Sara
I’m totally fed up. This is the third wedding I’ve attended this season. It rarely bothers me much, but this year I’m single. I debated getting in touch with the last loser I dated, but thought better of it. Wine and feeling sorry for myself are a lethal combination. I know I’m only feeling sorry for myself because every one of my friends are coupled up. When I was newly single, I loved it. My time was my own. I could do what I wanted when I wanted. Watch whatever I wanted on whatever streaming device I wanted. Played whatever music I wanted as loud as I wanted. I loved having my own space. But a year and a half later, the things I used to love about being single are now the things I hate.
Catherine was the first friend I made in college. To say we became instant friends is an understatement. Catherine was trying to do way too much at once, dropped a heavy box she was carrying and burst into tears when I opened the door. She couldn’t understand why her key wasn’t working in her door until she realized she was trying to get in the wrong room. Hers was one door down, next door to mine. We laugh about that story all the time. I helped her move her things into her room, then we went to get coffee. We soon realized we were taking a couple of the same classes, and our friendship was officially born. Neither one of us has got rid of the other since. Even moving from different states, we still talk and FaceTime all the time. When she asked me to come down a couple of days before the wedding, I jumped at the chance. To spend a couple of extra days with my best friend and also get away from a job I hate. So a couple of days in the sun, drinking cocktails and flirting with hot guys is just what I need and is an added bonus. Catherine and Bryan have lived here for five years. I really miss not having my best friend in the same city. Hell, the same state.
Now I find myself in Catherine and Bryan’s apartment helping her bag up wedding favors for the wedding guests (she did not inform work would be involved in my visit). But since Bryan’s cousin flaked on her, she begged me to help. I see no end in sight, and we’ve already been doing this for two hours. Somewhere in this city is a cocktail with my name on it, feeling very lonely.
Catherine’s phone dances on the table with Bryan’s name and face flashing on the screen. It’s cute that she still gets excited when he calls. Catherine picks up her phone and moves away, walking towards her kitchen. “Hi Bryan,” she says in that excited getting a call off her crush teenager voice.
I smile to myself, rolling my eyes. I can hear Catherine laughing on the phone, no doubt noticing my eye roll.
“We should be finished in about half an hour,” she tells Bryan.
YES! Finally, I'm not sure that I have another two hours left in me doing this.
“We’ll meet you there. See you soon.”
I carry on putting things in bags, my pile so much smaller than Catherine’s.
“Okay. So that was Bryan. He’s taking us out to dinner. When he was out sorting some things out, he met up with one of our friends, Adrien. We’re meeting them there.”
God, I hate that name.
“Great! I can’t wait to see Bryan.” I say genuinely. I’ve not seen Bryan for ages. He was supposed to meet me at the airport, but when my flight came in later than expected, I decided to just get an Uber to the hotel.
“Yay! Tonight is going to be so much fun. Adrien is such a catch, too. He’s a bit of a control freak, judging by the amount of hours he works, but he’s a nice guy. When his brother died of a heart attack last year, it kind of freaked him out a bit, and he has definitely changed, for the better.”
If I was a suspicious person, I might have thought she was trying to set us up.
An hour later,we get out of our Uber. Catherine had kindly let me borrow one of her dresses, since there was no way in hell I was going out in shorts and a tank top I’d been wearing all day. Tonight was going to be fun. Catching up with Catherine and Bryan was going to be like old times, when we lived a couple of blocks from each other. I really missed them when they moved to Miami, but it was the job of a lifetime for Catherine. I know she worried about the new job when she took it, but Catherine kicks ass, and they are lucky to have her. I just wish I had more luck. It shocked me when my boss and mentor got into financial trouble, and they had to liquidate the company. It left me without a job, one I loved. But I’m also the reason he’s now serving time in prison. But only a few people know that. I worked a pretty good deal that got my name changed on all the paperwork involved in the case. So while my New York apartment is small and crappy, it's close to work. While I don’t love the job I’m in now, rent doesn’t pay for itself and well, I refuse to ask anyone for help. I know Bryan and Catherine have offered to help and would love nothing more to see me move to Miami, but that’s not happening.
“Everything is sorted for the wedding, and I’m going to relax,” said Catherine, walking into the restaurant.
I look into the restaurant and see Bryan laughing with his friend. Then I look closer.
No! It can’t be. Shit!
My heart speeds up, and I can feel myself getting hot, and my heart beats out of my chest. “You go to the table.” I just about manage to smile and somehow still sound normal even though I feel anything but. That’s my hope, at least. “I’m just going to stop at the bathroom.”
“Ok” Catherine eyes me suspiciously, like only a genuine friend can. She knows I’m lying.
When I’min the safety of the ladies, I close my eyes before looking in the mirror. Get a grip. Maybe I’m panicking for nothing, and it isn’t even him. There is no way in hell Bryan knows Adrien fucking Banks, and I don’t know about it. We’ve all been friends for way too long for us not to have crossed paths. Ok, so Adrien and I didn’t exactly leave things in the best of circumstances. I thought he was the guy I was going to spend the rest of my life with. Ok, maybe at 24 that was a bit too idealistic of a way to think. Adrien and me worked together. Hell, most of the time we were competing with each other. Then a promotion came up. We were both up for it. We agreed, whatever happened, we’d make it work. It seemed only Adrien was only thinking about himself. He got the promotion.
Oh, did I not mention the promotion also meant re-location? Right across the stinking country. San Francisco, to be exact. For the first month he was out there, we spoke or messaged every day. Then one day, silence. Nothing! It was like he had fallen off the face of the earth. After another month of radio silence, I got the message loud and clear. Adrien was done. No word. A clean slate for him, I guess. A couple of months later, we were both attending the same conference. We saw each other across the hotel lobby, held each other's gaze for a minute. You know, like in that Hallmark movie moment. Then he turned around, and continued talking to whoever he was talking to, and we never spoke again.
The guy broke my heart. I remember calling Catherine from my hotel room that night in tears. How the hell could she not tell me she knew Adrien? That was five and a half years ago.