“I’m going to miss you like crazy. You better not forget your college bestie when you’re a hotshot floral corporate exec hightailing it with flashy bigwigs in suits.”
I crack up laughing. “What the heck is a floral corporate exec? And you do know I’ll be stuck in the office, behind a computer, most of the time, learning the management side of running the business?”
“Bish.” She waves her hands in the air. “You’ll be running the show single-handedly in no time.”
“Thanks for the faith, but the closer it gets, the more terrified I am. A lot is hinging on this job. If I don’t like it, it will throw all my plans into disarray.”
One of the workers approaches, holding up a bottle of prosecco, and we both raise our glasses for a top off. We only come to this salon for the complimentary bubbly.
“I’m sure it’ll work out, but if it doesn’t, you have a degree, smarts, confidence, and other options. You also have a man who would walk through fire for you.” She pats my hand. “You’ll be fine.”
“That’s if I still have the man,” I mumble under my breath, half hoping she hears me, half hoping she doesn’t.
Ellen sits up straighter, and the girl painting her toenails shoots her an evil side-eye. “Why would you even say something like that?”
“Sometimes, my relationship feels like such hard work.”
“Allrelationships are hard work.”
“You and Will don’t argue half as much as Garrick and I do.”
“That’s only because we do it behind closed doors.”
I turn my head to the side and stare at her. “I love him, and I’m really going to miss him. I know I can handle the long distance. I’ll throw myself into work, and I’m used to being by myself.”
“But Garrick isn’t.”
“Exactly.” I chew on the corner of my lip, staring up at the ceiling, counting the water stains on the off-white plasterboard. They really should hire a painter. Shaking myself out of my errant thoughts, I look back at my friend. “Garrick is used to being in a relationship and doing things with his girlfriend. Will is moving in with you, and Noah is all loved up. I don’t see Garrick hanging out with Cohen much, so what’ll he do? He’s going to get lonely, and all his little groupies will love I’m not there.”
“You’ll be here on weekends, or he’ll be with you in Seattle. The groupies don’t matter, and Garrick would never cheat. You need to have a little faith, boo.”
Garrick plans to cancel his regular Saturday night gig, and our mutual boss has agreed he can switch from Friday nights to Thursday nights at The End Zone, so he’ll be free on weekends to meet up with me. “Deep down, I know that.”
“So, what are you saying?”
I sigh heavily. “I don’t really know.” Pain lances me through the heart. “Just that I don’t know how this will play out or”—I draw a brave breath—“whether we’re meant to be forever.”
Ellen blinks profusely as she stares at me. She roughly clears her throat. “No one can say that with any guarantee, babe. Not even married couples. I think you’re overanalyzing and reading too much into things.”
“What would you say if Will proposed to you tonight?”
A dreamy expression appears on her face. “I’d say yes.”
I knew she would. I drill her with a look. “If Garrick asked me, I’d say no.”
“Of course, you would. You have big career plans, and you always said you didn’t want to get married until you were thirty.”
“But shouldn’t I say yes? If he’s the one, it shouldn’t matter.”
Ellen sits upright and glares at the beautician, daring her to say anything. “Babe, listen to me.” She reaches over and grabs my hand. “You have yourself all worked up over this, and I blame Garrick. He has always come on way too heavy with the marriage stuff.”
“He can’t help it. It’s how he rolls.”
“Yes, but you don’t, and compromise is the name of the game. I think that gets lost in translation sometimes. If he wasn’t going on about marriage all the time, you wouldn’t give it a second thought, and half of these doubts would disappear.”
“True.”
“The way I see it, you have two choices. Try the long-distance thing and hope your love is strong enough to survive. For the record, I believe it is. Or break up with him now. If it’s meant to be, you’ll find your way back to one another when the timing is right.”
