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They change topic, talking about other things.
Stacey leans into me.
“Don’t get too worked up over it. My mom and dad aren’t like that.”
“I was starting to wonder,” I admit.
Stacey shakes her head. “She doesn’t believe in this shit either, but she plays along so that she’s a part of the crowd with her friends. You know, peer pressure, keeping up appearances…”
I nod. I know Laura is serious about her image, but to pretend your moral compass points in a different direction just to be liked doesn’t make sense to me.
Maybe it’s better that I live a normal life, and I’m not a part of the rich and famous. I don’t think I would ever be able to pull it off. I can’t be a trophy wife, and I can’t live a double life.
“How are you feeling?” I ask Stacey.
“I’m okay. The hangover is a killer, but I’m not going to show it until we’re alone again.”
I nod. “Yeah, me too.”
“You had a lot more to drink than I did,” Stacey points out.
I sigh. “I had a lot more to forget.”
Stacey looks sympathetic. “Don’t let him get to you, okay?”
“It’s just the fact that he flew all the way over here, trying to be the romantic guy that the girl ends up with, when all I want is for him to leave. I wish he never came at all. It makes me feel guilty that his plan failed and he’s so hopeful there’s still a chance.”
“He’ll see by the time the wedding rolls around that you’re not interested and go back home with his tail between his legs.”
I nod. “I don’t want to do that to him, but I’m not giving him the second chance he wants so badly.”
“Yeah, I get you,” Stacey says. “Besides, you’re much happier with Brett.” She nudges me.
“Brett is just a fling,” I say firmly.
“Sure…but your fling still makes you happier than you were the whole time you were with Charlie. I saw what it was doing to you, remember? It’s good to see you’re having a bit of fun.”
“Thanks,” I say.“I just don’t know where I’m headed anymore. I mean, with my business, I’m happy, you know? But with men…I feel like I’m just unlucky in love. If it’s not the wrong guy for me, it’s someone who lives far away. Which…is the wrong guy for me.”
I giggle at my statement.
“Hey, sometimes things work out right even when you have no idea how it can happen. And everything happens for a reason. You’ll find your happy ending, I’m sure of it.”
“I hope so,” I say. “And I hope it’s nothing like what they have.” I glance at Lorraine and Genevieve.
Stacey shakes her head. “It won’t be, trust me. Your head is screwed on right and you make your own way in life. They don’t.” She lowers her voice a little more when she talks about them. “They’re all with those men because they’re taking what they can get, what they won’t do for themselves. It becomes pretty nasty when you need a man, and you’re not with him because it’s what you want.”
“You see,” I say proudly. “This is why you and Marc are so good together. You’ve got your priorities straight and you both know exactly what you have in each other.”
Stacey grins and blushes. “It’s a pretty good relationship, huh?”
“And it’s going to be a great marriage,” I say with a smile, and I really believe it. They're? a killer combo, and when they finally start having kids, I can’t wait to be there to witness how cute the whole thing is going to be.
I want it all, too. I want the happy ending and the loving husband and the kids and the white picket fence. But I want it only when it’s right, the way Stacey and Marc have it. I’m not an idiot—I don’t believe in fairytales. I know it’s not always that easy.
But I do believe in love, fate, and soul mates. And if those things line up, no matter how hard it gets, the happy ending has to happen.
