Rachel
“Why do you keep looking at your phone?” Bella asked, nudging Rachel’s shoulder. “Brad not calling you?”
Rachel looked up at Bella, bewildered. “What do you mean?” She asked, trying to sound innocent. It didn’t work.
“Please,” Isabella sighed, coming out of her room wearing a very fetching dark red cocktail dress. “Everyone in the office knows your boning.”
Rachel gasped, and stood up. “We are not boning! I mean, at least not yet we’re not.” She sat back down, checking her phone again. “He hasn’t wanted to have sex yet. He wants to take things slow.”
“And uh, where is Mr. Old-fashioned?” Isabella asked, taking a seat on the ottoman in front of Rachel.
A look of discomfort passed over Rachel’s face. “He was supposed to be out of work at four. He was going to go clean his place up, and I was supposed to be spending the weekend with him,” she confessed. “But it’s almost nine now, and I haven’t heard from him.”
“Aw hon, don’t worry,” Bella said, wrapping her arm around Rachel’s shoulder. “I’m sure he’s just finishing up work.” Her eyebrows perked up, as if she just got a brilliant idea. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you come out with us? We’re going to that O’Cleary’s place beside work. You can just text Brad that you’re there and then meet him at the office parking lot. What do you say?”
“What about my stuff?”
Bella shrugged. “Come get it in the morning. Nothing wrong with using his shampoo and toothpaste until then. I bet he’ll find it cute.”
Rachel thought about it for a minute and nodded her head. “Okay,” she agreed. “I could use a drink to my mind off of things. Just let me get changed real quick.”
Ten minutes later they were all crawling into a cab and heading towards the office. Rachel had started to feel a little better, having more to do than just stare at her phone and wait for a response, and by the time they reached the office she was laughing with the Bella’s, like they normally did when they all went out for a girl’s night. When they all got out of the cab, Bella gasped, and wagged her finger towards the parking garage.
“See! There’s Brad’s car. I told you he was just busy at work.”
Rachel breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled. She felt silly for worrying, and after sending a quick text to Brad to let him know she was near, she slid her phone into her purse and walked the Bella’s into O’Cleary’s.
“Hey there,” Martin greeted when they walked in. “I remember you ladies. Welcome back!”
“Thanks Martin,” Bella returned with a wink. “Do you have a booth for us?”
“For the prettiest girls in my bar? You bet ye arses I do. Follow me.” Martin led them towards a corner booth full of already hammered frat boys.
“All right, ye wastes of space. I’m cuttin’ ye off. Get te hell out!” Martin decreed, pointing towards the door.
“Aw, come on man. Can’t we stay?” One said, his words slurring all over the place.
“Hell no,” Isabella said, speaking up before giving Martin the chance to. “It’s our turn. Move it!”
This time none of the boys dared to complain, and they all silently filed out of the door and towards the exit. Martin looked over at Isabella, clearly impressed.
“Ye ever want a job in me bar let me know,” he told her. “First rounds on me.”
Giggling, the women took their seats and chatted while they waited for their drinks. A few minutes later, Martin came back with two cosmos and a beer. Rachel was shocked that he remembered, and thanked him for his consideration.
“Isn’t a problem,” he assured her. “I remember because Brad told me afterwards to never serve him a cosmo again.” He and the girls laughed, and then he hiked his thumb over his shoulder. “Do ye want me te let him know you’re here?”
The Bella’s immediately stopped laughing, and Rachel felt a stab to her gut.
“He’s here?” She asked, not bothering to hide her confusion. Martin nodded his head.
“Aye. He came in with a blonde about an hour ago.”
Martin continued talking, but Rachel couldn’t hear him anymore, not past the sound of her own hammering heart. Was Brad not as good of a guy as she thought he was? Who was he with? And why had he not even tried to call her to tell her he’d be late. On trembling legs, she stood up, and made her way to the back of the bar.
“Rachel,” Brad said, getting up out of an empty booth, looking genuinely happy to see her. “What are you doing here?”
“You never called,” she explained. “And the girls invited me out to pass the time. Why didn’t you call?” Her heart was so confused. She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or upset, but she told herself to stay calm and hear him out.
“My phone died,” he told her, pulling her into his arms for a hug. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it until after I got out of work. I was feeling a lot of stress, so I decided to go to yoga and I ran into”-
“Me,” A familiar voice said. From behind Rachel stepped out Summer. She walked boldly over Brad, and put a claiming hand on his shoulder. “I hope you don’t mind,” she said, her voice dripping with cattiness. “I needed a shoulder to cry on, and Brad was more than happy to accommodate.” She leaned her head against Brad’s arms, and smiled challengingly at Rachel.
“I see,” Rachel bit out. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she was feeling short of breath. It was then that she realized that she liked Brad a lot more than she had thought. She didn’t want to share him, especially with a conniving woman like Summer. If Brad couldn’t see that she was playing him, she wasn’t going to try make him see either.
“Well,” she said, taking a breath. “I’m sorry for interrupting your date. I’ll let you two be.”
“Rachel, wait!” Brad said, shaking off Summer from his arm. “She just needed a friend, that’s all!”
Summer pouted, and stepped up to him again. “Oh come on, Brad. We both know that it’s much more than that.” She tried to move towards his face, but he stopped her with one hand and refused to let Rachel leave with the other.
“No!” He exclaimed, finally catching on to Summer’s little game. He looked back and forth between the two women, who both looked surprised at his outburst. Finally, after a confused moment, he spoke.
“You know Summer, Rachel tried to warn me about you. She did, and I brushed her off. I told her that you were a nice person, just lonely.” Summer tried to interrupt him, but he wouldn’t let her.
“You are married, okay? You’re married. That’s it. Final. I have no interest in you as anything more than a friend, and even if I did, that wouldn’t change the fact that you already belong to another person.” He turned to Rachel, his eyes imploring her to believe him.
“I want you, and only you, Rachel. I promise you I was only here to lend an ear.” He let go of Summer, and turned his full attention to Rachel. “I still want to spend this weekend with you,” he told her, taking both of her hands. “Do you still want to spend it with me?”
Rachel had two choices at that moment. She could either A, roll her eyes, flip her hair, and storm off back to her friends. The likelihood of her getting drunk and landing in another guys bed was likely, especially with the Bella’s spurring her on. Then on Monday she’d walk with her head high into the office and pretend that nothing between her and Brad every existed. She could become an ice queen, and rock it.
Or there was option B. She could see that Summer was a lonely, sad housewife, who not only needed someone to talk to, but someone that could actually love her, unlike her husband. She could dismiss the sad woman, take Brad’s offer, and though she might have some leftover bitterness about the whole thing, she could also potentially have some of the best moments of her life.
“Option B,” she said aloud.
Brad raised a puzzled eyebrow. “What?”
“Nothing,” Rachel quickly followed, shaking her head. “I meant yes. I still want to spend the night with you. Shall we go?”