Page 59 of Never the Bride
I push back, feeling like we’re getting too personal for my liking. “Why do I feel like you’re collecting information to make a slide show presentation about me?”
“There will definitely be a slide show, but the presentation will be about me, not you. I’ll forward it to you tonight.” He motions for me to continue. “So your friends…”
I shake my head.
“I don’t know why you’re being weird about this. We’re supposed to get to know each other so we have something to tell the counselor next month.”
He’s right. But opening myself up to a man has always felt wrong, vulnerable. Every time my mom got too personal or too deep with a man, he ran for the hills. Men like the idea of knowing women on a personal level, but not the reality of it.
But this wouldn’t be opening up to a man. It would be completing homework. If I frame it that way, maybe it will make things easier.
“Well, there’s Carly,” I start. “She plans incentive trips for companies, kind of like a travel agent. In fact, she just started seriously dating her co-worker. I think they’re kind of perfect for each other.”
“So you do believe in love after all?”
I laugh, despite being annoyed by him. “For some people…when it’s right.”
“Who else?”
His obvious interest relaxes me enough to keep going. “Then there’s Blair. She’s tough as nails and oddly good at everything. I don’t really know what she does for a living, just that she travels a lot. Next is Juliet. She just got engaged to Vinny.”
“And did you try to convince her not to get married like you did with Selena?”
“No, Juliet is on her own. Besides, she’d never listen to me. She’s the least self-aware person I know. She’s unwilling to admit that she and Vinny are a terrible match. And that’s not the divorce attorney in me talking. That’s coming from Camila, the friend.”
“Why are they a terrible match?”
“It’s hard to explain. Juliet kind of controls him and dismisses his feelings.”
“So why does this Vinny guy want to marry her?”
“Because it’s easy and comfortable. They’ve been together since they were fifteen or sixteen. And every time they break up, they both just end up coming back. Their marriage won’t last, which might be good for Emma.”
“Who’s Emma?”
A small smile paints my lips. “Emma is the last of my friends—the best of us, really. She’s sweet and optimistic and doesn’t like contention or rocking the boat. That’s why she doesn’t admit that she’s in love with Vinny.”
“Wait.” He holds up his palm like a stop sign. “Vinny? The guy who’s engaged to your other friend, Juliet?”
“Yeah. Emma has been in love with him since junior high. I mean, she doesn’t tell anyone that, but we all know. I guess, maybe Juliet and Vinny don’t know. But the rest of us have a front-row view of her heartache. It’s tragic.”
“Wow, that’s quite the love triangle.”
“Messy, right?”
“I need to know how it ends.”
“Don’t we all.”
“So when do I get to meet these friends?”
“You don’t.”
“Never?”
“They don’t know about you, and I plan to keep it that way.”
“I thought you said these were your best friends.”
