Chapter 37

Anelise was still in disbelief that Ollie was already four years old. She’d only known him for a year and a half, but it felt like forever. He’d looked so joyful at his birthday party a couple of weeks ago, surrounded by his little daycare buddies and the whole family.

Even Susan and Dennis had made the trip, despite living in a different state. They always tried to be there for every birthday. As she drove to Leslie’s for their shopping day, Anelise fought back tears thinking about it all.

She was on a mission to find Halloween decorations and to pick up the costume Ollie had his heart set on. Thank goodness she’d reserved it in advance—it was a hot item this year!

Arriving early at what used to be her apartment, she climbed the stairs to Leslie’s floor. She still had a key and figured Leslie would still be getting ready, so she let herself in, calling out, “Get a move on, lady! We need—~ahhhhhhh!~”

Anelise’s sentence was cut short by a scream, her hands flying to her face. “Oh my god! I can’t unsee that!”

“That’ll teach you to barge in without knocking!” Leslie retorted.

Anelise was trying not to hyperventilate or have a heart attack as she processed the sight of her best friend, naked and straddling Craig on the couch, who was also in the buff. “What the hell?”

Leslie shot her a smug grin. “Can you come back in fifteen minutes? We’re almost done.”

Anelise nodded dumbly and headed for the door, still in shock.

“Ani, shit, no, stay. I’ll go get dressed,” Craig said, causing Leslie to groan. “Hey, I’ll make it up to you later, I promise,” he said, planting a deep kiss on her.

Anelise turned to face the kitchen as they got up, not wanting to see any more than she already had.

She was mentally reciting literary terms to herself when Leslie, now in a robe, walked into the kitchen to grab a glass of juice. They both stayed silent, Anelise giving Leslie a questioning look, Leslie responding with a smirk.

“I’m gonna head home and take care of some stuff,” Craig said, pulling Leslie into a hug and giving her a soft kiss. “Think about what I said, okay?” Leslie nodded. He then hugged Anelise and whispered an apology before leaving.

Leslie put her glass in the sink and headed to her bedroom to get ready, with Anelise trailing behind her like a lost puppy. “What’s going on?”

Leslie poked her head out of the bathroom, toothbrush in mouth. “With what?”

“Don’t play dumb, Leslie! I know what I saw!”

Anelise heard her spit in the sink and then Leslie asked loudly, “And what did you see?”

“I saw my best friend riding Michael’s best friend like there was no tomorrow!” Anelise shrieked.

“Hmm, and it was really fucking good until you walked in! I was almost on my second!” Leslie accused, pointing her toothbrush at her. “I hate being left hanging!”

“Oh my god! How long? How? When?” Anelise asked, sitting down on the bed, but then jumped up, remembering what had happened on those sheets, and started pacing.

Leslie’s voice came muffled from the closet, “It’s your fault really, so you have no one to blame but yourself for what you saw…”

“~What?~ How is this my fault?”

Leslie emerged from the closet in jeans and an oversized sweater. “It’s your fault because I wouldn’t have met Craig if you hadn’t gotten together with Michael.”

“So you met at the bachelor and bachelorette parties, fine. But I’m pretty sure I didn’t invite you to hook up with the best man!” Anelise argued.

She watched as Leslie went back into the bathroom to spritz on some perfume, pull her hair into a sexy, messy bun, and apply some mascara.

She came back out and headed for the door. “Are we leaving? You’re driving.”

Anelise hurried after her. “We need to talk about this!”

Leslie said, “Then get in the car!”

They got in the car, and Anelise started it, but then stopped and looked at her best friend. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on!”

Leslie sighed. “We’re sleeping together, okay? We really hit it off at the party. We came up with the idea for the dual toast and had been talking on the phone and texting about it.”

“And after the reception, I invited him back to my place if he didn’t want to stay with JJ. JJ went home with that skank he brought, so he had no idea that he never went back to his place.”

“We had a really good time, and I took him to JJ’s to change and then to my parents’ for brunch the next day. We spent the rest of the day together. He spent the night again, and I took him to the airport Monday night.”

“I thought it was a one-time thing, but the next day, he texted me, and we talked some more.”

“Wow...okay… And then what?” Anelise asked, processing everything really slowly, starting to feel a little nauseated.

“We talked a lot, okay? I flew up to Chicago for a few weekends, and we kept it up. Then he decided that he wanted to move here, and now he’s here. So we decided to keep it up to see what might happen.” Leslie shrugged.

“Well, that explains his being lonely excuse,” Anelise said. “So where does that leave you? What is he asking you to think about?”

Leslie bit her lip. “I don’t know…”

Anelise looked at her. “Lulu, what’s wrong? Is he being good to you?”

“He’s so fucking good! That’s the problem!” Leslie said, throwing up her hands.

“I’m confused. How is that a problem?” Anelise replied.

“He is so sweet and treats me like a princess. The sex is fabulous, and he is ridiculously hot! My parents, hell my whole family, loves him, and he adores you,” Leslie cried.

“I just can’t wrap my head around it!” Anelise exclaimed.

“Because I’m falling head over heels for him!” Leslie blurted out.

Anelise’s eyes widened, and before she could respond, Leslie whispered, “And it scares the shit out of me!”

“Oh, Lulu!” Anelise murmured, finally getting it, and pulled her into a comforting hug.

Leslie sniffled. “He wants me to move in with him. He popped the question last night over dinner.”

Anelise just rubbed her back soothingly. “Sounds like we need a good old-fashioned shopping spree.”

Leslie let out a weak chuckle and nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”

Two hours later, they were strolling arm in arm through their favorite mall, laden with shopping bags and deep in conversation. They stopped at a quaint bistro for lunch, their chatter never ceasing.

“So, do you think I should go for it?” Leslie asked.

“From what I know about Craig and what I’ve heard from Michael, he’s never really been serious about anyone. Apparently, he got his heart broken in college and has been playing it safe ever since. He’s been playing the field, but he’s also been picky,” Anelise replied thoughtfully.

“So, him asking you to move in with him is a ~big deal~, Leslie. He’s never done that before.”

“That doesn’t answer my question!” Leslie groaned.

“Leslie, I can’t make that decision for you. Have you told him how you feel?” Anelise asked.

She shook her head. “~No!~ What if he laughs at me? What if he breaks it off?”

Anelise was taken aback by her usually self-assured best friend’s sudden vulnerability and thought that maybe this was the real deal for her. “Leslie, you need to talk to him. I know from experience that fear can really hold you back.”

“You have to take a leap of faith. If you tell him how you feel and he laughs, sure it will hurt like hell, but at least you’ll know he wasn’t the one for you.”

“But, if he tells you he feels the same, this could be the start of something truly beautiful and special. Craig is a good listener, that much I know. And he’s a gentleman, he wouldn’t intentionally hurt you.”

Leslie nodded slowly. “You’re right. I need to just do it.”

“As you once told me, ‘pull up your big girl panties and just do it!’” Anelise laughed. “Granted, that was about losing my virginity, not confessing my love for Michael.”

Leslie snickered. “You’re right, I should take my own brilliant advice sometimes,” making Anelise roll her eyes and chuckle.

Leslie continued, “Which brings me to a question I’ve been meaning to ask you. What really happened in Paris that weekend? All you said was that you had sex and had a good time. That’s all Michael has said to Craig too.”

Anelise smiled and looked at her best friend. “Some things are meant to be special and best kept a secret. All I’ll say is that where I am now with Michael, I owe it to Paris.”

Leslie looked at her and knew she wasn’t going to get anything more out of her, so she went back to eating. They paid, continued their shopping spree, and Anelise dropped her off at her apartment where Leslie promised she would let her know how things went.

Anelise went home and found Michael and Ollie outside playing, and she joined in with a kiss for each of them.

Ollie was running around, and Anelise leaned over and whispered to her husband. “I walked in on Leslie and Craig having sex.”

Michael stopped and looked at her with wide eyes. “Are you serious? My Craig?”

She nodded. “Yep. I saw ~way~ more of Craig than I ever wanted to!”

“I’m speechless! Are they serious?” Michael managed to say.

“I’m not entirely sure. But he did ask her to move in with him,” Anelise said and then added, “And apparently it’s our fault because they hit it off while writing our wedding toast.”

He chuckled. “Well, shit. Move in with him? He’s never lived with anyone before,” Michael mused.

“It’s definitely going to be interesting to see how this plays out!” Anelise agreed.

They were cuddled up on the couch watching a movie when Anelise’s phone buzzed. She picked it up to see a picture of Leslie and Craig, snuggled up in bed and smiling. The text message simply read, “He feels the same way.”

Anelise grinned and kissed Michael’s cheek, showing him her phone. “Do you think they’ll ever forgive us for introducing them?”

“I sure hope not!” Michael teased, making her laugh.