Page 15 of Eternally London

I understand enough about Sarah to know that her life has been hard. She’s been through things so far from my reality that I have a difficult time grasping even the concept of them. If our places were reversed, I don’t know that I could have survived. She’s so strong. She’s navigated this life with virtually no one. Yes, she had Loïc for a bit, but she lost him, too. If anyone deserves a happily ever after, it’s her.

“Well, if this doesn’t have London Wright written all over it, then I don’t know what does.”

One of my favorite voices in the world breaks my thoughts.

I turn toward my best friend. A giant smile is plastered on my face as we pull each other into an enormous hug.

“Paigey Poo, I missed you. It’s been too long.” I continue to squeeze her tight.

Pulling away from our embrace, she says, “It really has.”

“And it’s Berkeley now,” I add.

“I know, but you’ll always be a Wright girl to me. So, where is that man of yours?”

“He’s inside, playing with Evan, while Sarah gets her hair done. Speaking of men, where’s yours?” I ask.

Paige lets out a sound of disgust. “Hopefully, in a gutter somewhere, swimming in STDs.”

“Oh no! That bad?”

“Yeah, I know how to pick them. But you know what they say; piles of shit just make you stronger.”

I laugh with a shake of my head. “No one says that. I’ve heard,What doesn’t kill youmakes you stronger.” I shoot her a wink. “My masterpiece here is finished, so let’s sit. I want to hear all about this shit you speak of.”

We plop down in two of the chairs set up for the ceremony.

“So, what happened with Edward? I thought he had potential to be the one.”

“Yeah, me, too. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who thought that. The douche face had another girlfriend on the side. For all I know, he could have had several. You know how he had to leave a few days every week for business trips? Yeah, well, there’s no traveling involved in his job after all.”

“No way. When’d you find out? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Just last week. I knew I’d see you here, and this is the kind of news that requires a face-to-face convo.” Her lips pull up into a weighted smile.

“Yes, and a major Ben and Jerry’s–eating, couch-lying, Netflix-watching marathon.” I bite my lip, tapping my index finger against it, as I think out loud. “Now, we’re going to have to figure out how to work our pity party around the wedding.”

Paige laughs. “Yes, you can throw the best pity parties.”

“Yeah…well, I had a lot of practice while Loïc and I were separated.” A desperate chill runs through me just thinking about that time in my life.

“It’s okay. I don’t need one. I had a pity party of sorts on my own this week. I’m just ready to move on.”

“A party of one? That’s sad. I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” I pout.

“Are you kidding? No, you’re not.” Paige scoffs. “You were off, skipping through Savannah, hand in hand with the man of your dreams, while on assignment for the job of your dreams.”

I hold up my hand, a serious expression on my face. “We did not skip.”

“It’s okay,” Paige says with a chuckle. “We aren’t single college girls anymore. Growing up means not having your best friend available to you at all times. Right?”

“Maybe not in person but via the phone, always. You know you can call me night or day.”

“I know,” Paige agrees. “It’s okay. I handled it.”

“So, tell me what happened. How’d you find out?”

A genuine smile graces Paige’s face. “Well, that part was actually quite epic. So, you know how I told you that Edward told me that he was going to be in Miami for work for a few days?”

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