So although Whit understood my need to miss last Tuesday, she still hated it anytime anyone missed a Tuesday, no matter the reason. I knew she worried that if we missed the gathering enough times, we'd all just quit showing up. Which was a valid concern. These kinds of things fell apart all the time. But Whit didn't see what we did. We could never fall apart because she was the glue that held us all together.
"As long as I don't try to declare my feelings to the guy I love and he tells me he's marrying someone else and needs to share that news with the group at large, I should be there," I said, trying to sound like I was joking. But it was too soon. I felt my stomach flip and my heart hurt.
"I guess you had a pretty good excuse for missing last week," Whit said, the sides of her lips downturned. "I'm sorry, Josie."
I shrugged.
"But things went better last night, didn't they?" Sophia asked hopefully before taking a sip of her smoothie.
"Not really," I said. I wasn't sure how to explain what I thought was another close call followed by Easton backing away once again. Had he almost kissed me or had I imagined it? Even if it was best case scenario and Easton had been about to kiss me, last night and the time before, what had stopped him? Sure, things had gotten in our way, but I was certain we could have overcome them if we’d wanted to. And I knew I wanted to.... So that left Easton.
It seemed pretty clear that Easton didn’t want to overcome the tiny obstacles that had kept us from kissing both last night and the time before. So what did that mean? Was he scared to lose our friendship like I was? Was he too committed to Priscilla and their silly pact? Or was he really not interested? And that was best case scenario. More likely than not there had been no almost-kiss. My hopeful mind had been working on overdrive. It wasn't hard to imagine that I'd made things seem a whole lot more than they were. I was officially a mess.
"I still don't get why he's engaged to Priscilla, though. He's hardly ever even talked about her to us, and when he has, it’s always been about work," Sophia mused as our meals were served.
It wasn't my place to tell Sophia that was exactly why Priscilla was so appealing to Easton. Easton had often relayed to me the business partners make the best life partners speech that he'd heard at least a dozen times from his parents. And apparently Easton had bought it. I just had to help him realize his parents were wrong about this. Love was at the root of everything great. Especially when that love was directed toward me.
With that sobering thought, I turned my attention to my food, and the sweet smell of maple syrup wafted up to my nose. There was something about thick, homemade waffles smothered in butter, pecans, syrup, and my very own bowl of whipped cream that made everything seem a little better.
Sophia looked from her avocado toast to the meal both Whit and I had ordered before grabbing her fork and swiping a bite of my food. I didn't mind. I would’ve done the same thing if the roles were reversed.
"Well, it makes sense, knowing Easton. Priscilla is a damsel in distress. Didn't you say her boyfriend just dumped her? And now she'll be the pity of all her friends back in Chicago? For a girl like Priscilla, is there a worse fate? And Easton is saving her. He gets to play the hero. We all know Easton is bound to be a hero when any of us ever needs one," Whit said as she dressed her waffles and then took a bite. "Oh my gosh. This is heaven," she moaned and I attacked my waffles with a vigor I hadn't been capable of even moments before. I realized a delicious plate of waffles was my anti-kryptonite. Was there a rock that gave Superman his power? Because these waffles were that for me.
"A damsel in distress," Sophia said thoughtfully, but her thought seemed to be forgotten as she daintily cut off a bite of her toast and microgreens and then looked longingly at my waffles.
"We could share?" I offered, even though I would give my first-born child to have these waffles again. But I did love Sophia. And love meant sacrifice, right?
"No. I made the mistake. And I'll never see the error of my ways unless I live with my consequences," Sophia said after chewing her food. But then she snagged another bite from my plate. "Last one," she promised. "And we are so coming back here next Saturday."
"No objections here," Whit said around a mouthful of waffles.
"What you need to do is go on a date," Sophia said with a pump of her eyebrows as she lifted the toast and brought it to her mouth. I guess she was done with the knife and fork approach.
"A date? With Easton?" I asked before taking another bite of ooey gooey deliciousness and wondering what the heck Sophia could be thinking. I wasn't about to ask the guy out. Not when he had a fiancé. Then again, I couldn't think of this engagement as the real thing. It was a business arrangement, at best. There was no true love involved or even affection, really. At least that I could see. And I knew Easton pretty dang well.
"No. With a guy I know," Sophia said. "I've been wanting to set you two up for a while, and I think now is the time."
"What?" Sophia's statement was enough to startle me away from my waffles for a second. I even dropped my fork. "But I thought you wanted me to make this work with Easton."
"I do. I really do," Sophia said. "And this date is the perfect way to move things along with Easton."
It was then that I understood what she was planning, and I was absolutely against it. "I'm not going to go out with some hot guy just to make Easton jealous."
Whit looked from me to Sophia, her mouth full of waffles.
"I'll go out with him," Whit offered as soon as her mouth was clear. "If he's hot enough to make Easton jealous, he's gotta be some kind of hot."
I agreed, but I still wasn't willing to go out with the guy.
"No, Josie's going to go out with him. Because this isn't about jealousy. It's about you," Sophia said as she pushed some of the extra microgreens off her toast and dug into the avocado and bread.
"Me?" I asked as the smell of the waffles called me back. Maybe I would name my first-born child after this dish instead.
"Yes, you. You need to be one hundred percent sure about Easton before you go any further," Sophia said.
"I am a hundred percent sure," I said before stuffing a bite into my mouth. Sugars and carbs—did life get any better?
"Really? Truly? You know there is no guy out there better for you than Easton?" Sophia asked.
I nodded. I knew that. That was the only reason I was even considering sacrificing so very much to maybe have a real future with him. Because my friendship with my very best friend in the world could be blown to smithereens as a result of this choice. Of course I'd gone into it knowing this was the only way.
"Are you really sure, Jos?" Whit asked, and Sophia pointed toward Whit.
"See?" she said. "Whit isn't sure."
"But this isn't about me. I'm just amazed that anyone could know one person in the world is it for them ... especially without meeting each and every man," Whit said to Sophia before looking at me. "But again, not about me."
Sophia had watched Whit speak but then moved her attention back to me without acknowledging Whit's words. I was guessing they weren't a part of Sophia's point she was trying to make so she was going to ignore them. That was very Sophia.