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Two Different Worlds
The next morning, like clockwork, we all met at Mom's on Park Avenue. Lisa Marie was the first one there, which was a bit unusual. And Trish was the last to show up, also unusual.
"Honey, what's wrong?" I asked, noting that she didn't look happy.
The blonde sat down beside me and closed her eyes, scrunching her nose somewhat.
"You girls won't believe this," she began.
As the rest of us eyed her with anticipation, Trish continued.
"I think I sort of got engaged last night."
"What?" I gasped.
"Why?" Lisa Marie asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Please tell me you're joking," Candice said.
"I'm not," came our friend's reply. She started to explain what happened at the restaurant on her date the prior night.
Lisa Marie scoffed.
"Wow," she uttered.
I stared at Trish, nearly at a loss for words.
"Well, way to bring out the romance!" Candice muttered in a sarcastic tone. "But you're not seriously going through with this now?"
"Yes... I am, Trish insisted. She crossed her arms and eyed the brunette with a little pout. "Look, I'm sick of being single! I want to get married and have a family."
"We know, we know!" Candice replied. "But are you forgetting that you've only been dating for two months? Trish, you barely know this guy!"
Ah, Candice Michelle, ever the realist. I loved relying on her to bring me back to earth when my head was lost, up somewhere in the clouds. Unfortunately, Trish was not like me at all in that respect.
"So? I know all I need to know about Randy! I know he loves me, and I feel just as strongly toward him!"
"Love is for suckers." That remark came from Lisa Marie, but it went ignored for the time being as Candice spoke up again.
"Oh, and that's why he merely agreed with you to get married instead of actually proposing?" The lawyer rolled her eyes.
"That's it," the blonde spat, "I'm out of here!" She started to stand up, obviously to leave, but I grabbed hold of her wrist.
"Trish, no... Candice didn't mean anything by that." I cast our friend sitting across from us a look. And, judging by the expression on her face, she didn't seem sorry for her comments. "Please don't go."
Trish eyed me for a beat, shifting her gaze briefly to the brunettes and then relented. Exhaling a breath noisily, she sat back down. But her demeanor was a little hostile as she crossed her arms under her breasts.
"Congratulations are in order," I said, raising my glass of water.
"You can't make a toast with water!" Lisa Marie exclaimed.
"Oh, yes, you can," I said. "Congrats, Trish... The first one of us to be getting married!"
Finally, the blonde smiled. It was the first time she'd done so that morning, and I was glad to have helped her along. However, I noticed that her happiness seemed to fade when she turned her eyes toward Candice. Just great... I hated it when my friends were mad at each other.
"I hope he makes you happy, honey," Lisa said with a smile as she raised her glass.
Trish's smile returned.
"He really does."
"And that's what's important."
Trish didn't speak another word to Candice for the rest of our breakfast together.
*
Candice answered her door at six sharp that night. Although she hadn't been in a great mood all day, her face brightened with a smile as she saw AJ standing in the doorway with flowers.
"For you," he said.
"Aww, they're beautiful. Thank you!" She gratefully took them from him and leaned in to kiss his cheek - but the bartender had other ideas and pressed his lips gently to hers.
They had already shared several deep kisses in the two and a half months since their first date. It was just as good as every time, and Candice was nearly blown away. She smiled pretty big as they parted.
"I'm just going to put these in water and then we can go."
After retrieving a vase in her kitchen and filling it with water and placing the flowers within, about a dozen questions came to mind. She was truly fond of AJ... but they were so different. Could a relationship between them really work?
Beyond all that, Candice was distracted because of what transpired that morning. It hadn't gone unnoticed by her that Trish was angry and ignored her the rest of their time at breakfast after she'd voiced her opinion. She hardly found it fair for her friend to give her the cold shoulder simply because she'd had the guts to be honest.
"Penny for your thoughts," AJ said as they were seated a table in the Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood.
Candice shook out of it and realized she had a menu open in her hands. She looked up to realize a waiter was prepared to take their orders.
"Oh. Sorry," she said. "I'll have the General Tso's shrimp with white rice."
"And I'll have the beef with broccoli," her boyfriend said. The moment the waiter disappeared, he focused on the brunette. "Hey... Are you okay? You don't seem yourself tonight."
"I am, AJ," she replied. "No, I'm really not. I guess Trish is mad at me, that's all."
His brows quirked up.
"What happened?"
"Well," Candice began, "this morning at breakfast, she dropped a bombshell on us. She's engaged."
"Oh, yeah?" the man said with a smile. "Well, good for her."
"No... She's been with the guy for a shorter time than we've been together," the brunette protested. "It's just... wrong!"
"Maybe it's not."
"Excuse me?"
AJ cocked his head as he reached for her hand.
"Maybe it's not wrong," he said. He met her eyes and smiled. "Look, Candice... Is your friend happy?"
She nodded and kept her gaze on him.
"Then that's all that really matters," AJ stated. "Just be happy for her. And be there for her." He released her hand, reaching up to brush his fingers against her soft cheek. "Look at us... We're so different, and yet, it's working. That's the only thing that matters - how we feel about each other."
Candice suddenly felt wiser by his words. And it wasn't so much what he'd said about Trish but about the two
of them. Her heart fluttered as she gazed into his sparkling blue eyes. And that moment was when she realized
she was falling head over heels in love with Allen Jones.