For a moment, I pity the waiter standing by with a bottle of champagne. His face says he would rather be anywhere but in the middle of this chaos. Only then do I notice that the whole restaurant is waiting with bated breath. The manager looks like he’s about to break up this debacle, but Evan subtly waves his black American Express card, and the manager makes himself scarce.
Justin stands and holds Nikki’s hand. “Nikki, I know this may seem sudden, but I know we can make it work. We’ve put in the time, we’ve lived together, and we have never had a real argument. We just hit a speed bump in our relationship, and this is me making sure we get back on track, because we are better together, babe.”
“And you came to all those conclusions without consulting me? And figured I would just go along with your plan? Come on, Justin. Let’s be honest with ourselves here.”
“I have been honest with you, Nikki!” he spits. “Why are you being this way?” He takes note of the onlookers, embarrassment evident on his face.
Nikki pulls her hand out of his grasp and says, “Why am I being this way? Justin, you just ambushed me with a proposal after you bamboozled me into joining this farce of a dinner for your ‘parents’ sake.’” She uses air quotes on that last bit. “You lied to get me here, and now you expect me to fall in line and just what? Marry you and make it all better? Does that sound about right to you?”
He takes a deep breath. “Look, I could have gone about this differently. My parents and I may have gotten carried away, but the sentiment is still the same. I want us to work through whatever issues you think we have so we can continue building a future together. I know if you give me another shot, we can make this work.”
Nikki rubs her temples and sighs.
“Justin, that sounds lovely and all, but you made one large miscalculation.”
Justin stiffens. “And what’s that?”
“I’m in love with someone else.”
“What?” Justin, Deb, Carl, and Amelia yell in unison. I look over to see that Evan’s started to record this shit show.
“What? How? That’s impossible. Wejustbroke up.” Justin assesses her with new eyes and scowls. “Is this why you reek ofman? Were you with him before you even came to dinner with us?” he seethes.
“During.” My voice booms through the small dining area, and all eyes land on me. “She was withmeduring.”
“Oh no.” I faintly hear Amelia whisper the words, but I’m too focused on Nikki, who has resorted to taking a few—no, many—gulps of her wine.
“And if you’re done stomping your feet and throwing a temper tantrum, your time with her has officially expired.” I stand to my full height.
Not wanting to lose face, Justin opens his mouth to argue, but I cut him off before he can get a word out.
“It wouldn’t be wise to make me repeat myself.” Justin’s parents must make the right assessment and decide to cut their losses. They’re standing and shuffling to grab their coats and Justin. He stands his ground for a moment but wisely decides to pocket the ring and walk out of the restaurant without a backward glance at Nikki.
My patience has run out. In two swift steps I’m cradling Nikki’s head into my chest. She tenses in my arms, and I realize that she must be worried about Amelia.
I keep her in my arms as I turn around to face my sister.
Amelia’s standing as well, a scowl on her face, arms crossed over her chest, and her high-heeled boot tapping the ground. Evan stays seated behind her with a satisfied smirk on his face.
“Are you guys fucking kidding me? You’re in love?” Amelia shouts.
I can feel Nikki start to tremble in my arms, and I’m just about to tell my sister to watch her mouth when talking to my future wife when Amelia throws her hands in the air. “Do you guys even know what this means? I only bet that you banged on your vacation. I know firsthand how close quarters can lead to panties dropping. But Evan bet that you two would come back madly in love!” Now I’m gonna have to get knocked up soon because you guys exchanged those three little words!” She faces her fiancé. “Wait no, you must have known. You cheated. This doesn’t count if you have insider information!”
What the fuck?
“A bet? What the hell are you talking about?" I pause. "You know what, I actually don’t want to know.” Clearly my sister and best friend making bets that involve me having sex are not subject matters I want to be clued in on.
Amelia notices Nikki’s pale complexion and immediately drops the hard-ass act. “Oh my God, Nikki. What’s wrong? Are you okay?” She rushes to Nikki’s side.
Nikki shakes her head. “Do you hate me? I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner. We were waiting for the right moment, after Evan proposed and—”
“Nikki, why are you shaking? Everything’s fine. I mean, I think it is, right? Is my brother treating you right? Because all I know is that he boned you in public while out to dinner with us, which doesn’t bode well for my vote of confidence.” She scrunches her nose in disgust.
I roll my eyes. “Nikki was worried that us dating might put a wedge in your friendship. Put my woman out of her misery already. Please and tell her it’s fine.” I silently pray that it’s fine.
Amelia’s eyes widen. “Whoa there, caveman. Throwing around ‘my woman’ already?” She shakes her head and focuses on a terrified Nikki. “Are you kidding me? If anything, my brother is the one who needs to be walking on eggshells around me. If he so much as causes one tear to escape from your pretty little eyes, he’s dead to me. Cut out from the family, cousin crew included.” She throws me what I assume is supposed to be a deadly glare.
Nikki hunches over. “Amelia, are you sure? I never want anything to jeopardize our friendship. You’re my person, and I never want you to feel like I’m infiltrating your family or anything like that.”
