Page 13 of Planning on Happily Ever After

Ben

The apartment Ben wascurrently hanging out in was devoid of any sound beyond the clicking of game controllers and the occasional good-natured barb he and Henry would throw at one another as they played Mortal Kombat. Both men were entirely focused on the game, and while you’d think that after a long day of coding a video game the last thing Ben would want to do is play one, but creating a game and playing one were two very different things. Gaming was relaxing, especially when it involved tension release in the form of virtually kicking someone’s ass.

Henry paused the game and put his controller down on the coffee table. “I’m getting another slice. Want one?”

Ben shook his head, the three slices of mushroom pizza currently housed in his stomach was enough for him. “Nah, but I will take another one of those oatmeal chocolate chip cookies you made.” He shouldn’t have been surprised that a guy who grew up in a bakery knew his way around an oven, but when Ben had taken a bite of the chunky, chocolatey treat earlier, he had been. It seemed to be just one more example of how little Ben actually knew about his friend, and once again he vowed to do better.

“Sure thing.” Henry wandered over to the kitchen, his faded jeans and Nintendo t-shirt bringing a small smile to Ben’s face.

Henry obviously had no problem being himself in front of others. Ben had at least made an attempt to drop his guard where his friend was concerned, comfortable enough with Henry to show up to the man’s apartment in sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt. He’d debated wearing something more in line with his business attire, but as they had gone running before, Ben reasoned that his current outfit wasn’t too much a deviation from that.

Wearing his favorite outfit was one way Ben was making an attempt to be less anxious around others, but he should probably practice being more talkative as well. Ben looked around the apartment while he tried to settle his nerves and gather up the courage to ask his best friend a little more about himself. The space was bright, yet cozy, with a lot of color in the form of art on the walls or the furniture, and a big yellow chair next to the gray couch he was currently sitting on looked comfortable and well loved. This apartment was definitely designed as a place for people to gather, and Ben wondered if that was Henry’s doing or his sisters.

As Henry plopped down on the couch again, Ben tried to think about a good place to start a conversation. The two of them talked about personal things occasionally, but most of the time those talks were initiated by Henry. What would it be like for him to start a conversation for a change?

Henry shoved a plate with the oatmeal cookie his way, breaking into his thoughts. “Here you go.”

“Thanks, man.” Ben stuffed the cookie into his mouth to give himself some more time. The chocolate hit his tongue, and he momentarily forgot about all his problems with what other people did on a daily basis without any trouble, deciding to just sit there and enjoy his food. When the cookie was gone and he was all out of excuses, he looked over at his friend once more and cleared his throat. “So, these cookies are really good. Have you always liked baking?”There, that hadn’t been so hard.His heart rate kicking up a notch spoke to the contrary, but Ben was proud of himself for taking that first step.

Henry paused, his pizza halfway to his mouth. “I guess.” He seemed to consider the question more carefully before tossing the slice back on his plate. “I mean, I like it okay, but I never wanted to do it forever like Hailey. I mostly just stress bake or bake for other people.”

“Stress baking, huh? Is something causing you a lot of stress at the moment?” Ben asked, grateful that Henry had provided him an opportunity to ask a follow-up.

Henry’s eyes widened slightly, probably from the shock of Ben asking him something that wasn’t related to the game they were playing. “Um, yea. Kind of.” Henry’s expression was curious as he glanced over at Ben. “You sure you want to know?”

Ben scratched his jaw, wondering if Henry was struggling with this as much as he was. “Totally. I mean, friends talk about this kind of stuff, right?”

Henry chuckled, his few dark curls flopping about his ears as he shook his head. “You usually don’t.”

Ben tilted his head in agreement. “I mean, sure, I’m a pretty quiet guy. I don’t normally do much socializing.” He shrugged a shoulder, willing his body to settle and exhaled the unsteadiness he felt. “I’m trying to be better, okay?”

Henry held up his hands in surrender. “I wasn’t trying to put you down or anything. I think it’s great, and I really appreciate you asking.” Henry ran his fingers through his hair and itched his scalp, his obvious comfort with the conversation calming the rest of Ben’s nerves. “Hailey is super busy and with her boyfriend, or fiancé I guess I should say now, and Holly is always running around doing wedding planner stuff, so I haven’t really gotten to talk about it much.” Ben nodded along as Henry gathered up the courage to talk. “I don’t know. I think I’m just tired and lonely. It’s tax season right now, so on top of all my usual business clients and helping manage their finances, I freelance and help people with their personal taxes too. It’s good money, don’t get me wrong, but I just feel like it would be more worth it if I had someone to come home to at the end of the day. I mean, don’t you ever feel like that?”

The truth was, Ben had never felt like that, at least not until recently. Since meeting Holly, however, all that had changed, but he was still trying to make sense of those feelings and wasn’t sure how to put that into words for his friend. He rubbed a hand down his face and sighed. “I didn’t used to. I honestly thought being alone was the best thing for me.”

Henry sensed the hesitation in his voice. “But...” he prompted.

Ben looked at him wryly. “I don’t know. Something’s changed. I want different things now, and not being alone is one of them.”

Henry smiled just enough that one of his dimples appeared. They were the same dimples his sister had, though Ben hadn’t found himself dreaming about the ones on his friend whereas Holly’s had already made multiple appearances and a few cameos in his daytime reverie as well. “I think that’s great, man. I say do what makes you happy and if being alone isn’t it anymore, then try to change it.” Henry looked at him slyly. “Have anyone in mind?”

The corner of Ben’s mouth twitched but he suppressed the smile, not wanting to give anything away. “I might, but I am definitely not ready to talk about that.” He had already put himself out there more tonight than he had in a very long time, and while he was proud of his progress, he certainly wasn’t going to push the envelope.

“Hey, baby steps, right?” Henry cheered and took another bite of his pizza.

Ben took a sip of beer and wiped his mouth. “What about you? Anyone in mind for yourself?”

Henry chewed thoughtfully and swallowed. “Not really. I kind of hate dating apps, and going out to bars and clubs isn’t something I love to do. It never really pays off anyway.”

“I hear that.” Ben hated going to bars and clubs, but probably not for the same reasons Henry did. Going out to places like that equated to too much small talk and the venues were always so noisy that it immediately put him on edge. Ben nodded toward the paused game screen, eager to celebrate his foray into socializing while not extending it longer than necessary. “Should we keep going?”

“Just give me a sec to finish my slice,” he mumbled around a mouthful of food.

They were just about to start the game up again when the door to the apartment opened and Holly breezed inside, the two men watching as she tossed her purse on the counter and headed straight to the refrigerator. She opened it up and peered inside for a moment before slamming it shut with a groan. When she twirled around to leave, she spotted the pizza box and the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies on the counter. Ben watched with rapt attention as she danced around the small space, grabbing a plate from the cabinet and tossing a slice of pizza onto her plate before marching over to the yellow chair next to the men and plopping herself down.

Henry started to open his mouth to say something, but he snapped his mouth shut when his sister started to move again. Holly huffed and stood up again, struggling with her coat for a moment before finally whipping it off and tossing it in the direction of one of the bedrooms, presumably hers. She sat down on the chair again and crossed one leg over the other, reaching up to the top of her boots and dragging the zipper down. Ben had no idea why she was undressing in the middle of the living room or in front of him, but he couldn’t have stopped her if his life depended on it. He was too busy watching her long legs appear as she peeled off each boot and tossed it over near her coat.

Once her shoes had been disposed of, she crouched over the chair and reached up under her skirt. Ben’s eyes widened, and if he had been eating, he was fairly certain he would have choked to death as he watched her pull off some undergarment and toss it behind her. “Stupid Spanx,” she muttered.

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