Chapter Three #2
‘We’re so happy for you, Jones!’ Laney squeals.
‘Aren’t we, Patrick?’ I sense something shift in Laney’s mood.
She and Patrick look at each other sheepishly.
Patrick had a habit of giving blank stoic expressions, to the point where you could assume he was uninterested in a conversation.
That was until he’d turn around and be the one to give the most considered responses.
‘And… while we’re all sharing, Patrick and I have some news as well,’ she begins. ‘We’re engaged!’
Laney places her left hand in the centre of the table to reveal an engagement ring. Jones gets up from his seat to give her and Patrick a hug, while Sal’s first instinct is to grab her hand and inspect the ring.
‘Mate, you finally did it!’ Jones tells Patrick as he releases him.
‘I’m so happy for you two,’ Sal says, his eye still on the ring.
Despite everyone’s happy reactions, Laney gives me a worried look and nervously brushes her hand up down her arm. Her freckles are prominent in the evening light. ‘Is everything okay, Carlos?’ she asks me.
No, it isn’t, I want to tell her. In the span of fifteen minutes, I’ve been hit with a flashforward of my friends drifting further away from me.
‘I thought you didn’t want to get married?’ I say abruptly.
Sal elbows me in the ribs. ‘What are you doing?’ he whispers to me.
Laney’s happy expression drops and she lets out a sigh. ‘Sal, it’s okay. I know I was adamant that marriage was something neither Patrick or I wanted. But after everything that happened with my mum last year, taking this step felt right. We want this to be forever.’
At the beginning of last year, Laney’s mum had been diagnosed with Stage 1 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Laney was by her mum’s side throughout all her cycles of chemotherapy.
It was a gruelling time for their family, but her smile never faltered.
Which is why it hurt to see her with a forced smile tonight.
And not just that, her eyes drift off into the distance.
There’s pain behind them. But I can tell from the way her eyes sparkle as they lock onto Patrick that he truly brings her happiness.
Even Patrick has snapped out of his usual stone-cold expression and is smiling.
The last time I saw him smile this much was when the Sydney Swans won the AFL grand final.
There’s joy in my heart for them, but I can feel a little piece of it shatter knowing that things are going to change between us again.
‘That’s really great. Just make sure you’re getting married for the right reasons,’ I add, catching a glimpse of Jones and Sal wincing at me.
Jones nudges me in the gut with his elbow. ‘Mate, knock it off.’
The table falls silent.
Patrick clears his throat. ‘This calls for a bottle of champagne,’ he says.
‘There’s no way you’re paying for the drinks,’ Jones says as he gestures for Patrick to sit back down. ‘The bottle is on us. Carlos, help me with the glasses?’
‘I actually was going to—’
But Jones grabs my arm and pulls me inside.
‘Mate, what’s your problem? What was that, back there?’ he asks me while we wait at the bar.
My eyes dart away from him. ‘I congratulated them.’
‘Yeah, your snarky comments were real lovely,’ Jones buzzes from one side of the bar to another to flag down a bartender. We always teased him that while he might have been the shortest person in the room, but his euphoric energy made him stand out more than everyone.
‘Don’t you think Laney deserves our support, especially after everything she went through with her mum being sick last year?’
The bartender hands over a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket and a handful of glasses.
Since we’d been familiar faces to this venue for years, the staff at the venue recognise us as regulars and often shout us a free drink.
Tonight, the manager, Becca, gives us complimentary champagne.
I grab the glasses and walk back towards the courtyard.
‘I’ll always support her,’ I reply firmly.
There’s a small hallway that connects the interior of the pub with the courtyard, just by the bathrooms. Jones stops me before we step outside. ‘Are you sure everything is okay, Carlos? There’s nothing else going on?’
‘Why would there be something else going on?’ I ask.
‘I don’t know. Your mood wouldn’t have anything to do with Elliot being back in Sydney, would it?’
My throat closes up at the sound of Elliot’s name. ‘How did you know Elliot was back?’ I certainly hadn’t mentioned it. Even though Elliot had become part of the group while we’d been seeing each other, I was pretty sure that he had been giving them the same silent treatment he gave me.
Jones seems to sense my unease and gives me a light pat on the shoulder. ‘He shared something online about being back from London. It’s all right to feel weird about it. I know how much you miss him.’
I try not to look so scornful. ‘I don’t feel weird about it. I just don’t want to talk about him. Or hear the name Elliot Simpson ever again.’
‘Okay, but you haven’t even told us what happened between you two when he left. We want to respect your space, but we’re worried about you, mate.’
What was I supposed to say? The truth was as clear as day. Elliot left because I didn’t matter. I wasn’t someone worth fighting for. I wasn’t enough.
‘There’s nothing to talk about. Elliot is my past. That’s all.’
‘All right. If you’re sure…’
‘I’m sure,’ I insist.
Jones sighs and places a hand back on my shoulder. ‘And you’re sure there’s nothing else bothering you? I know we’ve all been busy, but you’ve seemed a bit distant lately.’
I feel heat race through my body. If only Jones knew how close he was to the truth. Being distant was the only way I knew how to protect myself from the sinking feeling that the foundation of our friendship was changing.
‘It’s just that work has been busy. I got a promotion,’ I tell him. Okay, so I was massaging the truth a little bit. But I put on a smile and tell myself that everything is fine.
Jones’s face lights up. ‘Mate, that’s fantastic. Why didn’t you say anything?’
I continue to walk back towards the table, hoping to avoid more questions. ‘Because it’s new. I only found out today and I didn’t want to tell you all in case it didn’t work out.’
‘You should be proud. I knew your writing would take you far,’ Jones says as he gives me a gentle slap on the back. ‘So, what’s the promotion?’
‘They’ve made me head writer.’ My stomach churns as I spin the lie. ‘And my first gig is to do an exclusive interview with Claudia Leighton.’ If the rest of the group are moving on with their lives, I’m determined to show them that I am too.
Jones holds out his arm to stop me. His jaw drops. ‘Claudia Leighton? Creator of the Golden Ruins series? Isn’t it, like, impossible to get her in public these days?’
‘I guess they thought I’d be the perfect person for the job,’ I reply, cheeks hurting from my forced smile.
‘That’s huge, mate!’ Jones congratulates me. ‘This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I can’t believe you’re going to be in the same room as Claudia Leighton.’
‘Neither can I,’ I reply. ‘We’ll be on tour for about three weeks. It’s exciting.’
Jones continues back towards our table in the courtyard. ‘I’ll be honest. There was a part of me that was a little worried you were stuck in a rut there with your writing, so I’m glad it’s going well for you.’
I’m silent as I follow Jones back to the table.
We raise our glasses and congratulate the happy couple one more time.
As we drink, Laney and Patrick tell us all about their wedding plans.
They plan to have the ceremony as soon as possible, given the unpredictable nature of Laney’s mum’s health, and were told that she wants to three of us to organise engagement celebration drinks next Saturday.
Despite all the exciting plans, I find it hard to concentrate.
Jones’s comment about me being stuck in a rut lingers in my mind.
Maybe the interview with Claudia really is my chance for a reset.
Jones will be moving to Queensland. Sal has moved out west. Laney and Patrick are entering a new chapter of their lives.
And me? I’m going to move forward. Just like everyone else.
Even if it means spending time with Elliot Simpson.
He may have ruined my life once, but I most certainly will not let him do it again.