Chapter 3
three
sparkling wine goes with everything
F or the first time since before Christmas, Elissa had the TV all to herself.
Wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, she reveled in the quiet.
Her brother was out with friends for the last Friday of winter break, making up for his lousy excuse for a New Year’s Eve.
Her mom felt the best she had in a while, so Dad swept her away for a date night before their appointment with the oncologist next week.
Elissa looked forward to the quiet, but fate had other ideas.
Footsteps crunched on the gravel path leading to her parents’ front door and a familiar, rhythmic knock sounded before a tall woman with curly black hair and snappy brown eyes barged in like she’d been doing the last twenty years.
“Happy New Year!” Jules’s smile was as big as her personality: warm, caring, mischievous. She’d been Elissa’s friend since kindergarten, as opposite as it was possible to be and still be best friends.
Jules plopped down on the couch beside Elissa, setting down a bottle of sparkling wine on the coffee table with a loud thunk.
She pulled Elissa into one of her famous hugs, the ones that made you feel loved and part of whatever ridiculousness Jules planned next.
As much as she’d been looking forward to some alone time, she never turned down a chance to be with her bestie.
“Happy New Year,” Elissa said as they both settled into the soft cushions of the worn, but oh-so-comfortable couch.
“What is my favorite nerd doing by herself on the first Friday of a new year?”
“I was enjoying it.” Elissa found the grin growing on her own face. Jules was the only person she could tease like this. Her BFF was the one bright spot in what had been a soul-sucking year with little to smile about.
“Well, now you can enjoy it even more because I’m here. I won’t let you waste your night watching”—Jules looked at the TV for a minute to figure out exactly what Elissa was watching—“another Lord of the Rings marathon.”
“ Lord of the Rings is comfort TV.”
“Lady, you don’t need comfort TV. You need comfort dick.”
Jules waggled her eyebrows at Elissa. It had been an ongoing discussion for the last few months once Jules had decided an appropriate interval had passed for her to grieve her relationship with Victor. Between her best friend and her mother, the pressure was on to re-enter the dating game.
“Have anyone in mind?” By the grace of God, Elissa kept a straight face.
Jules narrowed her eyes and studied her before her smile returned. She ruffled Elissa’s hair before pulling her in for a side hug.
“You’re messing with me.”
“Guilty as charged. What brings you to my parent’s couch on a Friday?”
“I knew you’d be here. Where else would I find my favorite nerd?”
“Not a nerd.”
“Uh-huh. Tell that to Gandalf on the Enterprise .”
“Gandalf isn’t on?—”
“Yeah, I know. Nerd.”
Jules bounced up, her never-ending energy propelling her to the kitchen where she grabbed a couple of wineglasses and some cookies from the cookie jar. She nestled onto the couch and poured the wine for both of them.
“Cheers.”
The glasses clinked in a satisfactory way. Elissa took a cookie from the napkin before sipping the bubbly. The bubbles fizzed on her tongue, releasing the sweet scent of the surprisingly dry wine.
“Are you sure this goes with cookies?” Elissa examined the chocolate chip cookie in her hand.
“Sparkling wine goes with everything, dahling.”
Jules would know. She worked at a high-end restaurant her parents only went to for their anniversary. Elissa took a bite of the cookie. As usual, Jules was right. She gave her friend a wide smile.
“You can say it. I don’t hear it often enough.” Jules waggled her eyebrows.
“You are right, Jules. Sparkling wine goes with everything. Dahling.”
Jules pulled down the blanket on the back of the couch and wrapped herself in it.
The two friends settled into a comforting routine they’d repeated so many times it was second nature.
The only difference now was the wine. It used to be milk or juice, then they’d upgraded to soda and tea.
When the movie ended, Jules turned to Elissa.
“How was your New Year’s Eve?”
Elissa opened her mouth to answer, but her friend interrupted before she could.
“No, let me guess. Your parents crashed before the ball went down in Times Square, you fell asleep on the couch trying to keep Leo company, and the poor kid had no one to ring in the year with.”
Jules hit it on the head. It had been a spectacularly boring New Year, the worst ever. Elissa vowed next year he would have a proper New Year’s party.
“You know me so well.”
“Ah, lady, what am I going to do with you?”
“It’s been a rough year, Jules. I wasn’t in the mood for a party.”
“But things are better?”
“Mom’s got an appointment next week, so we’ll see.”
The past year was filled with we’ll see s, and Elissa was tired of holding her breath, waiting for the worst. She was ready to move on, she really was, as soon as her mom got the all-clear. And tax season was over. Couldn’t forget that. So April. She’d be ready in April.
“You can’t always be waiting for the bad. You gotta get out there and find the good.”
“But as soon as something good happens, the bad follows.”
“Lissa…”
Jules pulled her in for a hug. They’d had dozens of arguments over the decades about tempting fate, about the wheel of fortune constantly spinning out bad things, sometimes terrible things, right after the good. Arguing further was useless.
“You brought the wine, so let me clean up,” Elissa said as she pulled back from the hug. Jules rubbed her hair and planted a kiss on her forehead.
“Fine, but one of these days, I’m gonna convince you that you’re wrong.”
Elissa unwrapped herself from her blanket and cleared the coffee table of their glasses and the napkin now holding only crumbs. As she walked into the kitchen, her phone vibrated on the now-empty coffee table.
Quick as a cat, Jules grabbed it. “Ooh, who could it be? I thought I was your only friend.”
Rolling her eyes, Elissa put the glasses in the sink and tossed the napkin into the trash.
If she tried grabbing her phone from Jules, her friend’s long arms would have no problem keeping the device well out of her reach.
It was probably her mom or Leo, anyway, telling her they’d be late.
Jules would return it quicker if she didn’t fuss.
Elissa washed the glasses and walked into the living room.
Her suspicions high—Jules had been awfully quiet—she tiptoed behind the couch, looking over her friend’s shoulder. As usual, she was unable to get the jump on Jules, who promptly turned the phone over so Elissa couldn’t see what she’d been up to.
“Whatcha doing?” Elissa asked in a singsong voice, sitting on the couch.
“Nothing.” Jules handed the phone over, a remarkably innocent look on her face. Too innocent. And the corner of her mouth twitched, despite her friend’s stubborn desire to look as though she hadn’t been doing anything to Elissa’s phone.
“Jules…”
“If you didn’t want me to have access to your phone, you would’ve chosen a better passcode than my birthday.” Jules lost her battle with the impish grin. Elissa was in trouble. Jules had done something Elissa wouldn’t be happy about.
She unlocked her phone to discover a brief exchange of texts, beginning with one from an unknown number.
Unknown: Hi this is Ryan. I’ve heard so much about you. Hope its ok I texted
Ryan? Did she know a Ryan? Oh wait, her mom mentioned earlier today she’d given Elissa’s number to her friend’s son so they could arrange a date. This must be him.
And Jules, being Jules, had run with it. She’d answered for Elissa, knowing if she’d left it up to her friend, the poor guy would be waiting a while for a reply. Elissa had a tendency to overthink everything. She even had a shirt to prove it.
E: Hi, Ryan. I’ve heard so much about you, too. Glad you messaged me.
The little thinking bubble appeared.
“So, who’s Ryan?”
“None of your business.” Elissa’s face heated, and she tried to keep the phone facing away from Jules.
“I don’t think I’ve seen your face so red since you got sunburned after falling asleep next to the pool senior year. You know you’re going to tell me, eventually. Why not get it over with now?”
The phone buzzed in her hand, and before she could stop Jules, her friend grabbed it from her. She stood and held the phone high over her head, keeping it out of Elissa’s reach.
“Give me my phone, Jules.” Trying to reclaim it would be an exercise in futility.
“What, so you can go to your room, alone and unhappy? Not happening, lady. It’s about time you put yourself first.” Jules tapped, hit send, then handed the phone to her. “There. You’re committed now. Tell me what’s going on.”
“I hate you.”
“No you don’t.” Her friend settled back down on the couch and lifted her wineglass. Elissa read the messages.
Unknown: I don’t mind getting to know you over text but would you be up for meeting in person?
E: Yes, that would be lovely.
Elissa had been half afraid Jules would send something inappropriate as she had many times in the past, but this was a nice, basic exchange of information.
And Jules had written the texts like Elissa would have, all the punctuation in the right place.
Just because it was informal writing didn’t mean she could simply forget proper English grammar.
They’d been texting each other for the last decade, so Jules knew better than anyone how much of a grammar snob Elissa could be.
“Ryan is the son of one of Mom’s friends. I told her she could set me up on a date before tax season. She didn’t waste any time.” Elissa gave in to the inevitable. Jules was right—she would find out one way or another.
“I’ve got your back, Lissa. What better way to start the new year? A new guy in your life after the rat-bastard.”
Yep, inappropriate. But appreciated.
The phone buzzed once more.
Unknown: Anytime, anyplace. LMK
Now what did she say? Elissa had never been particularly adept at flirting, and her attempts over text were even worse. She handed the phone to Jules.
“I can’t, Jules. What if I totally geek out on him? What if I use the wrong emoji?”
“Fine. What do you want me to say?”
“Just pretend you’re me, but…” She waved her hands around wildly. “But less cringe.”
Jules’s fingers flew over the screen. After a short pause to read what she’d written, her friend hit send and gave the phone back.
E: Would you like to meet for drinks on Tuesday after work?
“See, it’s not that hard,” Jules said with a smile. “I even added him to your contacts.”
Her friend was right, it wasn’t that hard, but she was out of practice.
R: Sounds perfect. When and where?
It had worked. Something so simple had worked. She answered for herself, like a goddamned adult. Ooh, did she owe the Wright Family swear jar if she only thought the swear word? It went to their next family fun night, so might as well. There was the new bowling alley and arcade opening.
E: Sandpiper, 5:30.
R: Great, see you Tuesday
“Thank you,” she said, actually meaning it.
“Anytime, lady. If my love life is non-existent, at least I can help with yours. Now, can we watch that one scene with the dude with the pointy ears again? The actor who was in Pirates of the Caribbean .”
“Anything for you, Jules.”
Watching Orlando Bloom dressed as an elf was far from some sort of hardship. Jules poured more sparkling wine, and they snuggled together under the blanket. Grown-up grape juice with her bestie was the perfect Friday night for Elissa.