“When grandma passed, they decided to stay back there and help to facilitate the sale of her property. But I didn’t want to stay behind. I needed to get back into work and it just was easier to make the escape back to Montana. How are you guys doing?” she asked.
Everyone eagerly chatted away about what they’d been up to, but I stayed mostly quietly. I didn’t have much to add. How could you when your job consisted of filing papers and phone calls and your life in itself was mostly struggling with not fighting with your boyfriend? Things were tough and the last thing Sydney needed was my problems piled on top of everything she had going on.
The waitress came back to the table and I ordered another beer, while everyone went on about their glorious lives. I just listened intently, drank my beer, and tried not to be jealous…too much. Sydney kept saying things like, that’s amazing, good for you, I’m so proud of you, sounds great, and I just indulged in my self-pity.
Yeah, jealousy was certainly prevalent.
After everyone else had gone about getting another drink, Sydney spoke up. “So, I do have some news and thought now would be as good of a time as any to let you in on it.”
I sipped on my beer, then swallowed it down and tried to be enthusiastic to hear about what she needed to say.
“What is it, Syd?” I asked.
That was when I noticed it. I’m not sure if I was the only one, but my eyes were directed to her left hand. She was playing with a ring that was on her finger. I don’t know if she was playing with that throughout the course of the night, but it was clear that she was extremely nervous.
My mouth hung open as the realization hit me. I didn’t want to blurt it out, but I was anxious to hear her spread the news. She then held up her left hand and sighed. “I’m getting married!”
A round of squeals came around the table, as she showed off her engagement ring. I couldn’t believe the news. The last I’d known, she wasn’t even dating anyone. “Who?” I suddenly asked.
She looked at me and there was a smile in her eyes. “You don’t know him. I met him in New York.” She paused, before continuing. “He’s a lawyer.”
I wondered if that meant she was leaving. She had made this big mention of getting back to her job and to her hometown, but if she was just going to turn around and leave again, I wondered what the point was. I was being a bit selfish, I’d admit that, but I didn’t want to see her go again. Luckily, I didn’t need to ask the question, because Mary had it on her mind.
“So, you’re moving to New York?” Mary asked.
Sydney looked at each of us, before shaking her head. “I’m not. Michael is getting a job in Maine. He stayed back home to finish up a couple different cases, but he’s moving here right before the wedding.” She glanced at me and it was like we had that inner connection where she would know exactly what I was thinking before I had a chance to say it. She smiled and nodded and I gave her a slight smile response back.
I wasn’t surprised to hear she was marrying a lawyer. After all, Sydney came from wealth and prestige, with her mother being a doctor and her father a chemist. It was like Sydney had gold in her blood. Great things came to her and I was always supportive of that, but it made sense that she would ultimately meet and marry a lawyer to continue her road to wealth.
We all congratulated her and I got up and walked around to where she was sitting. “Congratulations, Syd!” We hugged. “I’m so happy for you!”
When she pulled away, there were tears in her eyes. She had to wipe them away and I saw her hand shaking. “You’ll really like him,” she said.
I smiled. “All that matters is that you’re in love and if you are, then that’s good enough for me.” We hugged again and she nodded, I felt her shaking slightly. I knew that this was love for her, because Sydney wasn’t one to settle down easily. She’d never had a long-term boyfriend, let alone a man I could see that she would want to marry. I was truly happy for her and couldn’t wait to meet the man that stole my friend’s heart.
2
Trevor
The smell of bourbon penetrated through me as I lifted the glass to my lips and drank. I heaved a sigh and let the cool liquid slide down my throat.
It’d been a crazy busy day and I was glad to get out of the bar I owned, into a place that wouldn’t recognize me for my name or knowledge of the bar scene. Sometimes it was just good to get away. I took another drink and closed my eyes. Sometimes I wondered how I got to where I was.
I was twenty-eight and an owner of the bar and restaurant, Mercury Wild. It’d been sort of an inheritance passed down to me since my father’s passing five years earlier. Men admired me for the fortune that came with my name. Women flocked to me for the man of their dreams, or at least they liked the fact that I was wealthy, but along the way I lost sight of who I was.
I never saw that in my father, so I wondered again how I got to where I was. I took another drink, then ordered up another one. I was only two when my grandfather passed away, so I also questioned if maybe we were cut from the same cloth. Was I more like him?
“This seat taken?” I looked up into the eyes of a tall blonde woman. She had waves of curls that cascaded over her shoulders and the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. In every man’s fantasy, she would be the ideal catch. I just smiled and shook my head.
“Have a seat!” I then took another drink and looked away, literally ignoring the woman and probably offending her with my cavalier attitude.
She did make small talk, but I didn’t even acknowledge her talking and I was sure I had offended her, because about fifteen minutes later she was getting down from the bar stool. She mumbled something about having a nice life and then she was gone.
The truth was the blonde-haired woman was the typical woman that I would gravitate towards and that was exactly why I didn’t indulge in any thoughts of communication with her. I was tired of going the typical route. I needed to change things up or I was bound to go crazy.
After a couple more drinks, finishing off my bourbon, I left behind the glass and turned around to leave. I spotted Dylan coming closer to me. Dylan was one of my good friends and not one I could easily ignore. I put on a smile and waved to him, just as he got closer.
“Hey, buddy, thought that was you over here. Wanna come to my table and hang?” he asked.