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"How are things going at the firm?" I asked as I popped another chip in my mouth and wiped my hand on my jeans.
"Good, busy. You?"
"Busy. You know I'm glad that I told you I would come up for the holidays. I needed a break from all that shit." There was no way I was going to let on that the firm had agreed I needed holidays. "Mind if I turn up this song?"
"Go for it," he said, tapping his thumbs on the steering wheel as he drove.
I reached over and cranked the volume. I just wanted and needed to shut everything out for a while, and that was exactly what I planned to do.
"You realize this is the first time we have spent any time in length together since we took holidays in the spring, right?"
"Yeah, how could I forget? That was a great time. How's things with Ann Marie?" I asked as I drank down the remainder of my pop and shoved the can into the empty bag that sat at my feet.
"Couldn't be better, man. She'll be up with her family this week as well, and I believe she is coming to spend Christmas afternoon with us."
"That’s great, man. It will be nice to see her again." I sat back, relaxing against the heated seat and thinking back to last spring break.
I had gone out to visit Drew and Ann Marie for a week by myself because Laura had to work. As the week went on, I remembered thinking to myself that their relationship was so different from ours. It was the little things: the way that Ann Marie touched Zach, the way they looked at one another in the quiet moments. I tried not to let it get to me and just chalked it up to the fact that the relationship was relatively new. However, thinking back now, our relationship hadn't ever been like that, even when we were first dating.
"Any more talk on a date yet?" I asked, looking out the window. The farther north we had driven, the more snow had accumulated on the roads, making them rather slippery.
"We agreed to set one after Christmas. She wanted to wait and get all the holiday stuff out of the way first."
"That's awesome. Hey, it looks like we may just be in luck for some good skiing weather," I said, digging my hand back into the bag of chips and shoving a couple into my mouth.
"Yeah, I'm pretty excited about it! Lots of snow in the forecast. Should be the best skiing season we've had in a while up here." He glanced over at me. "So, man, how are you really doing?"
I dropped my head in defeat and let out a loud sigh. "My God, not you too."
"What? You're my best friend. Am I not allowed to care?"
"You're allowed to care, but Lord, everyone around me has been acting as if I am some tiny fragile human being, and I am not. I got left at the alter. It’s not like she died."
"I know, man." Zach got quiet, and I suddenly felt bad for snapping at him. I knew his concern was genuine.
"Look, I'm sorry. I'm doing all right. I'm just getting tired of the pity, you know what I mean?"
Zach looked over to me, another question forming in his mind.
"Go ahead, ask away."
"Did you sense something was wrong between the two of you?"
I rolled my eyes.Here we go. "I don’t know. I just remember watching you and Ann Marie last spring. Laura and I never had the type of relationship you guys have. Truth be told I was a little jealous of that. After that weekend I spent with you guys, I felt something was off between us but couldn’t put my finger on it. We were both busy with wedding plans and figured we were just burned out from everything. However, she gave me no indication that she was unhappy. Hell, we were still having Sunday dinners with her parents up to a week before the wedding."
"What happened then?"
"If I knew, I would tell you," I said, shrugging my shoulders.
"You do know she's engaged already, right?"
I let out a sigh. "Yeah, I went to pick up a few of my things from her place a month or so ago. Her parents were there and they told me. I won't lie, it caught me a little off guard."
"How do you feel about her being engaged so soon?"
"Honestly?"
"Yes," he said, taking a sip of his pop.
