“We’ve met, remember?” She responds coldly as if she’s questioning the validity of it herself. “Will I be seeing more of you while I am here?”
Glancing back my way, Noah looks apprehensive. I can tell he doesn’t want to assume anything, but also doesn’t want to answer wrong either. Maybe he won’t answer. Maybe he’ll try and play it safe and change the subject. What’s going on between us, as thrilling and breathtaking as it is, is also new. Even I don’t know exactly what to make of it yet.
“I sure hope I’ll be around more often,” he grins, and my heart instantly begins to dream of a future for the two of us.
Hope, in the beginning of anything, is addictive and perhaps the one thing that keeps you coming back for more.
“Mhm,” Gwen responds. She narrows her eyes and crosses her arms.
“Well,” he says, nervously, “It’s nice to see you again, Gwen. We’ll talk later, Eva.”
And with that he leaves quickly, closing the door behind him.
Still delirious and in a euphoric state of mind, it takes me a moment to reorganize my thoughts and focus back on my best friend. When I do, I see she still hasn’t uncrossed her arms and is waiting for an answer that I don’t want to give her. So, instead, I walk past her into the kitchen and grab two wine glasses.
“Thirsty?” I ask, hoping to distract her thoughts though I know it’s a long shot until I spill and tell her everything.
The silence is deafening as she waits me out. I choose to continue to ignore her rather than cave. Grabbing a half-empty bottle of red wine, I divide the rest of it between the two glasses. Drinking from my own glass as I return to Gwen in the living room, I try to quickly plot a way to avoid the topic.
Gwen stares me down as I approach. She’s still standing in the same spot, her arms are still folded, and she’s still waiting for an answer as to who Noah is and what’s going on between the two of us. Extending the other glass to my best friend, I’m not surprised when she refuses to take it. I proceed to take sip after sip of my wine and debate starting on Gwen’s glass next if we stand here long enough for me to reach the bottom of my own.
Gwen breaks first.
“So, who’s the sex on a stick that was groping my best friend harder and faster than a horny thirteen-year-old who's never seen a pair of tits?”
I choke on my wine, spewing some out into the air. Gwen grabs her glass angrily, waiting for my response. Her eyebrows shoot up, her eyes grow wide waiting for an answer. She purses her lips. Crossing her arms again, she waits for me to answer.
“It wasn’t that bad,” I say, wiping my mouth with my hand and looking down to make sure I haven’t spit the wine out on my shirt.
“Eva, if I hadn’t walked in when I did, you’d be working on baby numero uno with Mr. Sexy Tall Dark and Handsome. Oh my God, Ev, the man is gorgeous,” she squeals. “Like almost too good looking, you know? So not cool, girl. It’s not like you to not tell me stuff. You’ve always told me everything, and I didn’t know about this,” she shouts, starting the lecture I knew was scratching at the surface the moment she walked through my front door and found me practically fucking a guy she doesn’t remember.
“Like how new is he?” she continues as I begin to walk towards the living room. “I mean, I know it’s been a while for you, but girl, that doesn’t mean you can be stupid. Think! STDs! Screw that! Babies … babies with strangers! Strangers that won’t stick around to play house, or daddy, or make an honest woman out of you!”
I roll my eyes and walk further into the living room as Gwen follows. Calming a bit, she finally takes a sip of her wine before continuing.
“Who is he? And why the hell did I not know about this? This is incredibly important and very valuable information you’ve been withholding from me, especially if you’re debating getting serious with whoever he is. What did you say his name was again?”
We circle around the couch and take a seat side by side. I debate giving Gwen the long answer, though settle for the short, hoping the less information I give, the shorter this interrogation will be.
“His name is Noah,” I answer, taking a bigger gulp of wine than necessary and waiting for the next round. I can take a guess at where this is headed and if I’m right, I need to self-medicate.
“Noah! Like who is named Noah anymore anyway. Or ever for that matter. I’ve never heard of that kind of name. Huh, Noah. Okay.”
She drinks her wine, and we sit there in silence for a moment. I start to think maybe she will let up, but the wheels in her head are still obviously turning.
“This means, I don’t think he can be trusted. With a name like Noah, honestly. Like, does he build boats too?” Gwen teases, pressing the issue.
“Oh, stop it. You’re too damn judgmental of people all the time,” I snap, annoyed and not wanting to discuss the matter further.
“Fine,” the irritation is evident in her voice as she takes another sip of wine. “Well, tell me about the guy? Where did he go to school? What’s his favorite color? Favorite band? Favorite food? Best friend?” Her questioning continues.
“He’s best friends with Rex,” I quietly answer into my wine glass.
“Hell no! Rex! That has all sorts of wrong written all over it! Rex of all people? Eva, you should know better.”
She’s shouting now, and even though I’ve never fully understood why, I know enough to understand that Rex is a sensitive topic with her.
“Come on! He’s not that bad.” I try to smooth things over. “Talk about me withholding information. You ever going to tell me why you’ve almost always had this hatred towards Rex?”
