The Other One

The Day After

Minnie stared at Christopher who looked up at her for the first time. He shot her a friendly smile and greeted her with a "good morning". Minnie spun around and snuck into the kitchen to ask her mum if she needed any help.

When they all sat down at the table Minnie, of course, got the chair across from Christopher. Her eyes kept landing on Christopher's lips and she remembered them kissing her on the lips and all over her body and-

"Christopher and Minnie used to date," Harper told Ethan's parents. "They were the cutest couple ever. Once, they were out rollerskating and Minnie fell and broke her foot. Christopher carried her all the way to the emergency room, and then he carried her books to and from class every day until she could walk properly again." Minnie rolled her eyes as Harper, April and Ethan's mum aawed. 

"I just did what needed to be done," Christopher shrugged and jokingly winked at Minnie. 

"Once, when Ethan had a fever I had to walk fifteen blocks to get his favorite chocolate," April told the group. "I wasn't very happy about it then, but now I would do it everyday." She gave Ethan a sweet smile, that he returned. All the women aawed again.

"So, Dolan, what do you do for a living?" Ethan's dad asked.

"I work for the police force," Christopher simply answered.

"Have you caught any bad guys recently?" Ethan's mum sounded a little too excited.

"A few." Christopher shrugged.

"And how's Amanda?" April asked Christopher.

Who the heck is Amanda? 

"She's very good," Christopher answered her, before he turned to Ethan's parents to explain further. "My fiance."

Minnie swallowed the water down the wrong pipe and coughed. She excused herself and ran to the bathroom.

The word Fiance rang through her head as she stared at herself in the mirror. Fiance.  He had a fiance? 

How could she be so stupid?

And why hadn't she asked?

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. 

"Minnie, it's me. Open up."

Minnie unlocked the door and April stepped inside and locked the door behind her. Minnie sat down on the toilet seat and April on the edge of the bathtub. 

"What happened?" April asked looking concerned.

Despite the  two year difference between the two, Minnie and April had grown up as if they were twins. They looked very much alike with their blonde hair and brown eyes and liked pretty much the same things. They had always shared the same clothes, music taste, movie favorites and more. They had always told their secrets to each other and they were each other's best friends. They only thing that differed between them was their taste in boys. While April liked the light haired, light eyed, funny, boyish guys, Minnie liked dark haired, dark eyed, strong, manly looking guys. 

And even though they were close and told each other everything, Minnie debated whether she could tell April about last night or not.

"You had sex last night." A statement, not a question. April studied Minnie, waiting for her reply.

"How do you know that?" Minnie asked.

"Oh, please. It was written all over your face when you arrived."

Minnie sighted. "Okay, yes, I had sex last night."

"Good for you," April cheered. "So what's the problem?"

"He's kinda taken." Minnie sighted. "And he didn't tell me until afterwards."

April was quiet for a few moments before she widened her eyes. "You slept with Charlie?"

"Who?" Minnie asked.

"Charlie. Ethan's uncle. He was there, but his wife wasn't."

"I didn't sleep with Ethan's uncle!" Minnie exclaimed with a disgusted face. "It was someone else."

"The only other guy who was there without his partner was-" April's eyes widened again. "Christopher?" she asked whispering.

Minnie slowly nodded. 

"And you found out just now that he's engaged?"

Minnie continued to nod. 

"But haven't you looked on his Facebook page?"

"We're not friends on Facebook. I had no idea that he's engaged. If I had, I would never had slept with him." Minnie sighted. April's eyes softened.

"I know, honey." April reached out and touched Minnie's cheek. 

April and Minnie left the bathroom after April had told Minnie all of the glory details (that Minnie had not asked for) about her night with her husband. Minnie had cringed, but April had not noticed. When they returned to the table, Ethan told the group that it was time for him and his and his wife to leave for their honeymoon and that they were going to Paris. Another pang of jealousy hit Minnie, as Paris was her dream vacation.

In the corner of her eye she could see Christopher watching her, but she ignored him.

Ethan's parents left soon after Ethan and April, and Minnie helped her mum with the dishes. Christopher suddenly entered the kitchen. 

"Can I give you a ride home?"

Minnie wanted so badly to say no, but she couldn't in front of her mum, since she would have to explain why not later. So instead she agreed to the ride and the two of them said their goodbyes to Harper and Donald before they walked out to his car together. Memories from last night appeared as she remembered how she barely could keep her hands off him. They climbed inside, but before she closed the door she turned to him and said.

"I think I'm going to call a cab instead." She did her best at giving him a neutral look.

"Minnie," he started as the car slowly moved forward. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Amanda."

"You cheated on her with me. You know how much I hate cheating. If I had known that Amanda existed, I wouldn't have done it. You know that."

Christopher looked guilty. 

Good. He should.

A question suddenly appeared in Minnie's head, since Christopher could so easily cheat on Amanda with her, what if...

"Did you ever cheat on me?" Minnie asked.

"No, not once. I promise." Christopher said and his eyes told her the truth.

"So, why?" she asked.

"Can I take you somewhere to talk?" Christopher asked instead.

Minnie thought it over for a moment before she nodded.