Between Friends (6 page)

Eric laughs out exactly what all of us
are thinking, “What the hell are you guys doing?”

“
What?” Michelle innocently
says blinking her eyes at all of us.

“
Don’t even think about
it.” Eric says waving his hands in the air like he is an umpire
calling an out.

Matthew rolls his eyes at Eric and
insists it's nothing. Stephanie and I glare directly at Michelle
waiting for her to confess to their yet again not-so-secret
affair.

Ben interjects with a laugh, “Who
cares. If that’s what they want to do, then to each there
own.”

I take a huge gulp after Ben’s
so-called blessing of their clandestine love affair. His reaction
sends chills up my spine. How could Ben possibility think it is
okay to be with someone and sleep with another? I bite down on my
lip, not wanting to question him on his immoral approach to their
circumstance. I don’t dare make eye contact with him, even though I
can feel his eyes burning into me. Instead, I raise my glass of
wine over to Matthew and Michelle with congratulatory humor and
say, “Well then, on that note, to sex with friends.”

Chapter 5

My dress keeps on getting tighter and
tighter from inhaling this never-ending meal. The amount of food I
have forced down my throat is out of control. When a light sorbet
is placed in front of me, I am relieved this gluttonous event is
over. I poke around at the melting slush in my tiny clear dish when
Mr. Stanley Ellis, Jessica’s father stands up and clinks his glass
to avert everyone’s attention to the far end of the restaurant. He
clears his throat and announces he would like to say a few words.
Jessica smiles adoringly at her father, and leans her head into
Michael’s shoulder. He kisses the top of her soft blonde hair, and
I stare fondly at them.

“
I would just like to thank
everyone for travelling all this way to celebrate the long awaited
marriage of our beautiful daughter Jessica Marie Ellis to the
strapping Dr. Michael Frances Mercier.” Jessica’s father looks
proudly at his wife before he begins to tear up. He pauses for a
few moments and wipes away the tears from his eyes.

Seeing Jessica’s parents share a
moment of honor over her marriage makes me wonder what my crazy
divorced parents would be like if I were to ever tie the knot.
Unlike Jessica’s parents, my parents hate each other and can’t
stand to be in each other’s presence. They would never be able to
sit down together and actually share a pinnacle moment of joy in my
life. Instead my mother would selfishly protest on not being
anywhere near my father or his new family, and my father would
insist on paying for everything, just to piss my mother off and rub
his money in her face. Nothing would be about me. It would be all
about their issues and their problems with each other. But
Jessica’s family is different, and anything but dysfunctional. No
wonder Jessica could find love so easily with Michael; it’s all
around her.

Jessica’s father gains his composure
and continues, “I am proud to say that in five days, everyone here
will witness the most beautiful bride walking down the aisle.” He
sniffles and adds, “I wish you both all the happiness in the world.
Thank you everyone for coming. It means so much to our
families.”

The mood is beautifully light hearted
when everyone claps for Mr. Ellis’s speech. Jessica jumps out of
her chair and gives her dad a kiss on the cheek. He blubbers into
her shoulder and kisses her forehead. Michael stands up to shake
his hand, but Mr. Ellis pulls him in for a tight hug.

“
That was so sweet.”
Stephanie whimpers and wipes away the tears trickling down her
cheeks with a cloth napkin.

Michelle snorts back her emotions and
I solemnly nod in agreement.

Eric ruins the moment by slamming his
fists on the table and shouts, “Enough of this teary babble. Let’s
grab some booze and hit up the beach.”

Ben and Matthew laugh, and immaturely
engage in a frat boy high five. But when the chatter picks back up,
Ben leans across the table and whispers, “Promise me you will come
to the beach with us.”

I blush as balls of knots clench my
stomach. Just as I am about to respond, I see the playful glimmer
in Ben’s eyes change to clouded confusion. I follow his gaze over
my head, and crank my neck around to see Jessica and a handsome
mystery man standing behind me.

“
Megan, this is Steven. I
have been dying for you two to meet.” Jessica exclaims, practically
ripping me up from my chair.

My wobbly legs finally allow me to
stand up, and I am completely awe struck. Steven is nothing like I
expected. He is tall, fair skinned and stunningly gorgeous. I am at
a loss for words, because I can clearly remember growing up,
Jessica referring to him as her nerdy cousin from Connecticut. But
Steven is anything but nerdy. He is smartly dressed, wearing a
black suit jacket over a plain white t-shirt, and dark wash jeans.
I notice his eyes are exactly like Jessica’s - big, bright and
vibrant blue. He has an adorable bum chin and a strong jaw with a
regal nose. His blonde hair is perfectly styled and he smells like
a mixture of really expensive body wash and 100% man.

He clasps my hand in a firm shake, “It
is so nice to finally meet you. Jessica has told me so much about
you over the years. I have to say, you are even more beautiful in
person than you are in pictures.”

I shoot Jessica an evil glare. Not
because I am shocked she would go as far as send some random
pictures of me via email to Steven, but I am furious that she
didn’t tell me she did it. Jessica apologetically shrugs and bats
her eyes at me for forgiveness. I remain calm, and look at Steven.
I thank him for his kind words, and change the subject by asking
him how he likes living in Chicago (Jessica updated me on his
transfer a while ago; how he moved from Connecticut once his
divorce finalized). Steven tells me he loves being in the windy
city, and that he is really looking forward to exploring what
Chicago has to offer.

“
Well you two should set
something up” Jessica jumps in and sticks her head in between our
conversation, “I know Steven just loves the Cubs. You two should go
see a game!”

I scrunch up my nose and think of Ben
behind me, hearing every little ounce of this conversation. I try
to send telepathic waves to Jessica to make her stop. I force our
eyes to meet, but it clearly doesn’t work, because she gloats and
continues to babble on about how when Steven does happen to take me
to a game, he should remember how I love getting a corndog
(something Ben and I both enjoy having every time we go to a
game).

Steven blushes, which I find endearing
and says, “I do have season tickets if you ever want to
go.”

“
Sure” I nervously laugh
and flirtatiously place my hand on his rock solid bicep.

Jessica giddily claps her hands
together, “Well, I think my work here is done. I’ll leave you two
to chat.”

The thunderous rumble of a chair
startles me. I turn around to see Ben push up from the table and
rise to his feet. He tosses his napkin down on his plate and clears
his throat. Then Eric pipes up and asks him where he is going. Ben
lets out a fake yawn and scratches the back of his head, “I think
I’m going to call it a night.”

“
But we’re going down to
the beach” Eric moans, “Just wait a few minutes. The bartender is
bringing us a bottle of Tequila.”

“
Benny!” Stephanie says
with her annoying baby voice and pouts at him, “Don’t be like that.
Please come.”

For some reason, only with Ben,
Stephanie will sometimes turn into a whiny clingy mess, especially
when she is drinking. It doesn’t usually annoy me, but tonight when
she tugs on his arm and bats her eyes at him, I can’t stand
it.

“
Come on man” Matthew
pitches in, “Why are you turning all sour?”

Ben pulls his arm out of Stephanie’s
death grip and shifts his eyes from me to Steven, “I’m sorry guys,
I’m still feeling jet legged. But I am sure Steven will gladly take
my place.”

I turn bright red and clench onto the
back of my seat. Ben kicks in his chair and storms away from the
table. Eric throws his hands up in the air and looks over at
Matthew, “What the hell is his problem?”

Matthew shakes his head and brushes
off Ben’s dramatic exit by leaning over to Michelle and placing his
hand a little too far up her skirt. I am ready to jump across the
table and chase after Ben as he walks away, but I stand frozen in
place and watch him by-pass the concrete path and shuffle through
the grass. My heart is torn. I look back at Steven who is beaming
at me with Jessica still at his side. I bite my lip and nervously
fiddle with the bottom fringe of my dress. I selfishly wish I could
rip off these ridiculous heels and be anywhere but here.

Then Jessica pipes up, oblivious to my
current situation, “Well that would actually be a great idea.
Steven should definitely come down to the beach with you
guys.”

Before I can even object, Eric happily
invites him along, and Steven graciously accepts. I consider
shouting out that I feel sick, and insist I have to leave, just so
I can chase after Ben and ask him what the hell that was all about.
I have rarely ever seen Ben upset over much of anything. This is
one of the many good things about him. He is always level headed
and doesn’t upset easily, which is why his snappy exit has me
questioning what is going on. He couldn’t possibly care about
Jessica playing matchmaker with Steven. Why would he? Ben has never
cared about who I liked or dated before. I tell myself I am just
being paranoid. But when I glance back over my shoulder and watch
Ben disappear into the darkness, I can’t help but feel like a
twisted bunch of nerves.

Eric slams a bottle of Tequila on the
table and shouts, “Alright, let’s go!”

I pull myself together, give Jessica a
farewell hug then straighten out my dress. With Steven close by, I
follow my friends leaving Jessica with Michael to enjoy a nice
evening with their families. On our way to the beach, I can hear
Matthew and Michelle swapping spit as they linger behind us, while
Eric walks ahead with Steven and talks with him about a recent Cubs
game. Stephanie on the other hand, locks arms with me and chats
about making tomorrow a sun-tanning day of leisure.

The path that leads down to the beach
is quiet and dark, but full of luscious greenery. The waves crash
on the sand, filling the air with a refreshingly misty sprinkle.
Eric jets ahead and searches for a spot to plop down and pound back
the Tequila. When he finds a well-lit area on the sandy ground, he
waves us all over.

“
Alright Steven, as
initiation I think you should be the first one to take a swig of
the bottle.” Eric announces and pushes the bottle in Steven’s
direction.

I feel like I am in some bad sorority
nightmare and become embarrassed by Eric’s pushy
demeanor.

Steven shrugs with a smile, “Okay. I
guess so. Hand it over.”

“
No Eric. Steven does not
have to do that.” I say and push the bottle back in Eric’s
face.

“
It’s fine.” Steven says
and rubs my shoulder.

“
Yeah Megan, relax.” Eric
chimes in.

“
Real mature.” I
snap.

“
You’re not his old lady
yet. Steven is a grown man who can make his own decisions.” Eric
laughs.

“
You are being too
aggressive – “ I shout at Eric, but before I can even continue my
rant, Steven has taken the open bottle and slammed back the first
shot.

Everyone breaks out into roaring
cheers and Eric even slaps Steven on the back, “I like this guy.”
He laughs and high fives Steven.

Immediately I decide Steven is already
racking up the “boyfriend material” points. The first point being
his actions tonight, prove that he is a good sport. He forcefully
hands the bottle back to Eric and chokes a bit on his release,
which tells me he doesn’t drink often. I also decide he deserves
another point, because his obvious lack of boozing only proves he
is mature and stable, unlike our rowdy group.

As the night progresses, there is
never a dull moment during our late night beach fiasco. Eric and
Matthew control most of the conversation and tell old stories from
our high school days. They make sure they embarrass me and tell
Steven about some stupid things I did back then. Like when I backed
into the Principals Mercedes Benz with my mother’s old station
wagon, or the time Ben and I did a magic act for the Christmas
Talent Show. They even unleash a few memories from our college
years, like the time I drunkenly threw up all over Ben one night at
the pub, or the time I organized a rally to protest against smoking
on campus, and no one except Jessica, Michael (because he was
dragged by Jessica) and Ben showed up. Of course, Steven enjoys all
of them and flashes me his bright (definitely cosmetically
enhanced) grin.

“
Okay. No more of the let’s
embarrass Megan stories.” I grumble and take a shot from the
bottle.

“
What? The stories are
funny!” Matthew chuckles, “Steven probably appreciates hearing
about your dorky days. Oops, I mean glory days.”

“
Those days were hardly
what I would consider glamorous. And don’t think for a second I
didn’t hear you slide in that dork comment.”