Chapter 2
FRIENDSHIP
Things would've been easier if Luke and I had just talked it all through on the phone. Instead, he only called to arrange a time we'd meet.
A pit formed in my stomach.
I'd been caught off guard enough today.
"You're being very mysterious. What more is there to tell me?" I asked.
He was somewhere noisy. The sound of construction surrounded him. His voice wavered like he was nearly talking himself out of speaking. "I have an important question for you."
I rolled my eyes. "I'd say you've asked Solange the most important question there is."
Luke laughed, the sound grating.
I didn't think there was anything funny at a time like this.
"She isn't Beyoncé's sister. Her name is Solenne. But sure, keep calling her Solange. I'm sure she'll love that at Thanksgiving."
"Whatever. Anyways, I'm meeting the girls tonight."
"What's the emergency meeting for? Today isn't your scheduled dinner with Demetria and the rest."
Of course Luke knew my schedule like the back of his hand. Yet I found out after the fact that he was engaged.
I rolled my eyes. "They miss me, so we’re meeting at my house."
"What time?"
"Sorry, no men allowed," I warned.
Suddenly, the noise in the background disappeared; Luke had either moved or all of New York stopped on his account. "Liv, I've never invited myself into a place where I'm not welcome. I only asked so I could swing by after the weekly we hate men dinner is over."
I explained, in vain, that we didn’t hate men. My friends and I just knew our worth and refused to be trampled on. Plenty of other women tolerated that crap, but not us.
"We normally wrap things up by nine," I told him reluctantly.
"Great, I'll see you then."
Silence. I didn’t want to see Luke. Perhaps for the first time in our friendship. I was still recovering from the bombshell he’d dropped in my lap earlier, but I wasn't about to let him know how shaken I was. "Bring a good bottle of wine with you."
"I’m engaged; you should be offering me champagne."
I'd celebrate that wedding when hell freezes over. Olivia, remember your game face.
"I don't think I have any at home, but I'll tell Dorothy to order some."
"That's what best friends are for. I have to run, see you later."
"Okay," I said. Hanging up, I wondered what had happened to the day I’d planned this morning when I woke up.
My itinerary was simple: coffee, drive to work, eat Zac for lunch.
At no time did I plan to get the worst news ever: My best friend had become an idiot.
I sat alone in my office, staring at nothing, the quiet wrapping itself tightly around the room.
Somewhere between the missed calls and the wrong words, the day had unraveled faster than I could catch it.
After what felt like the longest day, I dragged myself through the front door to find that Dorothy, my housekeeper and lifesaver, had already let my girlfriends in.
Back at Aston Lane College in Boston, our classmates liked to call us The United Nations, thanks to how mixed our crew was.
To our faces they used one name. Behind our backs, it was bitches, and we claimed it without apology.
The Bitches were all already waiting for me, chilling around the dining table, nursing glasses of wine.
Seeing them filled me with warmth. I was glad they were in my life.
Thank goodness we’d all connected when we did. I needed my girls right now.
Demetria was the first person I spotted. She reminded me of Naomi Campbell, tall and beautiful with dark skin and tightly coiled hair that brushed her shoulders. The oldest and wisest of our circle, she was the one who kept us in line when we acted like children. She pulled me into a hug.
"Why are you hugging me?"
"You've had a long day," Mei said beside her, carrying an expression that irked me.
God only knows what they were saying about me outside the group chat.
I couldn’t help staring at Mei, effortlessly striking as always. Her sleek black bob framed her face, and her almond eyes seemed to see straight through me. The part-time model and full-time med student finally turned away, and I could breathe again.
"Guys, I'm fine."
No one replied to my words.
Alex, who had the art of looking like trouble wrapped in bronzed skin, spoke next. "You don't have to pretend with us."
While I'd never visited Spain, I'd always said if that place had other dark-haired women with perfect bronzed skin who looked like Alexandra, I'd avoid the country entirely. I couldn't handle the competition.
Frustrated, I stepped back and scanned their faces. Their silence felt heavy, and I wavered between thinking it was sympathy, curiosity, or judgment.
Tossing my purse on the chair, I grabbed a glass of wine they already had waiting. "Why are you guys acting like this?"
"You’re the one acting. Luke is getting married to someone else, not you, and it should be you," Demetria said without an ounce of hesitation.
My mouth fell open, but no words came out. For one second, it felt like the floor had shifted under me. Demetria’s words echoed in my ears.
Finally, I spoke. "What?”
"Liv, don't pretend," Mei suggested.
"Mei, stop looking at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like that," I yelled. "I’m not in mourning. Luke is marrying the wrong woman, and as a friend, I have to stop him."
Alex patted the spot next to her on the couch, and I sat. "Do you hear yourself? Why's Solenne the wrong woman?"
"Because Luke should be marrying Olivia," Demetria said.
I jumped to my feet. What was wrong with them? Had all my friends gone crazy on the same day? "You're putting words in my mouth," I snarled. "We know nothing about this girl other than the fact that she looks like a model and her parents should've named her something fucking better."
From one end of the carpet to the other and back, I walked.
"Luke barely knows her. He’s thinking with his dick, not his brain," I ranted while silently blaming myself. I'd dropped the ball. Never should've let Solange get comfortable in Luke's life.
"She must be fucking amazing in bed then," Alex said, and I froze to glare at her.
Wasting no words, I went back to what I was saying. "Love isn't takeout; you don't order it in six months."
Demetria spoke up first. "Some people fall fast."
"Not Luke. His longest commitment is to sneakers. He’s making the biggest mistake of his life," I added then stopped speaking and walking.
I looked at the girls.
All three stared back with expressions that screamed sympathy, confusion, and frustration.
Clearly, my mask had slipped. Fuck! My throat tightened, and my neck felt warm, but I forced a smirk anyway.
"It's always been Luke. The rest of us are single because we never got the chance to meet a Luke. You've known him since high school," Demetria said flatly.
"Longer," I interrupted. We often joked and told people we'd known each other since the sandbox. While we didn’t actually meet in one of those, Luke and I have known each other since we were toddlers. Our mothers were best friends. They went their separate ways after high school, but reunited again when we were toddlers. From then on, Luke and I had no choice; we were attached for life. We’d spent summers in the sprinklers, complete with ice cream cones, birthday parties on the rooftops of our luxury buildings, and bicycle rides through Central Park.
We went to school together, all of them: elementary, junior high, high school, and college.
"All my life," I said, sitting down and sighing, "Luke has been there. When my parents divorced, when my brother died, every happy moment or tragedy, he was there to hold me."
Mei’s eyes widened.
"How did you not figure out that you were in love with him?" Demetria asked and shook her head.
"I'm not stupid or blind. It just never crossed my mind he'd ... Luke has always been hot. I'll never forget the moment he first made my heart race. We were in high school, I got dumped the day before prom, and he ditched his date to take me instead. I could still remember the butterflies that appeared when Luke arrived in his designer tux, holding out his hand for me to take like it was the most natural thing in the world. We danced all night, and for a moment, I let myself wonder what it would be like if we … but I couldn’t. Luke meant too much to me. What if we began something and then broke up? I didn’t want to lose him.
Remember, I hadn't met you girls yet. Luke was all I had. "
"Makes sense," Mei said.
I nodded. "I wasn't the only one who leaned on the Forrester family.
When my dad blindsided my mother with a divorce, it was Luke's mom who held her together and dried her tears.
They mattered too much to risk. So that night, I made a vow to never cross the line with Luke, and on the ride home from the prom, I made a big thing about us being friends forever. " I cringed thinking about it.
Alex refilled my glass. I didn't realize it was empty. "Shit. So now you plan to be the friend that watches him walk off into the sunset with another woman?"
"Luke has dated a lot of women. Both of us enjoyed our lives. I figured this woman would be no different. I never thought he'd make a permanent attachment to her."
Mei finally spoke. "Clearly, Luke sees something special in her. Have you guys never had any discussion about the two of you?"
There was one night in college, but I was too embarrassed to tell even my closest friends about that. "None. Between Luke and me, it's always been friendship. It's more important than anything else."
"Well, that will be put to the test," Demetria said.
Alex nodded. "Maybe you haven't realized: He isn’t only hot, Luke Forrester is in the society newsletter as one of New York City's most eligible bachelors. The man is a big-time stockbroker at Goldman Sachs, and I guess he’s ready to settle down and start a family. The guy is a catch with a capital ‘C’!"
Her words sounded similar to the people who warned you the end was coming on the street with those signs that read, “Are you ready for the Judgment Day?” However, in Alex’s case, there was a hint of truth in it.
Luke wasn't going to stay single his entire life; I should've been prepared for this.
I forced a smile even as my stomach twisted tighter.
I spoke calmly. "I'll take Demetria's suggestion then. "
All three girls looked at me with puzzled expressions.
"I’ll find out where they’re registered and send a gift."
The once friendly, even sympathetic room turned cold.
A scoff, a groan, and the sound of someone sucking their teeth hit me all at once.
I noticed everyone's facial expressions shifted.
Demetria wavered between frowning and shaking her head.
Mei rolled her eyes so hard I thought it would stick.
Alex looked ready to slap some sense into me.
There was no point talking about it further. They knew me, once I made up my mind, it couldn’t be changed.
We drank our wine and shifted the conversation to something completely unrelated to Luke.
The doorbell rang, and we heard Dorothy say, "Hello, Mr. Luke."
My stomach felt uneasy. He was here. The once sweet wine now tasted bitter, and I could feel three pairs of eyes watching me.