It was easy to smile back. “I’m glad you think so.” Charlotte had known me for years, if she thought that I was handling things well then I was going to take her word for it. “I love you. I want your wedding to be nothing but smooth sailing.” And that meant not being too awkward with my ex. Fortunately, Sam seemed equally interested in keeping things civil.
“Come on, tell me some of the impractical things you wanted to have happen at your wedding,” I urged. “I bet you had some even more impractical than boating!”
That, too, made Charlotte laugh. I grinned; I always loved being able to make Charlotte laugh. It was very fortunate that we’d made friends during my first dance at my new school. Fifteen years later, we were still going strong! Charlotte and I had seen each other through thick and thin; this was a friendship that would last.
Of course, I wanted to make her wedding special, as much as I could.
It was going to be special anyway, of course. But I could play my part!
Charlotte seemed to think about my question, her lower lip making its way between her teeth again.
“I want to have a super romantic wedding night,” she admitted. My eyes must have widened; it didn’t seem that unrealistic. “I’ve read a lot about how people are too tired on their wedding night to do anything. And that’s fine. If we don’t, you know, consummate our marriage that night, it’s fine. But I still want it to be romantic.”
I nodded just as Charlotte gave a small grin. “I mean, I also would like to consummate it,” she joked.
That part was out of my hands to deal with! But making sure Charlotte’s first night in her new house was romantic felt like something I could help to make happen.
“What do the two of you do that’s romantic now?” I asked. “Like, if you’re having a low-key romantic night in.” There were a lot of things I knew about Charlotte’s relationship, but what she and Pat did on ‘date nights’ was outside my field of experience.
Thinking back to what Sam and I used to do, I doubted that take-away pizza was going to be Charlotte’s idea of a super romantic evening.
“Usually a nice dinner. One of us will suggest a recipe and we’ll cook it together.” As she explained, a soft smile appeared on Charlotte’s lips. She was clearly thinking very fond thoughts. And who could blame her?! I enjoyed seeing how in love Charlotte always looked when she talked about Pat. This was precisely why people felt jealous - or envious - of them.
Walking over in her poofy dress, Charlotte took a seat on one of the couches. The skirt of the dress swallowed her up almost hilariously. “One of us will bring flowers. It isn’t always Pat. We’ll have some candles. Then dinner, wine, maybe a film. Sometimes we’ll play a board game,” she explained and then gave a small shrug. “It’s nothing huge, just... sweet, I guess.”
All of those were things I could accomplish. There’d be no need for dinner, but I, too, had heard things about how couples were sometimes too excited to eat much at the reception. I could make sure there were ingredients for a midnight feast in the refrigerator.
Just thinking about it brought a smile to my lips. Doing nice things for my friends always made me feel good. Charlotte had been there for me during so many difficult times - including keeping me sane when I studied for my bar exam. This was a way to finally repay her and show her how much I appreciated her.
“That does sound sweet,” I agreed. “I bet you’ll have plenty of nights like that once you’re finally married!” It was hard to believe such a huge change was happening at the end of the summer.
Tilting my head slightly, I asked, “Do you think it’ll feel different from being engaged?”
“There will be less wedding preparation,” she joked, making me laugh. Yes, there definitely would be that! Charlotte’s wedding was still two months off and there had already been so much preparation to do! We’d learned all about different shades of white and the technical names for how you fold a napkin. Pat was a little overwhelmed by it, so it was nice that I could be there for Charlotte.
Giving a small shrug, Charlotte continued, “I don’t expect our relationship to change. I mean, it’ll be nice to finally see this house that Pat’s been building, but I’d live in a shoebox with him if I had to.” A soft laugh fell from Charlotte’s lips as she grinned.
Whenever she spoke about Pat, it always struck me just how visible it was that she was so in love with him.
And the same was true of Pat. I might not know him as well as I knew Charlotte, but well enough to see how very much in love he was. Charlotte had already said she’d been able to see how in love I’d been with Sam. It made me wonder whether I’d looked similarly in love with Louis.
It hadn’t felt the same. But part of me didn’t want to know the truth. What good would it do to confirm that my feelings for Sam had been stronger than any feelings since we’d broken up?
My relationship with Sam had ended for a reason. For lots of reasons! None of which had changed in the years
