“Uh-huh.”
He grinned at shoveled another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. “I like how those earrings go with the new ring.”
“Yeah?”
He smiled again.
“All right, buddy. Calm down. You look like a cat who just caught a mouse.”
“I’d say more like…a dog…who caught a cat?” Caleb laughed. “That metaphor doesn’t work at all, does it?” He set his now-empty cereal bowl aside.
“Nope.”
Caleb hooked his arm around Lauren and pulled her close. He gave her a quick kiss and said, “I love you. That’s all that matters, right?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know you’d end up being this sentimental, though. Kind of makes me want old jerk Caleb back.”
“Really? That guy’s a dick.”
Lauren laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Go shower, big guy. We’ve both got to get to work.”
A half hour later, Lauren walked into the Cat Café, the morning rush already in full swing. After ascertaining that the counter crew had things under control, she walked into the cat room and spotted Evan sitting at a table in the corner. He’d been working out of the Cat Café for the last few months, finally having given up on finding a good café from which to freelance. Working from home didn’t seem to be ideal, since he’d recently acquired new neighbors in the apartment next door, a lesbian couple who had quite loud, passionate arguments, based on Evan’s descriptions.
Lauren knew a little about that.
Although she and Caleb argued hardly ever these days, they still had the occasional dumb arguments over who forgot to pick up milk or whose turn it was to clean Molly’s litter box. Caleb got grumpy on rainy days because Hank was sometimes a little too precious about getting wet and there wasn’t much in the way of good park space within a ten-block radius, especially as all the new high-rises were eating up downtown Brooklyn. They could both get worked up about their interpretation of a newspaper article or an episode of television, but more often than not, arguments like that ended with them making out on the couch, so it wasn’t all bad.
In fact, they were pretty happy these days. And Lauren was about to make Evan happy, too.
Lauren walked up to Evan now and placed a ten-dollar bill on the table.
“What’s this for?” asked Evan.
“You told me when he proposed, I owed you ten dollars. I never welch on a bet. So, there you are. Ten dollars.”
“Heproposed? Are you kidding?”
“Nope.” She held out her hand to show the ring.
“Holy shit!”
“He proposed last night. In the most Caleb way possible. On the pretense of needing to help Hank stretch his legs, we walked up to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and he proposed right there, with the skyline and everything, under the stars. It was pretty romantic.”
“Aw. I knew that guy had it in him. Are you guys over the moon or what? You picked a date yet? Can I be your best man?”
“Yes, I’m very happy. No, we haven’t picked a date. And yes, you can be my…man of honor.”
Evan grinned. “I’ll take it.” He clapped a few times. “Oh, girl, this is going to be the most fun.”
“Really? I never would have guessed you’d get much into wedding planning.”
“Hey, my love life is DOA right now. Work is a little slow. I need a project.” Evan shrugged. “Also, I told you so.”
“I know, I know. I should listen to you more often.”
“Iamusually correct. Oh, speaking of, there’s your man.”
Lauren looked through the glass door. Caleb had just gotten in the coffee line, as was part of his pre-work routine. He looked up and saw her standing next to Evan. He waved. Evan waved back.
