Down the road of memories

One Day

Lee POV

I knew there was going to come one day when this whole marriage thing was going to catch up with me. I knew it from the moment I proposed to Rachel in front of her family and her mother started talking about her ideas of grandeur for the ceremony that I started to get scared.

This led me to discover that my fiancée also has luxury tastes and ideas of grandeur. Add to that my mother's expensive suggestions and you have a perfect cocktail to make a guy lose his senses.

This morning things exploded between Rachel and me! And I fled to my bestie... The 6 years when Elle was not in the same city as me were very difficult for me. I had spent my childhood and adolescence with our famous rules thinking that this would prevent her from moving away from me one day. When Elle moved across the country to study at Johns Hopkins and then to Europe a few years later, I thought I had lost our friendship forever. But since she's back in LA, it makes me feel so good.

So I ended up at her and my brother's place. Elle was dressed in a swimsuit with a sarong over it, having probably taken advantage of the terrace this morning, my brother being absent. She handed me a beer and we sat on the terrace looking out at the ocean.
-So, are you going to tell me what happened with Rachel? Or I have to guess?

I sighed before telling her :
-She came to me this morning with a proposal for a jazz orchestra for our wedding evening. But it's hugely expensive! I told her that the budget for the evening was already exceeded. She told me we could pay for the orchestra if we didn't rent the Ashton Martin I wanted. I told her that was the only thing I had asked for this day. She told me it was her princess day and that I should do what she wanted." I paused before continuing, feeling a little guilty. "I told her my exes wouldn't have been so picky and wouldn't have had such expensive taste.
-That's not true Lee! You didn't compare Rachel to your exes!" Elle said to me, putting her hands on her face.
-Yeah...then she kicked me out, telling me that if I wasn't happy, I just had to go back to my exes.

Elle shook her head and looked towards the horizon before saying to me :
-In my opinion, Rachel is the best of all the girls you have dated Lee.
-And my brother is the worst of all the people you've ever been with, Elle!
-I recognize you there, Lee! I can't believe we're talking about our exes together. Lauren was trying to make a living off of you.
-Skylar was an Olympic champion. Double gold medalist!
-Alyssa was dismissive and refused to let you spend time with me.
-And Mark...was the perfect guy!" I said, looking at her. "When I went to see you in Baltimore, I was really sure you were over Noah. And that there would come one day when I was going to tell him that there was no more hope for him...

Flashback Baltimore, 2 years after the breakup
Elle POV

I took Lee's phone and rolled my eyes. Then I saw a photo of Mark and me at a seaside restaurant dancing. Mark tagged me saying : first date with Elle Evans. That's how Lee saw the photo. At least it wasn't a photo of our kiss a few minutes later...
-He's... my tutor!
-Seriously, Elle! Don't take me for a fool! You dance the waltz with a guy in a romantic restaurant by the sea! And he's just your tutor!
-But it's the truth! We met at university and we get along well. We went for a walk! We both love dancing and we dance. End of scene!

It wasn't entirely true but I really wanted Lee to buy my story!
-Seriously, Elle! This is no reason to go on a trip with just any guy!
-And by the way Lee, exactly! Are you the one who wants information on this guy at all costs or is it your stupid brother? It seems to me that this is terribly his modus operandi.

Lee sighed then said :
-Noah saw this photo on Facebook yesterday afternoon! He was really upset. He called me to see if I had any information on this guy. I think he never thought you would meet someone again after your breakup with Skylar so quickly!
-It's disgusting! Even separated, after 2 years of no contact and thousands of kilometers away, your crazy brother continues to want to ruin my life!
-He told me that even if you are no longer together, he is not going to stop protecting you!
-Ok, he hasn't yet understood that I don't need him to protect me! That I am able of making my decisions on my own.
-I think he still regrets breaking up!
-It's a little late for that! I'm not a toy that he can take away whenever he wants! It was okay to leave me so he could experience the freedom he wanted, as long as I didn't have an affair with another guy. And now that there would be a possibility for me, he comes back at full gallop.
-Well, you're right, Elle. But, I still want to meet this guy!
-And what difference would that make, Lee? If you don't like him but I find him nice, I'll continue to see him!
-Calm down Shelly! Let me meet him and I will be able to reassure my brother who will leave you alone.