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“Am I crazy to have said yes?” Margie continued to unpack her suitcases while I laid down on the king sized bed, staring at the baby blue ceiling.

“Probably,” she shrugged and folded one of Matthew’s polo shirts. “He could be a serial killer for all you know!”

I mocked her response with a fake laugh, “Right!”

“Just be careful, okay? I don’t know him, Matthew doesn’t know him… Come to think of it, nobody knows him!”

“Then it probably would’ve been a terrible idea to have given him my phone number.”

She immediately stopped her actions to pay full attention to me. “You what?!”

I rolled off the bed and onto the floor in a clumsy manner and whispered, “I gave him my phone number?”

My best friend gave me an eye roll almost identical to mine and dramatically sighed, returning to her organisation duties. I starred at her, silent, a smile creeping in slowly but surely. When our eyes connected, we burst out laughing.

She shook her head ‘no’ whilst keeping her smile, “I can’t believe this plan of his is already working!”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t think you would’ve ever done such a thing in a million years!” I threw my head back in laughter and nodded in agreement, disbelief crossing my mind. “But you know, it was such an unnecessary bet to begin with.”

I remained on the floor with my back resting on the nightstand, legs stretched out, hands flopped on my lap, eyes focused on the carpet. “Don’t you even start, Margaret.”

Returning from the bathroom, she jumped on the bed to face me properly, her stomach faced the ceiling whilst her long strands tickled my thigh. “We’ve all been so close since we were kids. You probably know as much about Scott as you know about me and the best relationships come out of friendships. You’re already half way there. All you need to do is actually man up and tell him!”

I began braiding a small strand of her strawberry blond hair. Was I supposed to have told Scott that I loved him while he was dating Alexa, his high school sweetheart? Would it have been the right time to clasp my hands around his neck, kiss him and whisper my feelings in college when he met Lana the second he entered the library for the first time? Should I have flirted with him while he exchanged glances and smiles with the girls he slept with the remainder of his academic life? Or perhaps it would’ve been more appropriate to knock on his door in the middle of the night to pour my heart out when he was at home with his ex-girlfriend, Riley, who had just moved in?

I held my tongue back, more frustrated at myself than anybody else for lacking the courage to speak up. It was so ironic that the people I loved the most, were the least I could be opened with.

“It’s just always bad timing,” I mumbled. I stood up and grabbed my purse, “I gotta go. See you tomorrow?” I faked a smile without looking at her, “I think I’ll have an early night tonight.”

“Wait—“

I closed the door and hurriedly walked down the hall to call the elevator. My purse buzzed.

--------John @ 2:38pm
--------Meet me at the Rendezvous bar at 8pm. Dress nice.



I left the chilly breeze of an autumn evening when I entered through the double doors. The top parts of the walls of the bar were lined with red neon LED lights. That was the only source of light available with the exception of electronic devices and a couple of lamps by the bar.

I searched for John in the crowded room. All tables seemed to be occupied yet the bar wasn’t as busy. As I took off my coat, I spotted him towards the back sipping on his drink.

Was I supposed to be this nervous? I walked towards his direction, feeling my dress rise as I balanced on heels. I still couldn’t believe I was blindly coming to a bar to do God-knows-what.

“If this is some sort of date, I swear,” I spoke with a warning written on my solemn face. His gaze met mine when he heard the sound of my voice. He stared at me for a while before speaking and I was suddenly very aware of my skin.

He smirked, “You wished.”

I smiled with pressed lips and took a seat in front of him. The coldness of the booth made me shiver. “So, what are the plans for tonight?”

“Drinks first.” He waved a hand at a waitress and she came right over to take his order. Without consultation, he ordered another scotch for himself and a mojito for me. As I opened my mouth to protest, he interrupted before the words came out. “The girl, whose name is Jessica by the way, is out of the picture for tonight and I think the rest of the weekend too. Now, we need to work on you and Scott. Seeing as she isn’t available tonight, I’m pretty sure he’s going to show up here at some point so—“

I waved my hands as an attempt to slow him down, “Hold on, hold on! Too much information, too many questions. You’ve already slept with her? That fast?!”

He rested his arm on the booth and his heel on his knee. “Didn’t have to. Fate intervened.”

There was a prolonged silence. Partly because I thought he’d explain further and partly because he was probably enjoying the suspense or waiting for me to lash out at him.

In the meanwhile, our drinks arrived and before I could ask further, he raised his glass. “Here’s to now!”

“And nothing else,” I added when our glasses met.

He smiled, “And nothing else.”

I smiled back and looked away. Was that how it felt to stare at my eyes? John’s seemed to hold you captive if you weren’t careful enough.

“Back up a little more. What do you mean ‘fate intervened’?”

“She happened to be our next door neighbour and Garrett, 1/5 of our band, ended up knocking on the wrong door. They really hit it off and the rest will probably be history.”

“Are you serious?” I asked to be sure. “So she technically is with Scott just for fun? No commitment?”

“No commitment.”

I grinned at his words, not bothered to hide my enthusiasm. Ever since I’ve known Scott, there was never a long window of time where he was single. It seemed as though he was a love magnet: he’d meet someone soon after a breakup and that person would soon become his girlfriend. And he was so great at relationships that they always lasted over a year. It was a vicious cycle.

It had been two weeks ever since he broke up with Riley. As a way to cope with his feelings, Scott usually disappeared for awhile and when he emerged—boom!—he’d have someone new. I never seemed to get to him before he vanished.

But not this time. Not today. Not tonight.

I took the straw out of my glass, set it aside and chugged the remaining half of my mojito—all while pointing to my drink and then making a peace sign with my fingers when the waitress came by, ordering another two.

The rum ran down my throat and left an enjoyable burn behind. “You know that I’ve never had more than two drinks at a night?”

John chuckled, “You’ve never been drunk?”

“Nope” I laughed louder than I was accustomed to. The words sounded delusional to my own ears.

How could someone my age have never been drunk? I should’ve been ashamed to say that in the first place, but there was something about John that made me feel at ease. I didn’t know if it was the fact that I’d never see him again or if it was how his smile always reached his eyes and his honesty was contagious. All I knew was that I planned to honour our toast tonight and keep thinking of the time being, not the time to come.

John grew serious and said, “It’s time.”

I followed the direction of his gaze to find Scott sitting on a stool by the bar. I looked at John with eyes that almost bulged out of my skull. “What am I supposed to do?!” I tried to keep the panic out of my voice.

John leaned forward and spoke slowly as a tactic to calm me down. “Go up to him and talk to him. Be yourself, be honest. Don’t be nervous.”

I huffed, “Sure, because every person who hears that automatically calms down and doesn’t freak out even more!” I lashed out at him in a whisper.

“Let me give you a confidence boost,” John stood up and asked me to do the same.

I followed his lead and he turned me around, holding me by the shoulders. We walked towards Scott and the pressure increased as we got closer to him. Three feet away from him, John smacked my butt and pushed me towards Scott.

Before I could slap John, I was standing next to Scott, his face as surprised to see me as I was to have my butt tingling.

“Hi,” I said with a lottery-winner smile stamped on my face.