Mark never knew the right thing to say or do, but he tried. If I woke up confused or afraid, he was the first one in my bedroom, arms open wide. And when it was Aaron’s turn to lose it, Mark would sit for hours at the foot of his bed, talking him down.
It was memories like those that made me feel guilty for not letting him eat my Frosted Flakes. He deserved the whole damn cereal aisle.
Mark loomed over us, flicking his gaze between Aaron and me. “You want me to go with you guys? I can have Eric meet the beer distributer at the bar. It won’t take me but a minute to get dressed.”
“No,” Aaron returned immediately. “It’s fine. I’m fine. We’re all just fucking fine.”
I gave his arm a squeeze, letting it linger. “I’ll be ready in five. I promise.”
His face softened and his shoulders rolled forward. “I’m sorry. I…”
I shook my head. “Hey, you don’t have to explain anything. Let me go get dressed. You drive, and I’ll do my makeup on the way. Okay?”
He nodded and offered me a tight smile. “Okay.”
On my way out of the kitchen, I bumped my shoulder with Mark’s. At five-two, I barely came up to his chest, so realistically, it was more like bumping my shoulder with his elbow.
He shot me a wink and slanted his head toward my room. Go. I got this, he silently replied.
My chest warmed. Comfortable and sad aside, this was why we were all twenty-nine, successful, and still living together.
Just before I got to my room, I barked a laugh when I heard Mark start in on Aaron.
Remember the aforementioned part about him never knowing what to say or do? Proof: “So, Mr. Three-Piece Suit, did you prepare a speech to accept your Oscar or are you just going to wing it?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Aaron bit back, but there was no mistaking the humor in his tone.
Remi
I should have known better than to wear that damn black maxi dress. I didn’t personally believe in witches or magic, but it was cursed. There was no other explanation for it. I’d survived two of the worst dates of my life in that dress and broken a heel while on my way to show a million-dollar home in that dress. It was also what I’d been wearing the day I found out a buyer had been arrested on embezzlement charges an hour before the biggest closing of my life.
So when I said the dress contained some seriously bad vibes, I was not exaggerating.
I had no idea why I hadn’t burned the damn thing yet, but after I’d promised Aaron I’d be ready in five minutes, it turned out to be my saving grace. Banished to the dark depths of my closet, it was in the bag from the dry cleaners when I found it. Since it was the only article of clothing I owned that didn’t need to be ironed, I took a chance.
Now, I was paying the price.
On the car ride over, I twisted my unruly blond hair into a loose braid that hung over one shoulder, and despite the potholes, which I swear Aaron hit on purpose, my makeup was almost perfect. For as much as I’d been dreading the day, I felt pretty good when we walked up to the courthouse. There was a line down the front steps to get through security, so Aaron and I made small talk while we waited. The usual stuff: work, the bills, the brunette in front of us who was one hair flip away from breaking her neck to catch his attention.
And that was when the black maxi dress from hell got its ultimate revenge for being awakened from its peaceful, plastic-wrapped slumber.
I thought nothing of the little string when I saw it flapping in the breeze. At first glance, it didn’t look like it was attached to the dress at all. More like a loose fiber that had landed there by chance.
Oh, how wrong I was.
That bastard string slid out without so much as an argument. And with it, the whole left side of my top fell open like Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl halftime show.
Aaron scrambled, trying to block me from view, but there were a solid ten people who got up close and personal with my bra.
Fortunately, I had a wonky-looking safety pin at the bottom of my purse that Aaron and I managed to rig the traitorous dress back into place with just before we reached the metal detector.
Unfortunately, I’d forgotten to take the pepper spray out of my purse, so we were turned away, but being that he was my best friend and possibly still scarred for life after being so close to my boob, Aaron agreed to run my accidental contraband back to the car so I didn’t have to throw it away. Then, because the black maxi dress from hell wasn’t done with its reign of terror yet, he’d barely disappeared around the corner when the safety pin gave up on life and popped off my dress.
