RECEIVING MARTHA

Martha stood in front of Bloom's mansion and sighed not quite sure what she truly felt standing there after so many years, five years actually, she had left the country five years ago with her mother, cutting all ties with her friends and hoping to start a new life. That had worked pretty well as she was now a successful microbiologist, living a good life and earning good pay. But she knew that what she called luxury was nothing compared to the Blooms wealth, her suspicions had been confirmed by the luxurious brand of car that had been sent to pick her up at the airport and now by this mansion that stood before her.

The blooms mansion wasn't a new edifice though, it had stood there for years and had been passed from generations down but it wasn't old either, it was one of those buildings one would call an ageless building as its white and pink color always gleamed in the sun on the hill where it stood for all eyes to see.

Martha couldn't help but remember the last time she was here, she and Nancy had been making plans for their last prom at Montrell high, she still remembered how Mr. Bloom had covered their expenses, from make-up to the dress, and even to the shoes, they would wear. Nancy had wanted them to wear the same dress, which she refused to, she had wanted to dress differently, look differently to impress a certain someone but that never happened because she never made it to the prom. She left on the day of the prom itself.

Well now, she was here, but she didn't know if she was ready to meet her friend once again. She turned to the driver who had been busy bringing out her luggage from the car, he brought out the last luggage and nodded to her before reentering the car and zooming off probably to go and park the car.

The giant doors to the house flew open and Martha saw Nancy running towards her and hugging her without even giving her enough time to access her.

"Martha! Nancy screamed as she hugged her friends tightly as if scared that if she let go she would disappear again. Martha only smiled and hugged her back happy that Nancy was still the same bubbly jovial girl she remembered.

"I missed you so much! Nancy said still holding her in an embrace with her eyes closed.

"I missed you too, Nancy," Martha whispered and Nancy pulled away looking at her, her eyes glittering with unshed tears.

''How have you been?" Nancy asked taking her time to look her friend over.

The short black shiny hair that used to be the signature look of Martha when they were younger had grown long and now had curls at its ends, matching her dark hazel eyes. It also stood out on the knee-length pink gown that she wore with similar color of heels.

Nancy felt relief wash over her as she saw that her friend was looking good and had obviously been living well. That had been her worry over the years, All those years when she didn't know where Martha was, where she lived, how she schooled, she had always worried about her wellbeing. You see, Martha unlike Nancy came from a very humble background, her mother was a single mother who had her as the only child. It was by a divine arrangement that they had met Nancy liked to think, they had met at a summer camp, which her father had forced her to attend.

Nancy had lost her mother at a very young age and thus had lived with her father who blandly refused to marry a second wife and had raised his daughter himself, despite his busy schedule. Because of her father's refusal to get a companion, Nancy also decided to be the one to take care of him, thus she didn't have time to make friends of her own age. When her father saw that this was the case, he forced her to the summer camp where she and Martha had met.

Seeing his daughter had met a good friend, Allman offered to sponsor Martha's education, which led to the two girls attending the same high school. If Martha hadn't gone off-grid, they would have attended the same university where Nancy had met her three friends, Nicole, Mara, and Lucy.

"I've been fine." Martha said smiling at the admiration she saw in Nancy's eyes.

She had always wanted to be admired by Nancy as she was of her best friend who had everything including a man that loved her. So she had made sure to put on her best clothes when she was coming. She was no longer the poor Martha who used to be Nancy's shadow, she was now a microbiologist and a successful one at that. She couldn't afford to look lesser or feel intimidated by anyone, not even her loving friend.

But she felt a little disappointed at the simplicity of Nancy's outfit not that she didn't look stunting or that her presence didn't speak of wealth. it did, her sandy blond hair was as straight and as silky as she last remembered, her face with its baby-like sculpture still looked well taken care of and her grey eyes still had the same spark she had come to know and admire.

One that made her wonder how Nancy could find so much joy in life as she did, but she just didn't like that Nancy was wearing nothing but a pair of dark blue jeans, a faded sweater, and .... Are those flats? Nancy had a thing for heels and boots when they were younger. She just couldn't picture her in flats.

"You look so beautiful Martha!" Nancy said again, her eyes shining with excitement and Martha blushed with pride,

"You don't look bad yourself," Martha said as she saw the maids pick up her bags and take them in. she smiled at them as they greeted her.

She still remembered them, they were the same maids she had known to work there for a long time. The Blooms family was good like that, they treated their workers so well that no one left no matter how long they had been there.

"Hmmmn, Hmmmn." Martha heard someone clear their throat and look behind Nancy to see a young woman about their age with short flamy hair and beautiful green eyes looking from her to Nancy with annoyance.

"Oops sorry." Nancy said laughing, " I almost forgot."

"You almost forgot?!" Nicole said angrily as she pushed her hair out of her eyes but the wind didn't seem to make that easy for her.

"You see," Nicole turned to Lucy and Mara, "she abandoned us already."

"Oh shut up." Mara said then walked to Martha who was looking at the three women like they had four heads.

"Hi, I'm Mara, Nancy's friend," she said as she stretched out her hand to Martha, who shook it.

"It's so nice to finally meet you." Mara continued, "Nancy has told us a lot about you."

Martha glanced at Nancy who was beaming proudly and her mouth formed and 'o',

"it's nice to meet you too, Mara, I'm Martha. But I can't say the same about you"

Mara shrugged slightly then turned to the other women, "the redhead is Nicole, and the brunette is Lucy."

"Hi," Lucy said when Nicole didn't say a word but stood there and accessed Martha from head to toe with an expressionless face.

"Hi," Martha said back to both of them, while the other women gave Nicole a stern look which she seemed oblivious of.

"Can we go inside now? This breeze is making a mess of my hair." Nicole said and left them all standing there as she walked inside.

Lucy and Mara shook their head as they followed her while Nancy takes Martha's hand.

"Come on Martha."