“You never would have allowed that,” said Lauren. “You’re too much of a perfectionist.”
“True. But that reminds me, bridesmaid dress shopping two weeks from today. You too, Evan.”
“I’m wearing a bridesmaid dress to your wedding?” Evan asked. “Because that’s not really my thing. Although I look fabulous in fuchsia.”
“No, but I thought we could stop at a tux rental place and pick something for you to wear. Maybe we can find a tie and cummerbund to match whatever color we pick for the dresses.”
Evan laughed. “Whatever you want, honey.”
“Doyouhave a dress?” Lindsay asked Paige.
“Yes! They’re doing alterations now. Oh, I have a photo from the fitting I did last week.” Paige got out her phone and found the photo. Then she passed her phone around the table.
Lindsay took a good look when she got the phone. The dress was fitted on top and covered with little glass beads. Then it flared out into a frothy tulle skirt. Paige’s hair was pinned up out of her face in the photo and she wasn’t wearing any makeup, but she still looked stunning.
“Beautiful,” said Lindsay. It was a good reminder that not every romantic relationship ended in disaster. Paige complained about how much work planning her wedding was turning out to be, but she still seemed happy for it to be happening.
“Is Josh helping with the planning much?” Lindsay asked Paige.
Paige laughed. “Oh, no.”
“He working a lot these days?” asked Evan.
“Yes, but that’s not the reason. He just… Well, he’s useless at planning. I ask him questions, and his answer is always, ‘Whatever you like best is fine.’ So his job is to make sure he and his groomsmen get their tuxes and then they show up at the venue on time. He did help me pick the venue, though. It’s going to be at this restaurant near Brooklyn Bridge Park with an amazing view of the bridge.”
“The seafood place?” asked Lindsay. “I reviewed it when it opened. It was really good. The fish I ate melted right on my tongue.”
“Yeah, Josh and I did a tasting. After the first bite, he said, ‘This is it. We’re getting married here.’ His reaction made it a little challenging to play hardball when we haggled over pricing with the restaurant, but the view is lovely and you’ll all eat very well.”
“I’m so excited for you,” said Lauren. “I have no regrets about my own city hall wedding, but I do like other people’s weddings.”
Their food was delivered then, and a waitress came over with a glass pitcher full of mimosa and refilled everyone’s glasses.
“Shall we go to Lindsay next?” said Evan as everyone tucked into their meals.
Lindsay sighed. “Well, Brad saved my job by getting me on that Food Channel show, and he apparently killed an interview with theTimesfor my sake. Oh, also, he wants to get back together, and we slept together twice.”
Everyone made appropriate surprised sounds. “Are you kidding?” said Evan.
“This is a lot to unpack,” said Lauren. “He killed an interview?”
“I witnessed that myself,” said Paige. “The reporter wasmad. I thought she was going to write some scathing review in theTimes, but so far, nothing.”
“Wait,” said Evan. “Why did he kill the interview?”
“The reporter wanted favors,” said Paige.
“Sexual favors?”
Lindsay groaned. “Why does everyone assume that?”
“Because your future husband is really hot,” said Evan.
“No, not sexual favors,” said Paige. “Something to do with using Brad’s contact at the Food Channel to get another story. She was basically extorting him. Like, ‘I’ll write a great article about you if you do something for me.’ But professionally, not sexually. And he turned her down.”
“Was she pretty?” Lindsay asked.
“Oh, don’t go there,” said Evan.
