Friends ForNever

by Melissa Baldwin

  We're on our way to my mother's house. She has called me several times in the last few days to find out what I will be wearing and what Aiden's favorite foods are. I let the last eight calls go to voice mail.

  "And just ignore my brother. He has the 'who's car is bigger' mentality when it comes to new people. He's arrogant and conceited, and don't feel guilty if you want to punch him before dinner even starts," I tell him.

  He grabs my hand and squeezes it. "Don't worry."

  Easy for him to say. I have to worry. Aiden is the first guy I've felt this strongly about, and I don't need any more people getting in our way.

  When we pull up, I freeze. It's not too late to turn around and go home.

  "Let's go, ET." He gets out and comes to my door. He pulls me out and wraps his arms around my waist. "I promise I'm still going to like you when this dinner is over."

  Ha-ha. We'll see.

  "Come in, come in," Mom screeches. She runs up to Aiden and gives him a hug. She's wearing an apron that says Yes, I'm a grandma and I'm this hot!

  I need a drink.

  "Aiden, I'm so happy to have you here. Come with me and let me get you a drink. We can chat in the kitchen."

  "Hi to you, too, Mom," I say sarcastically.

  "Erin, honey, please hang up your coats," she calls. I roll my eyes as I hang the coats in the closet. I stroll into the kitchen to find Aiden sitting on a barstool drinking a Diet Coke. Really? I would have thought he needed something stronger already.

  "You will meet Eric and Liza and the kids soon. And Erin's father should be here any minute also."

  "Dad's coming to dinner?" I interrupt.

  She looks at me like I've lost my mind. "Of course, honey. It's a family dinner."

  Thankfully, I already told Aiden about my parents' complicated relationship.

  "Tell me all about your family, Aiden," she demands.

  Aiden does exactly what she asks. I listen intently as he talks about his parents and Harry. When he mentions Harry, I start to cringe thinking about Bre. Aiden says he told Harry about what Bre did to me, and he didn't have much to say. I'm not sure what that means because Aiden says you never know what Harry will do. For some reason I start to worry. What if they continue their relationship? I may never escape Bre.

  "We're here."

  Just then, Eric walks in carrying baby Knox. He looks at Aiden and then at me and gives a curious smile. Crap.

  "Hey, man, Eric Taylor, and this is my son, Knox." He holds out his hand to Aiden.

  Aiden smiles. "I'm Aiden, Erin's boyfriend." He says boyfriend out loud for the first time, and he says it to my brother. I don't know whether to dance around or cry.

  "Erin's boyfriend," he says curiously. Just then, Liza walks in with Kylie. She looks around at the scene in the kitchen. My mom looks like she might burst into tears of joy that her daughter has a boyfriend. Eric is ready to ask how much money Aiden makes in a year, and I probably look like a deer in headlights.

  "This is my wife, Liza, and Kylie," Eric introduces them proudly. "This is Erin's boyfriend, Aiden."

  "Aunt Ewin, let's play princess," Kylie yells and runs over to me. Hell yeah, I will play princess, anything to get me out of this kitchen. "How about you, Aiden?" I ask. "Would you like to play princess with us?" He gives me a nervous smile.

  "Um, you know my crown is in the shop today, but I will definitely play next time." He winks at me as Kylie drags me to the playroom.

  We play until it's time for dinner. My dad shows up and pops his head in the playroom. "I met your new friend," he says, smiling. "Nice guy."

  "Is he okay? I've left him for a while with Mom and Eric."

  "He's still alive, and he's still here," he says, laughing. "I'd say that's a good sign."

  I leave Kylie happily playing on her own and hurry to go find Aiden.

  "That's a great story," Aiden says. He and Eric are laughing hysterically as if they've known each other for years.

  "Hey, ET," Eric yells. I shoot daggers at Aiden. Did he have to tell my older brother about the nickname I hate?

  "Sorry," he mouths.

  "I love this guy," Eric says to me. "What took you so long to bring him home?"

  I raise my eyebrows. "You. I like him and didn't want you to scare him away."

  Eric gives me a surprised look. "Why would I do that? I even like him better than Wilbur."

  Crap.

  "Who's Wilbur?" Aiden asks.

  "Wilbur is my friend's son, family friends," my mom chimes in. "Come on, everyone, let's sit down to dinner."

  That was perfect timing. I need to remember to thank my mom for that. I can tell by his expression that Aiden figured out that Will and Wilbur are the same person. I grab his hand. "I'm sorry I left you for so long. You okay?"

  "Yep. So has your whole family had the pleasure of meeting Will?"

  I shift uncomfortably. "Yeah, remember I told you about that horribly awkward meeting at Kylie's party? That was Will. Mom and Sharon are such good friends that they plotted together and forced Will to come to the party."

  Aiden nods. "Sorry." I cringe.

  "Don't apologize," he says sweetly. "That's over now, so let's just enjoy the evening." He leads me toward the dining room. Easy for him to say, I think to myself.

  We all sit down for dinner, and Eric has obviously gone long enough without talking about himself. He starts talking about the new boat he's looking at buying for Christmas. I don't mind him talking about himself because that means we aren't talking about me and my relationship, or Will. Aiden has managed to make himself at home with my family, and dinner is going very smoothly until little Kylie makes an announcement.

  "I saw Grandma and Papa kissing," she says as she takes a bite of her spaghetti.

  We all become silent and look at my parents who look like a couple of teenagers who've been busted for making out.

  "Kylie," Liza scolds.

  "They didn't see me." She giggles. "Grandma kept saying, 'Oh, Eddie.'" She pauses and looks at my mom. "Grandma, who's Eddie?"

  My parents look at each other. "Okay, we've been caught. It's true," my dad announces. "Let's just tell them, Margie." She smiles and puts her hand on his cheek.

  "We've decided to get remarried," he announces. "We think our divorce was premature, and we both needed to experience some companionship from other people to appreciate each other."

  I look at Aiden who's clearly enjoying every second of this.

  "None of the other men out there compare to your father, and believe me, I've tried them," my mom exclaims.

  I put my face in my hands, and Liza takes Kylie into the playroom to go watch a movie.

  "Mom, too much information," I say exasperatedly.

  She gives me a confused look. "Just being honest, honey. Anyway, your father and I are booking a family cruise, and we will be married by the ship's captain. So we need to sit down and pick a date tonight. Aiden, I expect you will be coming, too."

  Aiden's eyes get wide, and he glances at me. "Sounds good to me," he announces. "I love cruises."

  What's happening? In the last five minutes my parents are caught making out by my five-year-old niece, my mother talks about being with other men, my parents announce they are getting remarried, and my boyfriend has accepted an invitation to come on a family cruise.

  "So, do you want to come on a cruise with me?" he asks. I smile. "Ha-ha. shouldn't I be asking you that question?"

  He shrugs his shoulders. "I've already been invited by the bride-to-be. I know better than to turn down a bride."

  "Aiden, I knew I liked you right away," my mom says, taking a sip of her wine.

  Eric gets up and gives my parents hugs. "This is excellent news, right, Erin? You're being unusually quiet. Aren't you happy Mom and Dad are getting remarried?"

  My brother is such a jerk. Why would he even ask me that?

  "Of course I'm happy," I exclaim. "I was just taking it all in…the announcement, the cruise, everything." I glance at Aiden.


  I'm especially still trying to take in the fact that Aiden introduced himself as my boyfriend and is now planning on coming on a big happy family cruise for my parents' wedding.

  After dinner, I tell Aiden I want to talk to him in private. He's about to sit down for a game of blackjack with Eric and my dad.

  "Is everything okay?" he asks.

  I nod my head. "I'm sorry about all this. I warned you that my mom could be a little much. Please don't feel obligated to come on this wedding cruise, that is, if it actually happens."

  He gives me a concerned look. "You don't want me to come?"

  I'm horrified. "Of course I want you to come. Please don't think that. I just meant if you didn't want to."

  He stops me. "I want to, and I'm having a great time tonight. Stop stressing." He kisses me. "Can I go back to play cards now?"

  I laugh. "Sure."

  I sit down on the couch and pull my knees into my chest. I look around at my crazy family. Okay, I guess they aren't that crazy. Aiden's having a great time playing cards, my mom and Liza are looking through bridal magazines, and Kylie is watching Frozen for the millionth time. I guess Aiden does fit in well, maybe even better than me.

  I'm completely exhausted when I get home, so tired that I even sent Aiden home. As soon as I get in, I curl into bed. I'm just about to drift off to sleep when the phone rings.

  "I got your message," Mya says. I glance at the clock. Does this girl ever sleep?

  "Isn't it the middle night? And are you talking about my message from a few days ago?" I ask.

  "I know, I know, but Jack had to take me to the Bahamas," she says excitedly.

  "Had to take you? It must have been horrible."

  I tell Mya everything in between dozing off. When I hang up, I turn off my light then I get a text from Aiden.

  Can't sleep. Had a great time tonight. Sweet dreams.

  I fall asleep with a silly grin on my face. If I didn't already, now I know for sure that I'm falling in love.

  The next morning when I arrive at work, I'm finishing up my article to send over to Chelsie. And I have been busily putting together a business plan for my promotion. Granted, I haven't been given a promotion, but I feel like I need to plead my case, especially after I professionally and gracefully accepted their decision when they revoked their offer.

  "You've been busy," Kimmy says, looking over my shoulder. She has moved to Bre's desk, and it's nice to have a neighbor who's so pleasant after so many years of Bre. We moved all of Bre's things to where Kimmy was sitting. We were going to move Aly's things to the trash but haven't had a chance yet.

  "It's the same article I've been working on, and I'm finally getting ready to send it to Chelsie," I say excitedly.

  "Are you planning on telling me about it yet? You've never been this secretive about your work before."

  I try to explain to her that, in light of recent situations, I'm being a little more cautious with my work. After what Bre did, I changed all my passwords on every one of my devices. I also took almost everything I had in my desk and locked it up. I know I'm being overly paranoid, but I've learned that you can't really trust anyone.

  "It's not a secret—it's just not complete yet."

  The word on the street is that the Paris project is going well so far other than a few small issues. The best part was hearing that Madeline Bufont chewed Aly out for overstepping her bounds. Apparently, she's now an expert on how to run a magazine, and she had the nerve to give Madeline a few pointers. I would have given my left arm to see that in person. My hope is that she will piss the wrong people off enough to get fired before she even gets back to the States. I would love to be the one to box up her stuffed animals and ship them off to her. There is no word on how Bre is doing yet.

  I work nonstop until I have to take a bathroom break. When I come out of the bathroom, Aiden is waiting for me.

  "Hi, gorgeous. I was wondering if you would like to have lunch with me. Do you think your boyfriend will care?"

  I make a face. "Hmm…he might get a little upset, but we don't have to tell him," I flirt.

  As soon as we sit down for lunch, Aiden asks me a question. "So, I have a request. Saturday is my parents' anniversary dinner, and I was hoping you would be my date. I figure since I endured a night with your family, you might want to do the same."

  Oh my gosh! He's asking me to meet his family, which reminds me of Harry and Bre.

  "Speaking of family, I was just wondering if you spoke to Harry about Bre?"

  He rolls his eyes. "Yes, I did. He went on and on about how horrible she feels and how you girls will work it out. Blah, blah…" He pauses. "Please don't let that keep you from coming to dinner. I really would like to have you there."

  There's no way that this will keep me from meeting Aiden's parents.

  "Of course I will go," I tell him excitedly. He gets a big grin on his face.

  "Excellent. Oh, and make sure you dress nicely because we're going to the French Laundry."

  What? The French Laundry is one of the most exclusive and best restaurants in the whole world.

  "Really?" I squeal. "I've always wanted to go there."

  I guess I can forget a relaxed first impression on his parents. I'm going to be worried about using the wrong fork all night. This is when I wished Mya still lived here. I need to select my outfit very carefully.

  "ET, you look worried. What are you thinking about?"

  I don't want to tell him that I'm thinking of place settings and outfits.

  "Not worried," I reply. "Just anxious."

  * * *

  "French Laundry? Are you freaking kidding me?" Mya exclaims. "Wow, it sounds like you've hit the jackpot, my friend."

  "Ha, says the girl who's dating a Hemsworth brother who takes her to the Bahamas every other weekend."

  She laughs, but she knows I'm right.

  I tell Mya about the dilemma of Aiden's brother dating Bre. Now I'm curious if they met Bre before she left.

  "The girl isn't here now, so don't worry about it," she says exasperatedly.

  "But what if they met her and already love her? It doesn't sound like she and Harry are breaking up any time soon. There's a very strong possibility I will have to deal with her on a regular basis. Unless I break up with Aiden, which is not going to happen…at least, I hope not."

  Mya lets out a huge sigh. I can tell she's getting frustrated with me.

  "I know I sound ridiculous, but I haven't been in love in a very long time, and I don't want anything to mess it up." There, I said it. I feel like a huge weight is lifted off my shoulders by actually saying it out loud.

  "Did you just say what I think you said?"

  I smile so big that my face is starting to hurt.

  "Yes, I'm in love," I yell.

  "Yay," she cheers loudly. "It's about time, and now you can bring him on vacation to Florida."

  Well, considering it sounds like we're already going on a cruise together, I guess a trip to Florida is not out of the question.

  "I'll let you know when we're ready to take a trip," I say with a laugh.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  I feel like I'm going to throw up. Tonight's the night of the anniversary party, and I'm a wreck. Not only is it my first meeting with Aiden's parents, but also it happens to be at one of the most exclusive restaurants in the entire world. I went back to that hair-drying place, mostly because I've become obsessed with it and because I'm determined to look the best I have in my life. I have taken about fifteen selfies in different outfits and sent them to Mya. When we finally decide on an outfit, I sit down in front of the TV with a glass of wine to relax. I hear my phone buzzing—it's a text from Aiden.

  Can't wait to see you tonight. Be there at 5.

  I continue to catch myself daydreaming of Aiden telling me that he loves me. I know without a doubt how I feel about him, and I know he has strong feelings for me, too, but I'm not sure to what extent. He definitely passed the family test. After our dinner
, my mom called me gushing nonstop about how great Aiden is. The only thing that got her off the subject of him was her impending nuptials. I still can't believe that my parents are getting married again, but then again, I still can't believe they got divorced in the first place.

  When we pull up at the restaurant, I check my makeup in the mirror. I catch Aiden watching me.

  "What?" I ask him.

  He shrugs. "Just looking at you. And by the way, have I told you how amazing you look tonight?"

  I giggle. "Only about twenty times."

  "Well, now it's twenty-one." He leans over and kisses me softly. I wrap my arms around his neck, but I quickly stop myself.

  "We can't do this now," I say, pointing at the restaurant.

  "Let's skip it," he says, pulling me close to him again. He smells so good. I'm tempted to agree, but I'm dying to eat at French Laundry and of course meet his family.

  I open the door and get out. Aiden huffs and puffs as he follows me.

  When we get inside, Harry is already there with their parents.

  "Hi, ET," he says playfully.

  I scowl. "Hello, Harrison."

  He obviously doesn't love being called by his full name. I have no doubt that the only time he's referred to by that name is when he has gotten into trouble. Aiden takes my hand and introduces his parents. They're both very polite and formal. I'm not sure if this is how they always are or if it's just our dinner location.

  "It's lovely to meet you, Erin. We're glad you could join us," Mr. Thomas says.

  "Thank you for having me, and happy anniversary."

  I notice Mrs. Thomas fixing her husband's and sons' collars. She's so classy, and I love the way the men in her life adore her.

  When we sit down for dinner, I watch what everyone else is doing so I don't make a fool of myself. Everything is going smoothly up until Harry opens his big mouth and mentions his upcoming travel plans.

  "I'm heading to Paris in a few days to see Bre." He glances at me. I force a smile and take a sip of my water. I'm wondering if he's trying to provoke me. I refuse to give in and pretend to be curious about his trip.

  "Oh, Paris. When are we going to meet this mystery girl?" Mrs. Thomas asks. Yes! They haven't met Bre yet. I was afraid that they would already have a relationship with her. Bre can be extremely charismatic in the right situation. Not that it's a competition, but considering what Bre is capable of, I'm relieved I met them first.