Disclaimer: All of the characters, personalities, and backgrounds belong to the delightful Janet Evanovich.

Second Chances

I pulled in front of the apartment building and honked my horn. A dark-skinned woman with bleach blonde hair twice my size wearing clothing two sizes smaller waved her hand frantically from the doorway.

"I'll be down in a minute!" she hollered. "Can't find my knockoff Prada bag. It's the only one that matches this outfit." I laughed.

Lula was wearing a neon pink top and a fuzzy animal print jacket. She'd been going a bit more conservative on the skirts lately, and I was surprised to see it hanging a little below her knees. Still wearing heels though. I'd given up on the things ages ago…except on the occasional date night.

A few minutes later, she made her way out to the car and plopped herself into the seat next to me in a huff.

"No Prada," she grouched. "Tore the whole place apart looking for it too. A girl's gotta accessorize, you know?" I nodded in agreement, but honestly I never really mastered the whole accessorizing bit.

My idea of accessorizing was making sure I had my ID and a credit card crammed into one of my pockets. It was a lucky day if my reading glasses happened to be on my head when I left the house.

"I think I might need some donuts and coffee this morning," Lula said. "Gotta get my strength up before dealing with those people again." I nodded in agreement.

"You read my mind." We grabbed a dozen Boston crèmes from the Tasty Pastry down the street and pulled into a nearby parking lot to eat them.

"So what's new with you?" Lula asked between bites. I took a sip of coffee.

"Not much. I watch my sister's grandkids from time to time just for kicks. And I'm still working on the blog. How about you?"

"I pick up things from the temp agency now and then, but you'd be amazed at all the people who don't understand fashion when they see it. Two places even asked me to leave before I even started their filing. Rude, right?" I smiled.

"Missing the old days sometimes?"

"You bet your cute butt," she nodded. "I never realized how good we had it back then." I guess I didn't really either. Some days I still like to reminisce.

My name is Stephanie Morelli, and a lifetime ago I used to work for my cousin Vinnie at his bail bonds office as a bond enforcement agent. Lula, a former hooker way back in the day, used to be my sometimes sidekick and picked up my slack in the gun and attitude departments. We'd attempt to bring in the delinquents who skipped out on their court dates, and most of the time we were successful. The pay was sporadic at best, but the uniforms and hours were good, so I probably stayed employed there way longer than I should have. The future always intimidated me, so I tended to stay where I felt comfortable. Even if it meant getting shot at occasionally or having my life threatened every other month.

It took nearly losing everything and everyone important to me before I was finally able to call it quits. I had some serious decisions to make, but without the job to hide behind anymore, I finally felt ready to make them. Some days I wondered what life would be like now if I'd gone a different direction, but really I wouldn't give up what I had for anything. Life was what it was, and I had plenty to be thankful for.

We pulled into the mall parking lot, and Lula opened my center console.

"Got any pepper spray or stun guns lying around here from the olden days?" I shook my head.

"Haven't touched that stuff in years."

"Too bad," she frowned. "With a crowd like that, we're probably gonna need it." I readjusted my shirt and took a moment to look myself over in the rearview mirror.

"Gosh," I frowned. "When did we get so old? These wrinkles around my eyes look like an interstate road map." Lula laughed.

"Honey, we ain't old. We're vintage." It really didn't matter what you called it. It still sucked having the wrinkles, deteriorating eyesight, and the aching joints. At least I was in good company.

"You ready?" I asked.

"Honey, I was born ready," Lula smiled back. We gathered our things and went over the game plan again. Lula would go straight to the basement and I'd head for the shoes. We went and took our places outside next to all the other crazies.

"Are we getting to old for this?" Lula whispered over at me.

"Never," I whispered back. And that's when the doors opened for Macy's Big Sale Event.

After two hours of dodging aggressive clothes hoarders, Lula and I finally decided to call it quits. As usual, Lula found way more clothing and accessories than I had. She walked out with four bags, and I only had the one.

"I think you're losing your edge there, Steph," she frowned pulling a new tiger-striped scarf around her neck.

"I guess I just wasn't feeling it today," I shrugged. "Marco's coming over later for dinner, so my mind's kind of been elsewhere."

"How is Marco?" Lula asked.

"He's good. Just finished the Academy. I think it was a little rough there with the graduation. It would've been nice if Joe could've been there."

"Aw, Sweetie, I'm sorry. You want Auntie Lula to pay a visit later to cheer you both up?" I shook my head.

"Not necessary, but thanks for the offer. I think it'll just be the two of us tonight. He's been busy lately, so we've got some catching up to do."

"You cooking?" Lula asked with a grin.

"If you mean calling in an order from Pino's, then yeah, I'm cooking." We both laughed. Cooking had never been one of my strong suits. We pulled into the lot in front of Lula's apartment, and she got out.

"Thanks for the ride, Sweetie," she said. "Felt like the olden days there for a bit." She turned to head in, but stopped halfway to the stairs and slapped her palm to her forehead running full speed back to the car.

"You forget something?" I asked as she ripped open the passenger door.

"I hope not," she said glancing around. "It must be that old-timer's disease kicking in. Somehow I forgot some big news I was going to tell you."

"How big are we talking here?" I asked. "New-selection-of-meats-at-Sal's big or Joyce-Barnhardt's-botched-plastic-surgery big?"

"Well to you, I'd say bigger than both of those." She got a big mischievous smile on her face. "You'll never guess who I heard was back in town."