A Lot to Look Forward To

            Surprise!  I have a long weekend, so I’ll be coming up to see you this Friday!      

            I gulp as I read the email from my mom.  This Friday?  But it’s already Wednesday!  Then again, my mother has never been one for planning.  She’s not scatterbrained, exactly, but she does prefer the spontaneity in life.  I continue reading:

            I’ve booked a hotel, so you won’t have to worry about me intruding on your privacy.  Maybe you could show me around Columbus?  I’m sure your world has changed since your college days!  See you soon.

            She ended her email with an xoxo Mom, as she ended all of her messages, even every single text, no matter how short.  I smile a little.  She was staying in a hotel, so really, there wasn’t much to worry about.  I could show her around a little, as she suggested, and maybe—she’d want to meet Cam.  Oh no.  Mom isn’t one for subtleties, and she knew all about Cam back in his earlier days.  Hopefully her protective mama-bear ways wouldn’t take the lead this weekend. 

            After work, I headed to happy hour with a few of my good college friends.  Emma, sadly, was at work all night, so I went alone.  Surprisingly, I was the first one there.  The waiter suggested a gin and tonic with a splash of grapefruit juice and a maraschino cherry, so I ordered that and began sipping on it.  No need to go crazy before anyone else had even arrived. 

            Soon after receiving my drink, I spot Marie walking through the doors.  Her glossy dark hair is as pin-straight as always, and I eye it enviously before she sees me.  I wave, and she makes a beeline for the table.

            “Hey!”  She goes in immediately for a hug.  “How have you been?  Wow, you smell good,” she adds, pushing her nose to my neck.  I laugh and swat at her. 

            “Hey to you too!  I’m so glad to see you!”  We release our hug and just as I’m sitting down, I see a flash of blonde. 

           

            “Ahhhh!”  Kolby has snuck up on us both, but on Marie in particular, and has her hands over Marie’s eyes, startling her.  Marie yanks on Kolby’s hands.  “You aren’t fooling anyone, Kolb.” 

           

            Releasing her hands from Marie’s face and plopping down next to her, Kolby sighs dramatically.  “I suppose not,” she says with a grin.  “But it was fun!”  She looks at me in approval.  “Nice shirt.  You look hot!” 

           

            “Thanks boo,” I say, and blow her a kiss.  Kolby is so full of personality and bursting with silly energy that it’s hard to keep your own exuberance in when you’re around her. 

            “I see you’re way ahead of us,” Marie says, eying my drink.  I offer some to her. 

                       

            “It’s good!” I insist.  After Marie, Kolby takes a sip. 

            As soon as they get their drinks, the gossiping begins.  After college, Marie secured a place in law school while Kolby scored a kick-ass job with a radio station.  It’s a country station, and Kolby really doesn’t even enjoy country music that much, but she’s a riot to listen to and her coworkers, whom I imagine are always sporting huge cowboy hats and chewing tobacco, eat it up. 

            “I swear our intern is a moron, though,” Kolby says, rolling her eyes.  “He’s this really sweet kid who cannot speak in front of people at all.  Which, you know, is kind of essential for this job!” 

           

            “Maybe the person who hired him is the moron, then,” Marie suggests, ever the diplomat. 

            “Pretty sure Kolb was the one in charge of hiring, weren’t you?”  I say.  Kolby shoots me a death glare. 

            I talk a little about Abby and her recent engagement.  Neither Marie nor Kolby have met Abby, but they know of her, and engagement is enough of a commonality between us.  Anyone our age getting engaged is reasonable, but still somewhat shocking. 

            “I’m still learning how to properly do my laundry,” Kolby says solemnly. 

            “So what about the two of you?” I ask, wanting to keep the spotlight off Cam and I for a moment, even though things have been going extremely well for us in the past few days.  “Any new prospects?” I ask Kolby.  “And what about you, Mar?  How’s Liam doing?” 

            All of a sudden, Marie bursts into tears.  Kolby and I sit there in shock for a moment, and our eyes meet.  Marie has never cried in public—well, except for that one time sophomore year when she puked up Bud Light Lime and couldn’t get it out of her brand-new Bebe dress the next day.  Needless to say, the two of us were shocked. 

            “Marie,” I say in a hushed tone, “shhh, it’s okay, it’s okay.  Do you want to go outside?”  I hand her a napkin as Kolby gingerly rubs her shoulder blades. 

            Marie heaves a deep, shaky breath and grabs the napkin, dabbing at her eyes.  Just like that, she’s recovered.  It’s silent for a moment, the mood having changed entirely. 

            “We broke up,” she said simply.  We wait in silence again.  I don’t yet know what happened, but I feel for Marie.  She’s an absolute angel, and she and Liam had been together for going on three years.  I hadn’t expected this, and I’m sure Kolby didn’t either. 

            “We’ve been fighting a lot lately,” she continues, wiping her eyes with her sleeve since the tiny cocktail napkin is totally drenched already. “Finally, one night he just said he wanted to try other people.”         

            “Try?” I ask. 

            She nods.  “His words.  Like women are something in a gift shop, or cars you can test drive.”  Letting out a bitter laugh, she adds, “I told him that’s fine, he’s young, you know the clichés.  I haven’t heard from him since.” 

            My heart aches for Marie.  She’s one of the strongest individuals I know, male or female, young or old.  Her mother died when she was just fifteen, and her dad worked constantly to put her and her younger sister through college.  She can be a tough cookie if you get on her bad side, but really, the only people Marie hates in this world are George W. Bush and now Liam. 

            The waiter comes by and I order Marie a drink.  She tries to wave it off but I insist.  “Come on,” I coax her after the waiter leaves.  “I’ll drink it if you really don’t want it.” 

            “Your mascara still looks killer,” Kolby offers.  “I can’t even get mine to stay on for more than six hours, and here you are, post-cry, looking like a makeup ad.” 

            That makes Marie crack a smile, and I see the Marie I know and love again.  When her drink arrives, she drinks it a little quickly, I notice, but she’s the farthest thing from a lightweight.  A thought tugs at my brain. 

            “When did this happen?” I ask.  Kolby shoots me a look, but I ignore her and keep my gaze on Marie. 

            Shrugging, she cups her glass with both hands like a small child and avoids my eyes.  “Yesterday,” she says quietly. 

            “What?!”  No wonder she’d cried.  If I was in her shoes, I’d be at home sleeping, or at least listening to angry music and throwing darts at a printed out picture of his face.  Well, maybe not the darts part, but still. 

            “We need to do something,” Kolby decides.  “Go out.  Dancing maybe?” 

            “Yes!” I exclaim.  “That’s perfect.  Just the thing you need.” 

            Marie rolls her eyes.  “Is it?” 

            “Yes!” I say again, nodding excitedly.  “It’ll be just like old times.  We can meet at my apartment, take three hours to get ready, pregame, and then hit the bars!”  Kolby is nodding with me, but Marie looks less than thrilled. 

            “What if the alcohol makes me a sad, weepy mess?” she asks.  It’s a valid point. 

            “Well,” I say, picturing a calendar in my head, “my mom’s coming up this weekend and I have a date on Saturday, so maybe next weekend?  That way you have some time to yourself and—”

            “Wait, wait, wait,” Marie says, holding up her hand.  The gleam in her eye is back.  “Did I hear date?” 

            I wave my hands.  “No, no, it’s nothing big.”  This was true.  Cam and I don’t even have concrete plans yet, but hey, a date is a date!  “It’s actually just with Cam, well, not just Cam like it’s a bad thing because everything has been going great with him so we might actually be back together—”  I’m interrupted again, this time by Kolby. 

            “You’re back together?” she asks incredulously.  Before she can continue I stop her. 

            “Just trust me, okay?  He’s a good guy.”  They both still look surprised, but stay quiet, so I go back to talking about our going-out plans.  “Anyway.  I say we go out two weekends from now, so we can really plan and you have some time to gather your thoughts, Marie.”  Marie’s nodding, a good sign. 

            “I think we could all use a little dancin’!” Kolby says loudly, shaking her hips in the chair.  I laugh.  Even Marie is starting to crack a smile. 

            “I haven’t been out in so long,” she says thoughtfully.  “What the hell.  Why not?” 

            Kolby and I high-five.  “Girl’s night!  Girl’s night!”  she chants. 

            I smile at my two friends from across the table.  With my mom coming into town this Friday, my date on Saturday, and the extravaganza with Kolby and Marie the following weekend, I have a lot to look forward to.