Page 6 of One-Star Romance

“Sometimes when Angus gets an idea, he likes to run with it,” Rob was continuing, and the only thing Natalie could think, all-caps in her mind, was RED FLAG, RED FLAG, RED FLAG.

Gabby finally emerged from the hug pile made up of her and Angus’s families, her eyes finding Natalie’s across the room, and Natalie felt grateful that even in this moment of insanity, they looked for each other. Gabby jerked her head in the direction of the bathroom, and Natalie nodded.

They met outside the women’s room, a single-person restroom with a drunk girl staggering out of it. Gabby pulled Nat inside, where it smelled vaguely of shit, despite the hibiscus-scented candle working overtime on the ledge above the sink.

The door swung closed behind them. Stunned silence for a moment, then Gabby hit Natalie’s arm. “Why did you let me wear such a low-cut dress?”

“I didn’t have any idea that this was happening.”

“Oh my God,” Gabby said, gawking at the ring on her finger. “I’m engaged. I’m an engaged woman. This is insane. Is it insane?”

“It’s…well, it’s definitely unexpected.”

“If I’d known he was going to do a surprise proposal, I would’ve told him absolutely not to,” Gabby continued, dazed, and finally Natalie felt like she was standing on solid ground. She’d known that Gabby didn’t want this.

“Okay.” She took Gabby by the shoulders. “You can just play along for tonight, and then talk to him tomorrow. Everyone will understand if you change your mind after sleeping on it…”

Gabby blinked. “What?”

“I mean, if he took you by surprise.”

“He did. And definitely for the first few seconds, I was like, ‘Oh, hell no!’ But then I looked over at that table in the corner that you were saying I was gonna dance on, and I realized…I’m not a person who gets wild and crazy. I want to settle down! Even if the ring is absolutely hideous. We can fix that.”

“Are you sure? You haven’t even had a chance to live together. What if he has some weird habit that he does in the privacy of his own home, like cutting his toenails in the kitchen sink—”

“He cuts them over a trash can, I’ve seen it.”

“That’s just one of many examples.”

“My parents would never want me to live with someone before getting engaged. You know how Catholic they are. I think it’s really thoughtful of him to remember me saying that and to not be freaked out by it. A lot of guys wouldn’t be so respectful.”

“Oh. Right. That’s…great.”

Gabby stared at Natalie. Natalie stared back. “So”—Gabby smiled, a bit uncertain—“are you going to congratulate me or what?”

This was happening all wrong. Your best friend was supposed to meet the man of her dreams, and you were supposed to be so happy that you cried tears of joy. But the tears threatening Natalie’s composure now were decidedly NOT of the joy variety.

It was too soon. She and Gabby hadn’t yet had enough time to be the most important people in each other’s lives. Would Gabby start referring to Angus as her best friend now? Would he always be there whenever the two of them tried to hang out, redirecting the conversation in his exhausting way, offering Natalie terrible, unsolicited advice on her love life and career?

Now Gabby would talk to Angus first about everything. The moments when she came home from the office buzzing with fury about how a senior advertising partner had treated her or alight with excitement over a successful pitch and needed to talk it all through, the moments when Gabby figured out the solution, the sheer force of her talent so exciting that Natalie would get goose bumps, those moments would go to Angus. Gabby would still tell Nat about them, but they’d be the leftovers, the reheated version. She and Natalie would always be catching up instead of figuring things out together.

Nat’s brain was frozen and fuzzy for one more second. Then she exhaled. “Oh, duh, congratulations! This is—whew!—so exciting!”

“Thank you!” Gabby threw her arms around Natalie, and they held each other tight. “You’ll be my maid of honor, of course.”

“Of course.”

“My sister might be mad, so watch your back in case she tries to push you down the stairs, but you know she’d be a disaster. And I promise I’ll be a chill bride.”

A pause, then they both cackled, because if Gabby got this neurotic about dancing on a table, Natalie could not imagine how she would survive wedding planning without having an aneurysm. “Okay,” Gabby continued. “I’ll do my best to be as chill as possible.” She straightened her shoulders, pulled her dress up to a more respectable level, and opened the door. “Now back out there to my fiancé!”

Natalie beelined straight to the bar and ordered a shot of tequila. Rob was still there, sipping on a whiskey, his face furrowed in concentration.

They let the alcohol burn their throats for a moment. Then Natalie asked, “So, what do you think of all this?”

“If she’s actually as amazing as he says—”

“She is.”

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