I was already on my second beer when my phone rang. Colby. It was nearly 3 PM, which meant “it” hadn’t happened yet. I picked up and tried to sound cheery. “Hey.”
He, on the other hand, sounded out of breath. “Where are you? I’m at the shop, and it’s closed.”
Oh no. “Crap, really? I’m at a bar with Deek.”
“Why?”
I didn’t want to lie. “Okay…I might have had some trouble focusing this morning. And Deek made the executive decision to close down after the first couple of clients today. We’ve been wandering around the city.”
“Which bar are you at?”
I didn’t even know. “What’s the name of this place?” I asked Deek.
“Sammie’s.”
“Sammie’s. It’s somewhere near the Park.”
“Shit. That’s far. I needed to see you and figured maybe you’d have time for a quick visit if I stopped by before I had to head to the courthouse.”
I felt terrible. “That wasn’t the plan, Colby. You said you were going there straight from work. I wish I’d known.”
“I know.” He sighed. “I just…needed to make sure you were okay. I didn’t feel like I could go through with this if you weren’t. And admittedly, I wanted to see you. I just…” His words trailed off. “I don’t know. I’m not okay right now.”
My chest constricted. “I’m not really okay, either. But that doesn’t matter. Because you marrying her will never feel okay. Feeling okay is not what it’s about. Nothing is going to make it feel okay for either of us, you know? We just have to accept that.”
“I don’t have to go through with it,” he said in an urgent tone.
“Yes, you do.” I sighed deeply. “You know you do.”
There was a long pause where all I could hear was his breathing. I wished I didn’t have alcohol in me because it made me more emotional than I wanted to be at this moment. Tears stung my eyes.
“Let me talk to Deek,” he finally said.
I handed the phone to my friend. “Colby wants to talk to you.”
“Yo,” Deek said as he took the call. He listened, and then he nodded. “Yeah. No worries.” He paused. “Take care of yourself, man. I’ve got it covered.” Deek handed the phone back to me.
“Hey,” I said.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get to see you,” Colby said. “But I’m glad you’re with Deek.”
“It’s probably better that we missed each other. Seeing me would bring out all the emotions. You shouldn’t be emotional going into this. It’s a business transaction.”
“Of the worst kind, yeah. Pretty sure I’d rather be meeting with the mafia right now.”
I looked at the time. He had less than an hour. “You’d better go. The courthouse is on the other side of town. You don’t want to be late.”
“Yes, I do want to be late. I’d like to get married to her at a half past never.”
I put on my big-girl panties for a moment. “Colby, it’ll be okay. You got this.” Exhaling, I said, “Call me when it’s over, okay?”
“Okay.”
Then I hung up before he could say anything else. I could tell he wasn’t going to be the first to hang up. I immediately regretted ending the call, but I couldn’t bear it if he’d said something that made me cry. I didn’t want to turn into a blubbering mess in this bar. That wouldn’t have been good for him or me.
“What did he say to you?” I asked Deek.
“He thanked me for looking out for you today. That’s all. He’s really worried about you.”
I ran my finger along the condensation on the beer bottle and became lost in my thoughts. A few minutes later, I looked up and noticed someone waving as he walked toward us. It was…Owen?
“Fancy meeting you here.” He grinned.
He was dressed in a navy three-piece suit. His shiny watch gleamed. Everything was on point.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
He clasped hands with Deek. “This bar is not far from my office. Figured I’d come for a little happy hour.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Really…”
Owen sat down with us and signaled for the waitress before ordering a beer. “What’s new with you guys?” he asked.
“Nothing much. Just trying to forget the fact that Colby is getting married in the next hour.” I took a long sip.
Owen played dumb. “Oh, is that today?”
“Come on, Owen. You knew it was today.”
His expression darkened. “Yeah, I did. He just texted me to come by and check on you. He knew Deek was with you, but I think Colby wanted some representation from his side to make sure you were okay. If he couldn’t be here, I was the next best thing.”
“Well…thank you. But that’s totally unnecessary,” I said.
“Anything I can do to make this day easier for Colby, I’m gonna do it.”
“This is a rarity, though. You left the office before four PM?” I teased.