by Cleo Jones
Nate shrugged and reached for the mug of coffee Audrey had set down for him on the nightstand. He could tell what she was angling at, and he was going to need some caffeine in his system if he was going to get through this discussion unscathed. “It's definitely something,” he said between sips, keeping his tone as lighthearted as possible.
Audrey let out a dreamy sigh. “It must be such a nice feeling,” she continued. “You know…knowing you've found the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with.”
Nate nodded and continued the charade of not knowing what she was hinting at. “Yeah, I'm happy for her. Caleb’s a good guy, and it's obvious that he's crazy about her.”
Audrey let out an exasperated sigh and turned from her side onto her back. Her reaction was that of a fisherman who’d spent all morning with his line in the water only to come up empty handed. “What about you?” she questioned after a moment of silence, opting on the straightforward approach instead.
“Me?”
“I mean…don't you ever think about it?” Audrey questioned with hopeful urgency. “You know...marriage, kids, a house with a white picket fence. That's the end goal for you, isn't it?”
Nate hesitated. He couldn’t muster up the courage to say what he was really thinking, which was that while he did want those things, he wasn’t so sure if he wanted them with her. So he opted on silence instead.
The disappointment in Audrey’s expression as Nate stood up to get dressed was impossible for him to ignore. He could feel her burning holes into his back as he searched the room for his wallet and keys, and he had a sinking feeling that she wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily.
“Nate, I’m serious,” Audrey spoke up, proving him right as per usual. “Do you think I’m it or not?”
“It?”
“You know…the one…”
Nate sighed inwardly. He knew the answer without having to think about it, but the cruelty associated with that kind of bluntness never was his flavor. He liked Audrey well enough, but spending the rest of his life with her was never something that crossed his mind organically. The only time he ever thought about it was when someone brought it up, and more often than not, that person was her.
Nate tried to picture his wedding day. He tried to envision himself in a tux awaiting Audrey at the end of a long aisle, but it didn’t feel natural, and it didn’t take long for his train of thought to shift to Zoë the way it always tended to.
It didn’t make any sense. Of course Nate didn’t want to marry Zoë. They had been done and over with for years.
Right?
“Well?” Audrey prodded.
Nate pulled on his t-shirt and hesitated before turning to face her. His head pounded as he considered his response. If he said no, it would be sure to lead them into an argument that could last days, if not weeks. However, if he said yes, it would be a stone cold lie that would do nothing but fill her head with fantasies that would never become a reality.
Ultimately, for the sake of his sanity, Nate decided on the latter. As soon as he nodded, Audrey sprung up and jumped his bones, causing him to tense up beneath her grip. He wasn’t sure what he’d gotten himself into, but he was well aware that it wasn’t good.
Chapter six
Zoë was running nearly 30 minutes behind schedule by the time she arrived at Galatoire’s, so she was surprised to find that Aniyah hadn't arrived yet either. She did, however, notice Audrey inspecting a menu at a booth in the back of the room. She looked runway ready as per usual, and the large sunglasses she was wearing seemed to swallow her small face whole.
Suddenly, Zoë felt severely underdressed in her parka and skinny jeans. With a deep sigh, she made her way over to the booth and took a seat. “Audrey,” she greeted with a slight nod, tapping into all the cheerfulness she could muster up.
“Zoë,” Audrey replied in a brusque tone.
Zoë picked up a menu of her own once she was situated and pretended to be occupied by the selection. Every few minutes, she’d look up and eye the door for Aniyah, but she was greeted with disappointment every time.
“So, Nate tells me you're walking in Fashion Week?” Zoë questioned, attempting to make conversation.
Audrey shrugged in lieu of responding. Her expression made it clear that she wasn’t in the mood for small talk.
Desperate to distract herself from the awkwardness, Zoë waved down a waitress and ordered a mimosa. It took awhile to come, but as soon as it was placed on the table, she swallowed it back and ordered another.
“About Nate,” Audrey spoke up out of nowhere, flipping her menu shut and sliding off her sunglasses to reveal a fire behind her eyes that Zoë wasn’t accustomed to from her. “I want you to stay away from him.”
“What?” Zoë shook her head in disbelief. “No way. Nate’s one of my oldest friends.”
“I don't care,” Audrey fired back. “He might be your friend, but he’s my boyfriend, and quite frankly, your ever looming presence in his life is becoming more than a little exhausting.”
Zoë stared Audrey down incredulously. When she finally spoke, her words were blunt and straight to the point. “Look, why don't you just tell me what this is about so we can work it out like rational adults?”
“Oh like you don't already know,” Audrey replied in a snide tone. “I saw that little burlesque show you put on last night. You must really think I'm dense, huh?”
Zoë came pretty close to giving Audrey a resounding “yes”, but she bit her tongue and refrained from stooping to her level.
“Look, I get that you and Nate were once as thick as thieves or whatever, but that’s the past. I’m his future, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to standby and watch some subpar blast from the past steal him away from me.”
Every nerve in Zoë’s body aligned for a fight as her anger built traction inside of her. She clenched her fists and went to stand up, but Aniyah’s voice was quick to shake her from her trance.
Some timing she had.
“Sorry I’m late,” Aniyah said as she took a seat beside the two women. “Caleb and I were taste testing wedding cakes and I completely lost track of time. It’s funny how chocolate can do that to you.”
Audrey pursed her lips and plastered on a smile before breaking Zoë’s gaze and meeting eyes with Aniyah. “Not a problem,” she said in her usual cheerful tone. “Zoë and I were just getting to know each other a little better, weren’t we Zoë?”
Screw this.
“I have to go,” Zoë stated without looking at either woman, grabbing for her purse. She couldn't believe she was letting this lowdown snake shake her up like this, but it was either she leave now or lay hands on her. There wasn’t a third option.
“Wait, what?” Aniyah questioned. “But I was hoping you could help me narrow down a few bridesmaids dresses. I brought catalogs and everything.”
Zoë sighed and studied her friend’s expression for a second before reluctantly sitting back down. As pissed off as she was at Audrey, there wasn’t any sense in making Aniyah pay for it.
One thing was for sure though.
She was done playing nice.
Chapter seven
“Anyways, I was thinking a mauve color might be nice. Maybe something with a low neck, like these Vera Wang’s,” Aniyah remarked, pointing to one of the many catalogs spread out across the table. “Or what about these? They’re a little less expensive, but we’d have to have them tailored for a few of the girls. The cut ain’t exactly forgiving.”
Aniyah fell silent as she considered each option. “I don’t know,” she said after awhile, looking up at Zoë and Audrey. “What do y’all think?”
“Well, personally, I’m a big fan of the Vera’s,” Audrey gushed. “I actually just walked for her. She’s such a sweetheart, and her stuff is so high quality. It’s definitely worth the difference in cost. Besides, it’s you’re wedding day. That’s like…the one excuse every woman gets to be as over the top as possible. When I get married, I�
��m going all out.”
Zoë held back the urge to roll her eyes. “I actually like the other one,” she said, speaking honestly. “It’s more practical. I mean…no offense, but not everyone can afford a four-figure dress for a one-time event.”
Audrey appeared amused by that, but she didn’t say anything.
“What?” Zoë asked her, not bothering to sound friendly. “Do you have something you’d like to add?”
“Oh, no,” Audrey said, waving a hand in the air. “I just don't really think you’re getting the point, that’s all. Getting married is a big deal. Aniyah has every right to want the best of the best…something you clearly know nothing about.”
Zoë was in the middle of preparing an equally snide response when Aniyah cut her off.
“You know what?” she said, gathering up the catalogs and placing them back in her purse. “I’m a bit worn out by all this wedding talk anyway. Let’s just drop it, shall we?”
All three women fell into an awkward silence as they picked at their food, which had long since grown cold. Zoë had ordered lemon fish, which was usually her favorite entrée from Galatoire’s, but she was far too annoyed to focus on her appetite.
“So, Audrey,” Aniyah finally spoke up, putting on her most pleasant voice in an attempt at breaking the tension. “Have you been enjoying your time back home?”
“Yeah, it’s been great. I was actually just talking to Nate about moving back here for good. New York is nice and all, but I’m getting a little sick of the winters, and the traffic, and well…just about everything else. Getting back in touch with my roots would be nice.”
Zoë tensed up and swallowed back a large gulp of her mimosa. She couldn’t lie. Audrey moving back to New Orleans sounded like something straight out of one of her worst nightmares.
“That's…great!” Aniyah replied with forced enthusiasm, exchanging a knowing look with Zoë. It was clear that neither woman relished in the idea of Audrey sticking around for good.
“Yeah, and if everything goes as planned, it might be happening sooner rather than later,” Audrey added. “I wasn’t going to say anything until I knew for sure, but I’m pretty sure Nate’s on the verge of proposing.”
Zoë froze with her fork suspended in mid-bite, and Aniyah gasped before setting down her wine to keep from spilling it.
They were reactions that seemed to satisfy Audrey, because she wasted no time in continuing to speak. “I mean, don’t get wrong, he hasn’t brought it up or anything, but we we’re talking this morning and he basically told me I was the one. That usually equates to marriage somewhere down the line, doesn’t it?”
Zoë sat in a stunned silence as her disbelief settled over her. It was as if all her smart remarks and go-to rebuttals had been siphoned right out of her. She was incapable of forming a full word, let alone a coherent sentence.
When a few seconds passed without anyone saying anything, Aniyah was quick to come to the rescue. “That’s great, Audrey, really…it is. Still…if I were you, I wouldn’t get my hopes up just yet. Nate’s always been the type to take things slow. Back in high school we used to call him captain cautious.”
Audrey’s smile dissipated as she considered Aniyah’s words. “True, but I mean, it's bound to happen eventually,” she said, her initial confidence resurfacing in full force.
Aniyah gave her a slight nod and casted her gaze downward, pushing her food around on her plate.
“I actually have some news of my own to share,” Zoë spoke up, breaking her silence. “I’m moving in with Evan. He asked me this morning, and I have a feeling he might be proposing soon too.”
Aniyah looked up as soon as the words left Zoë’s mouth, glancing back and fourth between her and Audrey as her surprise wrote its way across her sharp features.
Zoë wasn't sure why she’d said it. Not even an hour ago, she was pretty sure she was going to end things with Evan, and now here she was alluding to the prospect of them getting married. Why was she letting this dumb broad work her up like this?
As usual, Aniyah wasted no time in calling Zoë on her bluff. “Uh-huh,” she said, giving her an amused look. “I’m sorry, but since when does ‘Zoë the commitment-phobe’ so much as consider the idea of cohabitation and marriage?”
“Wow,” Zoë replied. “And to think I halfway thought you’d be happy for me.”
“Oh come on. You can’t blame me for being surprised. The last guy you gave this much devotion to was Nate, and we all know how that worked out.”
Aniyah ate her words when she realized the repercussions associated with what she’d just said. The way Audrey was staring at her made it clear that she was none too amused.
“Well I think it’s great,” Audrey spoke up in a dry tone. “Everyone deserves their own little version of a happy ending.”
Zoë forced a smile, but inside she couldn’t stop kicking herself. Evan was a nice enough guy, but there wasn’t a single solitary part of her that wanted to marry him. So just what had possessed her to say otherwise?
Chapter eight
“I still can’t believe you’re moving in with Evan,” Aniyah spoke up from her spot on Zoë’s sofa, where she was leafing through a stack of wedding dress catalogs to no avail.
She’d already decided on the dress that the bridesmaids would wear, going the cheaper route to cut back on costs, but her own dress was still very much up in the air.
“Alright, what gives?” Zoë questioned with a deep sigh, setting aside the moving box she’d been packing full of books. “You seemed pretty happy about me becoming more serious with Evan when it was still just a figment of your imagination…but now that it’s really happening, you’re skeptical?”
“I know. It’s just…the other day you didn't even want to admit that you were dating him. Now you’re talking about marriage. It seems like a bit of a leap to me, that’s all.”
Zoë shrugged. “Evan’s a great guy. I could certainly do worse than to marry someone like him,” she rationalized.
“Yeah, but do you love him?”
Zoë stopped flipping through the yearbook in her lap long enough to look up at her friend. It wasn’t until she looked back down that she realized she’d stopped on a page with a picture of her and Nate snuggled up in an embrace. It was taken sometime during their sophomore year of high school, and they’d been voted cutest couple shortly after.
“I don’t know,” Zoë admitted, dodging the question as best she could. “But it doesn’t matter. He’s successful, and stable, and he’s definitely not bad on the eyes. If all that isn’t worthy of an ‘I do’, I’m not sure what is.”
Aniyah, however, refused to back off that easily. “Be honest,” she said, speaking cautiously. “This doesn’t have anything to do with Nate and Audrey, does it?”
“Of course not,” Zoë lied.
Aniyah sighed. “You remember when we made that promise never to lie to each other?””
Zoë shrugged.
“Well I do,” Aniyah said. “Look, I’m only going to ask you this once. Did this decision have anything to do with the fact that you still have feelings for Nate?”
Zoë sighed and kept her gaze focused on the faded photograph in her lap. She knew the answer without having to think about it. She'd known it from the moment Nate first introduced her to Audrey.
“I have a ton more packing to do,” Zoë spoke up in a transparent attempt at changing the subject. “I should probably get started on it. Evan wants to have me moved in by the end of the month.”
“Just admit it,” Aniyah insisted. “All this talk about moving forward with Evan ain’t nothing more than your ass backwards way of trying to distract yourself from your feelings for Nate.”
Zoë’s silence spoke for itself.
“Look, you can lie to yourself all you want, but you can’t like to me. I see the way you look at him. You can’t sit here and tell me it doesn’t mean anything.” Aniyah paused as a perceptive smile spread its way across her face. “Friends don’t dan
ce the way y’all two were dancing the other night.”
“Ugh, not you too,” Zoë groaned. “That didn’t mean anything. It was just dancing. Besides, just because we share a slight physical attraction doesn’t mean we have some deep emotional one.”
“Uh-huh,” Aniyah said, waving her hand in the air dismissively. “I’ve heard it all before. Why don’t you just stop being stubborn and admit that you still have feelings for him?”
“Fine,” Zoë admitted, letting out a breath of defeat. “So maybe I do. What does it matter? He's with Audrey. He’s probably going to marry Audrey. As much as I don’t like the girl, I’m not about to be the one to ruin that for him. He obviously sees something in her that we don’t.”