Love Actually (Love By Design 5)

“Cruel woman. I told you I didn’t I know.” He said.

I chuckled this time. “Yeah, I know, but we wouldn’t be such good friends if I couldn’t say it.”

“Ask her out, go see her. Don’t deny yourself the possibility of something good.”

“I love you in that platonic we’ll always have prom deflowering kind of way.” I smiled.

“And I love you only if you promise to set me up with a nice girl for your wedding as payback.”

“Deal.” We both said finishing the other’s thought.

Noah pulled up to my house and dropped me off. I crossed my fingers I had something other than Gemma’s gross vodka in my house to drink since I left Easton’s Pub without one.

“You totally got a lady-boner for the cake baker who had a date with your high school boyfriend.” Tommy sang while he cleaned up his hair station with a Bollywood shimmy dance that left his sexuality stereotypically in question. If it wasn’t for his crush on the cougar client he saw regularly, I might have teased him about it instead of biting my lip trying to hide my own smile.

“Tommy, shut up.” Turning away did me no favors though because he could see my blush in the mirror anyway. I felt the heat rise up my neck like July had come with a vengeance here to the Mohonk Valley.

“Seriously, it’s all good but I’m wondering if you’re going to act on it or let this one fly the coop.” I stared at my partner in crime and best friend despite being my sibling. Tommy read me like an open book and it annoyed the hell out of me. Both he and Noah were up my butt about this.

“Please, Tommy. She’s still smarting over that see you next Tuesday bitch that skipped town and the rent payment.” Only Gemma could get away with calling Sydney a cunt in such a poetic way. I had been over the break up for a while–sort of. The signs had been there if I looked hard enough and when she packed a bag and left it wasn’t a shocker. I wasn’t guarding my heart, but I was wary of stomping into Carmen’s life if she wasn’t ready for it. The stylist-client friendship I had with her was tenuous and delicate at best.

Groaning I rolled my eyes at Gemma who was intent on hashing this out whether I wanted to or not. “Seriously though, she was one of those people who was happy with whatever she got reaching into someone’s pants, even if she said she was committed to you and that’s the part that pisses me off.”

“Gemma…whatever happened to love is love and let it go already.” I said unwilling to get into whatever Sydney had been into or not.

“Hey, if you want to be singing show tunes with animated characters going down town that’s your business, but I am allowed to be upset for my friend who got her heart crushed by that lady-tramp.” Gemma continued to harp on this and I was getting a headache.

“Tommy, please talk some sense into her I have to get ready for my next appointment.” I left the two of them in the front while I went to my back office to nurse the oncoming headache.

Sitting at my desk, I fished my phone out from my purse and scrolled my text messages. Taylor was the most recent so I clicked on the thread.

Taylor: Sooo…I heard you met my friend from college, Carmen. Her hair looks great, thanks for taking care of her.

Taylor was a good friend and this only made my thoughts about her friend even more complicated. Things could go to shit if I screwed this up.

The hair was minor. I’m glad she’s happy with it. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine.

The text blinked as I waited for her response.

Taylor: I wished you stayed last night and got to know her better.

I wish I did too.

I pressed send before I realized what I did.

Taylor: She’s been through shit so I’m glad she moved up here. I’m having her design the wedding cake.

I was curious, but unsure how much I could delve into this with Taylor without looking like I was fishing for information. Fuck it. I figured I could brush it off if Taylor didn’t like me asking.

What happened?

It took her a while to get back to me. My paranoia continued to run the gamut of conclusions.

Taylor: BF of a few years dumped her and it was ugly. I don’t think she was in love with him but the way he did it sucked. She was supposed to get her own exclusive pastry kitchen in a restaurant and it all fell through.

Well I’ve got that in common with her. Except the dude part.

I wanted to chop my fingers off with that impulsive text, but it was already done.