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Bitter Revelations
We were all at Mom's on Park Avenue for breakfast, as usual. No one seemed to be in a particularly great mood - not even Trish, who had just returned from her honeymoon with Randy the prior day.
I glanced around worriedly at my friends. Candice appeared drawn and pale and barely had any makeup on. Trish looked tired as she rested her chin on one hand, her elbow propped on the table. Even Lisa Marie didn't appear her usual jovial self as she seemed a bit annoyed about something. I decided to take it upon myself to ask the ladies what was wrong.
"Why all the long faces this morning?"
Lisa Marie was the first to respond.
"I don't want to talk about it!" But that proved to not be true as she launched right into a tirade. "Okay, it's this guy I do business with... We get together every so often for these lunch meetings. He's tall, oh so hot and sexy," the dark-haired woman said, "but he won't freakin' respond to any of my advances! It's driving me crazy!" She cast a look around the table at each one of us in turn. "He's younger than me, but not that much... Ladies... am I losing my sex appeal?" Lisa cringed as she posed that question.
"Definitely not," Trish said as she faced her. "You're a beautiful woman, Lisa... but maybe this man wants more than just sex?"
"Oh, please!" Lisa Marie replied with an eyeroll. "All men want sex."
Trish winced at that and caught my gaze in an instant. I knew exactly what she was thinking and felt a twinge of sympathy for her.
"Well... I don't know about that. Take me and Randy, for instance..."
Lisa Marie gasped, interrupting the blonde.
"Wait a minute! What are you saying, Trish?"
This time, even Candice perked up a bit.
"Are you telling us that you and Randy don't have sex very often?"
Once again, I met the soft brown eyes of my newly married friend. I could see all the pain in those orbs, and I looked away as she took a deep sigh and answered.
"No," she replied. "Actually, Randy and I haven't ever..."
"My God!" Lisa Marie exclaimed. "YOu've never had sex? But you two have been married for two weeks now!"
Trish nodded, casting her head down in embarrassment. The truth was, she was ashamed. So far, her married life was not at all as she'd envisioned it. It was more like one-hundred and eighty degrees opposite of how she had imagined it would be.
"Yeah, I know... We... tried the night of the rehearsal dinner," she admitted. She raised her head, catching my gaze again, and I reached for her hand, offering support.
Candice was speechless, but Lisa was quite the opposite.
"You mean that big, handsome hunk can't get it up?"
"Don't be so loud about it," the brunette lawyer said, shaking her head at her friend's candor.
Trish cast her a grateful look. Then, slowly, she shook her head.
"No, he can't... Our honeymoon was so..." She couldn't finish her thought as tears suddenly welled in her eyes. "I told Amy about it at the wedding."
The two brunettes' eyes traveled to me.
"You knew about this?" Lisa questioned with a serious expression on her face.
I nodded.
"I did... Trish felt the need to tell someone."
"Well, honey, why did you go through with it knowing he couldn't consummate the marriage?"
Trish gave Lisa Marie a sour look. She crossed her arms over her chest as she sat back and answered that question.
"I do love him, you know. There's more to marriage than sex."
"Well, yes, but no sex?" the sultry brunette said. She gave an odd look and shrugged. The idea of no sex brought back her own current problem. Lisa sighed and sulked. "Sounds like me and a Mr. John Cena."
"Oh, please," Trish said with a pout. "I'm sure you'll get this John guy in the sack just like all the others soon enough. You always do get all these men." She rolled her eyes.
Lisa Marie narrowed her own.
"And just what are you saying, Trish?"
"Oh, stop it, both of you!" Candice interjected. She held a hand up to each of them, almost as though trying to separate two people in the midst of a physical fight. "And I can relate to you," she added, "because I'm not having sex now, either."
I frowned at that revelation and paused in the middle of chewing my omelet.
"You and AJ have a fight?"
The brunette turned to face me, her expression not telling.
"No," she said. "We never had a fight, but we did break up."
We were all in shock, and our beat of silence reflected that. Then, it seemed we were all speaking at once.
"What? I thought you guys were so happy!" Trish exclaimed. She grabbed hold of Candice's hand and eyed her with sympathy.
"Yeah... So did I."
"Oh, honey, I'm sorry," Lisa Marie said, shaking her head. "I really liked AJ."
Candice nodded, and, unlike Trish, she was completely dry-eyed in spite of looking sad.
"I don't understand," I said, facing her. "When did this happen."
"Oh... Almost two weeks ago."
"That long ago and you didn't tell us?" Trish demanded.
"Well, you were on your honeymoon."
"Oh, come on, Candi. You know we're all here for you - always," Lisa chastised her.
I felt so sad for our friend. Despite her tough, even cool exterior, I knew the brunette had to be hurting.
"What exactly happened? I mean, why...?"
Trish time, a smile came to Candice's face. However, it contained no traces of warmth or amusement, as it was full of sarcasm and cynicism.
"He ended it because we were 'too different.' I'll never forget what he said... He said I was 'caviar and champagne' and that he was 'beer and pretzels.'" She shook her head with disgust and sorrow.
"That's so wrong!" Trish cried. "So, he dumped you because you're from two different classes?"
"I don't think we use terms like that anymore," I said. "We're not living in biblical times." My expression softened as I turned to Candice. "Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry. Lisa's right - we're all here for you." I rubbed a hand gently up and down her arm.
"Thanks, guys," she replied, looking sadder.
"Oh, come here!" Lisa Marie, who was seated beside her, pulled the heartbroken brunette into a hug.