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He was silent for a ined how far he truly was fro halfway around the world to reach ht, babe, I wasn’t thinking I do kno important this is to you You know that"
"I do know that"
"Maybe this isn’t a good year for Rio?" he asked, his voice quiet, but with an underlying tone
"Don’t you dare--I’s will have settled down by then But in theand island hop"
He was silent
"I love you," I whispered, wishing he was here to hug and hold
"I love you too I’lad I’ll be home soon" His voice had ," I said, changing the subject "You gonna dance with et theled
"Caroline?"
"Yes, Siht, then I went across the hall and let raph needle down, I slipped back to my aparth the walls, and I drearapher
• • •
Three nights before the wedding, I was still at work at eight thirty and I’d just canceled dinner with Sophia and Mis all day with Ca details on the construction that was beginning next week We weren’t doing a co lines of the hotel but reworking the layout of nearly everything
Monica, the new intern, was enjoying a first week of trial by fire She’d been thrown into the deep end headfirst, but she i She’d run errands, she’d delivered paperwork, she’d filed for per of plate
My tu I padded into the kitchenette, pretty sure I had a burrito stashed so Sophia
"Still can’t believe you ditched us, Reynolds," she sniped in my ear, and I bit back a snipe of my own Seriously, did no one understand how busy I was?
"You’ll get over it, I pro?"
"Your favorite restaurant in Chinatown You ie with the noodles, what’s it called? The one you love ritted !" She laughed inout here"
"I’ late Why are you at my apartment?"
"We’re not at your apartment, you idiot, we’re outside your work Let us in," she said I could hear Miround
"You’re outside my--oh, for God’s sake" I walked down the stairs to the front door, and there on the other side of the glass were Miing up on you now" I grinned into the phone, unlocking the door and throwing it wide "What in the world are you two up to?"
"It’s dinner, silly, and we pro inside and heading straight up for my office With arms full of the most heavenly scented food on earth
Sophia posed in the doorway, a vision Nofor her, she was dressed to the nines and looking lethal Red hair piled high on her head,out froonna, like, flash ot a date after we feed you" She grinned, handing ht, that’s for sure" She winked, sauntering past me "Don’t eat all the wontons, you little shit!"
Mi back to her, but it wasin her mouth Mymy head as I followed my two friends into my office
Ten ed, with plates piled high with delicious food Noodles, panfried shrietables; it was a feast Chopsticks were passed and we dug in
"This sure as hell beats the burrito I was going to eat" I sighed, my mouth full of delicately seasoned noodles
"Since we knew you were gonna be here late, we thought the least we could do is bring you dinner," Mi roll
Sophia intercepted it, wielding it like a aphone "Oh, please, it was so I could tell you all about et ahold of, lady, and I needed to dish!"
I grabbed aphone end of it "So dish"
Sophia told us all about the new guy she’don and looking for love (read, a date to Jillian’s wedding), she left no stone unturned And this stone happened to be an insurance salesman Car, life, you name it, he sold it Hmmm
"And let me just tell you, he is F-I-N-E fine Tall, dark, and handsoonna have the hottest date there"
"Did she just quote a line from Grease?" Miuy’s nareat," Sophia insisted
"As in Gibb?" I asked
"As in White?" Mih clenched teeth
"Wait aHis name is Barry--" I started
"--Derry?" Mi amid chopsticks and soy packets
"Silence, whores, silence Besides, Reynolds, you dated a guy na Brown," Sophia snapped back
"I sure did That’s fantastic co tears from my eyes Which was a terrible idea, as I still had hot ht," Sophia said, handingsoave her an elbow to the ribs
Throughon a brave face, but this wedding wasn’t going to be easy for her I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Neil either I had a recurring fantasy where I accosted him by the cake stand and ly "I’reat, sweetie We can’t wait to meet him"