Bas
THE DOOR OPENED AND THERE she was, my best friend, sister, and boss.
“Bas.” She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me. “I missed you.” You’d think she’d been gone months and not a few weeks. She stepped back and I walked inside, and she closed the door. “Moses,” she called out. “Bas is here.” She slipped her arm around my elbow. “Let’s go into the kitchen. Hungry?”
“Of course,” I smiled.
“When Moses said you were coming for dinner, I put on my chef hat. I love our cottage, but after a couple of weeks, I need fish.” She laughed. “Don’t tell Moses I said that, he loves grilling. I might have gained a couple of pounds. Baby, where are you? Bas and I are hungry.”
I looked at her behind. “I see where it landed.”
“That’s my wife you’re checking out.” Moses patted her on the behind.
“Behave yourself,” she winked, and let go of my arm and walked ahead of us.
“What’s up, man?” We hugged and continued into the kitchen. He walked over and kissed Alex on the neck.
“You promised to behave yourself in front of company.” He whispered something in her ear and her smile got wider. “Maybe if you behave yourself.” He walked past her and patted her behind. “Hey…”
“Nothing wrong with a little appetizer,” he winked and smiled.
“Should I leave and come back in twenty minutes?”
“Twenty minutes…that’s just the warm up,” she teased.
“Okay, I’m going.” I picked up my jacket and started out the kitchen, and she grabbed my arm.
“I’m sorry. We promise to behave ourselves.” She looked at Moses and smiled.
“We promise.” He winked at her.
After dinner, the three of us cleaned up the kitchen, and it felt like we were at their house in New York. For the first time in a couple of weeks, I didn’t feel lonely. We went out to the patio for coffee and dessert. Watching Alex and Moses was a little nerve-wracking. I tried not to be jealous, but I wanted what they had. I wanted my wife to hang on my every word while at the same time calling me out when I was wrong. I wanted to be in a room full of people and only see her and feel like I did the first time I saw, her every time. That’s what Alex and Moses had.
They really were each other’s best friend. The moment she said “I Do,” I knew our relationship would never be the same. The love we shared was still there, but it was different and I was fine with that. What I was jealous of, was that she had someone to share her life with. Looking back on all of my failed relationships, they didn’t hurt as much, because I knew I had a symbiotic partner in the failed relationship or relationship waiting room. Now, I was alone, trying to figure out what happened.
I thought Kendell and I would be like my two best friends, but apparently, I was alone in that thinking. Funny, she asked if I was using her as a stopover to something better, when it seems I was the stop over. A point she made painfully obvious from the ring on her left hand. Not to mention her announcement that she was with someone else. The sound of those words coming out of her mouth, felt like someone just stabbed me with an ice pick.
I looked at Alex, feigning a smile. She tilted her head, put her cup down, nuzzled Moses’ neck and he nodded.
She stood up and Moses and I followed her lead. “Bas, sweetie, I love you. However, I think my husband wants to talk to you in private about store security. All I ask is that you two please don’t make it too restrictive,” she smiled and kissed me. “Thank you for everything you do. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Love you.” She hugged me.“Talk to Moses,” she whispered. When she stepped back, she brushed my cheek.
“Love you, too.”
She turned and looked at Moses, hugged him and said something that made his eyes get wide. “Not fair.”
“Good night.” She walked away and the look on his face said it all. That was the face of a man deep in love. His eyes were fixed on her behind as she disappeared inside the house.
“I’ll be right back.” He went inside and when he came back, he had a bottle and two glasses. He placed the glasses on the table and filled each half full, then he handed me a glass. “Take three sips.”
“Bro, it’s been a while since I had some brown juice,” I joked.
“Drink.”
“Salud.” We raised our glasses and took three sips.
“That’s smooth.”
He leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. “After Alex and I had our uhm, break, instead of going to the townhouse and let Grams coddle me, I went to see my dad. I walked into his office, sat down and he poured me three fingers of brown juice.” He smiled. “He said, take three sips and tell me what happened.” He took another sip.
“Watch it. I don’t want to be responsible for your messing up Alex’s evening,” I teased.
He smiled. “I’ll be fine. My dad knew I was hurting. He said, ‘If you love her, then she’s worth fighting for and waiting for. Drink up, because if you’re going to wait, you’ve got a long road ahead of you.’” He took another sip. “So, what did Kendell do this time?”
“How did you know?”
“In the short time I’ve known you, and from what Alex has said, Kendell’s the only woman you really put yourself out there for.” He took another sip. “So what did she do?”
I leaned forward and copied his sitting position. “She’s engaged.” I emptied my glass and placed it on the table. “Pass the bottle.” He handed me the bottle and I poured another three fingers.
“Engaged?”
“Yep.” I took a long sip.
“To who?”
“The dude she brought to Collier’s party.”
“Pass the bottle, because I’ll need to be drunk when I tell Alex.”
I tossed back the contents of the glass and let out a deep gasp. “Can you believe it?”
“How did you find out?”
“She came to the store today because she was supposed to have lunch with Alex.”
“Alex must have forgotten.”
“I tried to be nice, and even told her we could eat the lunch she brought, and that’s when she went all crazy and said she was with someone else.”
“I thought you said…”
“I saw the ring.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yep. Makes the one I was looking at look like a promise ring.”
“Maybe that’s what it is?” he joked.
“Dude, I appreciate your optimism, but…”
“Do you still love her?”
“If you had asked me that two days ago, I would have said yes and I’m just waiting on her to get herself together, but now…we weren’t like you and Alex. You didn’t start seeing anyone else.”
“No, but…is she worth the wait?”
“I’m not sure.”
“If you don’t think there’s a sliver of a chance you two will get back together, then move on. But, if you think there’s even a mustard seed size of hope, then ask yourself if you’re willing to wait for her.” He finished his drink. “Drink up. I’m sure Alex has your room ready.”
“I can’t intrude.”
“Hey, I’m not about to have Alex bite my head off for letting you drive home after some brown juice and a broken heart,” he joked.
“I don’t have a…”
“Tell it to someone that hasn’t been there. Trust me, you’ve got a broken heart.” He stood up. “I’m going upstairs. Lock up before you go to bed.”
“Are you sure I won’t be intruding?”
“I’m sure once I share Kendell’s news, I’ll be up all night, and it won’t be in the way I planned,” he smiled.
“Sorry, bro.”
“Don’t be. Alex will definitely make it up to me tomorrow. Good night.” He went inside.
I filled my glass and walked around the patio and stared at the sky. “How did I fall in love? Scratch that, how did I end up with a broken heart?”