Page 75 of Harrison's Wedding

“No, do you want to be?” I offer.

“Yeah, go on,” she says.

I put the call on speaker and say, “Okay, go ahead.”

“Thanks, Seb,” Heather says, then asks, “Who else is there?”

Hayden calls out that he’s here, then Gabriel does the same, and I feel a wave of apprehension as Ariana turns her head to look at me. Our gazes meet, and I give her a slight nod.

“I’m here, as well,” she says. After a second, she adds, “It’s Ariana.”

There’s a pause for a second, and I have no idea how this is going to go. Everything’s been so tense with Heather and Ariana lately.

I’m grateful that Heather sounds perfectly pleasant, though, when she says, “Have a great time tonight, guys. I wish I was there with you instead of being here!”

Gabriel tells her, “No, you don’t, you’re going to be amazing, and you’ll have fun, trust me. Charity events are a dime a dozen, Saturday Night Live is a rare occurrence.”

Ariana catches my eye and then says in a soft voice, “Gabe’s right, try not to be nervous. Can you tell us about the sketch?”

“Thanks, Ariana,” Heather says.

Relief floods through me. There’s no cattiness to her tone, and she’s being genuine. I think this is a good sign that maybe she’ll come around soon. I still don’t know if she knows what happened in the past, but I’ve missed our friend group being chill and happy. I’m not used to the tension we’ve had lately, and I don’t like it.

Heather laughs and says, “Oh god, you’re going to die, Sebastian. So, it’s Harrison and me getting married, but then you stop the wedding and tell me you’re in love with me, and we run away together!”

I burst into laughter along with my friends. The idea of Heather wanting to run away with Sebastian is hilarious. I also know that it’s going to send people wild online, but that’s part of what’s so funny. If they want to make up rumors about Heather cheating on me with Sebastian, then why not have fun with it?

Sebastian finally manages to stop laughing, but he’s still grinning when he asks her, “Just how much input did you have into that sketch, lover?”

“Not much, actually, but one of the writers got a hold of my diary and read all my secret fantasies. The rest is history.”

She says this in a very serious tone, but as soon as we all start laughing again, she joins us. It’s nice to joke with Heather and for there to be no tension with everyone again. I miss her so much, and a strong wave of longing for her hits me powerfully as I smile down at the phone. It won’t be long, and I’ll have her back in my arms where she belongs.

“I love you, angel. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow, and we can watch the show together,” I promise her.

“Love you too, honey. I can’t wait to see you, either. I’ll call you after the dress rehearsal and let you know how it went.”

She exchanges goodbyes with everyone else, including Ariana, and they all wish her luck for SNL before she hangs up. I smile at my phone for a second before slipping it back into my pocket.

“Could you possibly have a goofier smile on your face?” Sebastian teases me.

“It’s definitely his ‘Heather’ smile,” Hayden agrees with a laugh.

“Shut up,” I laugh. “Besides, I make no secret about the fact that I love my fiancée.” I shrug my shoulders but grin at them.

We decide to play some more poker while we wait to go downstairs for dinner, so Hayden gets the poker cards and chips, and starts setting up while Sebastian gets us another round of drinks.

“That was good with Heather,” I say quietly to Ariana and smile at her.

She beams at me. “It really was. Maybe she and I can be friends again sometime soon.” She flushes red and asks, “Do you know if she’s read my letter?”

I shake my head at her. “I’m not sure, but I don’t think so. She’s been really stressed this week about doing SNL, and she hasn’t mentioned reading it.”

“I asked her to wait until she was in a good headspace,” Gabriel confesses.

Ariana leans into him and wraps her arm around him to hug him. “Thanks, Gabe. I guess I just need to be patient.”

“She’ll come around,” I assure Ariana.

---