Page 18 of Cocky Choices: Zoe Cocker

“I almost asked you out today, Tom. What would have happened if you’d have said yes before I got that phone call? Would I have turned down the proposal?” Tom’s smile remains unwavering, the photo a snapshot of the past without indication of anything but a memory. “Guess I’ll never know,” I whisper, straightening up to say, “My favorite people in the world, you’re all here on my refrigerator. I’ve gathered you all here to tell you something amazing. I just got engaged!” Silence. My gaze jumps from picture to picture, loved one to loved one, until under my breath, I sigh, “How will I tell you about this? What will you all think about what I’ve agreed to?”

Filling up my watering can I mutter, “Hi Mom and Dad! I’m engaged. No, you’ve never met him. I just met him myself,” and head over to water a Spider Plant, Boston Fern, pausing when I get to the Mother-In-Law’s Tongue, its name inspiring me to add, “I don’t know what his parents are like. I haven’t had a chance to meet them yet. Barely met him! Popular, I’m guessing? Five-hundred guests for a retirement dinner isn’t something to sneeze at.” One after the other, all of my plants get some love while I continue on, “Where did that saying come from, I wonder.Something to sneeze at.Is it so good that it makes you sneeze? Odd.” Refilling and heading to my vines I lift an eyebrow. “Caleb Astor III. His name is like something from a fairytale. I guess that will be my name soon, too. Hello Mr. Rubber Tree, nice to meet you. My name is Zoe Bennet.” I jolt, spilling water on the floor as I cry out, “I mean, Astor! ZoeAstor!”

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I adjust my shocked focus away from my flub to an incoming text from Lexi.

Dinner at The Vortex? House Three reunited! No husbands!

It would normally make me smile that they made time for just me, probably because last they saw me I was crushed by Ryder’s girlfriend acquisition. But there can be no smile tonight, not with this tremendously earth-shattering news hovering and untold!

I type a quick reply.

I’ll be there in twenty.

How am I going to do this? Should I wait until after Mom and Dad to tell them? “Oh Ralphie, what should I do? This is such a huge reveal! Do you even know what ‘reveal’ means? It’s a TA-DA! Surprise! I just got engaged!” He glances over from the windowsill, eyelids hooded likeYou’re on your own, Zoe.I mutter, “Thanks,” heading for my closet. “What do I wear on a special night like this?”

After a quick change into something nice but not too nice that it gives my secret away before I’m ready to — a soft blue dress that hugs my body and flows to the ground — I grab my bag and head out, the weight of my news heavy in my heart.

The walk to The Vortex is short. Very short. Which I love and will miss. But while I’d normally take a moment to admire tables displaying handmade jewelry, graphic T-shirts, dream-catchers, and various other offerings by artists who stand by in hopes of a sale, I’m far too wound up to tonight.

As I turn the corner, the skull-head comes into view, an entrance I’ve walked through too many times to count, but this time is different. I’m notsingle Zoeanymore. I have a fiancé. A future husband. Someone who I’ll have to text when I’m onmy way home. One who doesn’t usemeowas his only means of communicating verbally.

One hopes.

Smiling at my inner joke I hold my head high and stroll inside, searching the bar on the right, first. They’re not there. With my heart thumping in suspense, I look left into the dining area and see Lexi waving at me, hair worn in its natural curly state which she never used to do before she met her husband. “Zoe! Over here!”

Samantha is smiling and waving in the table beside her, dead-center of the room, her blonde hair worn free and long down her back. I notice they’re both dressed more casually than I am, in jeans and halters, jackets behind them over their chairs.

“Zoe! You’re early. Good, I’m starving!” Samantha exclaims, rising to pull me into a tight embrace.

I hug Lexi next, just as tightly, before I sit down and attempt to get comfortable while she says, “You won’t believe the things we saw today. Man I love our city! Atlanta! Nothing like it. There was this street performer who was juggling fire!”

Samantha interjects, brown eyes wide with excitement, “And then he dropped one into his suitcase. Poof! flames!”

Lexi grins, “He had a fire extinguisher.”

I laugh, and the tension in my shoulders eases as they recount their adventures. Since I’m normally the quiet one, it’s perfectly normal for them to dominate the conversation and I never mind letting them. I enjoy listening. We devour burgers, fries and milkshakes, sharing two sides of plantains as they talk about the trendy cafes, art installations in the park, and quirky shops they stumbled upon, reaching past the two days since I’ve seen them last into all they’ve seen over the previous month, each story traveling to another naturally. Their enthusiasm is infectious, but nothing they can say tonight will make me, even for a moment, forget the news I’m not sure if I should share.

“Do you guys want dessert?”

Lexi answers for all of us, “Not tonight, thanks, MaryBeth.”

“Come on…deep fried cheesecake?” our favorite server presses with a devilish smile.

Slurping the last of a dreamy chocolate milkshake — I know it’s dreamy because I ordered one, too — Lexi looks up from under ginger eyebrows. “These are our dessert. Everything in moderation, right?”

MaryBeth shrugs, “I’ll get the check,” and heads off, leaving Samantha to switch the attention to me. “So, Zoe, what’s happened in your world since we saw you last? You’ve barely said a word.”

“I’ve just been listening to you guys,” I smile, shifting my weight.

Lexi rolls her eyes. “Ugh, I hogged the conversation again, didn’t I? I’m trying to get better about that.” She reaches over, picks up a fry, thinks better of it and drops it back onto the nearly empty plate. “So whathasbeen happening in your world?”

I bite my lip. “Not much.”

They stare at me, and Samantha cocks her head. “Why don’t I believe you?”

Because the opposite is true!But I feel like I should tell my parents first. My brothers, I’m not excited about telling. I definitely want Sam and Lexi to know before them. I’ll need backup! But Mom and Dad? They should hear it from me first.

Lexi leans in. “What’s up, Zoe.”

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