Page 2 of Cinderella Screwed Me Over
“Oh, that’s right.” Stephanie shook her head. “You’re celebrating your jaded stance on men.”
“I prefer the termrealistic, thank you very much. I’m just a girl who realizes love is not only overrated but downright impractical.”
“For the past year, anyway.”
“Right,” I said. “Before that I was miserable.”
“You weren’t miserable the entire time. You had happy moments, too.”
“That’s my point. I’m not saying I won’t find a guy to have a few happy months with here and there, but I realize now that’s enough for me. No future. No big wedding. No forever. Just low-risk here and now.”
Stephanie frowned. “I can’t believe my maid of honor doesn’t believe in love. Please don’t tell my mom.”
“Well, you and Anthony are an exception.”
“I thought you said there are no exceptions.”
I smiled. “I did. But not to my best friend who’s getting married in two months. That would just be cruel.” Honestly, I hoped she and Anthony were an exception. If anyone deserved happiness, Steph did.
“What about that saying?” Steph tapped a finger to her lips. “‘No man is an island.’”
“No man is an island because he’d never survive. Men are like overgrown babies. Women, on the other hand—well, without men, I think we’d be relatively problem-free. I could totally be an island.”
But the thought of beingallalone, without anyone else, was pretty depressing. “I suppose I’d need my family and friends. I’m more like a peninsula.”
Steph sighed. “At least you admit you need me. I still think, though, that if you just found the right guy—”
“We’re not puzzle pieces, Steph. There’s no ‘you complete me’ guy out there, and the beauty of this day and age is I don’t need one.”
“So why are you dressed like that”—she waved a hand at me—“if you don’t have anyone to impress?”
My red dress hugged in all the right places and showed off my legs. “One, because I run my butt off so I can pull it off. And two, what am I supposed to do? Look like a slob because I don’t think relationships last forever? I’m not itching to run off and become a nun or something.”
Steph laughed. “Yeah, you’d be a great nun.”
Chad walked up to the table and shot me a big, toothy grin. “Darby. Hey.”
I returned his smile. “If it isn’t my favorite waiter. How are you today?”
“Good. We’re getting kind of slammed right now, so it’s crazy. But good.” He lifted his pad of paper. “What can I get for you ladies?”
I didn’t even bother with the menu anymore. I rattled off my order, then waited as Stephanie placed hers.
Steph watched Chad walk away. “What about him? He’s super cute and you two seem to have a vibe.”
“We don’t have a vibe. We have a I-come-here-all-the-time-so-we-say-hi thing. Besides, he’s way too young, not to mention I have a strict policy against dating people I run into all the time. No guy’s worth losing my favorite place to eat.”
Steph rolled her eyes. “You’re completely hopeless.”
“No, you’re the hopeless romantic. They call it that for a reason, you know.”
Steph’s phone rang and she hovered her finger over her earpiece. “Anthony’s probably calling to tell me what his mom said about the flowers. I’ll just be one minute.”
“I knew you’d never make it.” I dug through my purse until I found the envelope I was looking for and took it out. “I’ll be right back,” I whispered.
Making my way toward the back of the restaurant, I took in all the different kinds of people out on a Saturday night. One couple sat, smiling at each other but not saying anything, neither one eating much of his or her food.
On a date. Probably first or second.
