Meet Cute

by Melanie Shawn

  “What’s that?”

  “What do you mean, even as things are now?”

  I laughed. “Oh, you picked up on that, did you?”

  “Finely-honed perception is just one of the many talents I bring to the table as partner.”

  “True enough. Well, here’s the thing. I asked Evelyn to marry me.”

  “Whoa!”

  “Exactly.”

  Belinda punched my shoulder playfully. “So? Was she in the mood to trade down?”

  “Lucky for me, she was.”

  “So, when’s the wedding, Boss?”

  “Hey! No more ‘Boss’ remember? We’re partners now. Or at least we will be as soon as we sign the papers.”

  “I know, but ‘Partner’ just has too much of an Old West ring to it. I’ll stick with ‘Boss’ until I can think of something better.”

  “Well, I mean…there’s always ‘Nick.’ That’s an option.”

  She waved her hand and screwed up her mouth, making it clear that was never going to be under serious consideration. “I’ll figure it out. But, anyway. When is the wedding?”

  A smile spread on my face automatically. That was the effect that even talking about marrying Evelyn had on me. “Soon, actually. The weekend after Evelyn’s classes let out.”

  “Holy freaking moly! Is somebody preggo? And by ‘somebody’ of course, I mean you.”

  “No, B. I’m not pregnant. More to the point, neither is Evelyn. But she got a summer internship with a theater company in New York, and we wanted to be married before we left.”

  She nodded thoughtfully. “Before we left. That’s what you said.”

  “Ah. So you picked up on that, too.”

  “Have I talked up my razor-sharp perception enough yet?”

  “Never. But, yeah. That’s the plan. Olive and I would travel with Ev over the summer, and you’d be in charge of the shop. Think you can handle it? Are you ready?”

  She took a sip of coffee, but I could see the anticipatory grin she was trying to hide with the coffee mug. Hell, she’d probably be glad to get her hands on the place today and start doing things the way she liked. “I was born ready, Boss. Honestly, I’m more worried about dealing with the fallout after you come back.”

  I let out a bark of a laugh. “Fallout?”

  “Hell, yeah. I mean, people will have gotten used to my genius by that point. And then you come back, rusty as hell from an entire needle-less summer? Come on. There’s gonna be fallout.”

  “Well, that’s where you’re wrong. I already contracted with Tribeca Ink to do pop up events for private clients. You know, Instagram followers, et cetera. So not to worry. I won’t be rusty at all, let alone ‘as hell.’”

  Her eyebrows rose and she nodded. “Okay, I know I’m usually kidding around—”

  “Ya think?”

  “—but in all seriousness, Boss, that’s a pretty genius system. It will pretty much let you travel with Evelyn anywhere she might get an opportunity, and still be able to work. I know I give you a hard time about the Instagram thing—”

  “Oh, just about the Instagram thing?!”

  She laughed. “I never said just about the Instagram thing! But, yeah. I’ve been known to make a Kardashian joke or two. All kidding aside, though. That’s a great business move.”

  “Well, you know. Business acumen. That’s what I bring to the table as a partner.”

  She laughed. “Not to mention, like…the shop.”

  “Yeah. That, too.”

  “And let’s not forget your Instagram following.”

  “As if I could.”

  “So, Boss, again—all kidding aside. This is a lot of changes all at once. Getting married. Moving across the country, even if only for the summer. Taking on a business partner. Does that freak you out, even a little?”

  I stopped to think about the question. My initial impulse was to volley back with an immediate, “No, of course not, I’m excited!” And while that was true, I wanted to take the time to consider, and then give a real answer.

  “To be honest, it does still feel a little unreal at this point. Like it’s something I’m imagining, like a dream instead of something that’s about to happen. Who knows if I’ll have my freak-out moments once things start rolling. But I do know one thing—it won’t matter.”

  She cocked her head to the side. “How do you figure?”

  “Because I love Evelyn, and I’ve made a commitment to her, and to us. It’s not about feelings. Sure, feelings are what led me to know it was right. But they’re not what’s going to see me through.”

  She nodded. “That’s just about what I thought you’d say. And you know what, Boss?”

  “What?”

  “That quality is what you truly bring to the table as a business partner.”

  Wow. It was so rare that Belinda pressed pause on joking around, and even rarer that she was truly sincere. I was getting a little choked up.

  Then, with a small, impish smirk, she added, “Plus your Instagram followers.”

  Chapter 34

  Evelyn

  “WHOSE IS THIS? Does anybody remember who bought this?”

  I turned to see Sandy holding up a bright pink tank top. I laughed. “Pretty sure that’s yours, babe. I really can’t see any of the rest of us picking that up.”

  She looked at it for a moment, then shrugged. “Whatever. I don’t remember buying it, but I’ll definitely take it. No offense, but I’m pretty sure I’m the only one here who could pull it off.”

  Brandy laughed. “Hello? We’re twins? We look exactly the same.”

  Sandy rolled her eyes. “Oh, God, Bran. Has having me for a twin all this time taught you nothing? Pulling off a bold look is not just about looks. In fact, I’d say it’s only, like twenty percent about looks.”

  Brandy returned the eye roll. “And what is it about, oh wise one?”

  “Att-i-tude, darling twin. Att-i-tude.”

  I couldn’t believe that we were really packing up our dorm room. It seemed like only a few short weeks ago that we’d all arrived here, one by one throughout the day, and gone down to the Plaza Pub that night to get to know each other better, and even though Michelle hadn’t been one of our roomies, she’d been there, too. We’d all met on the same day.

  That was the night that had started it all. Cat had met Jace that night. Then, throughout the year, Sandy had reconnected with Hunter, Brandy had met Clay, Michelle had gotten together with Sebastian, and now I was with Nick.

  Everything was changing. Not only were each of us off to summer adventures with our significant others, but we wouldn’t be living in this room together when fall semester commenced.

  Sure, we’d still see each other. We’d still be friends. We’d always be friends. But it wouldn’t be exactly the same.

  “So?” Cat said as she piled books into a plastic bin. “Are you excited about the wedding coming up?”

  “Oh, God. Excited. Nervous. Thrilled. In Love. Terrified. You name it, I’m feeling it.”

  Michelle, who didn’t technically live in this room but who was here so often she may as well have, said, “I get why you guys wanted to do the wedding before taking off to New York. But, damn, girl. Who besides you could throw together a wedding in just a few short weeks?”

  My hand flew to my belly in an attempt to quell the butterflies that had immediately sprung up there, just as they did every time there was a mention of the wedding planning logistics and how unrealistic (read: utterly fucking insane) it was to think I could pull it off on that timeline.

  “First of all, let’s not jinx it by assuming that I am going to pull it off. Second, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything without the help of pretty much the entire theater department. Wardrobe, set design, stage management…everybody’s kicking in. A wedding is its own kind of production. Plus, the fact that it’s small. Mostly family, and some close friends.”

  “Still,” Cat said. “It’s impressive. You should be proud of yourself. Especi
ally considering it’s coming right on the heels of finals.”

  “Oh, no, don’t get me wrong, my grades are going to be shit,” I chuckled. “That’s not in question. I could only keep so many balls in the air, and that was one that definitely dropped. Hard.”

  “Yeah, my grades aren’t gonna be super, either. Sebastian and I are taking off on our ‘forty-eight states, forty-eight days’ epic summer road trip only a couple of days after the wedding. Between planning and packing for that, and making sure Grandma Trudy is going to be okay, I’ve been running around like a crazy person.”

  “I hear you,” Sandy said. “Even though Bran and I are staying here and working for most of the summer, unlike you globetrotting bitches, we have been spending a lot of time getting ready for the big cruise to Alaska that the parentals are taking us on.”

  “Yeah,” Brandy agreed. “It’s going to be the first time that our dad and Janine, plus me and Clay, plus Sandy and Hunter have all spent significant time together. Like…eat, sleep, socialize. Day. Night. Repeat. That kind of time.”

  “Oh, man, do you think there are going to be problems with that?” Cat asked, alarmed.

  “Nah,” Sandy shrugged. “I think it’ll be fine. Brandy’s over-analyzing.”

  “Oh, what a shock,” Michelle laughed. “Sandy thinks something’s going to be no problem, and Brandy’s worried about the fallout. If anyone was ever worried that love was going to change the Andy girls, that was clearly unfounded.”

  “What about you, Cat?” I asked. “Did you and Jace ever decide what you all were going to do this summer?”

  “We did,” Cat confirmed. “We’re taking Gavin down to the Malibu house to spend the summer at the beach. Don and Rachel are coming with us.”

  My brows shot up. “Wow! You must be on, like, much better terms with your mom now, if you’re considering spending an entire summer with her.”

  Cat grinned. “That’s the best part. She’s on a six month shoot in Bulgaria.”

  Tears sprang to my eyes as I looked around at my friends, all of us laughing and kidding around. Warmth spread in my chest. I loved these girls so much. Except for Nick and Olive, they were the best things to happen to me this year—or maybe ever. I knew that we’d be in each other’s lives forever.

  Cat’s eyes caught my shimmering ones and she crossed to give me a hug. “I know,” she said, pulling back and looking around the newly-bare room with its empty walls, full of nothing but boxes and bins. “It’s the end of an era.”

  “Yes!” Brandy cried. “That’s the perfect way to put it.”

  “End of an era,” Michelle sighed. “That actually makes me even sadder.”

  “Don’t forget, though. We have the Around the Bend text group. That’s going to be hopping all summer,” Sandy interjected. “And then starting next year, we will set a weekly lunch time that all of us have free every semester. It’ll be, you know…almost the same.”

  “Almost,” I agreed.

  I looked around the room again. The empty walls, though, didn’t look as sad anymore. Instead, they looked more like a clean slate. A fresh start.

  “I wonder what the new girls who end up in this room will be like,” I said. “Do you think next year is going to change their lives the way this year has changed ours?”

  “I don’t know, I find that hard to imagine,” Cat said. “Each of our lives has done a pretty drastic one-eighty since the day we moved in here.”

  “Yeah, and one thing I know is that there is no way they will be as cool as we are. It’s not possible,” Sandy proclaimed.

  “Maybe they will be,” I said, folding up another T-shirt and tucking it into my bag. “Maybe I’m just feeling extra nostalgic and emotional because the wedding’s coming up—”

  “Maybe?” Sandy quipped.

  “All right, definitely. But I can’t help it. I just feel, with everything in me, that we’re gonna be great. All of us. We’re gonna have awesome lives, and be successful, and be happy, and be in love, and be fulfilled. Forever.”

  “Dang,” Michelle said. “Is there some kind of gas leak on that side of the room? I feel like fumes might’ve gotten to you or something.”

  “Fine,” I replied loftily. “Make fun if you want.”

  “Oh, great—permission!” Sandy jumped in cheerfully.

  “It doesn’t matter. We’ll circle back in sixty years or so, and I think you’ll see I was right.”

  “Awww…so you think we’ll still be friends in sixty years?” Cat said.

  “I know we will,” I assured her. “Because I’m going to make sure of it.”

  “Me, too,” she agreed.

  “Same here,” Sandy and Brandy said at the same time.

  “That only leaves me, and I’m definitely on the same page,” Michelle said.

  “Oh, God,” Sandy groaned. “On the same page. Library pun?”

  Michelle laughed. “I wasn’t even going for it, but I’ll take it.”

  I breathed in deeply. Yeah. As sad as I was about this ‘end of an era’ moment, I knew these girls would be in my life forever. At some times, it might only be texts, or phone calls, or updates on social media—but we were too important to each other to lose.

  There was just something about living together during college, I realized. It was such a roller-coaster, formative period of life, and we’d been together every single day, through every single drama. We were bonded for life now. Nothing could take that away.

  We may not have been sisters by blood (except for the Andy girls), and we may not have been in an official sorority, but we had the kind of sisterhood that Greek letters or DNA alone couldn’t create. We were that mythical “chosen family” that everyone looks for, and only a few people are lucky enough to find.

  We’d been blessed. We’d found each other. We were those lucky few. And in that moment, to the depths of my heart and soul, I felt every bit of how lucky, and how blessed, we really were.

  Epilogue

  Evelyn

  “EVELYN, YOU LOOK so beautiful. The loveliest bride I’ve ever seen.”

  My mother dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief. It had been in constant use all morning, subtly wiping away the evidence of her emotion. I smiled at her in the make-up mirror where she stood behind me. “Thanks, Mama. Oh, look! The ceremony is going to start in just a few minutes. You need to go find your seat.”

  She gave me one last kiss on the side of my head, careful to avoid my veil.

  As soon as she’d left the room, my four bridesmaids clustered around me. My heart filled with so much love, looking at each of their faces in turn.

  Cat. Sandy. Brandy. Michelle.

  “You know, you guys,” I said, my voice misty with emotions. I knew I couldn’t let the moment pass without sharing the insight I’d had when we were packing up the room the other day. “You mean so much to me. I know you’ll be in my life forever. You’re so much more than just my college roomies. You’re my sisters.”

  We enveloped each other in a tight group hug, and when they drew back, I could see I wasn’t the only one getting emotional. I figured I may as well go all in with the sentiment, since we were already feeling so nostalgic.

  “You guys, thank you so much for being here for my special day. It wouldn’t have been the same without you.”

  “Are you serious?” Michelle replied.

  “Right, like you could’ve even kept us away!” Cat agreed.

  “You look so beautiful,” Brandy sniffled. “The most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen.”

  Sandy patted her twin’s shoulder. “Awww…Brandy. You’re getting so emotional. It’s sweet.”

  The door to the bridal suite opened, and Lisa walked in, leading Olive in front of her. I teared up again. God, my emotions were really getting the better of me today. But I didn’t think anyone could’ve seen that adorable little moppet and held it together!

  She was decked out in a pale green gown with a gigantic fluffy tulle skirt and satin bodice. The bodice had
tiny daisies appliqued at intervals, and more of those little flowers were woven through her rust-colored curls. Completing the cute-factor were her pristine white tights and shiny black Mary Janes.

  When she saw me, her eyes lit up and she ran over, pressing herself against my legs. “Auntie Lisa says I get to stand by you in the ceremony.”

  “That’s right, pretty girl. You do.”

  She beamed up at me, and it was so hard to resist the urge to ruffle her curls like I usually did.

  Lisa stepped over. “Can I have a quick word, Evelyn?”

  I looked down at Olive. “Hey, baby girl. Can you go with your four aunties and show them your new bathing suits?”

  She nodded vigorously, dislodging a daisy in the process. She grabbed Cat’s hand in one of hers and Michelle’s in the other. As she led them into the adjoining room, she looked back at Brandy and Sandy and said, “They’re for the honeymoon. We’re going to Hawaii. I needed new bathing suits.”

  “Who wouldn’t?” Sandy replied, and I could see Olive’s approval of that answer in her face. She’d be fine with the girls. I turned back to Lisa.

  She gave me a little smile and a quick, stiff hug. I smiled back at her. She was making an effort. Maybe we’d never be best friends, and maybe that was fine, but we were getting along, and that was the most important thing—that all of the adults in Olive’s life kept the drama at bay, for her sake.

  Lisa reached into her purse. “I don’t know if you’re doing the whole something old, something new thing. But I thought…well, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. But I thought, if you wanted to use it, it would fulfill your ‘something borrowed’ requirement.”

  I looked down at the small object she was offering me. It was a small, white gold band with flowers and leaves etched into it.

  “It’s lovely!” I said. “I’d be honored.”

  She smiled, looking down at the band wistfully. “Nick’s mom gave it to Jen as her ‘something borrowed.’ Jen gave it to me. I thought it could maybe be a tradition. You could pass it on to Olive.”

  It struck me, then, how significant it was that she was offering this. How much of her heart was in this gesture. How easy it would’ve been to bypass me altogether and continue the chain down to Olive herself. But she didn’t do that, even though it must’ve cost her tremendously. She really was trying.