Glide

Chapter forty-two

There's a discontent sigh through my headphones - as if I'm the one being difficult - while I continue to sort through my dresses.

"You know, it's not too late to call it off," Sophie says, trying to sound enticing.

"We're not canceling."

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Sophie asks for the millionth time. Like she can somehow change my mind the day of.

"Yes."

"Really?" she's using her best friend's voice, the one that got me to admit all my secrets as a kid. It's honed to perfection; I'm unable to lie when she asks like that.

I smother a laugh, not having pictured we'd ever have this discussion - repeatedly. "Yes, Soph. I'm sure."

"I just... Why would you want to have your engagement party at a bar?"

I look down at my hand, watching the light catch the diamonds, my heart aching with happiness. It's taken me a while to think of it as my ring, not my mother's.

"First of all," I say, taking a seat on my bed and sulking at my wardrobe since it's failed to conjure the perfect outfit. "It's not an engagement party. It's an engagement celebration. Which is why the bar is perfect. It's not supposed to be big and elaborate. We just want to have a toast with our friends."

Darren and I had one of those huge engagement parties, and I hated every second of it. There were too many speeches by people I hardly knew, and I was paraded around like a priced cow the whole night, while no one seemed to notice that I barely had time to eat a thing and was dangerously close to fainting by the end. Sophie had left after about an hour since the party was filled with people from home, and I'd been all alone.

That should have been a hint that the marriage was a bad idea - feeling lonely while attached to your fiancé's side.

"Besides, that bar was where David and I met."

Sophie huffs. "Okay, that's kind of adorable. Listen, you know me; I have no desire to play nice with a bunch of people I don't give two shits about or direct catering personnel for an entire evening - and just the words formal and seating charts give me PTSD flashbacks to our deb season." I grin, remembering how Sophie had looked ready to murder someone when our coming out rolled around. "But for you, I would plan the shit out of this party. Just say the word, and I would ensure it was the perfect night. You know that, right?"

I love that she knows me this well. She knows that for a considerable portion of my life, I would have allowed someone else's wishes to dictate how tonight would be. I would have agreed to something low-key, even if it wasn't what I wanted, just to make David happy or to make Sophie less uncomfortable. So, she's checking in to make sure I'm not doing it right now.

Except I'm not. Because I found my voice. David helped me find the courage to speak up for myself, so tonight is one hundred percent the celebration that I want. Luckily, David is on board.