I worry my bottom lip as I think over their offer. On one hand, doing something out of my house and around other people that isn’t work related sounds fun. “What the hell, it doesn’t hurt to ask,” I give in.
“Yay!” Carly cheers as John’s fingers start to fly across the screen of his phone as he texts his friend.
“He said the only tickets left are the ones that he can give out, so he’ll leave one at will call for you to get.”
“Oh, I’m more than willing to pay for it. I didn’t need a free one,” I insist.
“It isn’t a problem. All venues give him a handful of tickets, they don’t always go to anyone. He said it wasn’t a problem at all.”
“Will I be able to sit with you guys?” I ask, not really wanting to be by myself or sat with a table full of strangers.
“Yeah, the place it is at is all general admission tickets, so as long as we arrive together, they’ll seat us together. Plus, with us all having tickets directly from Mike, we might be seated in the front VIP section. He wasn’t sure when I was texting him the other day,” John tells me.
“Okay, then! What time does the show start?” I ask.
“Nine, doors open at eight. Want to grab dinner before?” Carly suggests.
“Absolutely, my treat,” I tell them.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” John tries to argue.
“No, I insist. You are letting me crash your date night, you got me a free ticket, so it is the least I can do, really,” I tell him.
“I’m not going to argue with you, but at least let us pick up the tip or something,” he offers.
“We’ll see,” I say to pacify him.
“We were thinking of hitting up The Garage Food Hall. Some of the guys were talking about it at work the other day and said the food there was really good. I looked up the menu and from the sound of it, I’d have to agree with them,” Carly says.
“Sounds good. Should we plan to meet there at, like, six thirty? That gives us a little cushion of time in case we have to wait for a table,” I suggest.
“That works for us,” Carly confirms.
We finish up our lunches before parting ways until it is time to meet again this evening for dinner and the show.
Seven
Lucas