Page 70 of So Much More
“Like a double date?” I ask him.
“You can call it whatever you want,” he says. “Whatever makes you feel comfortable.”
“I won’t feel comfortable if you’re on your best behavior,” I say. “That would be extremely weird. And boring. Especially if the point is to have fun.”
He throws his head back in a laugh. “You’re right. Is that a yes, then? As long as I’m my usual, ridiculous self?”
I nod my head slowly. “It’s a yes.”
Randall gives me a smile that whips the butterflies into a frenzy. “Great. I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“That’s a surprise.” He winks at me. “I’ll give Ash the details for him and Leslie. See you ladies then. Well, I’ll probably see you before then, too.”
When he’s gone, Leslie says, “I think this will be good.”
“You do? You don’t still hate him?”
“I never hated him. I just wanted to throttle him.”
“And you don’t anymore?”
“Only sometimes.” She grins at me.
“Same.”
Leslie laughs. “Understandable. And something tells me that will never change, even after you’re able to move past what he did. Anyway, I think it’ll be great for the two of you to be together in a laid-back situation with friends. You can just have fun without the pressure and the potential for heavy conversations.”
I nod. “I see what you’re saying. A lot of our time together has been pretty heavy. We need to relax and have fun.”
“You do. The two of you are both very fun people. You need to make room for that in your relationship.” She smiles. “And hopefully being with all of us will help Ash loosen up a little.”
I return her smile. “You mean he’s not an inherently fun guy? Who would have guessed?”
“I’m working on him,” she says, “but you and Randall can definitely help.”
* * *
“Here’s the deal,” Randall says as we all stand outside Filene’s Basement Saturday night. “We’re going in as teams: Leslie and I are one team, and Wendy and Ash are the other.” He gives us each a twenty-dollar bill. “We each must buy something for our date to wear for the rest of the evening for twenty bucks or less. The reason for the teams is to ensure we each buy something silly. Well, actually, it’s to ensure Ash buys something ridiculous for Leslie, because otherwise he’d buy something nice. The rest of us won’t have an issue with making our date look goofy.”
Everyone but Ash laughs at that. He simply gives his brother a deadpan look.
Randall continues, “We have twenty minutes to carry out this mission. Aaaaand, go!”
He grabs Leslie’s hand and takes off running. She looks back at Ash with a smile and a giggle as they disappear into the department store.
“Come on, big guy,” I say to Ash, who hasn’t moved. “Let’s get cracking.”
Ash sighs as he fiddles with his watch. I assume he’s setting a timer of some sort.
“I don’t know why I agreed to this,” he says.
“Because you love Leslie, that’s why. And you need some fun in your life.” I grasp his elbow and tow him toward the store. “We’re shopping for Leslie first. Something tells me that will take longer than finding something for Randall.”
Ash drags his feet but doesn’t completely resist. “What if I see someone I know when I’m wearing whatever Leslie picks out for me?”
“They’ll think you’ve loosened up in your old age.” I open the door and push him through. “Now, stop being a stick in the mud and start thinking about how much Leslie is going to enjoy all of this.”
