I walk back from the Ladies slowly, relishing the scene before me. My best friends, my darling roommate, and my new beau. All getting on like a house on fire!

Andrea glances round, spots me, and waves me over impatiently. She’s looking particularly striking tonight with her normally dead straight bob fashioned into sexy waves, with a pink silk scarf tied around her neck.

“What is it?” I ask.

“I’ve got a surprise for you two!” she says, grinning at Nina and me. “Close your eyes!”

I look at Jackson and he shrugs. There is indulgence and amusement in his eyes. It makes me feel secure and I feel a flutter in my tummy as I turn to look at Danny, but he doesn’t seem to know what’s going on either.

“Ok…” I close my eyes and wait, feeling like a complete idiot.

“Guess who it is!!” a screechy voice yells out.

I instantly know exactly who it is.

“Pam!” Nina and I both cry out in unison. There are animated hugs all round. Oh, my God, this day is turning out to be perfect.

“It’s been years!” Nina says, “We thought you’d disappeared off the face of the earth!”

“Years? What the F are you talking about? You see me twice a year and I always send you all the best cat videos!” She grins, sticking her tongue out. Her hair is shorter than before, cut into a cute auburn bob, and she’s lost weight too.

“You look great, Pam,” I beam. It’s so good to see her.

“So is this the fourth member of the gang?” Jackson says, smiling. “I heard you’d gone AWOL.”

Everyone turns to look at me.

“I didn’t say that!” I protest. “Just that you’d moved away and we never see you hardly anymore.”

“Aw, I miss you guys.” Pam smiles, and then shakes Jackson’s hand. “I’m Pam by the way. And you’re obviously the sexy neighbor.”

To my surprise, I see Jackson’s cheeks darken. Wow, he too, can be embarrassed.

“Good to meet you. So, what brings you back to town?”

“Well…” she says, looking all pleased as punch. “I’ve got something to tell you all.”

We’re all looking at her expectantly, waiting for her news.

“I’m getting married!” she yells, throwing her arms up and shaking them madly.

A cacophony of ‘Wows and ‘Congratulations’ and hugs follow the announcement then all the questions start.

I, for one, am dying to know more about this mystery fiancée of hers. “You kept that one quiet, sneaky,” I scold.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, actually,” she gushes. “He totally took me by surprise. Swept me off my feet.”

“How romantic,” Nina squeals, holding her hands to her mouth.

“So, you met him in Africa while you’ve been working for this humanitarian project?” Andrea asks, as Jackson disappears off to the bar to order another round of drinks.

“Yeah, I guess I did the cliché thing. He was my boss.” She giggles. “I thought he didn’t like me to start with, but obviously, he did… To be honest, I can’t believe he asked me to marry him. I thought it was just a fling. You know, the heat gets into your blood and makes you do crazy things, but marriage? Whoa!”

“You didn’t use a love potion, did you?” Jackson asks on his return.

Everyone bursts out laughing except me.

“A love potion?” Pam echoes, looking at us all with a questioning look.

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you all about it later,” I mutter, my cheeks burning. I guess I should just be glad Jackson could laugh about it now.

“Aww, I’ve missed so much being with you guys. I can’t wait to hear all the gossip.”

I look around to see where Danny’s got to and see him canoodling with a purple-haired girl at the bar. “That must be Feather,” I whisper, raising my eyes in the direction of the bar.

“Yep, that’s her,” Jackson confirms.

Danny sees us staring at him and sheepishly takes Feather’s hand.

“Come and introduce us!” Andrea yells.

Then he comes over alone.

“Everything ok?” I ask.

He looks down. “Feather’s got something to tell you, apparently,” he says to me, shrugging his shoulders. “Do you mind talking to her alone?”

I’ve no idea what she’s going to say but I wander over to talk to her. She’s petite and pretty but in a very tomboyish way and I can see why Danny likes her.

“Hey, Feather, it’s so good to meet you!” I say, kissing her on the cheek. “Danny said you have something to tell me?”

When she relays her story, I’m speechless for a minute. Then I burst out laughing.

“I’m so glad you’re not mad at me!” she says.

I shake my head, grinning. “Can we tell the others?” I beg her.

She shrugs. “Sure, why not. They’re gonna think I’m a loon though.”

“They’re gonna love you!” I reassure her. I just know she’s going to fit in fine.

We join the group and Danny introduces Feather to the girls.

I take a deep breath. “So, Pam… Do you want to hear the love potion saga?” I ask her.

She nods eagerly.

We tell it together, right from the beginning, Nina starting with the story about her colleague from work. Andrea piping up about how she thought it was bullshit from the get go. Me and my horror as I realized it was too late and then returning to Zelda for the antidote which mysteriously disappeared.

“You didn’t tell me you bought an antidote,” Jackson says with a laugh.

I grimace. “Andrea bought it, actually.”

“So, what happened?” Pam asks, her eyes wide, “Did it work? When did you tell him?”

I shake my head. This was the part of the story that made me the most embarrassed—my outburst when I was upset about Draco.

Jackson then comes to my rescue and tells a mostly flattering version of the turn of events, “And then she goes crazy at me because I didn’t eat the cake! And blames me for poor Draco getting sick.”

“Aw I’m sorry,” I say, as I laugh.

He gives me a kiss on the forehead to show all is forgiven. “How can I be mad at you for wanting me to love you?” he asks.

I can see Nina practically swooning behind him. I turn to Andrea and I’m surprised she’s not making a nasty face,

“All’s well that ends well,” she says with a little laugh. “But hopefully, we’ve all learned our lesson about contacting strange old gypsy ladies in the Mission from now on.”

She looks pointedly at Nina and me, and we roll our eyes at her.

“That’s not quite the end to the story…” Feather says, smiling but shaking her head in shame at the same time. “You see when Danny and I started seeing each other, I was feeling kind of insecure. It’s silly, I know, but he told me he usually dates guys and I was worried he was going to get bored, or I wouldn’t be enough for him, or something stupid like that.”

“You didn’t waste money on that woman too, did you?” Andrea asks, horrified.

Feather crinkles her face. “Worse.”

Now she has everyone’s full attention.

“Danny told me all about the cupcakes Lauren made,” she explains. “So, when he invited me upstairs for a quick coffee that Sunday morning before sunrise yoga…”

Danny’s eyes are wide as he stares at her.

Now I realize this is the first time he is hearing the story too.

“You told me to put some in a box to take with us,” she says looking at him. “And when I saw the special one with the pink wrapper that he told me had the love potion in it, I just couldn’t help myself. I swapped the case with a regular one. And took the one with the love potion.”

“You did what?” yells Danny, and then realizes the implication. “Hang on a minute, did I eat the potion?”

“No!” she says, quickly. “Don’t you remember, I was asking questions about it in the car? And then you said something about dire consequences and I didn’t want to take the risk.”

“So, what did you do?” asks Nina.

She shrugs. “I threw it out of the car window when Danny wasn’t looking.”

We all burst out with laughter.

“I’m glad I’m not the only crazy one around here,” I say, feeling less embarrassed about how stupid I’ve been. It would have made my life a lot easier if I’d known about this a bit earlier though, but with Jackson standing by my side, his arm around me, my friends all happy and reunited with Pam, I couldn’t care less. Things couldn’t be better!

“Now it’s my turn to confess,” Danny pipes in.

We all look at him in surprise.

He focuses his attention on me. “You know how we couldn’t find the antidote?”

I nod. “Yeah?”

“Well, I threw it away.”

My jaw drops. “Why?”

“Because I didn’t care if it was the love potion that had made Jackson fall for you. I knew he was a good guy, and I’d never seen you so happy.”

“Oh Danny,” I whisper as I hug him. He really is a true friend. I couldn’t have asked for a better roomie.

Our hug is cut short when Jackson pulls me to him. “That’s enough now,” he growls.

Everyone starts laughing again.

“So, ladies,” Pam yells, gathering us together and handing out tequila shots. “I’ve got something I need to ask you.”

We chug down our shots, grimacing, then laughing.

“Go on then,” I urge. “What is it? We’re not all moving to Africa, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Although I would love to come and visit,” Andrea adds.

“You should all come and visit. It’s amazing out there. But no, that’s not it… Would the three of you do me the huge honor of agreeing to be my bridesmaids?”