Something Borrowed

Something Borrowed

“Congratulations,” Scott said. Was that disappointment on his face? We both stared down at the oversized diamond sparkling on the third finger of my left hand. No, it couldn’t possibly be. He’d had his chance to put his own ring there, and chose another option instead.

“Thanks,” I said and hastily took a gulp of my hot coffee, nearly taking the skin off the roof of my mouth in the process, “so, how have you been? It’s great to see you again after all this time.” I had to shout slightly over the noise of the band. Perhaps meeting in the local pub had been a bad idea. But Sean had talked me into it. I caught my friend’s eye as he passed by taking empty glasses back to the bar. He gave me a wink and an eyebrow wiggle in return. He obviously approved of how well Scott had aged.

I groaned inwardly at the unsubtlety of my oldest friend and turned back to Scott who was saying, “I’m good, in fact I’m moving back to the area, that’s why I wanted to reconnect with old friends.” He looked into my eyes a fraction longer than necessary. The pulsing lights from the band’s lights illuminated his sparkling green eyes, eyes that had always been my weakness. Damn it, perhaps this – whatever we were doing – was a bad idea too.

I broke the lingering eye contact and shifted uncomfortably. We were hardly old friends. He was the man I thought I had been destined to marry, whose ring I should have been wearing – not this vulgar stone I now sported. I looked at the ring again and it glinted back at me, mocking me until I had the urge to guiltily slide it off my finger and throw it across the room.

I needed to put some distance between Scott and I, so I said, “How’s Renee?” I almost spat the question, thinking of my self-proclaimed ‘best friend’. She had blazed into my life second year of university – a stunning exchange student from France. Fiercely self-confident, she always got what she wanted. That was self-proclaimed too, but I soon learnt how true that statement was.

“Renee?” Scott looked genuinely puzzled. My heart gave one slow thump. “I haven’t seen her in years. Not since the night she tried to console me when you said it was over.” He took a long pull of his beer, watching me with a frown from over the top of the bottle. “I declined and she flounced off.”

“What?” My mind raced. “But - but I thought you were a couple. You both moved out of town at the same time… I thought you were living together!” I spluttered, grabbing my coffee again. I was beginning to think I should have opted for wine instead; the coffee was making me jittery. And this bombshell needed more than simply a caramel latte with almond milk.

Scott set his bottle down on the bar and threw back his head and laughed incredulously, his familiar husky chuckle making my traitorous heart stutter. “Whatever gave you that crazy idea? I only had eyes for you.” The laughter died from his eyes and he looked at me seriously.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, trying desperately to get my thoughts in order. “Renee told me she had been seeing you behind my back and you were moving in together – that’s why I broke it off,” I said, reality slowly dawning on me. That little liar! She used my own insecurities against me so that I believed the betrayal. But apparently it never worked out in her favour either.

“I only took the job out of town because you called it off,” he returned. “Why didn’t you tell me what she said. You must have known I would never betray you like that?” The music from the band faded away as we sat mutely, staring at each other; him hurt, me devastated. Thinking of what might have been. Thinking of all the years lost, the memories we could have made. Together.

I shook my head slowly, realising what an utter fool I had been. “I’m sorry. It was all too easy to believe you would fall for someone beautiful and vibrant like Renee. Every day I couldn’t believe my luck… that someone like you wanted to be with me.”

“Are you serious? You are beautiful and vibrant and kind and I never saw any of that in Renee… I only saw you.” Scott took my hand, as he looked earnestly into my eyes. “But now it’s too late, isn’t it? I should have fought for you. But you cut all ties and I had no choice but to graciously leave. But I never stopped thinking about you. Ever.”

His familiar clean cotton-with-a-hint-of-spice scent teased my nostrils, and his touch brought back a rapid lick of desire straight to my stomach. A slow smile worked its way across my lips. It was never too late.

On impulse I slid the overlarge ring from my finger. “Sean!” I called out and my real best friend sauntered over, the one that had been there to pick up the pieces after Renee’s confession and Scott’s departure. I held out the gaudy gold-and-diamond ring. I thought of Sean’s wonderful larger-than-life auntie, and how she had come to my aid when I had told her of my nervousness at seeing Scott again. “Tell Irene thanks for the loan, but I won’t be needing this after all.” My surrogate auntie would be delighted to have her piece of theatre costume jewellery back, and my hand almost groaned in relief at the absence of the weight the faux-engagement ring had added to my finger. I was happy to relinquish the piece of armour. Armour that had given me the courage to face my ex-soul mate… and my past.

Now, only the future beckoned. And it sparkled.

Sean gave me a long look, then included Scott in the thoughtful gaze. Finally, he grinned a toothy white grin. He had always rooted for Scott and I. “If you’re absolutely sure Anna?” he asked, obviously delighted at this unforeseen turn of events. But certainly not more delighted than I was about it.

I nodded, eyes firmly on Scott. Realisation shined across his face as he took my now ring-free hand and said, “Come on, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do…”

END