“I’ve never seen my father sad in his entire life.”
“I bet it’s the total opposite. I bet he’s been running his whole life because he is sad.”
We stare into each other’s eyes for a moment and while we’re silent, there were still a lot of words being said.
“Are you unhappy, Kaya?”
“What?”
I stare at her and wait for an actual answer.
One lone tear runs down her face.
It never dawned on me until this very moment. Has Kaya been running from sadness her entire life?
“My boyfriend just–”
“Before him.”
“No, I mean… why would I be sad? I have a great life.” She sounds completely unconvincing.
“What do you like to do for fun?” I ask, realizing that I have no idea who adult Kaya is. What does she like? What does she love? What does she hate?
“I don’t have time for fun,” she says, sounding flustered. “And how did this conversation get turned around to me? I was making sure you were okay.”
“And I’m assuring you I am.”
“Fine.”
“But I have an idea,” I tell her. “It has to do with our jobs as best man and woman.”
“Okay, what?”
“I think we need to throw the happy couple an impromptu and coed bachelor and bachelorette party.”
“That’s not on the wedding timeline, Brick.”
“We can squeeze it in tomorrow night,” I say, thinking that a party is just what the both of us need to improve our dispositions.
Fuck the timeline.
“I don’t know if Dena is going to like that.”
“It’s coed. We’ll all be there. There’s no way that Kyle can get himself into any trouble.”
“You must not know your best friend like I thought you did.”
“Don’t think of it as a bachelor party. Just think of it as a regular party. It’s actually our duty to celebrate their last single days before the wedding,” I assert.
“I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”
“And I wouldn’t expect you to. But if you meet me tonight for some recon, I think I know just the place.”
“That sounds ominous.” She smiles.
And fuck me, I think it’s a flirty one.
But like a bucket of cold ice water, a voice immediately stops my dick from getting over excited.
