Page 11 of Shameless
As soon as the lady was out of earshot, Sarah asked, “How do they know you’re supposed to be here on your honeymoon?”
I lifted a shoulder. “When I booked this place, I mentioned it.”
“Ah.” Sarah picked up her menu. “You don’t want to correct them?”
“Would they care?”
“I just mean so they stop bringing it up. You have to be hurting, right?”
When we were exiting the pool area earlier, I hadn’t had a chance to tell Sarah anything about Stacey leaving me at the altar, only that she had. Sarah’s friends had caught up to us and then we went our separate ways after agreeing to meet up in an hour at the restaurant. I was sure Sarah had a few questions about what had happened. Of course, I still had questions too.
I gave a brief nod and smiled warmly. “I am, but happy you’re here to distract me.”
Sarah grinned, her cheeks turning a shade of pink. “I will try my best.”
Our waiter approached with glasses of water, took our drink and food order, and left.
“So, besides getting married, what have you been up to these past ten years?” The last time I’d seen Sarah was at her aunt’s apple farm where I’d stayed for the summer because I’d gotten a DUI and had to work off my community service hours. Sarah had had a boyfriend at the time, so nothing had happened between us, even though I’d tried. Something had happened with her Aunt Deb though, who was also my mother’s best friend.
Sarah took a sip of water that I prayed was filtered or we were both going to end up like her friend Josie. “Well, I finished school at Columbia and then transferred to Cornell for veterinary school.”
“No shit?” At that moment, I remembered back in the day she had mentioned she wanted to become a vet, and it was awesome she’d followed her dreams. She was certainly smart as hell, given she went to Columbia and Cornell. It made me a little uneasy since I’d taken online classes for my business degree. I might be a partner in a couple of nightclubs, but I hadn’t done it on my own as I’d wanted. It was fine, and I was happy with how things had turned out. Working with Brandon had brought us closer and also had made me get my shit together.
“Yeah. It took eight years of nothing except school, but I love my job.”
“That’s awesome. Don’t tell me you married that guy you were dating back then. What was his name? Arnold? Aaron?”That summer, I never met the guy, but I knew how much Sarah had liked him since she had fought to stay with him even while he was still in Texas and she had gone off to New York for school.
“Arkin.” Sarah giggled. “And no. We only lasted a few more months. I met my ex-husband when I transferred to Cornell. He’s a vet too.”
The waiter returned with our cocktails and placed a basket of chips and a bowl of salsa on the table before leaving again.
“Do you two work together?” I asked, assuming since they were both veterinarians, they worked at the same place.
“No.” Sarah shook her head. “Actually, if we had, then maybe we would still be married.”
“How so?” I dunked a tortilla chip into the red salsa.
“He cheated on me with one of his assistants.”
I quickly chewed and swallowed the chip I’d stuck in my mouth. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “Took him dinner one night when he was working late and caught him half naked with her.” She stuck a chip into her mouth, not seeming still to be affected by catching her husband with another woman.
“Wow,” I breathed. “That’s awful.”
Before Stacey, I had never been the one-woman kind. Didn’t dream of settling down until her. So even though I’d had my fair share of hookups—and hooking up on the job—the thought of Stacey cheating on me pricked my heart and made my chest ache. Had that been why she had left me? Had she met someone else? We had been together and planning our wedding for months. After every long shift at Club 24, I came home to her waiting for me. Had she been cheating on me while I was busting my ass to earn money for the wedding that hadn’t happened and the honeymoon trip I was on?
Or had she never loved me and realized it before it was too late?
“Yeah,” Sarah agreed. “But I have to imagine being stood up on my wedding day is equally as bad.”
I swallowed another bite of the chips and salsa and took a sip of my margarita. “Yeah, it’s not the best feeling in the world, that’s for sure.”
“I’m sorry.” Sarah's lips formed a thin line. “I really can’t imagine. Do you know why?”
“Nope. That’s the million-dollar question.”
Her mouth fell open. “Seriously? She didn’t tell you why?”
