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Eddie groans at my words and slaps his hand against his face—for extra insult. “Let’s think about this. We all know you rush into relationships.”
“I do not!”
“Do too!” is heard throughout the whole community hall from all of the people who live in the nursing home. If I weren’t so awkward, I may have even been offended.
Eddie smiles to me and rubs the bald spot on his head. “Peter the computer geek, Ryan the drug addict, and don’t even get us started on Tyler the personal trainer.”
“They weren’t that bad.”
“Ha! Tyler had you working out five times a day. And I think we both know how you feel about gyms. It’s a nasty sweatshop that makes…”
I mutter, “…women feel inferior to men. Yes, okay. So in the past I haven’t picked out the best guys. But Richard is different. This ring shows that!”
“Ah to be young and an idiot again.” Eddie grins and kisses Ms. Peterson’s hand. She is of course nodding and smiling. “The truth is you never got over that asshole Danny.”
“That’s not fair. He was the love of my life…” I explain, hoping to change the subject.
Eddie’s mood shifts as he leans in toward me and places his hand over mine. “Sunshine, the love of your life wouldn’t cheat on you with your sister.”
He’s right. I definitely hate him for being right, but mostly I hate myself for still missing Danny, even though I now have a Richard.
“Alright, well, I think I’ve suffered enough for one visit. I gotta stop by the agency, pick up some liquor to hide in my sock drawer like in high school, and then hit the road.” Standing from my victorious game of checkers with Ms. Peterson, I give Eddie a hug and receive a kiss on the cheek from the handsome gentleman. I walk around and kiss the elderly woman on the top of her head. “Merry Christmas you two.”
“Happy Easter, dear,” Ms. Peterson says, holding up her middle finger and kissing her lips against it.
“Happy Christmas, Jules! And congratulations on your bubble gum machine diamond.” Eddie laughs and laughs, with Ms. Peterson joining in. I watch her pull out her hearing aids and stick them in. She was ignoring me on purpose! After picking up my stunned jaw from the floor I head out toward the acting agency to grab some packets before my five-hour trip to upper Wisconsin.
“Oh my gosh, Jules, I’m so glad you’re here! We are swamped! First, fast question, do my feet look swollen?” Stacey, my co-worker, steps out of her slip-on shoes and shows me her fat toes. Ew. She sure knows how to make pregnancy look appealing. “Gross, right? Anyway, please say you’ll stay and help me with these auditions.”
“No Stace! I was just stopping by to pick up a few things. I have a five-hour drive with Richard starting in less than an hour to go watch my sister tongue the ex-love of my life. I can’t help this time,” I cry at my begging co-worker as I walk into the agency to see a room filled with hopeful male actors who are auditioning for the new Fresh toothpaste commercial. “P.S. I’m still pissed at you for ignoring the picture of Richard I sent you last night. He looked super hot.”
Stacey’s eyebrows arch. “You didn’t send me a picture.”
“Right. Lie about it. Whatever, I gotta get going.”
“No! Please, Jules! We are hours behind, Grace went home with food poisoning, Claire is knee-deep in audition applications, and I’m eight-and-a-half months pregnant, hungry as fuck, and annoyed as hell.” Stacey wobbles into my office—well, my boss’s office, which I am usin
g until his vacation is over—with her large puppy-dog eyes staring me down. No lie, Stacey makes a super cute preggers woman, but her begging isn’t going to help. I still have to pack! Plus there’s supposed to be this crazy blizzard moving in.
“Sorry, babes.” Shrugging my shoulders, I reach into my pocket, pull out the engagement ring, and exclaim, “Richard has a big weekend planned for us!” Expecting an excited response in return from my friend, my high-pitched pronouncement is met instead with a silent stare at the ring box.
“What is that?” She asks, narrowing her eyes. “Where’s the diamond? And why are you even considering marrying him? Everyone knows you’re only taking him up to your family’s cabin to show Danny that you’re over him. Which in turn makes it quite obvious that you are not over Danny.”
A huff falls from me and I pull the ring away from her viewpoint. “You’re a mean pregnant woman. Did you know that? Anyway, I’m leaving now, and the next time you see me, I will be back as a fiancée! Happy holidays!”
Picking up my paperwork, I turn away from my rude co-worker, and head out of the room, still staring at the diamond ring. It’s gorgeous! It’s pretty. It’s nice. Sigh…it’s decent.
Walking through the agency in my own world, I envision my future wedding—the colors, the flowers, the look of shock on my family’s faces, Danny’s nonexistent body because he’s not invited—and I am shaken from my daydream when my body slams against a wall…a moving wall, with abs? My eyes look up to an outrageously handsome man standing in front of me, who I almost plowed over. My papers go flying everywhere, and the engagement ring lands across the room, yet I have to force myself to break contact with his green eyes, which are firmly locked with mine. I shake my head back and forth, repeating Richard’s name in my mind. Richard, Richard! I’m engaged to Richard!
“Oh no!” I overreact, looking at my papers and the soon-to-be-on-my-finger ring resting on the carpeted floor.
The handsome guy helps me, apologizing for not paying attention; but, now I’m a little worried about my ring that went flying. That’s a five thousand dollar ring! Okay, maybe one thousand. Five hundred? Hell, okay I saw the same one for two hundred and fifty dollars at Walmart during Black Friday, whatever.
Bending down to pick up the ring, handsome guy beats me to it; and I am lost in the moment as he’s down on one knee, holding the ring up to me. My mind melts, forcing me to lose all my common sense. “I do!” I scream. His brows raise, and my hands fly over my lips, “I mean I do need to get going with that.” Awkward laughter starts now, but I don’t know if it’s coming from him or me.
When he hands it to me, he smiles this stunning grin; he must definitely be an actor auditioning for the toothpaste commercial. “Congratulations on your engagement.”
“Oh, I’m not engaged, yet. But he did this really cute thing this morning; it’s a pretty darn adorable story actually...” I laugh, and the stranger stares at me with a blank expression, waiting for me to share. “Okay, well, I woke up, and found out that he left the ring under my bed for me to discover.”
