“Why come to a cafe if every single noise is going to get your panties in a bunch?” she thought to herself.

Her anxiety was building up. In ten minutes she’d be negotiating her dream businesses with her new business partner…and good friend, Dawn. The idea of mixing work and pleasure would have appealed to her if she’d felt that she and Dawn were on the same level of savvy when it came to wheeling and dealing. Alas, the only people she’d ever haggled with were vegetable farmers. She felt out of her league.

Just when River was beginning to contemplate jumping out of her seat and onto the next plane to Bora Bora, Dawn fluttered down like a spinning fall leaf, a leaf in a designer pantsuit.

“Howdy partner!” Dawn slurred in the best imitation a native Californian could ever hope to do a of a southern cowboy.

River smiled shyly, as if they’d first met, “Howdy…you’re in a good mood.”

Dawn lifted her index finger to summon the waitress. “Well, how could I not be? I’ve finally gotten my life figured out.” She lowered her voice to “naughty secret” level. “Have you ever heard of a ‘commuter marriage’?

River mimicked her dramatic tone, “No.”

Dawn pressed her back against the chair and resumed a normal voice level. “You’re about to. Rick’s taking an anchor position in Canada, and I’m staying here with Charlie.”

Suddenly River didn’t feel like the incompetent one. “Wow, congrats…wait, are you serious? Does Rick know about this? How will you-.”

The waitress placed a menu on the table, Dawn snatched it up, annoyed.

“Oh calm down. Don’t be so dramatic. It’s actually not that uncommon you know, for families like mine.”

River stared at her friend. “Like yours?”

Dawn shifted in her chair, wondering how a rock and hard place could come out of nowhere. “Families who have reached a certain level of public significance.”

River felt a bit nauseous and was more sure than ever that this partnership was a mistake.

“Anyway,” Dawn continued pulling papers out of her agenda, “I’m not even sure why I brought that up. Overshare! Let’s get these contracts signed and talk shop! Are you excited or what? I wouldn’t call myself ‘eco-conscious’ but I’m almost positive that the homeless take all the cans out of our outside trash. Mail order green catalog- it’s going to be a huge success.”

Dawn was so engrossed in her monologue that she hadn’t seen River pay for her tea and begin packing up her things.

“So do you have the contract?”

Dawn presented it to River proudly and suddenly noticed that her friend was standing. River coolly took the document and folded it before placing it in her hemp tote.

“I’ll have my lawyer look it over and get back to you.”

Dawn stood and turned to on-the-move River. “What? Where are you going? You have a lawyer?

Navigating through the chair and table cafe jungle, River called back, “Yes, those of us with little social significance can have lawyers. Talk to you soon!”

And with that, Dawn was alone.

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She took a prescription bottle out of her purse and discreetly tapped out a small blue pill. By now she didn’t need water to help get it down.

Max had petitioned the court for an emergency hearing first thing tomorrow morning. Meeghan remembered when the worst thing that could happen on a Monday was an 8 AM anthropology midterm. Now she had to worry about the antics of a man with one of the best lawyers in the state.

Meeghan swallowed hard and willed herself not to cry as she thought of the possibility of spending only every other weekend with her kids.

She wished she hadn’t let it get this bad. She wished she’d tried harder to convince him that they’d needed counseling. Once more she frantically scanned the cafe. Where was everybody? Another pill.

A hand on her shoulder startled her. Meeghan nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Whoa there,” Lisa put her hands up, showing that they were empty of all sharp objects, “Someone got a head start on the espresso!”

She sat down.

Meeghan tossed her hair, “I’m so glad you’re finally here. I think the management was about to banish me to the counter.”

Lisa wasn’t sure what to say. “So…Dawn told me. How are you?”

“I’m as well as can be expected. My backbone and I are getting reacquainted but I’m anticipating the battle of the century from my dear soon-to-be-ex husband. The good news is that if it makes the Living section of The Chronicle I’ll have something for my scrapbook.”

Lisa raised an eyebrow.

A young, chestnut-haired college student with glasses appeared at the table ready to take their order.

“Hello, how can I help you ladies?”

Meeghan answered, “Lavender tea, a pot, and madeleines for four.”

“How many madeleines?”

Meeghan stared, “For four people. That means four cookies. We can’t all have the metabolism of a 20 year-old waitress and start binging on dessert, now can we?”

“O-kay,” the waitresses eyed Lisa, probably trying to determine if the crazy applied to both of them before leaving.

Before Lisa could speak River floated in and took a seat next to her.

“Good morning, mothers, caretakers of the world, keepers of humanity, ” River grinned angelically.

Lisa turned toward her bubbly friend, “Well! Someone either found a new job or got laid. I hope both. Do share.”

Meeghan forced a tight smile.

River placed her bag under the table and laced her fingers. “I’m starting a business.”

“Who’s starting a business?” Dawn asked as she sat next to Meeghan looking like a vision in suede.

River raised her hand shyly.

Lisa gave her a hug. “Congratulations! That is amazing! I’ve been waiting for you to use that quirky creativity for something other than beautiful but-kind-of useless lanyards, no offense, since forever.”

River smiled and waited for Meeghan and Dawn to shower encouragement.

“Great job, honey.” Meeghan tapped River’s hand.

River turned toward Dawn. She’d been most nervous about sharing the news with her uber-successful girlfriend but looked forward to her shrewd advice.

A fragrant glass pot of tea was placed on the table with a pretty ceramic plate of fresh madeleines. Dawn slowly poured herself a cup and blew before taking a short sip.

The atmosphere was getting more and more awkward by the second and River waited for her to speak.

“So…what do you think Mrs. CEO,” River said hopefully, “Do you have any words of wisdom to impart?”

Dawn placed her tea on the table.

“Is there a reason you don’t want to just get a job?”

River’s whole body tensed up. Meeghan looked away.

“Dawn! Are you serious? River just announced that she’s going to pour her heart into a venture the same way you did. Is it just against your nature to be supportive?”

Fighting words.

Lisa stared across the table at Dawn, wanting to say so many things, ask so many questions, but using every ounce of patience in her to wait.

“Against my nature to be supportive? Absolutely not. I just want to make sure she’s thought this through. Business isn’t for the faint of heart. Anything can happen at any time.”

River spoke up quietly, “I know that, I’m not some weakling. If you’ll remember before Green Helps I worked with some of the largest environmental watchdog organizations in the world…”

Dawn cut her off, “Yes, you ‘worked with,’ you didn’t own the company. It’s a completely different level of responsibility. I just don’t want to see you fail.” Dawn regretted the words as they came out of her mouth but couldn’t stop herself.

Lisa had hear enough. “Well we’re very lucky to have you here making sure no one gets what they want because yes, it would be a shame for you to have to watch them screw it up.”

River squinted her eyes at Dawn, trying to find her friend. She couldn’t even begin to feel angry. Just hurt.

Despite the emotional waves riding across their table, Meeghan found herself feeling relaxed, almost fluid. She took River’s hand.

“Honey, if you need anything, just ask. And by anything, I mean hug or a smile because by the time Max is through with me I’ll be renting out an illegally attached room in Hayward.”

River was determined not to let the increasingly odd behavior of her friends dampen her spirits. She had work to do if this businesses was going to get off the ground and needed every ounce of motivation she had.

She reached under the table and grabbed her bag. “Thanks Meeghan.” She glanced at Lisa, “I actually can’t stay, I just wanted to share my news. I’ll see you all later.”

Before she left she turned to look at Dawn who seemed to avoid her gaze.

Meeghan also stood up. She didn’t want to risk everyone bailing before her. No way she was sitting alone again.

“I really need to meet with my lawyer, it’s been great talking to you girls,” her voice was syrupy. She gave her two friends a shoulder hug before floating off.

Dawn finally spoke up as if she’d been in another world, “You know, I’d better go too. This is going to be a busy week…”

Lisa’s eyes were fixed like a laser on Dawn, making her uncomfortable. Dawn stood.

“Sit down.” Lisa spoke in a voice Dawn had never heard before. Low and serious. The RA and newbie college coed switched positions. “We need to talk.”

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As Dawn walked toward her in the crowded, chic San Francisco café Lisa wondered how their lives had taken such different paths. The click click of her newest Gucci heels across the tile floor was the perfect metronome to the duet of black burgundy hair and the deep chocolate pantsuit that hugged her figure. Gorgeous as usual.

She swooped in for a quick peck on the cheek. A soft cloud of sophisticated sweetness filled Lisa’s nostrils but she stopped short of asking for the fragrance’s name. Did she need another entry scribbled on her Never-Gonna-Get-It list?

“Hi honey! Sorry I’m late. Charlie needed his homework signed again. I don’ t understand how he can be practically failing pre-Algebra after three years of Japanese math camp.”

Dawn collapsed into the waiting seat and  placed a beautiful merlot clutch on the table. It was from Capisce, Dawn’s mouth watering line of handbags. It wasn’t at all uncommon to see Hollywood’s latest anorexic toting one of her pieces down Robertson Avenue in Beverly Hills. Lisa tried not to envy her best friend.

“No worries at all,” she stammered. “It’s just nice to be kid-free and out of the house.”

Dawn spotted her eying the merchandise.

“Lisa, I told you if you ever want another…”

She waved the illusion away with my hands.

“No, no, no. It’s fab, yes, but what would I wear with a designer bag? My extra special lime green Crocs and an Old Navy ensemble?” Besides, the one Capisce bag Lisa did own sat, the leather un-broken-in, on the top shelf of her dresser making the rest of her belongings feel inferior.

At the word “Crocs” Dawn smiled nervously as if bad fashion choices were contagious.

Lisa felt a speech about the importance of one’s insides matching the outside bubbling upward and was three seconds away from flight or fight mode when she saw River in the café door. Never without a slew of baggage, emotional or otherwise, she dramatically made her way to the table, creating enemies out of patrons as she bumped her extra-large Whole Foods reusable eco-totes on the backs and legs of coffee drinkers.

She took the seat next to Dawn who was glancing around the café uncomfortably. “Must you bring your caravan goods with you everywhere?”

River, unfazed, struggled to push her bags under the table.

“I’m going to hit up the farmer’s market on the way home. I hear the raw cheese guy is coming up from Santa Cruz…”

Dawn officially greeted River with a warm kiss on the cheek before answering.

“Sounds like a stomach bug waiting to happen,” Dawn murmured playfully.

Lisa stared at River, intoxicated by how a human being could be such the perfect blend of confidence and obliviousness. She’d met River at a Free Tibet rally while dating a perpetual activist. While she couldn’t remember the sign River had been vigorously waving back and forth, she did recall the celery root smoothie they split after catching her beau making out with a brunette vegan.

“Lisa, Dawn,” River motioned us in with her hands, “I’m bursting at the seams. The new project we are working on at Green Helps is going to change San Francisco forever. You know the McCondo development in the Financial District? We’re staging a series of sit-ins until the developer can present solid proof that the buildings won’t disturb local indigenous ecosystems.”

“Local indigenous ecosystems?” Lisa spat, “This is San Francisco. Are you worried about upsetting the delicate relationship between the ancient species of meter-maidus and her prey, the out-of-town driver?”

River shook her hands wildly, “This is big stuff! Channel 7 has already called me for an interview!”

“Congrats dear!” Dawn gently stroked River’s hair much like a mother does when she’s lavishing praise on a proudly displayed disaster of paint and glitter.

A pretty college student-aged waitress made her way over to the table with a pot of lavender tea, buttery madeleines, and four porcelain mugs: our standard order.

River glanced around. “Where is Meeghan? Do you think there was traffic on the bridge?”

The bridge River spoke of was the Golden Gate and it was one of the last threads holding together their relationship with increasingly Tiburon-involved Meeghan. It was only a quick 15 minute car ride from the scenic little town where the richest 15% of the nation dwelled but the dinner party, museum, and community meeting scene was so expansive that their resident débutante was now their proverbial needle in a cash-stack.

“I’ll call her,” and just as Lisa turned to find her purse she spotted Meeghan in the doorway. One of the most interesting parts about Tiburon residents is how hard they try not to appear wealthy. Here was Meeghan, who could have treated the entire café to macchiatos on what she allocates for monthly dog grooming services, clad head-to-toe in REI. Her brand new tennis shoes and olive fleece vest would probably never be exposed to Yosemite’s spring rain but she did look good.

“My girls!” Meeghan opened her arms wide as she approached the table and, like a good politician (or a bad one) gave everyone a shoulder squeeze and kiss.

As she took a seat next to Lisa they all stared patiently, waiting for an explanation for not only her current tardiness but general MIA behavior which had included a series of unreturned phone calls.

Meeghan tried to ignore the frosty table climate while touching up her lipgloss but then abruptly snapped her open compact shut.

“Look. I know I’ve been busy. Max and I have…”

The second she said the “M” word her friends simultaneously checked out. Meeghan and Max. She met the real estate broker turned real estate monger 15 years ago and they married months afterwards. Many wonder if a man so intent on recreating a human being has existed since Frankenstein. Not only did he change the way a formerly down-to-earth Meeghan dressed, the ladies were quite sure he was working on giving her a British accent by winter. Lisa wondered sadly if in his eyes she wasn’t just another fixer-upper.

“Ok,” Lisa lied when Meeghan was through explaining, “we understand.”

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