“I’m so sorry, Susie.” Marcia squeezed my hand as we sat on the plane. “He’s such a jerk-off.”
“I know, but what are you going to do?” I sighed. “He is who he is. I mean, he doesn’t owe me anything. It’s not like he’s my boyfriend. It’s not like he’s my man. We had a couple of kisses and some fun, and I can’t lie, I wouldn’t take it back.”
“You wouldn’t?” Marcia looked surprised.
“No, I wouldn’t. I know you think I probably would, right?”
“Girl, you were going off on him literally just two seconds ago.”
“Yeah, because he sucks. But I had a good time, and it reminded me what it is to be a woman. It reminded me that I want love and sex and all those things.”
I heard Finn groaning in the seat next to Marcia. “Do you girls really need to have this conversation right now?” He chuckled. “I was kind of hoping to not talk about Brody.”
“Yeah, well, he’s your friend, and you’re the one that brought him. We didn’t even want to go camping, so…”
“So, what? You didn’t have a good time camping?” Finn asked.
“It was fine,” Marcia said. “What did you think, Susie?”
“It was fun. Honestly, I wasn’t sure that I’d like it. I prefer to be pampered, but I had a good time. Would I go every weekend? Probably not. Would I go again? Yeah, sure. It was cool. Maybe not with Brody but…” I wrinkled my nose. “Anyway, let’s talk about something else. I don’t want to give him the time of day.”
“Good thinking, Susie.” Marcia nodded. “Shall we watch a movie?”
“Yeah. And actually, I think we have Wi-Fi on the flight.”
“Yeah. So?” Marcia looked confused.
“Let’s message Shantal and Lilian. Maybe they want to grab a drink when we get back to the city.”
“Oh, yeah. That will be really fun. Maybe we can go dancing.”
“Excuse me?” Finn cleared his throat. “When are you guys expecting to do all this?”
“I was hoping tonight,” I said seriously. “I need a good dance, and I need—”
“Hold up a second. Marcia,” Finn said.
“Yes, Finn?” she asked him softly.
“You’re going to go out tonight?”
“Well, if Shantal and Lilian are down.”
“But what about me?”
She laughed. “What about you?”
“I was hoping we could spend the evening together.”
“Really? You want to spend more time with me? I thought you’d be fed up with me by now.”
“Fed up of you?” he said. “I haven’t even come close.”
I rolled my eyes. “This is sickening. I’m all for a good love story, but really, this is past Hallmark now. This is… I don’t even know. Maybe Harlequin romance sort of romance.”
“Don’t be jealous,” Marcia said with a small, sincere smile. “Anyway, Finn, after we go dancing, I’ll come out to your place, okay?”
“Promise?”
“Yeah, of course. I want to spend the night with you as much as you want to spend the night with me.”
“Oh my gosh, guys. Really?”
“What?” Marcia said. “Now, text Shantal and Lilian and see if they even want to go out tonight, or this whole conversation was moot.”
“Okay.” I grabbed my phone and connected it to the flight’s Wi-Fi. “I guess this is one perk of flying first class.”
“You can say that again.” Marcia giggled. “I could get used to this.”
“Me too.” I sighed. “Only problem is, I don’t have a rich boyfriend who can afford to fly me first class, and I don’t even have money to fly it myself.”
“I know,” Marcia said. “I don’t know what I’ll ever do if Finn and I…” She paused and looked at him.
He raised an eyebrow. “If you and I what?”
“Nothing,” she said.
“You’re not thinking about us breaking up, are you?”
“No, of course not. Why? Are you thinking about breaking up with me?” She started giggling. “Don’t you know I’m only with you for your money.”
He shook his head and chuckled. “You’re lucky I know that’s not who you are.”
“That’s why I’m able to laugh with you about it.” She grinned at him and I could see the love pouring out of both of them. They really got each other.
“You’re going to be the woman I marry. You’re going to be the mother of my children. So no.”
I stared at them for a few seconds and smiled. Even though I was jealous, and even though they made me want to puke, and even though they made me want to poke my own eye out with a fork, I still loved their banter and camaraderie. They were perfect for each other. And frankly, it surprised me to see that Finn could be such a romantic. He’d never struck me as someone that would be sappy with his words, but he totally was. He totally loved Marcia.
I thought about Brody and wondered what it would be like to have a relationship like that with him. I almost burst out laughing at the thought. There was no way Brody could ever be romantic like Finn. He just didn’t have it in him. It wasn’t part of his DNA. And for a few seconds, that made me like him more.
It was crazy, but I missed him. I hated him and he made me want to scream, but I missed him. I missed the touch of his lips. I missed the way his eyes followed me around the room. I missed the way he touched me lightly when he wanted my attention. And I missed the way he listened. He had said I was a good listener, but he was a really good listener as well.
I sighed deeply as I realized I was thinking about him too much. I couldn’t afford to think about him. I couldn’t afford to think of him as a good guy. I didn’t want to get my feelings hurt.
I opened my text messaging app and sent a group text to Lilian, Shantal, and Marcia.
Susie: Hey, girls. What’s up? Marcia and I are back this evening. Want to go out dancing?
Shantal: Hey! I’m down.
Lilian: I’m down too. Can’t wait. Where should we go?
I looked over at Marcia and grinned. “Shantal and Lilian must’ve really missed us. They both already responded, and they want to go dancing too. They just want to know where we’re going.”
“Oh, wow. Awesome.” Susie smiled. “I don’t know. Is there anywhere you want to go?”
“I’m not sure. Let me ask Shantal. She always seems to know the good places.
Susie: So I don’t know where we’re going to go, but Shantal, do you have any ideas? I want to get drunk. I want to dance and flirt with as many cute boys as possible.
Shantal responded immediately.
Shantal: I know the place. So how was camping?
Susie: It was fun… I have something to tell you guys, though.
Lilian: Oh my gosh. What? What, what, what? Tell me.
I responded quickly.
Susie: It will be easier to tell you in person, but let’s just say it involves a boy.
Shantal: What boy?
Susie: Brody Wainwright.
Lilian: No fucking way. Not the baseball player.
Susie: Yep. And trust me, you don’t want to know what happened.
Shantal: Oh my God, you fucked him and you didn’t use protection. Are you pregnant? :P
Susie: No, I didn’t have sex with him, and no, I’m not pregnant. But thank you very much for asking. Also I wouldn’t know if I was pregnant already.
Shantal: I was seeing some high child support!
Susie: You’re horrible.
Shantal: I know.
I looked over at Marcia and started laughing. “Shantal is absolutely crazy. She asked me if I was pregnant and then said I could have gotten some major child support.”
Finn groaned. “Not Shantal from the office.”
Marcia looked at him. “Honey, pretend you didn’t hear this conversation. I don’t want you mentioning it to her at work.”
Finn shook his head. “You know what? I think I’m going to watch a movie. I’ll see you guys when we land.”
“Well, you see us right now as well.” I grinned. “We’re not leaving the plane, unless there are parachutes I don’t know about.”
He laughed. “Very funny, Susie. You know what I mean.”
“I know. Enjoy your movie.” I watched as he slipped his earphones in and selected a movie on the screen, and then I turned to Marcia. “He’s a nice guy. I’m really happy for you.”
“Thank you. He’s definitely one in a million.” She smiled happily. “And for what it’s worth, I am really sorry about Brody.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “He seems like he’s got issues. And while that’s not my problem, I can’t blame him for being who he is. He never promised me anything. He never lied to me. And yeah, maybe he’s a bit immature, and maybe he opened his mouth when he shouldn’t have, but who am I to judge? I’ve done the same thing in other situations, I guess.”
“You’re such a good person Susie,” Marcia said, looking at me with love. “I’m so glad you’re my best friend.”
“I’m so glad you’re my best friend, too, Marcia. I love you.”
“Love you too. And we’re going to find you a great man soon.”