“Thank you so much,” Helena replies, and my tongue just keeps on getting bigger and bigger in my mouth. She picks her hand up to look at the diamond in front of her before she turns to smile at me. All I can do is smile back at her. “It was a special surprise.”
I almost laugh because it was not a surprise at all. In fact, she left me subtle messages since the second week we started dating. She was at the peak of her prime and wanted to get married when she would look amazing in her pictures. We’ve been together for nine months and this was the next step, so I thought why not. “That sounds very romantic,” I hear Sofia say, shaking my head.
“Shall we sit down and go over a couple of things?” Sofia suggests, pointing at the round table to the side. “Would you care for anything to drink?” She looks at Helena first.
“I’ll have a bottle of water,” Helena says, “sparkling if you have it, if not still is good.” She nods her head and then has to look over at me. I’m waiting for it, and when she does, I really wish that she hadn’t. Her eyes pierce my soul and make my heart stop in my chest. “He usually has still water.”
“Coming right up,” Sofia declares, turning and walking away from us, disappearing around a wall. I swear, if I could, I would let out a deep sigh and hang my head. I really want to get the fuck out of here. Seeing her it’s just, I don’t even know what to say. I’m surprised. I’m shocked. I’m blown fucking away that she is here. Not only is she here but I’m also going to sit down and discuss my wedding with her. I close my eyes; not even sure I want to think about how things would be if the roles were reversed. I would not be okay with any of this. I guess I would be happy for her, maybe, not sure. My head is going around and around, I’m literally hanging on by a thread.
“What is wrong with you?” Helena hisses to me. “You are acting so freaking weird.”
“No, I’m not,” I scoff at her, shaking my head while my whole body wants to pick up the chair and throw it across the room, right before I run out of here. “I’m fine,” I confirm, walking over to the round table Sofia pointed at before walking out. I pull out a chair and sit down, my foot moving up and down, the nerves just radiating in my body. “Sit down.” I pull the chair beside me out. “Before you agree to anything…” I want to tell her more, but I hear the clicks from Sofia’s shoes coming again.
She holds a silver tray in her hand, coming into the room and spotting us sitting down. She walks over, placing the silver tray down on the table. “I didn’t know if you wanted lemon or lime.” She smiles at Helena as she puts two small plastic containers on the table, each with lemon and lime. “I also didn’t know if you wanted it chilled or not, so I got you both,” she goes on, putting the four bottles on the table, along with a crystal glass for each of us. She sits down in the chair facing us, and I grab the closest water bottle to me, not noticing if it’s cold or hot or fizzy or not.
“Okay, before we start,” Sofia says. She looks at Helena and then looks at me, and I think this is it. This is the moment she is going to say we dated. My heart speeds up even faster and my fingers squeeze the water bottle hard in my hand. She places her hands in front of her, crossing her hands together. Poised. Controlled. Classy. Unlike me, who is now starting to sweat and wondering how long this is going to be. “Why don’t we see if we are compatible?”
Oh, you’re compatible all right, my head screams, laughing.
“That sounds amazing,” Helena says as she grabs a bottle of water, opening it. “As I mentioned to you before, my fiancé is Matthew Petrov.” I close my eyes, knowing where this is headed, I think I even roll my eyes at her. “I’m not sure if you are familiar with his name?”
“No,” Sofia answers, and my eyes snap back to her as she looks at Helena. “That name doesn’t ring a bell.” I want to pfft out and remind her of all the times she called my name while we were together. Dammit, now is not the time for this. I shouldn’t be this affected by her. Not after all this time. I close my eyes to erase the memories that all of a sudden have come full force.
“He plays hockey for the Carolina Whalers,” Helena announces proudly from beside me, and I look over to see her brown eyes shining. Her blond hair is neatly styled with a curl at the end, she is the picture of Southern beauty.
“I don’t watch hockey,” Sofia says and all I can do is look at her, waiting for her to look at me so I can silently call her a liar. “I prefer football instead.” She smiles at Helena, who just smiles and shrugs her shoulders.