After All

Chapter 34: Ranting

The next evening I went to dinner with Chris and Henry. We'd had a long day and were all kind of shot, but needed to eat and just 'come down' a bit. We parked ourselves at an outdoor table at a highly recommended local BBQ joint and took a moment to scan the menu. Chris was beside me and Henry across from me, and when I looked over at him, I caught sight of the curvy blonde in the fire engine red too-tight dress. I groaned and put my head in my hands, "Please God, not tonight."

Henry and Chris look at me with confused frowns. Chris rubbed his hand down my back, "What is it? Are you feeling ill?"

I snort, "You could say that."

He starts to stand, "Here, let me take you home."

I grip his arm and yank him down, "No. Just don't let her join us."

He's seriously frowning now, "Who, sweetheart?"

"The skank in the red dress that is headed this way. That cheerleader, Desiree."

Henry gets a steely look in his eyes, "What did she do to you?"

I can't help but snort again, "It's not what she did to me, it's what she did to Jamie."

He tilts his head in question, "She knows Jamie?"

I take a big belt of my beer and tip the bottle at him with a wink, "Biblically."

He turns and gets a glimpse of her, "Oh shit. Okay. I see the situation."

Chris pulls out his phone and I just KNOW he's about to text Jamie. I shoot him a death glare, "Put that damn phone away or I will smash it. He doesn't need to know that I am reaping what he sowed during his six month worldwide fuckfest."

Henry frowns hard and reaches over to take my hand, "He cheated on you? He doesn't seem the type."

Chris leans in and says in a chilly voice, "No, he didn't cheat on her. You're right – he's not the type. He did have a few meaningless escapades post-divorce and pre-Dakota."

Henry takes a sip of his beer and studies my face, weighing his words, "You know, you can't really hold that against him."

I smack my hand on the table and glare at him, "I most certainly can! And I DO! Once he was finally free, free to claim me, to be with me after all this time, he chose to hook up with six, SIX different women before he ever got around to me." I scoff in disgust, "Men are such pigs."

"We're not pigs, just stupid. Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you in a highly publicized relationship when Jamie got divorced?"

I swig my beer again, "What does that matter?"

He grins, "It matters a lot to men with honor and integrity."

Chris clinks his beer bottle with Henry's, "Cheers, man. Well said."

"Oh shut up. He could have at least called me." I drain my beer and signal for another round and I look both of them in the eye, swinging my head between them. "Can you honestly tell me that if you had found the love of your life and couldn't have her due to extenuating circumstances, and then those circumstances changed. Is there anything that would keep you away from her? Would you not crash through whatever obstacles existed to get to her?"

I take another swig, "I'm waiting, gentleman. Don't even try to lie to me because I'll call bullshit on both of your asses."

Henry crosses his arms on the table in front of him and leans forward, "What I think is that your fiancé would not appreciate you having this conversation with two single men. This is between the two of you and forgive me for saying so, you need to sort your feelings out before you walk down the aisle. The guy did nothing wrong. He was honest with you. You can't keep bringing this up. His past is just that, past. Leave it there."