Page 38 of Hate You to Love You

Jones playfully slaps Sal on the shoulder. Part of his margarita spills onto his Green Day shirt. ‘Mate, for the last time, it’s called being double parked.’

‘I’m on Sal’s side here,’ I tell Jones. ‘Double parked is when you have two glasses on the table. Double fisting is when you’re holding two drinks in your hand.’

Jones lets out a laugh. ‘You two are wrong. I love you both, but you are so very wrong.’

As we joke over our margaritas, it feels like travelling back in time. There’s no rush to get anywhere. Sal and Jones might as well be the same versions of themselves that I met years ago – not the distant acquaintances I now only see on the occasional birthday. But this mirage only lasts until Laney shows up. The engagement ring on her finger shatters my illusion.

‘I cannot believe you guys convinced us to come to the Courthouse for our engagement celebration!’ she teases, descending the stairs from the bar with Patrick close behind her.

Jones raises his glass and tips it in my direction. ‘This one here thought we’d do one last wild night out for nostalgia’s sake.’

One last night out? His comment makes my chest tighten. But I shake it off.

‘Hey, Carlos!’ Laney smiles at me, but an awkwardness hangs in the air between us.

‘Hey,’ I reply.

As the gang discusses wedding plans, my hand grips my margarita tightly, eyes still fixed on the staircase. And, before I know it, he’s there. Elliot glides with seamless effort down the stairs, rolling up his sleeves to his elbows before running a hand through his hair to get it out of his eyes.

‘Elliot!’ Laney waves him over excitedly.

Sal raises his margarita into the air. ‘Speak of the devil.’

That’s Elliot. The devil, welcoming you through the gates of hell.

‘Thanks for inviting me,’ he says, leaning over to give Laney a hug. ‘It’s good to see you all in person at last.’

Wait a minute. In person? Had they all kept in touch?

‘Now that you’re back, do you prefer Sydney or London?’

‘Would you believe me if I said there wasn’t much difference between them, other than the weather?’

My mind is hazy, unable to put together how Elliot could so easily slip back into the group like nothing happened. I knew that he had been their friend too. When Jones was debating whether he should find a stable job or jump into the film industry, it was Elliot who convinced him that he should put all his energy into the things that mattered to him. I thought back to how he and Sal had discovered they were both Thirsty Merc fans, and when Sal fell ill on the day they were meant to attend a concert together, Elliot had live-streamed the whole show for him. And he was always the first one to be by Laney’s side when she wanted to spend her evenings doing arts and crafts. I loved my friends, so Elliot made it known that they were important to him too.

‘So Laney, how’s engaged life been?’ Jones asks.

Laney loses her smile and looks at Patrick sombrely. ‘We’ve been kind of under the pump with wedding plans since announcing it this week. Especially since we settled on a date.’

Sal finishes the last of his margarita. ‘That was quick. What date did you choose?’

‘The fourteenth of March,’ she says.

‘Next year?’ I jump in.

‘This year,’ Patrick adds.

Jones coughs, his drink goes down the wrong way. ‘But that’s only four weeks away.’

‘I know it’s fast,’ Laney goes on, ‘but Mum had her yearly scan the other week and…’ Her voice immediately shifts into an emotive tone, on the verge of breaking. ‘The results weren’t good,’ she says.

‘Oh, Laney.’ Sal places his hand over his chest.

Laney drops her head. All the joy that was in her smile has vanished. ‘The cancer is back,’ she says.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Jones says tenderly.

‘Me too,’ I add, reaching over to place my hand over hers in support.