and slipped into the opposite bench to keep Rachel happy. She tugged her white, oversized blouse into place and used a napkin to wipe an old mustard stain from the table.
‘If you continue like this I won’t let you be my maid of honor!’
‘Well, if you continue like this, the sexy blonde is going to have your head on a platter and eat you for breakfast.’ Rachel warned her with a laugh, running her hands through her hair in an elegant gesture. This was something Lauren had always admired about her. Whatever Rachel did she always looked so sophisticated and graceful. Was it because of her long, slender fingers with the subtle nail polish, or because of her chin-length bob hairstyle that was reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy? Or was it maybe because of Rachel’s slightly raspy voice that lent each of her words a certain gravitas even when she was cracking a joke? Lauren, by contrast, would never come across as cool and lofty. Not even when she did something a little more Earth-shattering than wiping away a mustard stain. Her long, copper-colored locks were softly flowing at best and unruly at worst. But when it was thrashing it down outside like today, her hair was beyond salvaging. Today she was no match for the skinny blonde with her luscious lips. Which was a shame she thought, sneaking another glance at the man of her dreams.
Her heart skipped another beat when his blue eyes met hers once again. And once again he offered her a grin. Lauren quickly turned around and leaned over the table to Rachel.
‘Call me crazy, but there’s something going on between us!’
Rachel, in turn, strained her neck and nodded. ‘Yes, you’re right. You are crazy! Because right now he’s got his tongue all the way down her throat.’
‘What?’ Lauren almost threw her back out as she squinted over the back of her bench.
‘Dammit! But you have to admit that he looks as if he’s a really good kisser – which is the cornerstone of a good marriage!’
Rachel tugged on Lauren’s blouse, making her plunk back into her seat.
‘Right, I am sure those two are going to have a great marriage, but one which, I regret to say, you are not going to be a part of!’
Lauren glared at her from across the table, and was once more reaching for the menu when she noticed the waitress making her way over. In all the Prince Charming excitement she still had no idea what she wanted to eat.
‘Breakfast number two with coffee, please,’ she ordered on the spur of the moment and impatiently waited for Rachel to make her order, trying to suppress pangs of guilt that she hadn’t gone for the low-cal option. She wasn’t trying to lose more weight, after all. She was only trying to maintain it.
When the waitress finally shuffled away, Rachel changed the subject.
‘How are things going in Maine, anyway? Is your art professor still crazy in love with your room-mate?’
Lauren rolled her eyes. ‘It’s ridiculous! The guy is at least fifty, and Vicky is our age; only twenty-three.’ Lauren shook her head. ‘The other day when I came home, he was standing in our room in his underpants! It was creepy! And I am supposed to listen to him in class after seeing that? Can’t do it, I tell you!’
Rachel chuckled. ‘At least there’s stuff going on in your life. Me, I have nothing interesting to report. My brother’s got a new girlfriend, again. She works at the gas station. And Mason – you know the good-looking dentist?’
The waitress returned with their breakfast, interrupting their conversion and, zombie-like, started putting down their two plates of pancakes with maple syrup, cups of coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice.
‘Doctor Mason Howell! He’s getting divorced from his wife as we speak. All I want is a date with him! I made an appointment at his dental practice, just so that I could see him,’ Rachel gushed. ‘He’s so fine! He’s tall and so . . . distinctive!’
Lauren raised the steaming cup to her lips and started slurping her coffee.
‘But that sounds great! And you were saying that nothing is going on around here.’
‘Yeah, but it’s much longer since I last saw a man in his underpants.’
‘Trust me, it was not a pleasant sight!’ Lauren spluttered, trying to rid her mind of the image of her half-naked teacher while pushing a forkful of delicious pancake into her mouth.
She loved the sweet stickiness of the maple syrup and the soft, fluffy consistency of the pancake, even though eating it meant that she would have to be mindful of what she ate for the rest of the day. Rachel, too, devoured her food greedily, and so they sat and ate in silence for a while, listening to the clatter of dishes inside the diner and the voice of Mariah Carey droning from the speakers above their heads.
‘How long are you going to be home for?’ Rachel picked up their conversation with her mouth still full.
‘Another four weeks. And then classes are starting again.’
‘Well, that gives us plenty of time to celebrate our birthdays. Any ideas yet?’
Lauren shook her head and smoothed back her curls. She and Rachel were born on the same day in the same hospital and – it seemed to them, at least – they had been friends ever since. When they were younger they would often joke that perhaps they had been switched at birth and actually belonged to the other’s family. Which, of course, wasn’t the case, because Lauren looked exactly like her mother, but whenever they would get into a fight with their parents they found the idea of it quite comforting. Maybe I’m not even related to that family of bores, Lauren would often wonder at the height of puberty. And, of course, when they were children they celebrated every single one of their birthdays together. Their twenty-third birthday was already a week old but wasn’t going to be an exception.
‘We should at least invite the dentist, and . . .’ Lauren turned around one last time. Blondie had disappeared, only Mr Blue-Eyes was still there, drinking his coffee. ‘. . . and my husband-to-be!’
‘No way! It would be super embarrassing to talk to a complete stranger!’ Rachel was dead set against it.
‘It’s not that embarrassing, really. Complete strangers chat us up in bars all the time!’ Lauren defended her suggestion.
‘Yeah, but at least they’re buying us drinks – and in the end we’re still telling them to buzz off! Which is exactly what would happen to me if I were to take your advice.’
Lauren had no response. As inconspicuously as possible, she once again turned around to look at the man of her dreams. Was he getting more handsome by the minute or was she only imaging it? She noticed a dimple on his chin as he was chatting and laughing with the waitress, who was suddenly anything but zombie-like, and holding his cup up for a refill. His magic worked on others, too, then.
‘How about we take some time to think about our party, and give each other a call. Or I stop by your house after work. I gotta go now; Mr Mathison’s tensed-up shoulders won’t straighten themselves.’
Lauren looked out the window and into the gray, cloud-covered sky and the thick rain that was still pelting down against the windowpanes.
‘You really want to go out there?’ she asked doubtfully, reaching for her cup of steaming coffee and glad that she got to stay inside a little while longer.
‘Want?
