Cristina rubs her hands together. The don’t-get-carried-away ship is already long-gone and has set sail for the Baltic Sea.
“I won’t, I definitely won’t,” she promises. “This is all just so incredible, though. Never in my wildest dreams did I think my best friend would date my future husband’s best friend. Can you imagine the family vacations we can go on together?”
I start to smile despite my hesitation. Family vacations together would be nice...
No! Stop this!
“Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. No one is getting married here besides you. Who knows how long Ryan will stay interested in me anyways?”
“Why do you have to put yourself down like that?” Cristina demands. “You’re a successful, funny, beautiful woman. Any guy would be lucky to be with you.”
“That’s very nice of you to say but also very unnecessary.”
“Apparently it is necessary. Do you remember when we first met?”
“You mean the best day of our lives?” I tease.
Cristina and I were both waitressing in a pub in Chelsea in grad school. The food was average, but the clientele was almost always drunk, so no one complained.
“I was crying because it was Valentine’s Day and Warren dumped me for my Swedish roommate who claimed to be a ballerina even though she wasn’t even good.”
“I remember,” I say. “That guy was lame, and Astrid never once reacted to any of myCenter Stagereferences. It was highly suspicious.”
“I know, but I was heartbroken and insecure, and you told me that Warren would regret leaving me because I had true grace and I was a thousand times better than my troll of a roommate.”
“Not to veer off topic, but I’m still convinced that your roommate actually was a troll. I did a report on Scandinavian folklore in high school and she checked a lot of boxes.”
“Can you please focus?” Cristina places her hands on my shoulders. “What I’m trying to say is, now it’s my turn to pump you up and tell you thatyouare the one who has true grace... Plus you don’t even have a troll roommate so there’s no way Ryan will ever fall out of love with you.”
I try to disguise my confusion, but I don’t do a good job.
Cristina shakes her head and rests her hands on her hips. “That inspirational speech made so much more sense in my mind. Just don’t sell yourself short, okay?”
I sigh and give her a hug. “Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?”
“I tried but I’m a numbers person. You’re the word weaver.”
“I know,” I say as we step back. “I love you, my numbers person.”
“Love you more, word weaver.”
We both look over and find Ryan and Jason still locked in an animated conversation.
“What do you think those two are talking about?”
“No idea.” I take in Ryan’s stoic face as he continues to listen to Jason before I turn my attention back to Cristina. “So, is there anything else I can do for tomorrow? Anything I can help you with?”
“Not really,” she says. “Just be at my apartment no later than 9:00 a.m. The hair and makeup people will be there and we’ll all take turns. I’ll have bagels and fruit and mimosas so don’t worry about having breakfast. Overall, I anticipate zero stress.”
“Zero stress, that’s what I like to hear. Do you mean it?”
“Absolutely not. One million percent, I’m going to be manic.”
Out of nowhere, Jason and Ryan appear back at our sides.
“Hey, hi everyone.” Jason is forcing a smile as he grabs Cristina’s hand. “Babe, we should go sit, I think. The food is getting cold.”
“What are you talking about? The food isn’t even out yet.” She looks around at the very foodless tables with not a waiter in sight, save for the ones serving champagne.
