26. The Advisors
CHAPTER 26
THE ADVISORS
“ I need your opinion,” Addison said when Lexi arrived at her condo for a long-overdue girls’ night.
“And hello to you,” Lexi laughed, showing off two bottles of sparkling wine. “From the look on your face, we’re definitely going to need these tonight.”
“Can’t hurt.”
They settled on the sofa with full glasses of wine.
Lexi gave Addison a questioning look and said, “Well? What do you need my opinion on? You look so serious.”
Addison mustered up her courage. “You know how I texted Tim that apology and never heard back?”
“Obviously.”
“Well, Laura and her sister, Amy, had this idea that I should make a speech at Jake’s wedding about love, second chances, forgiveness, and all of that, since it fits with Jake and Laura’s relationship and mine with Tim.”
“And?”
“And they think I can make it into some grand gesture to get Tim back since he’s Jake’s best man and can’t avoid me or run away at the wedding.”
“That could work,” Lexi said thoughtfully.
“You really think so? It feels like a recipe for disaster and public humiliation to me.”
Lexi nodded. “You’d have to plan it out and look irresistible when you do it, but yeah.”
“Tim is a romantic deep down,” Lexi continued. “There’s no way he wanted things to end with you. He had to do it, in his mind. Unless he’s changed since I knew him, he’s never been the guy who gets the big gesture. He’s lived in Jake’s shadow for so long that he might assume things won’t work out for him or that no one will fight for him.”
That’s a good point. “He deserves to have someone fight for him,” Addison added.
“He sure does. Tim forgets his own worth. I remember that being an issue in our relationship when Jake and his dumb frat bros would run all over him. I always wanted him to stand up for himself, but he never did. When you and Jake broke up, the biggest mistake I made was taking your side, purging my life of all things Jake, and leaving him without a fight. I think I used feminism and friendship as an excuse to get out of my own relationship mess without putting any effort into seeing if we could solve our issues.”
“Oh, Lex, you didn’t do anything wrong. That was a weird time in our lives.” I’ve never heard this side of the story. I wish I had encouraged her to choose Tim and not have it be a Jake or me decision.
“You can make up for it, Addie. Choose Tim. Choose him loudly and publicly.”
Addison’s tears flowed in unstoppable streams down her face.
Lexi held her tightly, rubbing soothing circles on her back. “Hey, we’re going to fix this. You’ve got a dream team—me, Laura and Amy. We’ll help you. We all want the best for you.”
“Even after I lied to you for so long?” Addison cried.
“Yep. I’m your friend even when you do boneheaded things.”
Addison sniffled and tried to fix her mascara. “I don’t deserve you.”
“You sound like Tim. What a perfect couple,” Lexi said wryly.
“What do you think of me seeing if Laura and Amy can come over now?” Addison asked, reaching for her phone.
“Sounds like a party.”
Within an hour, both sisters arrived, ready to plan with Addison and Lexi. The apartment buzzed with excitement between the four women. Prickles buried himself in his straw, trying to escape the noise.
“Lexi,” Laura said, “I think you should be Addison’s plus-one to the wedding.”
“Definitely. She’ll need backup and you and Amy will be busy,” Lexi agreed.
“Oh, right, we’re in the wedding,” Laura said, causing everyone to laugh. “I got so caught up in the plan that I forgot that the actual event.”
“Won’t that tip Tim off if he sees me with Lexi?” Addison asked.
“Tips him off to what? You’re our friend, so we’d obviously invite you to the wedding, and bringing your bestie isn’t weird,” Laura said, pouring herself another glass of sparkling wine.
“Right, good point,” Addison said, twisting a strand of hair in thought. “Do you think he’ll be friendly to me before the speech?”
“Worst case scenario, he’ll be polite. He won’t make a scene at the wedding. He’ll be too busy with wedding party stuff to interact with you anyway. We’ll keep him occupied until you’re ready,” Amy assured her.
“Let’s move on to the details,” Lexi said enthusiastically. “How are we going to make you even more irresistible than you are naturally?”
“Tim doesn’t care about that,” Addison chided. “I’ll wear something nice, but it’s Laura’s day. I’m not the focus.”
“Stop saying that,” Laura exclaimed. “The thing I want most—other than marrying Jake— is to see you knock Tim’s dress socks off. I’ll spectacular no matter what, so it doesn’t matter.”
“So modest,” Amy teased. “But she’s right. There’s nothing my little sister likes more than a touch of drama. And better it comes from something good, like you getting Tim back.”
“As I was saying,” Lexi huffed, “how are we going to make you the sexiest version of yourself? You’ve already got the tall, blonde bombshell thing going. We need a dress that enhances that.”
“I’ll find something online. Let’s focus on what I’m going to say,” Addison said. She opened her phone’s notes app, ready to start.
“You’ll want to mention the bumps in the road to true love, that lying isn’t the way to handle tough topics, and how much worse life is without the person you love,” Laura said. “Oof, this is starting to sound like a speech I should’ve made to Jake after I was an ass to him.”
“I’d add that loving someone quietly isn’t always the answer. Sometimes you need to shout it from the rooftops,” Amy added.
“Not to pile on,” Lexi said, “but Tim needs to hear that you choose him. That’s what I should’ve said when I didn’t choose him.”
Addison gave her friend a sympathetic look.
“I wish I’d had a group advising me all along. But I probably wouldn’t have listened to any of you. I can be hard-headed.”
“Who, you?” Lexi teased.
Addison finished typing her last note. “I think I have what I need. It’ll take some writing and revision, but I can do that on my own. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for you all. Especially you, Lexi, after I kept the truth from you for so long.”
“Hey, we’ve moved past that. Focus on getting Tim back. We don’t get many chances at love, and this is important,” Lexi said.
“To love,” Laura said, lifting her wine glass.
“To love,” the others repeated, toasting.