Oh, the thought of him keeping secrets from me makes me feel like I’m going to throw up.
‘I just… sorry, I’m so happy for you, it’s a shock,’ I tell them, trying to find it in me to be normal. ‘It’s not something you expect to hear, after a matter of weeks.’
I can’t help myself with the little remarks but they’re both too happy to pick up on my sass.
‘From day one the trip was so intense,’ Andy explains. ‘Work not going well, everyone stressed. I got paired with Cordelia on most of the drafts and filings.’
‘So naturally,’ she cuts in, ‘we ended up working late together nearly every night.’
‘Then one evening we finished past midnight,’ Andy says. ‘We were the only ones left in the office, and the vending machine had run out of everything but these weird Aussie crisps?—’
‘Some kind of seafood,’ Cordelia says, pulling a face.
‘Which were awful,’ Andy says gravely. ‘So we went on a mission to find somewhere still open. Ended up at a place that did fish and chips, which we agreed was more our kind of seafood.’
‘We stayed there for hours,’ she says. ‘Just talking.’
‘Which then kind of became our thing,’ he says, smiling at her. ‘Late nights turned into dinner. Dinner turned into drinks. Drinks turned into… actual dates. And it just… clicked.’
My heart implodes inside my chest.
‘And then we had a big breakthrough with work, we were celebrating and thinking about next steps and… I don’t know.’ Andy shrugs. ‘I couldn’t picture my life without her. So when we had the layover in Singapore on the way back, we went for dinner and I just… I knew I had to ask.’
‘It was raining,’ Cordelia says softly. ‘Like properly raining. We were soaked.’
‘And I thought: what am I waiting for?’ Andy adds. ‘It felt like the perfect moment with the perfect girl. So I asked. And she said yes.’
‘How would I not say yes?’ she replies, squeezing his hands as she stretches tall to kiss him on the lips.
I watch them, the two of them wrapped up in this little bubble of bliss, and I feel weirdly detached. Like I’m watching this happen to someone else. Like it’s a scene from a movie where some other sad cow has bought all the things to make a lasagne and confess her love to someone who has turned up with a fiancée. Not me. That could never be me. Please, God, tell me this isn’t happening to me.
‘Oh, but we do have to rush, for the ring,’ Cordelia corrects me. ‘We’re getting married in a matter of weeks. Which reminds me, Andy… go on… ask…’
‘Right, yes, Whit, I was wondering, seeing as though you’re my best friend, would you be my best man? Best woman, I suppose.’
He’s not only engaged, but he’s actually getting married, ASAP? In a matter of weeks? Is he crazy?
‘I was speechless when he asked me too,’ Cordelia says with a laugh.
‘Will you, Whit?’ Andy prompts me. ‘I couldn’t do it without you.’
‘Then you’d better say yes,’ Cordelia tells me, brandishing a fist at me, presumably playfully.
‘Yes, of course I will, I’d love to,’ I lie.
I cannot believe this is happening right now.
‘I’m so glad you said yes,’ Cordelia says. ‘It wouldn’t feel right without you. You’re such a big part of his life. Andy spoke about you so much. I thought it was weird at first, until I realised you were just besties.’
Just besties…
They’re both smiling at me, neither of them a clue I’m unravelling internally.
Outside, I somehow manage to smile.
‘So, you’re happy to do it?’ Andy checks.
‘Oh my God,’ I say, mustering up a bigger smile. ‘Yes. Of course. Sorry, I… didn’t have “becoming your best man” on my bingo card for… well, ever.’
