"I'm glad we could get together like this again," Molly said sipping her vodka on ice. She wore her new ivory tennis skirt and matching hat over her silver hair. She had removed her glasses and set them on the little table where she kept her straw handbag and towel. "I've been meaning to play a rematch with you since the last time."

I didn't look as cute in my shorts and bright orange crop top but the country club didn't turn me away at the door on sight. I took my monthly guest pass and followed Molly to the courts, swinging my beautiful black badminton racquet. It was a quiet morning; the courts almost empty except one young woman practising alone with a tennis ball launcher. Most people were at the cafe getting breakfast or golfing. The pool wouldn't see huge crowds until noon. I did a few warm up stretches beforehand. "I'll warn you, I'm a bit out of shape."

"Nonsense, you're as fit as a fiddle," she said. "And I can tell you've been getting better every time we play."

I took the birdie and served, watching it soar over the net. Molly was quick to action and passed it back, her blue racquet glinting in the sun. "Nice one," I called almost missing my shot. She hit it back with ease and our game slowly got more intense. Eventually we were both sweating and unwilling to quit. After I lunged for a shot Molly got the best of me and fired it across the court. 

And I was too slow. 

"You put up a hell of a fight," she said grabbing her vodka, the ice probably melting. It certainly melted in my lemonade which I could have poured all over myself. The birdie lay abandoned on my side of the court and we took a break while Molly took her medication. 

I stretched out in my lounge chair, putting on my sunnies. Maude would have loved it here too. To think she could book a gig or two here, playing her original songs for crowds of people. Live music during dinner perhaps. I decided I'd tell her about it in my next letter. 

"How are those nice boys of yours doing?" Molly asked stirring her drink. "Any news?"

"Well..." I thought for a minute. "Oh! Cliff's wife Georgeanne just went into labour." Molly beamed. 

"Oh, that's wonderful! Do they know what it is?"

"A boy," I said. "They've been looking forward to him coming."

"I'll bet. I was when my son was born. Tell me all about it the next time you hear from them." She sipped her drink and fanned her face. "Now what about Angus? Any news on him?"

"He's okay," I said. "There's a flu bug going around the group and I'm worried he'll catch it." Molly waved me off.

"He'll be alright, dear, he's a tough cookie. It'll take much more than the flu to knock him out." Horrible thoughts of plane crashes and hurricanes filled my mind. 

Yeah....much much more...

"Are you two going on any holidays soon?" she asked. "My husband's taking me to the Maldives for our anniversary next month and we wondered about you two."

"Well..." I scratched my arm from a mozzie bite. "He has a surprise for me when he comes back home but I have no clue what he's planning." My hands twisted themselves into knots. "He only said it was a promise he made to a friend and a birthday present to himself."

Molly blinked and grabbed a pair of sunnies from her handbag. "To himself?" she asked. I nodded. "A promise to a friend...that's a tricky one. I'm sure you'll love it whatever it is."

I relaxed in my lounge chair and closed my eyes. The sun shone bright through my sunnies when suddenly there was an eclipse. I opened my eyes and immediately wished I hadn't.

"Hannah, helloooooooo! I didn't expect to see you here," Wanda said hovering above my chair. I sighed. Wanda came around to the front with her wedges clacking against the concrete. Her long sundress billowed around her and a designer bag hung from the crook of her elbow. She had red lines on her face from a pair of sunnies she wore on her head. "I was just here at the bar getting a drink when I saw you two." She held her hand out for Molly to shake. She shook it a bit too rough for Molly's liking and Molly shook as well. "I'm Wanda Popplewell, Hannah's neighbour. I had no idea she was a member of the country club!"

I should have known the richest people in Sydney would be members here.

"Howard's at the golf course waiting for his martini, Sheryl is at a friend's house." Wanda pulled up a chair, the legs scraping against the concrete. I winced. "So how long have you been a member?" she asked looking at Molly. Molly opened her mouth to speak when Wanda looked away from her and at me. 

"Uh...well, I'm just a guest," I said holding up my guest's pass. The plastic card in the plastic bag paled in comparison with the members' silver, gold, or platinum cards that sparkled and shone in their hands like diamond rings. Wanda pulled her card out pretending to check something over, when really she was just waving it around. It was platinum, of course. "But Molly's been a member for twenty years now." And she had a lovely gold card.

"That's good!" Wanda said tucking her card back in her bag. Her Rolex also glinted in the sun. "I can't wait until I've been a member for that long. But without the wrinkles."

Molly and I shared a glance. Molly giggled.

"Did Hannah tell you she and her boyfriend are getting married?" Wanda pulled a compact mirror from her bag and puckered her ruby red lips. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, the ends a bunch of bouncing curls. She looked nice. But on the inside, she was cooking up something devious.

Molly stared at me in shock. "You are?" she asked. "You didn't tell me anything about that!"

"No, we're not getting married!" I said. "I mean, not yet anyway, we're still waiting."

"And I'm going to plan her wedding!" Wanda pulled a smug little grin. "My friend Diego is the best wedding planner in the world, he'll make everything perfect for you." She pulled out a magazine from her bag and tossed it on my lap. On the cover was a woman in a wedding dress covered in lace. "I was thinking something a bit more....Cinderella. What do you think?"

I opened the magazine and flipped through page after page of models decked out in white dresses. Not a single black dress in sight. If I told Wanda I planned to wear black she'd faint on the spot. What will people think of me wearing something as naughty as that? I won't even look like a virgin!

"Has he given you a ring yet?" Wanda asked. "If he hasn't...or if the ring isn't up to standards...I'll take you shopping for one. Diego can come too, he knows exactly the kind of ring everyone should wear." She took notice of the gold band around Molly's finger and adjusted her earring. "Seems Diego could have helped you as well."

I could have whacked her across the court with my racquet.

"We're not getting married yet, so there's no ring, no dress, no plans," I said hoping to put an end to this nonsense. Wanda, like usual, ignored me. 

"My daughter is going to be the flower girl," she told Molly who could only listen with her mouth slightly open. I was hoping her medication took effect before she flung herself into the pool from our guest's company. "I'm going to buy her the most beautiful silk dress from only the best quality boutique Paris has to offer. We'll have to get your dress from Paris, or perhaps Spain where Diego lives." She grabbed the magazine from my hands and flipped through it, stopping at a page of the biggest, most ridiculous looking dress I'd ever seen. Enormous train that needed its own conductor, the puffiest sleeves I'd ever seen and probably the biggest hoop skirt underneath it. "Maybe the dress is a little overbearing but perhaps we can style your hair like hers?" 

Her black hair had been permed up in millions of curls piled on top of her head. There would be tears, alright. From Angus crying with laughter at the alter and me crying of embarrassment. 

"Uh..." Before I could answer she shoved the magazine back in her bag and stood up.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Melinda," she said shaking Molly's hand. "Hannah." She shook my hand and her touch still burned me. "I'd best be off getting Howard's martini. I'll phone you next week about Diego coming over." With a little wave, she headed for the bar.

Molly choked out a laugh and watched Wanda saunter off. "Wow," she said shaking her head. "Would you get a load of that...."

"I've already told her I didn't want her help with any wedding," I huffed wishing I could drown in the pool. "Angus and I are not getting married yet, we're waiting."

"I understand, dear, weddings and marriage are a lot of hard work that need plenty of time. There's nothing wrong with waiting, you can tell that...that...stiletto to can it."

I gripped the arms of my lounge chair and growled under my breath.