Epilogue
T wo Months Later
I was going to be honest.
I didn’t really get Shakespeare. English had never been my strongest subject, and the Old English had always confused me. For that reason, I’d never gone to Shakespeare in the Park, even though I’d been invited on more than one occasion.
But Chris had been talking about it since the day I got hired at Enterprise. He’d taken point on organizing a group outing for it. The moment the schedule was announced, he threw everyone into a group chat to start discussing dates and times, what plays were being performed, everything. He pulled in both of our groups. He managed to get Silas to not only introduce him to Isabel, but also got her number and added her into the group chat. He spent six weeks planning everything.
He even got Matt and Luce together to plan the picnic menu .
When the day of the performance rolled around, we all met at the park. Chris and I were the first to arrive, and Chris staked out an area for our group. We laid out several blankets on the ground, hoping that it would be enough room for everyone. Luce, River, and Matt showed up together, loaded down with food. They recruited me to help carry another load.
They might have overdone it.
The spread took up a good portion of one of the blankets we’d laid out, and I caught a few people on a neighboring blanket eyeing the spread. Until the rest of the group showed up, they probably thought we were insane for having as much food as we did. At least, that was my first thought. After everyone showed up and spread out on the blankets, I realized that they were looking at our spread with jealousy. Luce noticed too and invited them over to get a plate.
When the play started, I was lost.
The costumes were cool, and the actors were good. Matt had been extra excited to see the play, and about a quarter of the way through, I realized why. His ex-boyfriend, Noah, was on the stage. He looked proud, and I thought back to Chris’s theory that something might happen between them. I’d been confident that it wouldn’t be like that when he said it, but looking at the way Matt’s eyes lit up, I was starting to have my doubts.
As the play progressed, I settled into Chris’s arms. Even though I didn’t really understand what was happening on the stage, I was enjoying myself. It had everything to do with the way his strong arms were wrapped around me, the way he smelled, and the sound of his heartbeat. Luckily, it didn’t seem like anyone else was all that focused either.
Holden and Eli were playing some game with their hands that made sense only to them. It was like Rock, Paper, Scissors, but I didn’t recognize any of the symbols they were using. It was probably something they’d made up. Jonas was sketching. Most of Chris’s friends were paying attention, though Natalie and Isabel were knitting while they watched the play. I could hear people talking around us, whispering commentary on the play or having small conversations.
The show ended as the sun began to set. People clapped as final bows were taken, and we all worked together to clean up our area. Matt kept looking at the stage, watching as people surrounded the man he’d once loved.
Eli was the first to notice. The grin on his face was one I knew too well. I saw it the night he suggested Jonas go to talk to Silas at the Rusty Nail. It was the same grin he’d given me that night, all those months ago, when I first met Chris on the dance floor of Goliath. It was the grin he’d given Holden several times when a hot guy caught his attention. I’d even seen that grin when he spotted someone he was attracted to. We all knew what that grin meant, but I think I was the only one who noticed it.
Matt certainly didn’t. He was too busy watching Noah.
Holden probably did, but he saw most things that Eli did. He paid more attention to his best friend than he did anything else.
“You should go talk to him,” Eli suggested, nodding toward Noah. “Invite him out to the Rusty Nail with us.”
“We’re going to the Rusty Nail?” Matt questioned.
It was news to me. None of us had agreed to that, but Eli said it like it was a foregone conclusion. “We are now. Who’s in?”
Everyone agreed, and Matt walked off. He returned ten minutes later with Noah in tow. It took another five minutes for everything to be packed up. We walked as a group out of the park, splitting up as we reached our individual cars. Chris and I climbed into his car, and my hand found his immediately.
“So, do you think inviting Noah to the bar with us is a good idea?” Chris asked as he pulled out of our spot on the side of the road and into the line of traffic of everyone leaving the park.
I shrugged. “Maybe not, but maybe it’ll be a good thing.” I grinned. “I mean, it probably wasn’t a good idea for you to say that you had a boyfriend and that turned out okay.”
He laughed and squeezed my hand. “I love you. ”
“I love you too,” I repeated. “I’m so glad I went into that coffee shop. It changed my life.”
“For the better?” he questioned.
I nodded. “For the best.”
We were some of the last people to arrive at the Rusty Nail, and we found our friends easily. They’d shoved several tables together, and Matt was ordering a shit load of chicken wings for the group. Our food and drinks arrived, and laughter and conversation flowed around the table.
I might not have liked or understood Shakespeare, but I liked the energy around me. I liked being surrounded by the people I loved.
I had a job that made me happy now. I had the best friends anyone could imagine. I had new friends; Chris’s friends had become mine too. I was in love in a way I’d never been before, in a way I’d only ever dreamed of experiencing.
I was happy.
I didn’t need to understand Shakespeare to know that I was getting my very own happily ever after.
The End