“So now what’s the plan?”
“I don’t know, we’ve been talking about it a little bit—we’ve only been engaged for an hour—but I don’t think we want a long engagement. We’ll see.”
This is what they call a whirlwind romance.
Quick courtship. Early engagement. Wedding soon to follow.
Happens sometimes with professional athletes, they want to balance their playing time with their free time, which isn’t an easy juggling act.
Mia and Thad both prattle on, talking over one another in their excitement, kissing and flirting all the while they’re video chatting with Juliet and I.
I have to admit, it’s making me a tad envious, a feeling I rarely feel.
Beside me, Juliet lets out a wistful sigh and I figure she must be feeling the same way. A little envious, a little longing.
Without overthinking it, I put my arm around her shoulders and squeeze, accidentally kissing the crown of her head.
If Mia and Thad notice, they don’t spare it a comment.
If Juliet thinks anything of it, she doesn’t say a word.
For another ten minutes, our best friends go on about how happy they are and retell the proposal story several more times.
“We have to call my parents back,” Thad says. “They were at dinner with friends when we called before.”
Juliet and I nod.
“We love you guys!” Mia squeals. “Oh my god, I just can’t believe it!” She’s beaming. “We should go.”
After another few minutes of saying good-bye, the call disconnects and Juliet and I are left in the same place we were before the video chat: in complete silence.
In the air is a different kind of vibe.
One of…shock. A weird combination of happy and confusion. No, that’s not the right word for it. I am happy, it’s just…I don’t know how to feel or what this is.
You are not losing your best friend, you are gaining a new friend: Mia. You already only see him every so often, it’s not like you were up each other’s asses—she is not stealing your best friend.
I clear my throat.
“What are you thinking right now?” Juliet asks slowly. “I can’t tell what’s going on in your brain right now.”
“I’m…” I don’t know.
She nods knowingly. “Yeah, me too.”
“I am…speechless?” If a person can be speechless when they have words coming out of their mouth. “I’m stunned. He did it—he actually did it.”
“That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one,” Juliet mumbles sliding off the barstool, moving around the counter to the sink. She goes to the cabinet and pulls out a glass, filling it with water and chugging it. “I wish this was stronger.”
“We’re happy for them,” I say.
“We are!” Her tone is a bit too cheerful. “We are so happy for them!”
“This is what they wanted.”
Juliet nods, chugging more water. “They are such good people, they one hundred percent deserve to be happy.”
So are we.
So do we.
After Juliet sets down the water glass, she glances up at me. “Did you know he was proposing this weekend?”
“Not really.” I think back to previous conversations and come up blank on anything remotely related to a proposal this weekend. Sure, he’s mentioned it but nothing concrete.
“Really? He never said anything to you? It surprises me that he wouldn’t have hit you up for some advice before popping the question…”
“I mean, I knew he was thinking about it—we talk about everything—I just wasn’t sure he was going to do it this past weekend. Guess he couldn’t wait—the ring must have been burning a hole in his pocket.”
“Had he showed it to you beforehand?”
Yes, actually, he had shown me a few rings beforehand. A few that they’d found together while playfully scrolling through Instagram that Mia thought were pretty; she hadn’t wanted to choose her own ring, wanted it to be a surprise. Still he’d had an inkling as to what style she liked, and had shown me.
We’d joked about it, but as far as I knew, the proposal was farther off in the future.
“Just a picture of it when he was at the jewelry store—and this was a few weeks ago, and he got busy with work. Tons of traveling, you know? It’s the start of the season so he’s laser focused.”
I used to be the same way. Willa might have been a shitty human and a shitty girlfriend, but she understood the lifestyle and as far as that part went—she was perfect.
These days, I don’t have to worry about working, practice and traveling—not the same kind of working and traveling. Less stress and no impact on my physical or mental health. Makes sense that Thad would want to move things along…
Here one day, gone the next.
Careers, women, the life.
CHAPTER 10
Juliet
Mia and Thad are engaged.
I can hardly wrap my brain around it.
I mean I can…
…but I can’t.
Mia is getting married.
Married!!!
Just this past weekend we were on a trip together. Just two weeks before that, we were sharing drinks together as she convinced me to go on said trip together.